Thoreau’s Cabin, by Ashley Lyn Olson, is a new nature-themed poetry collection, with gorgeous imagery and a real sense of freedom.

Nature is such a classic theme for poetry. It makes sense that so many poets from all different cultures, centuries, and personal backgrounds are struck by moments in nature, and want to share those experiences with readers.  Good nature poetry can celebrate the beauty, wildness, and complexity of the natural world, and nature poets often consider our place in the natural world. For many readers, these poems can connect us with the wild freedom of the natural environment or with particularly beautiful details, especially when we can’t experience that firsthand.

For me, a successful nature poem includes imagery, especially beautiful images or details that remind the reader of their own experiences. In this collection, Olson uses so many sensory details to set the scene, encouraging readers to mentally visit these seasons and locations. Some poems namecheck specific places, while others focus on the freedom of time spent in nature.  I particularly enjoyed images of Hawaii, of course, images of mountains and mountain streams that evoked summer in the Ozarks for me, and of moments of changing seasons. The author often focuses on small signs of life, like a single butterfly, an individual bird, or a spring rain returning. One of the real joys of a nature walk — or any time outside — is noticing tiny changes in the surrounding environment, and the author shares this through these poems.

(The only poem I disliked was Beautiful Things, which is the lead poem. This felt too much like a writing-class prompt and didn’t match the creativity of the other poems.)

 Some of the poems in Thoreau’s Cabin evoke wild and ever-changing natural scenes. References to Gaia and Pele add to this wildness. But it’s not all overwhelming wildness, nature poetry can also provide a peaceful escape. Some of the poems here evoke the quiet and serenity of a solo nature walk. Readers can retreat into a world of natural beauty through this book.

There’s a theme of cycles in the collection, and this theme worked particularly well for me because the format of the poems changes, too, adding to the feel of different seasons coming and going. The collection has a mix of short and long, rhymed and free verse, and one poem in the form of all questions. By changing the format, the author represents different aspects of nature for readers. For me, personally, there was a mix of familiar scenes, like cold spring rain, along with places I’ve never visited.

This collection encourages readers to think of their own experiences in the wild, and to reflect on wider themes. Seen as a whole, these poems encourage readers to see cycles and shifts in nature, and connect that with our own lives. Nature poetry can also remind us that these cycles and seasons are becoming unbalanced, we constantly hear of once-in-a-century storms and of other freak weather occurring more and more often.  By highlighting the beauty and fragility found in nature, the author invites us to prioritize and value the natural world.