Along with Poet I, Poet II inaugurates Motherwell's collaboration with Universal Limited Art Editions. The centrality of poetry to his work is clearly asserted in the titles of these early editions. The image in both lithographs consists of a reversed P shape, which first appeared in Motherwell's N.R.F. Collage No. 1 of 1959.
Poet II was printed by Robert Blackburn, a lithographer and the first master printer hired at Universal Limited Art Editions in West Islip, New York. He worked with Motherwell who once said, "...the second half of the 20th century was no time to start drawing on rocks." With Blackburn's guidance, Motherwell's practice and portfolio expanded, creating over 500 prints in his lifetime.