River Names: A Collection of Nature Poetry

Michael J. Downing is drawn to nature. "I love being outside," Downing says. "Hiking, camping, kayaking, fishing, biking...growing peppers and tomatoes...cutting the grass. Doesn't matter, as long as I'm outside. In 1995, I bought a canoe and paddled down the Allegheny River at least a dozen times over the course of several years. Many of these poems reflect those experiences on those waterways." Pennsylvania's natural beauty serves-over and over again-as the primary focus of this poet's in...