The John and Mim Poems
“An astounding work of art, poetry that calls out through the beauty of its construction and the poignancy of its subject. The John and Mim Poems brings us love and marriage in its complexity, its sexual highs, the savagery of its lows and the magic of its endurance. And, in this case, you can tell beauty is truth, truth beauty beginning with the cover. A major achievement in every way. ”
“One of the gifts of a long marriage, if you’re a poet, is to hear about, or imagine, the inner life of another. Sometimes Miriam Levine does this here, but, of course, she also speaks of her own inner life. Shockingly, sometimes—she imagines stabbing John to death and him thanking her. On a walk with John, after their youthful elopement, she thinks, “What had I done to my/ dear lonely life?” She’s a poet with no allegiance—in her thoughts, anyway—to convention or propriety. But then there is her intense devotion to the physical world, as if, like her photographer son, she reveres, without judging, whatever she might see with a high-resolution intensity. She’s one of those poets I can always read more of—there will always be important news in her poems.”
The John and Mim Poems
Miriam Levine
2026
A portrait of a marriage.
CONTENTS
John at Suffolk Downs
In the Clearing
After Our Elopement
2 A.M.
My Wakeful Night
Fireweed
Failed Kiss
Valentine Roses
With John Sick I Remember My Father in the Hospital
During John’s Surgery
After Putting Away the Dishes
Thin Blade
Interlude
More from John
Melting
David’s Photo: “At the Lake in Auburn”
From My Window
In Memory of a Friend
More from Me
My Day
I Watch House Sparrows
Summer Sweet Shrub Notices the Wasps
Copyright © 2026 by Miriam Levine
All rights reserved. No part of The John and Mim Poems may be reproduced in any form whatsoever, without written permission from the copyright holder, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews or essays.