My Poetry Shelf: Rumi, Mary Oliver, and the Books I Keep

In the first week of September 2020, I read four poetry books in six days. I know the exact dates because my reading log does: A Poetry Handbook on the 6th, Sand Opera and With the River on Our Face on the 9th, Mary Oliver’s New and Selected Poems on the 11th. My whole life was in motion that September — the first stretch of what became five years of living out of a carry-on. Apparently what I wanted in motion was poems.

I don’t write poetry. I write television scripts, memoirs for other people, newsletters, and the occasional romantasy novel — and I keep a poetry shelf anyway, because the craft of it makes every other kind of writing better. That’s the whole reason I tell prose writers to steal Mary Oliver’s handbook.

So this is my poetry shelf: shorter notes than my usual reviews, because most of these books never got proper ones. Rather than inflate old margin notes into essays, I’m giving you exactly what I said at the time.

A Poetry Handbook by Mary Oliver

My rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 5/5 stars.

The only book on this shelf with a full review, because it’s the one I recommend most. A short, plainspoken guide to how poems actually work — sound, meter, the line — from a poet who never once wrote like she was guarding a secret. Mary Oliver wrote it for poets. Prose writers should steal it. Read my full review here, or get it on Amazon.

New and Selected Poems, Volume One by Mary Oliver

My rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 5/5 stars.

My note at the time was six words: a beautiful thoughtful collection of poetry. Six years later, I stand by all six. Get it on Amazon.

Sand Opera by Philip Metres

My rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 5/5 stars.

A visceral, fascinating read — erasure poetry at its finest. That was my whole note in 2020, and it still holds. (Erasure poetry, if it’s new to you, carves poems out of existing documents by blacking out the rest.) Get it on Amazon.

The Essential Rumi

My rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 4/5 stars.

One of my favorite yoga teachers quotes Rumi all the time during class, so in March 2020 I finally dove into his poetry. Highly recommend — especially a collection like this one, which offers a framework and a little historical context. Get it on Amazon.

With the River on Our Face by Emmy Pérez

My rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 5/5 stars.

I read this the same day as Sand Opera, rated it five stars, and wrote down nothing at all — which, after six years, I’ve decided to respect. The rating is the note. Get it on Amazon.

That’s the shelf. It’s small on purpose, and I add to it slowly.

If you’ve been meaning to read more poems, let September be the excuse mine was. Start with Mary Oliver.

-Amy

P.S. If craft books are more your speed, my list of the best books for writers is the fuller shelf, and everything I’ve rated lives on my book reviews page. If you want prose that behaves like poetry, my reviews of This Is How You Lose the Time War and Little Weirds are the crossover picks. And for more book recommendations (plus the occasional serialized novel), subscribe to my newsletter.