Publisher: Penguin Press

Publication Date: October 11, 2012

Pages: 82

Genre: Poetry

Rating: 5/5

This short collection of poems was my first Mary Oliver work that I have read and it has sparked such a love of her that I have been seeking out her work ever since. A Thousand Mornings evokes the beauty and the magic of nature when the world is beginning to awaken. I was utterly captivated by the vivid imagery of Oliver’s writing, her easy personification of nature and her sincere way of talking about life and death . I started reading this book on a camping trip my family and I took last month and it felt so special to be experiencing these poems in the midst of beautiful trees with the sweet sounds of birds. I finished reading it after we came home and while it wasn’t quite as a remarkable reading circumstance I still found the remaining poems incredibly moving. I have too many favorite numerous poems but I did want to make note of a couple of them:

Hum Hum: This is a difficult but powerful poem to read. Trigger Warning for rape.

The Morning Paper: This was published eight years ago but it is probably more relevant now.

“For some things there are no wrong seasons. Which is what I dream of for me.”

“It’s impossible not to remember wild and want it back.”

~Cassie