Coming from reading Mary Oliver, I will admit I was a tough crowd for the first half of this collection. But about halfway through I realized that I'd breezed through nearly a hundred pages in just one sitting, and I think that says more than any other sort of praise could. Walker's poetry is really easy to read and very thought provoking and contemplative. I thought she was a little line-break-happy at times, but for the most part her form was well done and added to the general message of the poetry. I almost added an entire star just for "Democratic Womanism" and "Democratic Motherism." These were breathtaking pieces, and if for no other reason made this entire collection worth reading. They took my breath away, and left me with several topics I'd like to research (the colonialization of Hawaii and ban of their native language really got me, as it was new info to me). I wish there had been some more political and environmental pieces in this collection, because the few that were here were breathtaking.