A Book on Poetry on the Natural World

You Are Here: Poetry in the Natural World is published with the Library of Congress and edited by the Poet Laureate of the United States,  a collection of poems reflecting our relationship with nature, by 50 celebrated contemporary writers.

Each poem engages with the author’s local landscape – from the breath-taking variety of flora in a national park to a lone tree flowering by a bus stop.

Poems are like trees. They let us breathe together. In each line break or stanza, there’s a place for us to breathe. Not unlike a forest, poems can be a place to stop and remember that we too are living.

W.S. Merwin wrote in his poem ‘Place’ that ‘On the last day of the world, I would want to plant a tree’. I think I would add that I would also like to write a poem. Maybe I’d even write a poem about a tree?’

About the Editor

Ada Ada Limón is an American poet. In 2022, she was named the 24th Poet Laureate of the United States by the Librarian of Congress. This made her the first Latina to be Poet Laureate of the USA.