Nature poetry is a genre that centers on themes, emotions, and imagery connected to the natural world. It explores nature as both subject matter and inspiration, capturing everything from landscapes and wildlife to weather and wilderness. These poems often evoke earthy, sensory experiences and are popular for their focus on the beauty and power of nature. While many nature poems are simple in form, such as writing about rainbows or rain, they can also blend with other poetic forms like haiku.

A concise definition of nature poetry might be: poetry that draws from nature as its primary subject and source of inspiration.

However, the concept of “nature” is fluid and historically shaped. Modern nature poetry often reflects not only the natural world but also human interaction with the environment, influenced by literary traditions, cultural values, and social ideologies. As the term “nature” can carry oversimplified notions of purity or escapism, contemporary poets may instead refer to “green poetry” or “environmental poetry,” acknowledging the complex, intertwined relationship between humans and the natural world.

Nature: Double Entendre
Wild Seeds
Should I go to market–
or instead, dig the dirt.
My soul is buried in dirt.
I harvest the wild seed
that I gathered in my travels.
Others mock me.
They go to market to buy their produce.
But the market seeds
won’t grow for me.
GMO you know.
I plant my seeds
and water them with my tears.
Others mock my cliche
as they eat the market produce.
Weeks, months, sometimes years–
I toil–waiting for the flower.
I wither to bones
as I eat dirt.
Others laugh with bellies full
of the market produce they bought.
Finally–my first yield.
It is small,
but my soul is fed.

Nature: Personification

My Florida Green Eyes
I fell in love with a flower, guys,
as soon as I looked into her green eyes.
I found her smelling of chocolate,
in a native Florida flower shop.
From spring ‘till the first frost,
she bloomed for me, then was lost.
If only you could have seen her,
in her yellow ruff and short crop,
Her sister’s name was Daisy, and boys–
she drove me crazy!
Wearing her carrot bottoms
with a green s–leafed top!
I wanted to bring her home,
but she wouldn’t leave her roots to roam,
and being wild,
she wouldn’t do well in a pot.