Night Owl

In Night Owl, Nezhukumatathil offers nocturnal nature poetry. Is it even possible to capture the incomprehensible beauty and awe of our wild universe? Past poets have produced a great effort: Mary Oliver, Robert Frost, Ralph Waldo Emerson, etc. Although Aimee Nezhukumatahil enters this conversation with some nice reflections, her poems didn’t always ensnare me in this collection.

She takes us on a fun nighttime safari of various poetic forms: abecedarian, ars poetica, haibun, invective, ode, etc. One of these forms is carmina figurata, or “a poem that employs a shape using the words themselves,” as she describes. These poems that play with form feel gimmicky rather than adding substance through structure. The language and similes in the poem “Big Night,” for example, are enjoyable. It could do completely without the lines being strung together in an outward spiral that forces you to spin the book while reading. Of course, it doesn’t make it a great pain to read, but it also doesn’t add anything meaningful to the experience.

My complaints are small. After all, the intention of appreciating nature through mindful language is commendable and praiseworthy in and of itself. Pleasant nature poetry is growing in this well-meaning collection.