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You Are Here: Poetry in the Natural World
Published association with the Library of Congress and edited by the twenty-fourth Poet Laureate of the United States, a singular collection of poems reflecting on our relationship to the natural world by fifty of our most celebrated contemporary writers. For many years, “nature poetry” has evoked images of Romantic poets standing on mountain tops. But our poetic landscape has changed dramatically, and so has our planet. Edited and introduced by the twenty-fourth Poet Laureate of the United States, Ada Limón, this book challenges what we think we know about “nature poetry,” illuminating the myriad ways our landscapes—both literal and literary—are changing. You Are Here features fifty previously unpublished poems from some of the nation’s most accomplished poets, including Joy Harjo, Diane Seuss, Rigoberto González, Jericho Brown, Aimee Nezhukumatathil, Paul Tran, and more. Each poem engages with its author’s local landscape—be it the breathtaking variety of flora in a national park, or a lone tree flowering persistently by a bus stop—offering an intimate model of how we relate to the world around us and a beautifully diverse range of voices from across the United States. Joyful and provocative, wondrous and urgent, this singular collection of poems offers a lyrical reimagining of what “nature” and “poetry” are today, inviting readers to experience both anew.
176 pages, Hardcover
First published April 2, 2024
665 people are currently reading
6819 people want to read
About the author
Ada Limon
32 books2,193 followersAda Limón is the author of three books of poetry, Lucky Wreck, This Big Fake World, and Sharks in the Rivers. She received her Master of Fine Arts in Poetry from New York University. Limón has received fellowships from the New York Foundation for the Arts, the Provincetown Fine Arts Work Center, and was one of the judges for the 2013 National Book Award in Poetry. She works as a creative writing instructor and a freelance writer while splitting her time between Lexington, Kentucky and Sonoma, California (with a great deal of New York in between). Her new book of poems, Bright Dead Things is forthcoming from Milkweed Editions in 2015.
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June 22, 2025
I always really enjoy when the current US Poet Laureate gets to use their post to put out a poetry anthology of their choosing. Our current Laureate, Ada Limón, is an absolutely brilliant poet and I’ve loved that her initiative has been the You Are Here project, which includes Poetry In the Parks to place poetry installations in National Parks around the country. It’s such a lovely idea, and I have a massive and very personal love for public poetry so I was thrilled to see her release You Are Here: Poetry in the Natural World. This anthology collects 50 previously unpublished poems commissioned for this book from some of the most amazing contemporary writers in the US who share some of their poetic gifts with us on the subject of nature. ‘Nature is not a place to visit. Nature is who we are,’ Limón writes in the introduction and these poems remind us of our place in the natural world amongst all the wonders of plant and animal life and all the beauty of the Earth. Even with the central theme, it is a very versatile collection with a brilliant variety of approaches to the subject with words that will touch your heart as you ‘let the world / soften you with its touching,’ as Ruth Awad writes. A brief but powerful little anthology that captures the beauties of the natural world and the joys of our life amongst it.
EAT
—Joy Harjo
Grasshoppers devour the sunflowers
Petal by petal to raggedy yellow flags—
Squash blossoms of small suns blessed
By dewdrops flare beauty in the morning
Until an army of squash bugs land
And eat, then drag their bellies
From the carnage—
Field mice chew their way
Into the house. They eat anything
Sweet and leave their pebbled shit
In staggered lines to the closet door.
Hungry tree frogs cling to the screen.
Their curled tongues catch anything
With wings driven to the light—
We find a snake hidden on the porch,
There are rumors in the yard
Of fat mice frolicking here.
The night is swallowing
Daylight.
We sit down to eat.
‘If in order to have one tree flourish, we must plant more around it,’ writes Limon, ‘the same goes for poetry.’ Here we have nature and poetry flourishing together and encouraging us to help both blossom and grow. And with the most extraordinary collection of poets, this collection is a powerhouse of talent. In her introduction here Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden writes that these poems ‘serve as a call for readers to take in the nature all around them,’ because, as author Robin Wall Kimmerer instructs, ‘the land is the real teacher.’
I have to admit this collection and Limon’s initiative speak directly to my heart though. Over the past several years a hobby of mine has been to create temporary public poetry installations. It started as a joke to post a poem in the center of our city’s park like a medieval decree but I began leaving favorite poems all over trees everywhere I went, teaching myself to paint so I could write poems on the painting and leave them for people to find.
[photo: a collage of some examples of Poe-a-tree]
I like the idea of being surprised by art in the wild and having strangers stop and think about poetry for a brief moment while also having their attention called to the idea that nature itself is a sort of poetry. If you are curious, I have them all collected on instagram at @poe_a_tree where the project mostly lives now as I was shut down by the city. Though you can still occasionally find them on the local college campus who doesn’t seem to mind. I hope. ‘I hope you will consider making your own version of a “You Are Here” poem to grow alongside ours,’ Limon writes, and I definitely agree with spreading the love of public poetry and art.
LETTERS
—Ilya Kaminsky
Rain has eaten ¼ of me
Yet I believe
Against all evidence
These raindrops
Are my letters of recommendation
Here is a man worth falling on.
There is a wonderful variety of takes on the subject in this collection. We have poems on the beauty of nature but also the destruction of it through climate change or commoditization. ‘Every place i have loved has forced me to leave,’ write b Ferguson in Parkside & Ocean about the way nature is often commoditized and taken from indigenous peoples under colonization, old dream / will either of us return to what we once were?’ Patricia Smith uses nature symbolism to great effect to speak of bodies in To Little Black Girls, Risking Flower, with some wonderful metaphors on blossoming into oneself: ‘If your aim was / to unfurl, terrify, sparkle with damage, you’ll do that and more.’ torrin a. Greathouse also excels with symbolism on the body with an exploration on gender transition in No Ethical Transition Under Late Capitalism (you can read it here).
I love a good poetry anthology, I love me some nature and I loved You Are Here. A highly recommended collection. Now I need to go see some of her installations in the parks!
5/5
LULLABY FOR THE GRIEVING
at the Sipsey River
—Ashley M. Jones
make small steps.
in this wild place
there are signs of life
everywhere.
sharp spaces, too:
the slip of a rain-glazed rock
against my searching feet.
small steps, like prayers--
each one a hope exhaled
into the trees. please,
let me enter. please, let me
leave whole.
there are, too, the tiny sounds
of faraway birds. the safety
in their promise of song.
the puddle forming, finally,
after summer rain.
the golden butterfly
against the cave-dark.
maybe there are angels here, too--
what else can i call the crown of light
atop the leaves?
what else can i call
my footsteps forward,
small, small, sure?
EAT
—Joy Harjo
Grasshoppers devour the sunflowers
Petal by petal to raggedy yellow flags—
Squash blossoms of small suns blessed
By dewdrops flare beauty in the morning
Until an army of squash bugs land
And eat, then drag their bellies
From the carnage—
Field mice chew their way
Into the house. They eat anything
Sweet and leave their pebbled shit
In staggered lines to the closet door.
Hungry tree frogs cling to the screen.
Their curled tongues catch anything
With wings driven to the light—
We find a snake hidden on the porch,
There are rumors in the yard
Of fat mice frolicking here.
The night is swallowing
Daylight.
We sit down to eat.
‘If in order to have one tree flourish, we must plant more around it,’ writes Limon, ‘the same goes for poetry.’ Here we have nature and poetry flourishing together and encouraging us to help both blossom and grow. And with the most extraordinary collection of poets, this collection is a powerhouse of talent. In her introduction here Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden writes that these poems ‘serve as a call for readers to take in the nature all around them,’ because, as author Robin Wall Kimmerer instructs, ‘the land is the real teacher.’
I have to admit this collection and Limon’s initiative speak directly to my heart though. Over the past several years a hobby of mine has been to create temporary public poetry installations. It started as a joke to post a poem in the center of our city’s park like a medieval decree but I began leaving favorite poems all over trees everywhere I went, teaching myself to paint so I could write poems on the painting and leave them for people to find.
[photo: a collage of some examples of Poe-a-tree]
I like the idea of being surprised by art in the wild and having strangers stop and think about poetry for a brief moment while also having their attention called to the idea that nature itself is a sort of poetry. If you are curious, I have them all collected on instagram at @poe_a_tree where the project mostly lives now as I was shut down by the city. Though you can still occasionally find them on the local college campus who doesn’t seem to mind. I hope. ‘I hope you will consider making your own version of a “You Are Here” poem to grow alongside ours,’ Limon writes, and I definitely agree with spreading the love of public poetry and art.
LETTERS
—Ilya Kaminsky
Rain has eaten ¼ of me
Yet I believe
Against all evidence
These raindrops
Are my letters of recommendation
Here is a man worth falling on.
There is a wonderful variety of takes on the subject in this collection. We have poems on the beauty of nature but also the destruction of it through climate change or commoditization. ‘Every place i have loved has forced me to leave,’ write b Ferguson in Parkside & Ocean about the way nature is often commoditized and taken from indigenous peoples under colonization, old dream / will either of us return to what we once were?’ Patricia Smith uses nature symbolism to great effect to speak of bodies in To Little Black Girls, Risking Flower, with some wonderful metaphors on blossoming into oneself: ‘If your aim was / to unfurl, terrify, sparkle with damage, you’ll do that and more.’ torrin a. Greathouse also excels with symbolism on the body with an exploration on gender transition in No Ethical Transition Under Late Capitalism (you can read it here).
I love a good poetry anthology, I love me some nature and I loved You Are Here. A highly recommended collection. Now I need to go see some of her installations in the parks!
5/5
LULLABY FOR THE GRIEVING
at the Sipsey River
—Ashley M. Jones
make small steps.
in this wild place
there are signs of life
everywhere.
sharp spaces, too:
the slip of a rain-glazed rock
against my searching feet.
small steps, like prayers--
each one a hope exhaled
into the trees. please,
let me enter. please, let me
leave whole.
there are, too, the tiny sounds
of faraway birds. the safety
in their promise of song.
the puddle forming, finally,
after summer rain.
the golden butterfly
against the cave-dark.
maybe there are angels here, too--
what else can i call the crown of light
atop the leaves?
what else can i call
my footsteps forward,
small, small, sure?
May 15, 2024
I love the spirit of the project behind You Are Here--especially Ada Limón's encouragement to readers to get outside and write our own You Are Here poems. Unfortunately, I felt like Limón's introduction was among the best parts of the collection. I only connected with a handful of the poems included. I think I went in expecting nature poetry in the mode of Wendell Berry or Mary Oliver. But these poems are...different than that. Several of them are surprisingly disconnected from the natural world. Like Dr. Ian Malcolm, I occasionally found myself wondering, "Will there be any nature in your nature poem?" I mean, sure, we humans are nature ourselves, but I wanted critters, trees, and transcendence.
That said, I did like aspects of the collection. First, I applaud the choice to include poet bios with each poem, rather than leaving those until the end of the book. Even if I didn't read each one thoroughly, it was nice to briefly orient myself to the writer, and to note possibilities for further reading. And of course, there were some exquisite poems. My favorites include "You Belong to the World" by Carrie Fountain, "Mouth of the Canyon" by Traci Brimhall (Kansas! Woot!), "Taking the Magnolia" by Paisley Rekdal, "Manifesto of Fragility/Terraform" by Erika Meitner, and "Heliophilia" by Aimee Nezhukumatathil.
That said, I did like aspects of the collection. First, I applaud the choice to include poet bios with each poem, rather than leaving those until the end of the book. Even if I didn't read each one thoroughly, it was nice to briefly orient myself to the writer, and to note possibilities for further reading. And of course, there were some exquisite poems. My favorites include "You Belong to the World" by Carrie Fountain, "Mouth of the Canyon" by Traci Brimhall (Kansas! Woot!), "Taking the Magnolia" by Paisley Rekdal, "Manifesto of Fragility/Terraform" by Erika Meitner, and "Heliophilia" by Aimee Nezhukumatathil.
August 5, 2024
A book of poetry that's both devastating and uplifting, about the connection between poetry, humanity and nature.
July 2, 2024
i looooove poems about nature, so naturally i loved this collection! the contributors list was STACKED, so many of my favorites and edited by ada limon too! would love to own a copy of this to annotate.
August 8, 2024
"[...] and obviously you can't grab someone by the shoulders on an airplane and scream YOU ARE WHY THE WORLD IS ON FIRE, which is good, I support that, I should not have done that, but that's where my mind keeps going [...]"
May 4, 2024
3.5 ⭐️
May 9, 2025
I really have no business reviewing a poetry collection, but here I go anyway. This was an impulse choice when the cover grabbed my attention at the library and I really loved it. I discovered that the anthology format was very appealing. When I came across something I didn't like (or understand or both), I could just turn the page to something new. All of these works are tied by theme, in this case nature, but stylistically all over the place. Most of them really resounded in my mind and heart. They are all also very short, most a page or less. It was a lovely way to start and close my days a couple of poems at a time.
I discovered some poets whose works I will pursue and learned not to fear a poetry collection.
I discovered some poets whose works I will pursue and learned not to fear a poetry collection.
June 15, 2025
A poetry collection is a great excuse to experiment with reading: read aloud, mouth words, make sounds to yourself. I decided to download the audiobook and listen, and when that wasn’t quite enough, I listened while reading along with my eyes. I listened before falling asleep, letting my subconscious tangle with the words. I woke up and listened again. I read this collection starting in the middle, then forward, then backward.
Nature writing is powerful. Humans are not separate from the environment and this collection positions poetry in the natural world, here and now with the one planet we all share. Death and mortality are common themes and teachers, “this holy blush of loss” as Prageeta Sharma describes it. Poets writing about the nostalgia of lost paradise and the resistance required to create sanctuaries are the Greek chorus of the climate emergency.
Nature writing is powerful. Humans are not separate from the environment and this collection positions poetry in the natural world, here and now with the one planet we all share. Death and mortality are common themes and teachers, “this holy blush of loss” as Prageeta Sharma describes it. Poets writing about the nostalgia of lost paradise and the resistance required to create sanctuaries are the Greek chorus of the climate emergency.
August 8, 2024
Com passa en totes les antologies, alguns poemes agraden més que altres. Però, com a col·lecció, m'ha agradat i té sentit i m'ha fet conèixer poetes de qui no havia llegit res mai i que m'han semblat interessants.
July 5, 2024
I loved this collection by poet laureate Ada Limón who I have admired for a long time, and savored her poetry. I love how her collection comes from “the natural world,” and that to let a tree grow other trees around it are needed. That idea of poetry as a collective—a poet needs to breath with other poets.
You Are Here: Poetry in the Natural World is an impressive collection of poetry by old favorites and some poets I did not know, one unpublished poem each. Just a few are: Carolyn Forche, Jericho Brown, Kazim Ali, Prageeta Sharma, Matthew Zapruder, Victoria Chang, Dorrianne Laux, Ellen Bass, Kevin Young, Camille Dungy, Erika Meitner, Patricia Smith, and even Joy Harjo.
From Ruth Awad’s poem “Reasons to Live”—
Because if you can survive
The violet night, you can survive
the next, and the fig tree will ache
with sweetness for you in the sunlight that arrives
You Are Here: Poetry in the Natural World is an impressive collection of poetry by old favorites and some poets I did not know, one unpublished poem each. Just a few are: Carolyn Forche, Jericho Brown, Kazim Ali, Prageeta Sharma, Matthew Zapruder, Victoria Chang, Dorrianne Laux, Ellen Bass, Kevin Young, Camille Dungy, Erika Meitner, Patricia Smith, and even Joy Harjo.
From Ruth Awad’s poem “Reasons to Live”—
Because if you can survive
The violet night, you can survive
the next, and the fig tree will ache
with sweetness for you in the sunlight that arrives
April 29, 2024
Я всё-таки не могу воспринимать поэзию без рифмы, а тут ещё к тому же большая часть сборника - какая-то претенциозная ерунда.
October 3, 2024
Unfortunately this collection was not what I expected. It could be subtitled: "Anthology of poets famous for other reasons try their hand at nature writing." Unlike other reviewers, I didn't like the inclusion of each poet's biography/accolades right beside their poem. The collection quickly felt like a "who's who" of "important" people, a very human construct that was at odds with a collection that claimed to return poetry to the natural world. The biographies competed for attention with the poems due to their length and density and felt like a distraction from the tone the poems were trying to portray.
The biographical juxtaposition also suggests that the poets got to be included because of their prior reputations, rather than because of their experience as nature poets. I find that selection process disappointing. There are many, many "minor" poets that have written much better poems that could have been promoted by this collection, which would have been refreshing in comparison to what felt like a pretentious attempt to signal who's currently important in the field of poetry under the guise of a writing prompt. Probably no surprise, but I returned this book.
The biographical juxtaposition also suggests that the poets got to be included because of their prior reputations, rather than because of their experience as nature poets. I find that selection process disappointing. There are many, many "minor" poets that have written much better poems that could have been promoted by this collection, which would have been refreshing in comparison to what felt like a pretentious attempt to signal who's currently important in the field of poetry under the guise of a writing prompt. Probably no surprise, but I returned this book.
August 11, 2024
This collection provided a helpful way to learn about contemporary American poets from a range of backgrounds since there are over 50 writers included. I also flagged six poems as ones I absolutely loved or appreciated.
December 3, 2024
Contained approximately 2 poems I enjoyed, also contains one of the worst poems I’ve ever read. All around not impressive or memorable
December 1, 2025
You belong to the world, animal. Deal with it.
This anthology does not contain poems about animals or nature, not in the direct sense. Instead, what you have is more of a centering of the human within nature, as well as decentering humans as most important part of nature. Many different authors describe moments where they feel as part of the world. I've got to say, with such a rather broad topic, I commend the editor, Ada Limon, for collecting poems with a rather similar slant, despite them coming from very diverse authors.
My only real complaint are the biographies before each new poem. I appreciated learning about the authors, but... I didn't learn much except about their accolades and prizes they've won, which matter little to the uninitiated reader. I think a little biography concerning their life, major works and general topics they cover in their poetry would've been much more useful.
Overall, this is a surprisingly pleasant anthology of modern poetry with an environmentalist and pacifist slant. As in any anthology, there were pieces that shone and pieces that really didn't, but I can commend the editor for compiling this collection in a cohesive way. For anyone who wants a light, yet thoughtful read.
Some nice excerpts I really appreciated:
A poem in general of non-intervention and meaninglessness of observation, and a feeling of life passing by whether you do something about it or not. I appreciated these lines. By Donika Kelly.
what I am looking for doesn't matter.
that I am looking doesn't matter.
I exert no meaning.
Victoria Chang on dissociation and the detachment of the natural.
[..]At first, I thought
the eagle was watching me. Then I realized the
eagle was my life watching me. The distance between my
life and myself had become too far. Because of my
desire to find a way out of my life.[..]
Khadijah Queen on fear and giving up. I think this was an interesting turn on on the topic. Overcoming fear also requires giving something up and is somehow an act of loss. Never though of it that way.
[..]Step
over the snake instead, realize
both living and dying require giving up.
Jose Olivarez, on life passing by and being disconnected from your ancestors and land. I thought the last line was poignant.
[..]i turn
to the trees for relief & they say nah!
don't look at us. you don't even know our names.
you don't even know the difference between
an oak tree & a maple tree. It's true:
my relationship with (love) (nature) (money)
(fill in the blank) is like my relationship to weather -
I only see it when it's pouring on my head.
One of my favorites of this entire collection, by Ilya Kaminsky. What a great snapshot of a moment in time.
LETTERS
Rain has eaten 1/4 of me
yet I believe
against all evidence
these raindrops
are my letters of recommendation
here is a man worth falling on.
Carl Phillips writes on the intimate and private.
What's the point, now,
of crying, when you've cried
already, he said, as if he'd
never thought, or been told -
and perhaps he hadn't-
Write down something
that doesn't have to matter,
that still matters,
to you. [..]
Ellen Bass on the next generation, and caring about how your grandchildren will live on this planet.
She's almost two. I'm seventy-five.
I won't be here when the worst
of what's coming comes. I think about it
and then I try not to think about it.
And then I try to think
because if we don't- but I can hardly grasp it.
Hanif Abdurraqib on doing seemingly pointless things again and again just for a chance for a change. Reminds me of Hemingway's lines in Old Man and the Sea, where the old man talks about casting lines and waiting for luck to strike. Being prepared for a lucky moment.
[..] but it is like me to imagine the spider
believes itself a failure what with its dance from corner to
corner
its web eclipsing more & more of the woodwork with each passing day
& still nothing to show for it but another night of tearing down
& rebuilding & another mornign of light stumbling into a window laughing
at the barren web which is a plea a moan a disaster of a lonely maze
[..]
I make the bed in the mornings now every day
it looks like new again like no one has ever been in it
April 28, 2024
I bought this a couple of weeks ago and finally got to spend time with it today. Diverse. Intellectual. Complex. It’s even better than what I imagined it would be. I will return to it again and again!
March 17, 2025
this book smells like fresh morning dew on a spring field and honey and cherry blossoms 🌼 such a lovely hug to the soul
“Now the tips of the live oaks softly brush the tips of the hackberry canopy.
I would like to believe in tenderness.”
“(…) and the rivers
will set their stones and ribbons at your door if only
you'll let the world soften you with its touching.”
“Now the tips of the live oaks softly brush the tips of the hackberry canopy.
I would like to believe in tenderness.”
“(…) and the rivers
will set their stones and ribbons at your door if only
you'll let the world soften you with its touching.”
December 8, 2024
3/5
50 poems with a sprinkle of the cover art as page filler.
I don't know what I expected, but I didn't get it? This is a beautiful idea, a call to nature and life outside, but the poems didn't capture what I believed Ada Limón to have said in her introduction and explanation of this collection. Honestly, by the end, I forgot I was reading a book of "Poetry in the Natural World" as it was just... poetry.
I enjoyed 10 poems out of the 50 in this collection.
"Eat" by Joy Harjo
"A Woman with a Bird" by Victoria Chang
"An Inn for the Coven" by Gabrielle Calvocoressi
"We Love in the Only Ways We Can" by Carl Phillips
"There Are More Ways to Show Devotion" by Hanif Abdurraqib
"Night Shift in the Home For Convalescents" by Carolyn Forché
"To Think of Italy while Climbing the Saunders-Monticello Trail" by Kiki Petrosino
"Heliophilia" by Aimee Nezhukumatathil
"To Little Black Girls, Risking Flower" by Patricia Smith,
"Aia i hea ka wai o Laihaina?" by Brandy Nālani McDougall, Dana Naone Hall, and No'u Revilla
"Aia i hea ka wai o Laihaina?" was my favourite of the whole collection.
I enjoyed the poet bios, I didn't really like the awkward cover art being used as a page filler because sometimes it was really disjointed and random and it's just not my style in the least, but I understand their format reasonings. Overall, all the poets are clearly good and distinguished in many ways, but it wasn't for me. I found some poets that I will try to read more of, and I suppose that's the true aim of these types of collections, right?
Thankful for my local library for carrying this book! Check your local library for copies!
50 poems with a sprinkle of the cover art as page filler.
I don't know what I expected, but I didn't get it? This is a beautiful idea, a call to nature and life outside, but the poems didn't capture what I believed Ada Limón to have said in her introduction and explanation of this collection. Honestly, by the end, I forgot I was reading a book of "Poetry in the Natural World" as it was just... poetry.
I enjoyed 10 poems out of the 50 in this collection.
"Eat" by Joy Harjo
"A Woman with a Bird" by Victoria Chang
"An Inn for the Coven" by Gabrielle Calvocoressi
"We Love in the Only Ways We Can" by Carl Phillips
"There Are More Ways to Show Devotion" by Hanif Abdurraqib
"Night Shift in the Home For Convalescents" by Carolyn Forché
"To Think of Italy while Climbing the Saunders-Monticello Trail" by Kiki Petrosino
"Heliophilia" by Aimee Nezhukumatathil
"To Little Black Girls, Risking Flower" by Patricia Smith,
"Aia i hea ka wai o Laihaina?" by Brandy Nālani McDougall, Dana Naone Hall, and No'u Revilla
"Aia i hea ka wai o Laihaina?" was my favourite of the whole collection.
I enjoyed the poet bios, I didn't really like the awkward cover art being used as a page filler because sometimes it was really disjointed and random and it's just not my style in the least, but I understand their format reasonings. Overall, all the poets are clearly good and distinguished in many ways, but it wasn't for me. I found some poets that I will try to read more of, and I suppose that's the true aim of these types of collections, right?
Thankful for my local library for carrying this book! Check your local library for copies!
August 15, 2025
A collection of unique poems about different relationships to nature: immediate five stars from me. Intro was amazing. I’m a new poetry reader so several of the selected poems went totally over my head oops. But I loved “I am learning to find the horizons of peace” (Prageeta Sharma), “Remembering a honeymoon hike near drakes bay” (Camille Dungy) and “Staircase” (Jason Schneiderman).
March 23, 2025
The voices are various. I found the collection less interesting as poetry of the natural world than as a pointer toward poets whose works I may enjoy.
May 8, 2024
Sometimes you just have to stop everything and read some poetry. This collection of nature poems by a wide variety of contemporary poets, is, overall, quite wonderful. The very first one, "You belong to the World" by Carrie Fountain is divine, but there are others which really shine, too. Some don't reallly speak to me,but that's to be expected, isn't it? Sometimes you just have to read some poems.
January 28, 2025
I liked the idea of this collection, but to me it was not executed the way I would have liked to see.
I did not enjoy the introductions of each author, I thought it was unnecessary and distracted from from the whole concept as I understood it. It made the collection feel very disingenuous and forced.
A lot of the poems focused on social issues, which seemed at odds with the theme as well, some of these in question were executed well and I enjoyed them, but others were a trainwreck of a read.
(the poem where the guy blames an American Christian woman on a plane for wildfires in another country while standing outside his house? Why was this poem in here? It was more focused on this man's misplaced self-righteouness and the concept of figuring out what to say long after a conversation is over than about nature.)
There was only a handful I enjoyed, those that actually understood the supposed theme of the collection were few and far between.
I did not enjoy the introductions of each author, I thought it was unnecessary and distracted from from the whole concept as I understood it. It made the collection feel very disingenuous and forced.
A lot of the poems focused on social issues, which seemed at odds with the theme as well, some of these in question were executed well and I enjoyed them, but others were a trainwreck of a read.
(the poem where the guy blames an American Christian woman on a plane for wildfires in another country while standing outside his house? Why was this poem in here? It was more focused on this man's misplaced self-righteouness and the concept of figuring out what to say long after a conversation is over than about nature.)
There was only a handful I enjoyed, those that actually understood the supposed theme of the collection were few and far between.
August 10, 2024
"are you as exhausted / as I am from grieving the planet? Tell me what I'm supposed to say / about the end of the world. Tell me how to not be hysterical every time / I see what's coming."
December 10, 2024
This is the equivalent of Ada Limón asking 50 poets to touch grass
Personally favorites are “To a Blossoming Saguaro” and “You Must Be Present”
Personally favorites are “To a Blossoming Saguaro” and “You Must Be Present”
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May 6, 2025I feel like I can’t really rate poetry collections because there were some poems that I loved and some poems that I didn’t. So here is a list of some of the ones I loved- just in case I want to go back.
- I AM LEARNING TO FIND THE HORIZONS OF PEACE —Prageeta Sharma
- NO ETHICAL TRANSITION UNDER LATE CAPITALISM —Torrin A. Greathouse
- DARKLING I LISTEN —Adam Clay
- STAIRCASE —Jason Schneiderman
- TO THINK OF ITALY WHILE CLIMBING THE SAUNDERS-MONTICELLO TRAIL —Kiki Petrosino
- TWENTY MINUTES IN THE BACKYARD —Alberto Ríos
And
- LETTERS —Ilya Kaminsky
Rain has eaten 1/4 of me
yet I believe
against all evidence
these raindrops
are my letters of recommendation
here is a man worth falling on.
———
(I included it in my review because it was short!)
- I AM LEARNING TO FIND THE HORIZONS OF PEACE —Prageeta Sharma
- NO ETHICAL TRANSITION UNDER LATE CAPITALISM —Torrin A. Greathouse
- DARKLING I LISTEN —Adam Clay
- STAIRCASE —Jason Schneiderman
- TO THINK OF ITALY WHILE CLIMBING THE SAUNDERS-MONTICELLO TRAIL —Kiki Petrosino
- TWENTY MINUTES IN THE BACKYARD —Alberto Ríos
And
- LETTERS —Ilya Kaminsky
Rain has eaten 1/4 of me
yet I believe
against all evidence
these raindrops
are my letters of recommendation
here is a man worth falling on.
———
(I included it in my review because it was short!)
June 10, 2024
I love nature poetry, and this collection edited by one of my favorite poets did not disappoint. I read some outstanding works by favorite poets, and found some new writers I hope to check out as well. Here were my favorites of this collection:
past favorite poets
- an inn for the coven by Gabrielle Calvocoressi
- aerial view by Jericho Brown
- Heliophilia by Aimee Nezhukumatahil
new-to-me poets
- nature, which cannot be driven to by Dianne Seuss
- you must be present by Jose Olivarez
- night shift in the home for convalescents by Carolyn Forche
- staircase by Jason Scheniderman
- reasons to live by Ruth Awad
past favorite poets
- an inn for the coven by Gabrielle Calvocoressi
- aerial view by Jericho Brown
- Heliophilia by Aimee Nezhukumatahil
new-to-me poets
- nature, which cannot be driven to by Dianne Seuss
- you must be present by Jose Olivarez
- night shift in the home for convalescents by Carolyn Forche
- staircase by Jason Scheniderman
- reasons to live by Ruth Awad
January 25, 2025
I expect anthologies like "You Are Here" to be a mixed bag; I'll really enjoy some, dislike some, and some I won't get. No so with Ada Limon's "You Are Here." I enjoyed every piece. Naturally, I liked some more than others but they were all worth the time. I think "Letters" was my favorite.
A couple of these pieces read more like short stories to me. No matter, really, I suppose. But not what I expected. The poems tend more toward humans' sensibilities about the natural world rather than a portrayal of that world. A "you are part of the natural world" sensibility rules.
This collection is filled with grace and beauty, the natural world and the best parts of humanity.
A couple of these pieces read more like short stories to me. No matter, really, I suppose. But not what I expected. The poems tend more toward humans' sensibilities about the natural world rather than a portrayal of that world. A "you are part of the natural world" sensibility rules.
This collection is filled with grace and beauty, the natural world and the best parts of humanity.
Read
April 4, 2025After reading another nonfiction book and having that reminder to be aware of how important it is to be connected to nature and this was another reminder of that–though also a little more devastating at times.
As this was part of the a big read on Libby, I did get the audio as I could find the ebook (guess what I found after I finished it of course). I will say that the audio wasn't the best way for me to really absorb these poems. There was no breathing room or pause between the poems which had them all blend together for me.
So, I am going to read the ebook so I can really absorb the poems and what they want to get across. Will update the review then.
As this was part of the a big read on Libby, I did get the audio as I could find the ebook (guess what I found after I finished it of course). I will say that the audio wasn't the best way for me to really absorb these poems. There was no breathing room or pause between the poems which had them all blend together for me.
So, I am going to read the ebook so I can really absorb the poems and what they want to get across. Will update the review then.
xx-dnf-skim-reference
October 2, 2025October 2025
Unfortunately these were too difficult for me. I'm better at reading Billy Collins, Mary Oliver, Langston Hughes. These were about spirituality, grief, nostalgia... I think.
I like the title & concept of one, Heliophilia.
And a line from the middle-ish of another, by Paisley Rekdal
Always
is not a word
we are allowed
to use anymore about
anything
Unfortunately these were too difficult for me. I'm better at reading Billy Collins, Mary Oliver, Langston Hughes. These were about spirituality, grief, nostalgia... I think.
I like the title & concept of one, Heliophilia.
And a line from the middle-ish of another, by Paisley Rekdal
Always
is not a word
we are allowed
to use anymore about
anything
September 24, 2025
An exquisite collection. Life-giving! Rates up there with Here: Poems for the Planet which I also loved. Erika Meitner’s Manifestor of Fragility / Terraform, which begins with lichen and ends with resistance is representative of the quality and themes. I loved this quote "always on the verge/of flowering/into a future/that will not reliably come" from Paisley Rekdals’ poem Taking the Magnolia. I loved Jason Schneiderman’s Staircase, and, of course, Canine Superpowers by Michael Kleber-Diggs.
The collection ends with Reasons to Live by Ruth Awad. A beautifully collected and organized anthology. This volume itself may be a reason to live.
The collection ends with Reasons to Live by Ruth Awad. A beautifully collected and organized anthology. This volume itself may be a reason to live.
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