“September” was first published by a small poetry press in 1975, and it was not until it was reprinted in Kyger's As Ever: Selected Poems, published in 2002 by Penguin, that it became available for a larger readership. As Ever: Selected Poems was Kyger's most significant publication to date and brought her achievements as a poet over a period of more than forty years into clear view. The collection was received enthusiastically by the reviewer for Publishers Weekly, who hailed Kyger's “belated, ecstatic debut on the national stage.” The reviewer remarked on Kyger's capacity for “hippie dizziness” but also “level-headed surprises,” as well as her “genius for moment-by-moment description.” Referring to a quality of her verse that has perhaps restricted a greater appreciation of her achievement in academic poetry circles, the reviewer commented: “Though formalists may object to her apparent artlessness, Kyger's obsession for detail draws on a...