James K. Zimmerman is a widely-published, award-winning poet. You can purchase his book of poetry, “Little Miracles”, from Passager Books here. “Little Miracles” is also available on Amazon here. If you prefer, you can purchase “Little Miracles” directly through PayPal for $18 (including shipping within the US) by clicking this link: PayPal
James K. Zimmerman’s second book of poetry, “Family Cookout”, is the winner of the Jessie Bryce Niles Prize from The Comstock Review. You can purchase “Family Cookout” directly for $14 (including shipping within the US) by clicking this link: PayPal. It is also available on eBay if you prefer — eBay — and on Amazon here — Amazon
Both books are also available at The Village Bookstore, 10 Washington St., Pleasantville NY 10570 and at Berl’s Brooklyn Poetry Shop, 141 Front St., Brooklyn, NY 11201. Please support your local independent book store!
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January, 2020: Sky Island Journal has published the poem, “The Silence of Waking Eyes,” in their online publication. About the poem, the editors say: “The Silence of Waking Eyes” reveals…the nature of beauty, the gifts of impermanence, and the deliciousness of living in the moments between moments. Here’s the link: Sky Island Journal #11. Scroll a little less than half-way down the page to access the poem.
October, 2019: A number of poems have been published online in recent months. Here are the links: Cider Press Review, Sky Island Journal (scroll down to approximately the middle of the file), Leaping Clear (3 poems), Lunch Ticket, and Snapdragon.
Of these poems, Jendi Reiter of Winning Writers says: I love your attunement to the souls of plants and landscapes.
The editor of Leaping Clear comments: “I’m particularly enjoying James K.Zimmerman’s verse: the meditative practical care of the ash and oak poems, and the fluid dissolution of the bilingual “En Una Vida Pasada.”
The editors of Sky Island Journal reflect on the poem “Anasazi” in this way:
“Anasazi” is a brilliant poem. Not a word is wasted. We love how you use figurative language to describe such concrete feelings and actions while seamlessly transitioning in and out of deceptively blunt, straightforward usage. A vivid journey through landscape and memory, this poem transports and challenges us in ways that poems seldom do. We rarely see poetry simultaneously tackle this kind of intimacy and abstraction, and we rarely see it done with such articulate grace and svelte concision. Your imagery is elegant, and your craft is airtight. Intensely personal, yet wildly accessible, “Anasazi” reveals a kind of deeper truth about the world – and human relationships – that we thirst for. Like all great art, this poem is a gift that keeps giving; we discover more about it, and ourselves, with every reading. “Anasazi” creates a complicated view of our own humanity, and we love that. Needless to say, we are excited to share it with the world.
January, 2019: Two of JKZ’s poems, “Kasyapa” and “Education,” have been published online at Tipton Poetry Journal. You can access them here: Tipton Poetry Journal #39. Scroll to pp. 46-47.
July, 2018: JKZ’s poem, “Listen to the Deer Tick Sing,” has been published online by American Life in Poetry, a site curated by Ted Kooser, US Poet Laureate from 2004-2006. This is a persona poem (i.e., written in the first person, but from the point of view of an individual other than the author). The page also includes commentary on the poem by Ted Kooser. Here’s the link: Deer Tick
July, 2018: In December, 2017, JKZ’s poem, “Fog on the 180 (Kings Canyon)” won the Edwin Markham Prize for Poetry from Reed Magazine. Here’s the link to the Contest Winners page, which includes commentary on “Fog” by the contest’s judge, Ellen Bass: Reed And here’s a link directly to the poem itself: “Fog”
Ellen Bass’s commentary on “Fog”:
“James K. Zimmerman’s “Fog on the 180 (Kings Canyon)” is a haunting poem. Its language, with its repetitions and paradoxes, skillfully evokes the fog and captures the experience of seeing trees emerge from the mist. This well-chosen diction, along with the music of the lines, creates a feeling of mystery that matches its theme. From its intriguing opening stanza (to begin with/there is nothing there/to begin with), I was carried along effortlessly, again matching the travel in the poem. It was a pleasure to choose “Fog on the 180 (Kings Canyon)” as the winner of this year’s Reed Magazine Edwin Markham Poetry Award.”
July, 2018: Four of JKZ’s poems are published online by Adelaide Magazine. All of them are “travel” poems, one of which is a persona poem. Here’s the link: Adelaide
November, 2017: Four poems are published in The Worcester Review — Vol. XXXVIII, #1&2. Copies can be purchased on the journal’s website. You can read one of the poems, “Watching the Film About Robert Bly,” here: Bly. And this is the link to the journal home page: The Worcester Review
October, 2017: James K. Zimmerman won the Pat Schneider Award from Amherst Writers & Artists. He participated in a reading sponsored by AWA in Amherst, MA, and the poem, “Wild Mushrooms,” has been published in Peregrine. Here’s the link: Amherst W&A
September, 2017: Two more poem have been posted by Bibliotekos, in their “Poems of Witness” series. One addresses violence and hate crimes against people of color; the other speaks to the genocide of Rohingya people in Myanmar. The link: Poems of Witness
December, 2016: Six poems and one short prose piece have been published on Bibliotekos as part of their “Protest Series” — a group of writings addressing current sociocultural and political issues in the US. Here are the links: Bibliotekos Protest Series and More Protest Series. You can read one of the posted poems, “Hero Worship”, below.
May, 2016: “Family Cookout”, the title poem of the book, has been posted as a featured poem in the May issue of Winning Writers. Here’s the link: Winning Writers
And check out the links on the “Poetry” page for other poems on other sites.
Please also check out “News & Events” for upcoming releases, readings, etc.
Just for fun, you can also access photography at “Pix”.
Thanks for visiting!
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And here’s a “teaser” — one of the poems included in “Little Miracles”:
Side Trip
I seek an occasional
side trip to the universe
next door
the next slice in
the cosmic loaf
of bread
there, crows do not
say “caw” nor sneezes
“a-choo”
it is unearthly still
no language to ruin
thought
no heavenly bodies
to memorize
the words
and there, god is a magic
wand to a violin
an open hand
to a hungry dog
or perhaps
to a lurking trout
an angler’s passing fly
© 2011 James K. Zimmerman
All Rights Reserved
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Teaser #2 — A poem from “Family Cookout”:
All Saints’ Day
he pops
a wheelie on
his scooter in
the driveway
to him it’s a monster
Harley, the muddy
smudges on his arm
tattoos of angels
flaming swords
and “Mom”
he drops
the scooter
swaggers into
the kitchen
to take a swig
of OJ straight
from the bottle
and a fistful
of candy
heaven is open
for business
once again
© 2014 James K. Zimmerman
All Rights Reserved
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Teaser #3 — A poem from the Bibliotekos website:
Hero Worship
thirty-gallon garbage
bags, home on the broken
dog-shit sidewalk
black ones tied with rags
savings bank for nickel-
deposit bottles and cans
shopping cart of sweat-
stained shirts, torn pants
year-old magazines
laceless shoes
any change
to spare, brother?
buy you something to eat?
(won’t help you feed
your habit)
I could use a hero
oh — can’t do that
but here:
(hand in pocket
singles snug
between fives, tens
and twenties)
here’s a buck
thank you, brother
bless you
walking on, venti
latte, house and car
two-hundred-dollar
shoes
quicker step
a hero
James K. Zimmerman 