Where I Live: New & Selected Poems 1990-2010

A Great Book for "Slow Reading" Practice!

Relax. Pick a favorite spot in your home or garden, preferably a seat by a window opening onto a woodsy or garden scene. Or go outdoors and sit down, not on a chair, but on the grass or a stump or a rock. It would be nice if it's sunny, but overcast with a threat of showers will do, too. Now open Maxine Kumin's "Where I live: New & Selected Poems 1990-2010" and let her soft lines and softer imagery make you human (that is to say, a part of nature) again. Maxine Kumin's subtle uses of rhyme, rhythm and modified poetic forms such as the sonnet and villanelle support her revelations about how extraordinary ordinary living can be. How wonderful it is to be alive. How dangerous to be human. Sometimes how incredibly sad. But always, even in her darkest thoughts on how savage we can be as a species - even to our own kind - there is redemption through our ability to learn, to regret, to feel shame. Kumin's language is clear, her phrasing simple, and her imagery vibrant. Now in her 85th year, she writes with a spiritual vitality that only comes through having experienced many losses and great loves - and having gained wisdom through them. Or, as she puts it, in life "Nothing makes up for losing, though love is a welcome guest." And when you finish this book, order her "Selected Poems: 1960-1990." Read more