What I Learned from the Trees is a slim collection of author L.E. Bowman's musings on life, love and relationships. What attracted me first to this book was the title .I am a forest dweller by nature so a collection of poems centered around connecting to nature and titled for my beloved trees? I thought sign me up! The first couple poems referenced tree's briefly, touching on the fact that when one falls the roots provide nourishment to nearby trees which is a beautiful thought. That's about where it ended unfortunately.

The author does show a degree of understanding of poetry as a whole and there are some wonderful lines hiding within some not so great ones. The prose is jumpy at best, with poor word choice more often than not. I feel as though the author started with a clear vision but then wandered away and sort of forgot and it shows in the poem. They don't feel coherent at all.

I will say that I have read far worse attempts and I do believe that there is talent hidden within the author and potential however the prose just falls short and doesn't meet the standards of the books that will sit beside it on a shelf.

Thank you to netgalley and publisher for providing an advance e-copy in exchange for an honest review. ( )