Thought That Nature

January 1, 2014
Moody's title pays tribute to Emily Dickinson's poem, I thought that nature was enough. Winner of the Kathryn A. Morton Prize, this is an ambitious and smart first book, in which the poet uses pace and subtle reflections to consider the realities of climate change. The collection begins powerfully, culminating in a 10-section piece, Dear Ghosts. In the ninth poem, So to Say the Sky, Moody brings meditations on weather and nature back to the personal: Either way, what comforts me / most is how my heart / still beats, and how somewhere / something is listening. In the middle section, Moody offers a fitting and compelling interpretation of the Lewis and Clark expedition, Lancaster County Notebook: How to begin / How to write / about a place / uninhabited. In all, Moody has written a timely collection that questions the state of the climate and the biosphere and humanity's place within and impact upon it.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)