A Hidden Garden is Whitley Strieber's first book of poetry. Whitley has been writing poems for many years, but previously only shared them with friends. This book contains poems he has written since 1980, but most of them were written since 2015. Just one of the poems, "Somebody Kissed Me," directly refers to his experiences with the otherworldly presence he calls the visitors, but it eloquently expresses the power and mystery of this very special part of his life. The others chronicle his love affair with his beloved wife Anne, and, in the Liberty Poems, another, more recent love with somebody he values deeply, and who is also a subtle and challenging teacher who has given him great pain and great insight, and changed his life in many powerful ways.
The book includes poems on many different subjects, ranging from the profound to the funny to the eerie, and reflect his many interests and intense curiosity about living life well and dying with courage and joy. One section of four poems for children, which includes a moving ballad about a dog and a shorter poem about, of all things, a fly, reflect his love of kids and his profound hope for and belief in the future.