Twelve Moons is a collection of poetry by Mary Oliver that celebrates the natural world and the cyclical rhythms of life. I have no skill when it comes to analysing poetry. I enjoy reading it, but most of the time I have little to no understanding of what is being said. However, even if I don’t always grasp the deeper meaning behind the words, I still find them beautiful. A brief visit to Google tells me that Oliver's work is known for its deep reverence for the natural world, and Twelve Moons is definitely no exception, with readers being swept into the scenes Oliver describes so prettily. Don’t think this is just a collection of nature poems, though. Oliver skilfully weaves vivid descriptions of the natural world with themes of death, grief, and suicide, and an exploration of the spiritual and emotional connections between humans and nature.

My top 5 picks from this collection:

1. Beaver Moon – The Suicide of a Friend
2. Strawberry Moon
3. At Blackwater Pond
4. Worm Moon
5. Poem for my Father’s Ghost

These may be my top five, but choosing these from the selection on offer was a difficult task. There really are a lot of wonderful poems in this collection. Overall, Twelve Moons is a captivating celebration of the natural world and the intricate tapestry of life's rhythms and a testament to Oliver’s skill with words. Poetry fans should definitely check it out. ( )

I forget sometimes how very personal poetry can be. That while I can recognize the strength of its words and admire the way those words hold on to one another, I may not connect with their purpose or even manage to find meaning when I peer inside them.

I found all of the poems in Twelve Moons striking, but there were a handful that I could not understand, that seemed contained so completely by their author that they almost weren't designed for a reader's consumption at all. And some, though I gathered their meaning and understood their themes, I found uncomfortable---morbid without sparking deeper thought or out-of-season with my own experience of woman-ness.

And yet, there were a handful of poems that seemed almost to reach out for me. That spoke thoughts I recognized and encouraged dreams and ponderings that enrich my life. For these, I enjoyed Twelve Moons, and while it was not a wholly consuming experience, I'd like to sample more of Mary Oliver's work. ( )

https://shawjonathan.com/2019/01/28/mary-olivers-twenty-moons/ ( )

Twelve Moons by Mary Oliver is her fourth collection and as always nature is front and center. But above all this collection is about transformation and by extension the journey of life. Parallels are drawn between the grief humans feel and the changing seasons and the self-confidence of nature as it is seen in humans as mere glimpses or slivers of the moon.

“And sometimes, for a moment,/you feel it beginning — the sense/of escape sharp as a knife-blade/hangs over the dark field/of your body, and your soul/waits just under the skin/to leap away over the water./” (From At Blackwater Pond, page 49)

Oliver’s love of nature and awe of it transcends her lines and these pages, tapping into readers’ sense of childlike wonder about the world. It reminds us that there is a greater world beyond the meetings, the email, and the stress of our lives — a world where things can just be and live. Beyond the sense of wonderment is an air of caution about how we interact with this natural world and how we are at times the enemy.

Read the full review: http://savvyverseandwit.com/2010/08/twelve-moons-by-mary-oliver.html ( )

I love Mary Oliver when I am spending too much time in the city. Her nature writing brings me into a lovely and natural world. ( )