by Mary Oliver
First published 2005
Mary Oliver opens her poetic investigations with simple observations that bloom into spiritual inquiry. She examines green beans in garden rows and wonders about the unnamed presence that watches her accept their gift of sustenance. Her attention moves from humble vegetables to wind and departing birds, reaching toward what she calls "the idea of God." Oliver searches for souls hidden within natural forms through direct observation and quiet meditation. She finds joy in toads, flowers, insects, and bodies of water that surround ordinary days. Her poems grow from experience and careful attention to the world's living things. The collection gathers 42 new works alongside 69 poems chosen from six previous books, spanning nearly five decades of writing. Oliver writes as both student and guide, constantly surprised by what she discovers in her patient watching. Her investigations reveal how all living things diverge and converge in patterns that nourish wonder. The poems move between small revelations and vast questions, always grounded in concrete images from the natural world that Oliver knows intimately.
Genres: nature, 20th-century, poetry, 21st-century
Vibes: emotional, intimate, lyrical, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, student-teacher
Period: 20th-century, 21st-century
178 pages · Hardcover · Beacon Press