“No less a luminary than Wallace Stevens said, during an interview, ‘The most beautiful thing in the world is, of course, the world itself.’” Nothing could be truer to that maxim than Judy Lorenzen’s latest collection, Seasons of Reverence. With seasonal chapter titles her poems illustrate how each season corresponds to a range of human experiences. In the touching poem “The Baltimore Oriole,” springtime and change are exquisitely contrasted in a poem about her son, “Then quickly one day, / little bird, / I couldn’t find you anymore.” This collection could easily be used as a classroom text on writing Nature poetry, not to mention its value to enjoy with a glass of tea on a summer afternoon.”

—MICHAEL ESCOUBAS, Senior Editor of Quill and Parchment and author of Monet in Poetry and Paint