Maxine Kumin was an American poet who was chosen as Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress in 1981. Throughout her career, she published several important poetic collections and was the recipient of numerous literary awards and fellowships, including a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. Her work is sometimes compared to that of Elizabeth Bishop and Robert Frost.
‘Morning Swim’ by Maxine Kumin is a thoughtful lyric poem that’s written in couplets. The poem engages with themes of God and Nature.
Into my empty head there come
a cotton beach, a dock wherefrom
I set out, oily and nude
through mist, in chilly solitude.
‘How It Is’ is written, remembering the best-loved confessional poet, Anne Sexton. This poem centers around an old blue jacket.