Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

Maxine Kumin’s "In the Park" is a contemplative and multifaceted poem that examines mortality, the intersections of belief systems, and humanity’s relationship with nature. By weaving personal narrative, philosophical inquiry, and cultural commentary, Kumin explores how humans grapple with the mysteries of death and rebirth. The poem uses the grizzly bear as both a literal and metaphorical presence, embodying the inevitability of death and the shared vulnerability of all beings.

The poem begins with a reference to Buddhist belief, specifically the forty-nine days between death and rebirth. This timeframe introduces the central theme of liminality—the in-between state that characterizes existence after death and before reincarnation. Kumin juxtaposes this spiritual concept with mundane but impressive feats, such as swimming the English Channel or climbing the Washington Monument. These physical endeavors, tied to the passage of time, serve as metaphors for the journey of the soul. The concluding lines of this stanza—"to travel across, up, down, over or through / —you won’t know till you get there which to do"—emphasize uncertainty, highlighting the unpredictable nature of both life and what comes after it. This uncertainty serves as a bridge between the secular and the spiritual, opening the poem to diverse interpretations.

The narrative then shifts to a vivid anecdote involving Roscoe Black, a man who survives an encounter with a grizzly bear in Glacier Park. The bear, described as "laying on me not doing anything," becomes a paradoxical figure—immensely powerful yet strangely passive. Roscoe’s description of feeling "his heart beating against my heart" captures a moment of profound intimacy and vulnerability, transcending the boundary between human and animal. Kumin subtly critiques the linguistic fixation on the distinction between "lie" and "lay," suggesting that such pedantry pales in the face of existential experiences. For Roscoe, the encounter compresses the forty-nine days of Buddhist doctrine into an intense, fleeting moment, underscoring the unpredictable and nonlinear nature of time when confronted with mortality.

In the next section, Kumin reflects on her upbringing in the context of the Old Testament, contrasting its worldview with the Buddhist framework introduced earlier. The biblical world she describes is "simple" and "full of crossovers," where humans, angels, and animals communicate freely. This permeability between realms mirrors the liminality of the forty-nine days, suggesting a shared human desire to bridge the gap between life and death, the divine and the earthly. The Old Testament God, characterized by direct communication and a "nasty temper," feels both immediate and distant, a figure whose presence looms but whose judgment remains ambiguous. The absence of Hell and its associated imagery in this framework shifts the focus from eternal punishment to the more pressing mysteries of life and death, aligning with the poem’s broader exploration of mortality.

The grizzly bear reappears in the final section, now a universal figure that "lies/lays down on atheist and zealot." This recurrence emphasizes the bear as a symbol of death’s impartiality. Regardless of one’s beliefs—whether rooted in religious faith, spiritual practice, or secularism—the bear comes for everyone. The line "In the pitch-dark / each of us waits for him in Glacier Park" underscores the shared human experience of anticipating death, which, like the bear, is both inevitable and unknowable. The setting of Glacier Park, with its vast wilderness and untamed beauty, becomes a stand-in for the liminal space where life confronts its end, evoking both awe and fear.

Kumin’s language throughout the poem is unadorned yet deeply evocative, blending conversational ease with philosophical depth. The free verse form mirrors the unpredictability and fluidity of the themes, while the interplay of narrative, reflection, and metaphor keeps the reader grounded in both the personal and the universal. The poem’s structure—beginning with abstract contemplation, transitioning to anecdote, and concluding with existential meditation—mirrors the journey of the soul navigating through life’s complexities and uncertainties.

"In the Park" ultimately serves as a meditation on death’s universality and the ways humans make sense of it through narrative, belief, and metaphor. By juxtaposing Buddhist and Judeo-Christian frameworks, Kumin underscores the multiplicity of human attempts to grapple with mortality, while her use of the grizzly bear as a central figure unifies the poem’s disparate elements. The bear, as both a literal creature and a symbolic force, embodies the inevitability of death, the intimacy of our encounters with it, and the shared vulnerability that unites all living beings. Through its rich imagery and philosophical reflections, the poem invites readers to confront their own fears and beliefs about mortality, offering no definitive answers but instead a profound acknowledgment of life’s mysteries.

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