Night Owl: Poems

by Aimee Nezhukumatathil

From the New York Times bestselling author of World of Wonders and Bite by Bite, Aimee Nezhukumatathil’s fifth collection of poetry explores love, nature, and the transformative powers of the night.

In her latest poetry collection, Aimee Nezhukumatathil plumbs the depths of nighttime, crafting a series of nocturnes that explore the magic, sensuality, and life that emerge as the rest of the world goes to bed.

Night Owl navigates questions and concerns for the environment that envelops us. It meditates on our connections to family and beloveds, and explores our position within the broader beauty of the planet. Just as the night transforms how we see things, love in its many forms shifts our understanding of togetherness and the natural world. And these poems are deeply suffused with love—each an expression of Nezhukumatathil’s captivating responses to the animals, plants, and people who have her heart and enliven her world.

Night Owl presents a dazzling vision of nature that celebrates the beautiful noises and silences of this planet, as well as its many complications. Nezhukumatathil provides a singular contribution to writing on the natural world, calling on our sense of love—even in the face of increasing violence to one another and the environment—by focusing on the revolutionary impact of the dark.

Genres: Poetry, Nature, Nonfiction, Animals, Audiobook

128 pages, Hardcover

First published March 31, 2026

About the author

author of WORLD OF WONDERS: IN PRAISE OF FIREFLIES, WHALE SHARKS, AND OTHER ASTONISHMENTS (Milkweed 2020), and four collections of poetry, most recently, OCEANIC (Copper Canyon, 2018). Professor of English and Glitter, University of Mississippi.

Reviews

[Hallie]

The nocturnal imagery made me wistful—a longing I have for nighttime:

“I do my finest listening in the dark.
My best friend has always been ink
and she lets me talk so much at night.”

“Turn off the hiss and whir from man-made lights and walk the night,
Walk the grass, the fence line, let your boot crackle over pebble and stick bits.”

How Nezhukumatathil parallels eternal love with nature:

“Over the years, my feelings for you are a tweeblaarkanniedood— a plant that never dies. The leaves just grow and sprout, some growing older than catfish, older than cenotes.”

Optimism in the form of fireflies:

“Fireflies spend most of their brief life as larvae after all, covered under leaf litter, gathering up food during the winter to gain strength. Do not worry if this is not your season. It will come. I am certain of it. It will come. In the world of fireflies, that quiet is called the larval stage. And one of the gabillion kajillion magical things about fireflies? Don't forget-even their larvae glow.”

[Lauren M]

Beautiful, rich imagery exploring powerful themes of nature, nighttime, climate, and love. I enjoyed the variety in length and style; there were few poetic forms that were new to me, and I appreciated the author’s explanations in the afterword. And I think this is the first time that I’ve read an abecedarian that didn’t feel overly labored (Hummingbird Abecedarian https://poets.org/poem/hummingbird-ab...). “First Time Brushing Teeth Next to You,” “Nocturne for Dark Things,” “Pluto Haibun,” and “Prayer While Waiting at My Airport Gate” were a few other favorites.

[katy]

read this in one sitting! so good!

side note: i was overzealous at the library this week and for way too many poetry collections which is why i’ve been speeding through them this week. hubris thy name is katy.

my favorites:
- punctuation
- big night
- southern nocturne
- when i was a vampire
- this is not a sad sight

[Daffodils_and_books]

My disclaimer for poetry reviews is that poetry is so subjective. Unfortunately, Night Owl just wasn’t for me. The structure of a lot of the poems were confusing and it didn’t feel cohesive.

Thank you to Ecco for a gifted copy of the ebook.

[Amanda]

Favorite poems were the ones about motherhood. Those made me cry.

[Book Riot Community]

Book Riot’s Best Books of 2026 (So Far)

The arrival of a new poetry collection from Nezhukumatathil, author of the bestselling World of Wonders and Bite by Bite, calls for confetti. Featuring four sections from “Crepuscule” to “The Darkest Hour Is Just Before Dawn,” it showcases heaps of poetic forms: abecedarian, epistle, haibun, ode, and zuihitsu, among others. Delving into joy, love, motherhood, nature, and time, this transportive work takes readers to Arches National Park, the Jardin du Palais-Royal, an airport gate, and the ocean floor. How I hope you travel through these stirring poems. A few I keep journeying back to include “Big Night,” “Firefly Nocturne,” and “Scorpion.”

- Connie Pan

[Carey]

Aimee Nezhukumatathil is one of my favorite poets for a reason and this collection was an excellent reminder of why her work continues to bring me so much joy! Night Owl is a love letter to those who live in the margins of the night and to the ways darkness can restore, reframe, and even sustain us. Across the collection, she explores the thoughts that surface in sleepless hours, the tendency to associate darkness with fear or negativity, and the beauty of nocturnal creatures who thrive in what is often misunderstood as absence. There is also a recurring tenderness in her attention to rest itself, and the safety and intimacy we seek at night or in sleep. As someone who feels most productive and reflective at night, I really felt that I could relate to many of the themes explored here. It was both a beautiful and atmospheric read - especially as I read it at night on my patio on a cool summer evening!

Thank you to the publisher, Ecco Press, for an e-ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions shared in this review are my own!

[Kris]

It had been a while since I last read poetry, and I thoroughly enjoyed and appreciated this book. I loved the references and themes of the night—nature, animals, and nocturnal thoughts and routines. I also appreciated how she drew from nostalgic memories, life experiences, and motherhood. Some poems resonated more deeply than others, but in the best way.

[uma]

3.5⭐️

[Jessica Haider]

Aimee Nezhukumatathil has a gift for making the natural world feel both intimate and wondrous, and Night Owl is filled with that magic. These poems linger in the quiet hours, exploring family, love, animals, plants, and the beauty of darkness with curiosity and tenderness. Some pieces landed more strongly than others for me, but the collection as a whole left me feeling more attentive to the world around me. Lush, thoughtful, and deeply observant, this is a poetry collection best savored slowly.

[Rebecca]

3.5 stars. I am thankful for the author's note about the types of poems, though I wish it had been at the beginning rather than the end. I enjoyed reading this collection of poems. My favorites were the various Carmina Figurata and Ars Poetica. I also enjoyed First Time Brushing Teeth Next to You and Postcard From The Jardin Du Palais-Royal. Even when reading poems that didn't quite speak to me there was imagery or lines that I found inventive and moving. I tend to prefer other styles of poetry more than her styles, but I am glad I read it. There were some wonderful gems in here. Her love of family and nature comes through on every page. I just wish I had felt more while reading these poems. The most powerful ones were her invectives. Her best poem though was probably Arches National Park Sunset Haibun. I felt like I was scrabbling along that rock face with her.

[Scott Kuffel]

A very nice mix of nocturnes and feminist writing. A poem on Motherhood near the end was particularly powerful.

[Jamie Johnson Leach]

Beautiful poetry 💜

[jordanliketheriver]

DNF p. 14. Couldn’t get into it, didn’t make sense to me. I’m the problem in this case so don’t feel comfortable rating.

[Kayla]

Y'all, I LOVED it. This collection builds on her previous poetry, but is still be accessible to her essay readers because her voice really shines though in these poems. So if you are new to her poetry, you can absolutely start with this collection. Throughout this book there is a focus on the magic of what happens when the sky turns dark. We read along through the past into the present; the evolution of the speaker becoming. Aimee's wit, strength, love of family, and wonder of the natural world are themes I love being able to return to in her books. The experiences of being a woman, a mother, and a daughter. This book felt a bit more fierce than her others, but in the best possible way. There is a strength rooted in being exactly who you are, and noticing the world around us while speaking the truth of what is noticed, and she does it with precision, with heart. To call something exactly what it is. To admire something for existing authentically. And if Aimee has taught us anything it's that we can wonder at the natural world while respecting that it's anything but tame. The speaker of these poems embraces the beauty in the fierceness. I love the different forms included here, and that she has a note about the different types at the end. If you are looking for nature poems that incorporate flora and fauna, while also reaching into the heart (dare I say soul) so that readers can realize their own humanity, and their own connection to this big beautiful world, pick this one up. There is so much to be recognized after the sun goes down.

[Cheryl]

The last time Polaris looked this way and was surrounded by all its friends in the mountains means this park will bend light if we face west. Nothing prepares you for the size of the arch the wild bend and blow this arch of stone from a time Alamosaurus and Tyrannosaurus rex clomped around.

Do not worry if this is not your season. It will come. I am certain of it. It will come. In the world of fireflies, that quiet is called the larval stage. And one of the gabillion kajillion magical things about fireflies? Don’t forget—even their larvae glow.

I read this right before seeing the new Mary Oliver film, Saved by the Beauty of the World, and this poet is in her lineage with her deep gift for seeing the world fully and helping us notice it, the trait I think most makes us human. Aimee Nezhukumatathil addresses motherhood and racism, which adds a layer that is needed so we can center and amplify her voice, it’s not all roses and rainbows. Really beautiful poems with power and joy and pain in a tapestry.

NOCTURNE FOR DARK THINGS
I do my finest listening in the dark. My best friend has always been ink and she lets me talk so much at night.

When I was a kid, I used to worry over so many bugs and moths slamming into our windshield. My sons have never known that concern, which is another kind of worry. But dark marvels still bloom and snick the soil, swim the oceans and air—
and even on the moon: wide, flat plains are called seas, lakes, and marshes. Bays are named Joy, named Sorrow, named Hope, named Nectar, named Softness, named Serpent, named Stickiness, named Tranquility, named Clouds, named Sleep, and my favorite—named Love.

FIREFLY ARS POETICA
I prefer no music, save the times I can hear my own heart slam underneath my blouse. I prefer writing everything by pencil: the shhh-shhh-shhh of the lead on the page & the satisfying scritch of crossing out feels like I’m making something.

One thing to remember: sometimes you are in a quiet season. Sometimes you can hear the patter of a leaf (or three) muttering at your feet. Maybe you read or scoop & sieve books for later. Fireflies spend most of their brief life as larvae after all, covered under leaf litter, gathering up food during the winter to gain strength. Do not worry if this is not your season. It will come. I am certain of it. It will come. In the world of fireflies, that quiet is called the larval stage. And one of the gabillion kajillion magical things about fireflies? Don’t forget—even their larvae glow.

ARCHES NATIONAL PARK SUNSET HAIBUN
The last time Polaris looked this way and was surrounded by all its friends in the mountains means this park will bend light if we face west. Nothing prepares you for the size of the arch the wild bend and blow this arch of stone from a time Alamosaurus and Tyrannosaurus rex clomped around.

PRAISE OF THE BUMBLE BEE ATLAS: A ZUIHITSU
When bumble bees buzz near tomato flowers, the flowers release pollen because of the vibration. The result is a veritable disco party with thrown pollen lights like from a mirror ball dangling in the garden. How does a queen become a queen? Who among the blue hyssop, prairie clover, beardtongue, tick trefoil, scarlet globemallow, vetch, and bergamot decides?

FIREFLY NOCTURNE
I never feared the dark. I welcomed it, let it rush into my unbuttoned blouse. When I was a girl, I learned the light of a firefly signals summer. Signals heart. Bare skin. There is a certain sparkle of beetles that knows how to blink in synchronicity—a visual heartbeat in the darkest owl-filled atria of a forest. Once, we held our own universe

in the morning rain. And like the firefly, I’ve mistaken too many cars too many street and porch lights for small moons. In late spring, the first branchlets of bee balm and calendula color the air. Eventually peeping frogs shiver awake when it turns warm again. When we are old, I hope the firefly conversation we have still thumps and thumps. I hope it’s still green-gold.

[ritareadthat]

Ode to a night owl.

They stay up late, unfettered from the glare of sun or some,

People. The calm is likely a balm,
To the weary soul, overwhelmed by
Stimuli penetrating the eye.

The nighttime is the right time. The silence is silent.The darkness is the space where ideas expand and breathe.

I do not have formal training as a poet. Or even a writer. I just put words onto paper (or screen) in a way that they make sense to me. Sometimes what I write sounds funny to me in my head as I'm thinking it; sometimes it sounds sad or serious, but all of the time I feel like I am misunderstood. I don't know if that happens for everyone else or not. Often I think I'm a diamond in the rough; at other times, I feel like maybe I'm just like everybody else. Self-deprecation is not my intent, but it can be misconstrued as such.

What I do know for certain is that Aimee Nezhukumatathil, author here of Night Owl: Poems, DOES know a thing or two about writing. She's won awards, has degrees, and is even a professor of English. She also has some intensely keen insight into the natural world around us. Her expertise is transparent in this collection.

Nature. The environment and its crisis. Motherhood. The South. Nighttime.

These are the main topics you will find threaded throughout the book, with nature, I feel, being the predominant color binding the entire book together. I do love her thoughts on nighttime, and in the first paragraph of the author's note at the end, she elucidates her connection to the night. "Night owl" 🦉 has so many meanings, and in this case, I find myself similar to our author in that she does most of her writing at night. I am my most creative between midnight and 4am, so I can highly relate. Many of my best book ruminations occur during this time.

This is a lovely collection with a variety of poetic forms utilized. (The author gives explanations at the end of the book for each form, which I found incredibly helpful and prompted me to revisit a few.) As with any collection—whether it be poetry, short stories, or essays—I connected with some poems more than others; I think that if you look closely at the tabs in my photos of the book, you will see that there are more than a few that spoke to me.

This song, for that's what I feel like a good poetry collection is, reverberates with the screech of the night owl. It's remembering the land, it's young, and what it needs to do to protect both. Survival is an instinct that is inherent in all of us, human and animal, a common behavior that can blossom or wither depending on environment. What Aimee sings to us here, with her words, is a hope for change, tightly bound to its catalyst of action, and a recognition of the beauty and its sometimes ineffability that is all around us.

Many thanks to Ecco for the ARC in exchange for my honest thoughts!




03/28/26: Initial Thoughts: Lovely collection with a variety of poetic forms utilized. (The author gives explanations at the end of the book for each form, which I found incredibly helpful and prompted me to revisit a few.)

Nature. Motherhood. The South. Nighttime.

These are the main themes you will find threaded throughout the book, with nature, I feel, being the predominant color binding the entire book together. I do love her thoughts on nighttime, and in the first paragraph of the Author Note at the end she elucidates her connection to the night. Night Owl 🦉 has so many meanings and in this case, I find myself similar to our author here, she does most of her writing at night. I am my most creative between midnight and 4am, so I can highly relate.

[Dan]

My thanks to Goodeads and Ecco for an advance copy of this collection of poetry that deals with the night, the dark, the soul and what we might be leaving behind.

I have a hard time sleeping. I always have, and probably always will. So I spend a lot of time looking out the window at night, watching the solar lights slowly die, the trees moving in the wind, the animals making noises. I think about the past, my day, the future, and even what the night might look like for my nephews. What will change in the sky, what will the moonlight be like. Even will there be a night for them to observe. Many of these thoughts came to me while reading this collection, Night Owl: Poems by best-selling author Aimee Nezhukumatathil, captures the time between midnight and 4 am perfectly. The beauty, the unsettling fears, and even the cries of nature.

The collection has works that range in size and length, and even in form. The themes are about the night, the creatures that work best at night, those that sleep the night away, and what we as humans think, feel and fear. Nezhukumatathil uses different forms, some in shapes, some in designs, some in drawings to tell her tales, poems that run into each other, some that let the reader decide where to start. Nezhukumatathil has a hand afterword that talks about the different forms, why this style why that one, so one can learn as well as be touched. Nezhukumatathil really captures the feeling of being awake when others aren't, working, playing, fretting, as well as the beauty of moonlight, and the unsettling sounds of creatures of the night.

I really enjoyed this collection. Some poems hit harder than others, some just sailed right by. Your results may vary. One I am toying with texting to someone I haven't talked to in quite awhile. I thought of that person while reading it. This is the first collection of poems I have read by Nezhukumatathil, but I will be looking forward to reading more.

[Alyssa]

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!

2.5 stars.

I think this was just not for me. I think too I was expecting something different than what I got. I never really felt a spark of excitement or connection to most of the poems. It’s not that it was written poorly, I just personally couldn’t get into it.

There were some things I really loved about these poems and I highlighted quite a few lines! Just overall I found it a little hard to get through.

Some of them I really related to. Like the author’s love of summer and the sun. It was in those moments I felt very connected to the poems and thought they were beautiful.

There were some really cool looking poems, like the “Carmina figurata” or the “Tondo” form of poetry the author used, that she explained in her author’s note. The author’s note gave a little more context into the thought process of this book, which I really liked. I just liked how those looked on the page. I don’t think I’ve ever seen ones like some of the ones in this book. “Space Jellyfish: A Parable” and “My Son Reminds Me He Was Listening All Along” were two of my favorite looking poems.

Some of the other things like about motherhood I wasn’t able to relate to. It was very sweet how she talked about her family, but since I don’t have one of my own I couldn’t connect to those poems.

The author wrote about the racism and the horrible things white men would put her through, and that was so sad to read. My heart breaks that she had to go through that.

Some of the poems I couldn’t quite figure out how they connected with the other poems in the book.

I wanted to like this so badly because it seemed like something I would really enjoy, but it just wasn’t quite for me.

The cover is beautiful though, I will give it that!

[Crystal books_inthewild]

This collection completely pulled me in with its vivid imagery, emotional honesty, and deep connection to the natural world.

The poems move across places like national parks, oceans, deserts, and family homes, while exploring themes of climate change, activism, racism, motherhood, immigrant identity, and love.

The poems specifically about nature pulled me in, and I couldn’t help but find connections to my own life & personal memories throughout.

“When I was a girl, I learned the light of a firefly signals summer.”
This line resonated with me so much. My daughter and I spend so much time in our garden, and I’m always so aware of the little seasonal signs. The beetles that appear, the certain buds on bushes, the smell of the soil changing. Those small moments feel magical, and this poem captured that feeling perfectly.

“If you don’t eat a nectarine outdoors while you squint in the sun, and a few drops of juice land on your shirt, can you really say it’s summer.”
For me, that image is a juicy red watermelon. My kids always ends up with stains on their shirts, and it becomes this sweet reminder of a beautiful summer day together.

My favorite poem was “Fool’s Gold,” which reminded me of my own children’s joy in collecting rocks, especially at rock and gem shops during family road trips, and biking and playing with neighborhood kids until we call them all back home. That sense of childhood freedom and discovery felt so authentic.

This is a collection that feels both intimate and expansive. It celebrates the beauty of our planet while also acknowledging the responsibility we have to protect it. Thoughtful, sensory, and deeply personal, I feel like I know Aimee as if I’ve just spent a few hours chatting with her at a coffee shop.

[2raccoonsinacoat]

This was such a lovely collection of easy-to-digest poetry about motherhood, love, and identity that is astutely interwoven with imagery of and a reverence for the natural world.

Nezhukumatathil’s familiarity with the flora and fauna around her was so evident throughout this book. The way she drew on ecological concepts to illuminate very human experiences was amazing and much respected by this back-yard-naturalist. I learned things about nature (firefly larvae glow, bees buzz at a specific vibration to release pollen) and myself (I would also have reservations about bringing a daughter into the world). Most pieces range from light-hearted to gently melancholy, while a few touched on darker concepts like assault and hypervigilance. Several times, she criticizes humanity’s mistreatment of the planet, as when a jellyfish is used to illuminate the environmental impact of space travel. The poetry itself, while not particularly esoteric, captures enough nuance that I think this could be enjoyed by a wide-range of readers interested in poetry and nature.

I do think this book would greatly benefit from illustrations. While I know enough to visualize most of the species described, I could see it being difficult for some to relate to all of the imagery without a visual-aide. I also struggled with most of the calligrams, but this could have been because I was reading an ARC on a Kindle.

Thank you to Ecco/HarperCollins and NetGalley for providing an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

[McKinzie Payton]

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

My biggest takeaway from Night Owl by Aimee Nezhukumatathil is best summed up by a line from "Sometimes I Have Heliophobia":

Don't forget we are animals too

Nezhukumatathil's fifth poetry collection invokes the Earth's rich natural imagery, from hummingbirds and flowers, to coral reefs and the solar system beyond. Her poems explore unique and beautiful pockets of nature; love, not just for her husband but for her family and her friends as well; and her complicated feelings about living in the U.S. as a woman of color.

Nezhukumatathil uses a variety of poetic forms in Night Owl. Haibun is one of my favorite forms, so I was excited to see several throughout the collection. I also had the pleasure of being introduced to zuihitsu, which she used to great effect combining disparate images to form complex ideas (I especially enjoyed "Winter Walks: A Zuihitsu", which manages to compare a Galician octopus farm and mime harassment). Also of note are Nezhukumatathil's carmina figurata, or image poems. Fellow fans of The Poetry Foundation will recognize "Punctuation" and "Space Jellyfish: A Parable".

Night Owl instilled inside me nostalgia for places I've never been and experiences I've never had. It made me want to sit outside and read in the dark and truly experience the night. I think this collection will speak to readers who enjoy Tracy K. Smith, Jericho Brown, and Sylvia Plath's bee poems.

[Annie Hegedus]

Aimee Nezhukumatathil's writing always makes me feel so connected to the natural world and rooted in nature. Her writing is the perfect mashup of art and science. I love that in a single poem she can tie my experiences as a human mother to the animal and plant world around me.

There were a couple of poems in this that fell flat, but the vast majority were really beautiful, moving reflections on what it means to be a person (especially a woman, especially a mother) in the world. So many of them reminded me of the awe I felt as a kid in nature and of the wonder I see on my own kids' faces now when we see something unexpected in nature. Her writing is so descriptive and brings to mind exact memories of being a kid seeing a firefly for the first time and of being a postpartum mom trying to get my kid to nurse in those early weeks and of watching my kids' childhood go so quickly. She covers such a broad spectrum of experiences without it feeling forced.

Poetry is always vulnerable, but I felt like this collection got even more vulnerable than the previous works I've read by her. These poems cover some really beautiful moments but also some really heavy things like racism and assault. Nothing is graphic and it's all so well done, but just a note to be mindful of that if you're considering reading.

This was such a gorgeous collection of poems and hearing the author read them was just an added layer of beauty. Thank you to NetGalley and HarperAudio for the ALC!

[BookChampions]

Aimee Nezhukumatathil writes some of the best poems of wonder about the natural world. She writes of blooming gardens and ocean floors and soaring birds. In a paradoxically similar way that Walt Whitman makes me larger when he yawps, "I contain multitudes," I feel smaller, more humble, when I read Aimee's. The world contains multitudes, and I only know a fraction of it all. And I am only a fraction of it all.
.
Her poems about her sons growing up and the aches and pulls of motherhood were just perfect. My own son is entering high school next year, and so those poems about the precious but fleeting years of raising a child were especially poignant.
.
I couldn't have asked for more here. Such playfulness, such honesty, such fire, such heart. And so many experiments with form, some I was familiar with, and some pretty new to me--haibuns, abecedarians, zuihitsu, invectives, cardinal figuratas. And I laughed out loud when I read her newest found poem from online reviews (this time of the Festival of Grapes).
.
I wish more people would try to read a book of poetry. There is a rhythm to unlocking how to read a collection, kind of like floating on your back in the ocean. It is a skill that gets easier with practice, but always a delight.
.
This would make a great Mother's Day gift, but it really is a gift to living creatures great and small, and even bald 48 year olds.

[Nicole Perkins]

I would like to extend a sincere thank you to NetGalley and Ecco Books for the ARC of Aimee Nezhukumatathil's gorgeous collection "Night Owl." It is very appreciated!
This volume of poetry is a treasure. Aimee Nezhukumatathil is a gifted writer; I loved her book "World of Wonders." This is her first volume of poetry I have read, and I intend to read all of the others.
Her poems are elegantly crafted. In these lines from "Nocturne for Dark Things," she writes: "I do my finest listening in the dark/ My best friend has always been ink/ and she lets me talk so much at night./ One of the marvels of my life-/ an alphabet. A whole green and mossy/ world can be made and remade/ from just twenty-six dark curlicues." These words define my own love of words and writing.
In "Pillow Talk Ars Poetica," she says: "When twilight ends, I walk through a cloud of perfume [...] What began was a glorious night not meant for sleep. When we first danced, I wrote a paragraph of leopard steps all over the tiled floor until I remembered I also held a roar. And then-I wrote a book."
Nezhukumatathil writes imagery with an artist's pen: "Once, we held our own universe in the morning rain;" and "If you don't eat/ a nectarine outdoors while you squint/ in the sun, and a few drops of juice/ land on your shirt, can you really say/ it's summer?" The poem titles themselves are enchanting, such as "When You Are Near, I Turn into a Baja Fairy Duster at Night," and "Firefly Nocturne."
Her poem "For Elephant Poachers: An Invective" is a moving plea to protect the giants of the earth, and "What If Medusa" demands justice for all women: "There are no published accounts of Medusa ever turning another woman into stone./ Not a single woman./ What if Medusa was someone who simply learned/ to fight back against those who would harm her?/ Who gets to call whom a monster?" Who indeed?
She writes of horrific incidents of racism she has experienced, justly pointing out that none of the episodes of racism and violence she has experienced were at the hands of people of color. All of her attackers have been white men. "So," she says, "forgive me if I laugh at your fear and hatred of brown immigrants, or when you say immigrants are a danger to the fabric of our country." Despite this, her love for her country, her parents' adopted country, shows in her words: "In an olive grove, you can hate/ the fruit and still love its light." The United States is a place of beauty, she seems to say, even if the people are ugly. And in "American Tenderness," she says, "I was born from a snapdragon-from a burst of seeds knocked clean by a rabbit escaping a fox." She is here, born in this country, and her thoughts and words burst forth to enrich the lives and minds of others.
I cannot praise this book enough. Nezhukumatathil's writing touches the heart and opens the soul. I copied so much of this into my commonplace book so I can refer back to it because these poems breathe, they are alive and vibrant. Aimee Nezhukumatathil is a writer for the soul of humanity.

[Alicia Garcia-Webster]

Poetry is a highly subjective and personal experience. I was raised on poetry, and I remember many times as a young girl, sitting in my local library after school, with my head buried deep in a book of poetry, and feeling the various emotions the poems called forth. Laughing with Ogden Nash and Dorothy Parker, crying with John Donne or Dylan Thomas, swooning with Pablo Neruda. For me, the key was that the poem had to make me feel something, anything, in order to ignite the spark that would ultimately feed my fire of interest. Anger, sadness, melancholy, joy, fear, or even a vague sense of discomfort would do. When reading Night Owl, I felt nothing. I didn't even feel resigned, which would have been a feeling of sorts that would have been enough to hang my hat on. But nothing. The words were flat. The subject matter banal. There was nothing that hinted at a sense of originality or profundity. No passion. No sharp jabs to prick my conscience or to pique my curiosity. Nothing but a vast page of space where one would normally hope to find both words and meaning. **The ARC was provided to me by the publisher, but all opinions are my own.

[Emily]

Rating poetry is sometimes difficult for me because it is so personal and subjective, and I kept going back and forth about whether to give this a 3- or 4-star rating. Ultimately, I decided on a four-star.

There were some poems that really resonated with me, while there were others that did not. I love how Aimee Nezhukumatathil shows her love of nature throughout the book. I especially loved the poems about motherhood. Most of the pieces were light, but a few were a bit darker. Some of those pieces were about how people mistreat the Earth, and some of her experiences with violence that she suffered while in grad school. Given how much nature seemed to influence Aimee, I think it would have been great to include illustrations throughout the book (as in her previous book, World of Wonders) to help visualize some of the poems. However, even without the illustrations, the poems were still great. I struggled with the calligrams and plan to read more poems in this format because I found it interesting.

*Thank you, NetGalley, for providing an arc in exchange for an honest review.*

[Andrea Blythe]

Aimee Nezhukumatathil’s poetry collection, Night Owl feels like an object of grace. Separated into phases of the night, these poems reflect on the beauty of dark, quiet moments, reflections on the natural world, and the joy of human connection as beings interwoven with the world. Her writing is lush, but accessible, drawing the reader into the author’s emotional landscapes.

I do my finest listening in the dark.
My best friend has always been ink
and she lets me talk so much at night.

One of the marvels of my life—
an alphabet. A whole green and mossy
world can be made and remade

from just twenty-six dark curlicues.

— from “Nocturne for Dark Things"

Don’t call it an affliction—
call it affection. I’d stay under
the sun all day, never hiding
under a copse of trees if I knew

I wouldn’t burn but isn’t it
more accurate—that I burn
for the sun? To be pulled to the light
is nothing to be ashamed of:

— from “Sometimes I Have Heliophilia”

[Edie]

Aimee Nezhukumatathil's World of Wonders is one of my most gifted books. When I am not quite sure what to get someone, it just always seems appropriate. Her latest, a collection of poetry, covers similar territory in a different format. Part nature observation, part memoir, all personal. I will buy multiple copies when it is released for my gift closet. This is a collection you will (probably) read twice. The first time I found myself immersed in the words and sentiments. Then I found the author's note about the forms used and immediately wanted to reread the entire collection, focusing on the forms and how they impact the meaning and the reader's experience. There is a study in theology called theopoetics which explores the ways the form of our encounter with the divine impacts our experience of divinity. This was similar. Thank you to the author, HarperAudio, and NetGalley for the audioARC.

[Anne's book habit]

Let me start by saying I fully accept that this book probably just was not for me.

As always, let's start with the positive!
The majority of the poems in this collection touch on deeply meaningful topics, such as love, racism, and motherhood.
The collection also featured a wide variety of different types of poems, and I deeply enjoyed many of them.

That being said, overall, I did struggle with the flow and imagery of many of the poems.
Again, this collection was likely just not for me, but things like
“Sometimes birds sleep tucked under a giraffe’s dusky armpit”
And
“To survive a python bite: throw mouthwash on its face or stab it with a saw”
Left me rather confused, which I do not believe was the author's intent.

I received an advanced copy of this book from Netgalley to review.