Nature's Chorus
Anna Smelser
How do you define Nature’s Chorus? The sounds of animals? The sounds of the world? Not even a sound at all but simply the natural silence that is found in nature? Michael Higgins captures the “sound” of nature well in his book of poetry “Nature’s Chorus: Reflections Amongst the Trees.” He successfully describes the non-animate nature and encourages his reader to stop and smell the roses. However something he does not do well is write poetry. Higgins would be a much better writer of prose than attempting poetry. Aside from “The Quake,” all of the poems used the exact same rhyme scheme. They were composed of three or four (typically four) quatrains, rhymed A B C B. “The Quake” was definitely the most enjoyable poem in this book simply because it was different. Higgins needs to branch out and try different forms. I would suggest that “A Leaf” be rewritten as a Haiku. The second to last line is “So stop at ‘Rustling’ . . .” He wants to end before he has ended the poem. Why doesn’t he just end it for us? Short and concise poems can be more powerful than long drawn out ones that repeat the same thing over and over again. If you are wanting to find one or two poems about nature, this is a good place to look. But if you’re looking for an engaging read that will surprise and entice you, look elsewhere.
A Review Amongst the Trees