Miles D. Orr wrote poetry, short stories, and longer works for decades. "Portrait through Poetry" contains a number of his poems as well as letters he wrote over three years, during World War II. They show his affection for his family, but they go beyond that. Though censors ensured the World War II letters did not discuss Miles' role in the war, photos he took show desolate airfields and the bonds of the men. Longing for home is evident in every letter, and he often talks about his two brothers, who also served. He also teases his sister, to whom most letters were addressed, and gives his impressions of Rome. By the end of the war he had met his future wife, and had another strong reason to want to be home. Some of the longing in his later poetry may come from the loneliness he felt while in the Army Air Corps, so far from home.
