Published poetry of J. Zimmerman

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* Jack Gilbert. * Jane Hirshfield. * Jean Vengua. * J. Zimmerman. * J. Zimmerman (haiku).
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Laureate Poets: * Britain; * USA.
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Poems by title

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Title First published
4th of May Monterey Poetry Review (2007)
Bearers of Gifts Quarry West (1999)
Between "No" and "Forgive" Monterey Poetry Review (2007)
Difficulty of Desire, The Convergence (2004)
Haiku first published in Geppo Geppo (1996 onward)
Haiku first published in Heron's Nest Heron's Nest (2006 onward)
Lost and Found Department of Dreams: Brussels, The Runes (2002)
Occupied Norway: The Resistance Angel Monterey Poetry Review (2007)
Still Waters Run Between Cup And Lip:
The Advice of an Immigrant to her Granddaughter 		Quarry West (1999)

4th of May


  4th of May
  J. Zimmerman

        Bartolomeo Cristofori (born 4th of May, 1655)
        invented the pianoforte;
        Thomas Henry Huxley (born 4th of May, 1825)
        coined the word "agnostic". 

  Each instant
  today worldwide
  ten thousand pianos
  resound, mostly
  un-tuned, many
  played with one 
  hesitant finger,
  striking keys
  by chance 
  more than choice
  with only hints
  of a tune.
  Laughter over
  each wrong note
  outweighs the sighs,
  teases the scales
  toward, even 
  a grouch agrees,
  glee. Only a few
  listeners wince.


  Meanwhile this moment
  a hundred women
  and men
  in separate workrooms
  abandon their plans
  for proof
  and disproof.
  Alpine meadows 
  of flowers
  are toe-prints
  of gods,
  or they're not.
  Cloud banners
  streaming from peaks
  in Tibet and Peru 
  hide the sighs
  and wings
  of gods,
  or they don't.


  Nobody knows
  what is true
  inside every niche 
  of a soul. Could a man 
  be mud sparked 
  by a finger of light
  that glinted
  five millennia 
  or five billennia
  since? A woman
  can't decide,
  dithers and lingers, 
  begins to play 
  a partita by Bach, 
  glides into a line 
  of walking bass,
  slithers singing
  into boogie-woogie
  in a major key.
Copyright © 2007-2008 by J. Zimmerman.
This e-publication @ Ariadne's Poetry Web, 6 August 2007.
An earlier version first appeared in Monterey Poetry Review (2007).
Other poems of J. Zimmerman.

Bearers of Gifts


  Bearers of Gifts
  J. Zimmerman


  She gave him five kiwi fruit.
  He gave her the breath that pushed the claws away from her inner ear as the plane
	  descended.

  He gave her the Baptist's head on a golden tray.
  She gave him the seventh seal.

  She gave him the tiny cog left over after she put the clock back together.
  He gave her a day on the river where pink geodes grow.

  She gave him the carnelian blood stone of the sixth chakra, and the means to pass
	  through it.
  He gave her the green elephant, its ears, its memories of childhood.

  He gave her a whirlwind.
  She gave him the envoy to the east who retrieved the hostage.

  She gave him the sound of his own voice.
  He gave her blueberry branches, leaf buds slow as stars.

  He gave her snow cornices and avalanches.
  She gave him the winter sun and her tongue on his chest and thighs.

  He gave her the smoky eclipsed moon.
  She gave him the comet suspended in black above the tsunami.

  She gave him the wax that bonded wings to skin.
  He gave her the box from which ten thousand would escape.

  He gave her bread and wine.
  She gave him sand, water, a place to begin.
Copyright © 1999-2008 by J. Zimmerman.
This e-publication @ Ariadne's Poetry Web, 11 August 2007.
An earlier version first appeared in Quarry West (1999).
Other poems of J. Zimmerman.

Between "No" and "Forgive"


  Between "No" and "Forgive"
  J. Zimmerman

 
  One word was my first;
  one shall be my last. 
  Meanwhile the years break 
  into gold-flecked water.


  Two red wings pivot
  past the ball of light. 
  Trees breathe. Everything
  moves with me toward home.
Copyright © 2007-2008 by J. Zimmerman.
This e-publication @ Ariadne's Poetry Web, 6 August 2007.
An earlier version first appeared in Monterey Poetry Review (2007).
Other poems of J. Zimmerman.

Occupied Norway: The Resistance Angel


  Occupied Norway: 
  The Resistance Angel
  J. Zimmerman


  someone with a gun
  shoots me down
  nicks my left wing
  but I can almost
  glide a little
  as I fall
 

  three farm boys 
  find me
  on the snowy fjord shore


  one tears off
  his shirtsleeve
  to bandage
  my bruised brow


  they cut saplings
  make a stretcher
  on which they carry me
  to the school
  for the crippled 
  and the blind

 
  behind the shutters
  and the passworded doors
  thin children
  sit at low tables
  constructing bombs
  no matter who 
  shot me
  these children
  bandage my head
  take me in
  splint and fold 
  my wings


  they feed me
  a bowl of fresh milk
  a stew of winter turnips
  let me sleep
 

  next day they show me 
  the map to the enemy's
  Base of Occupation
 

  something bites me
  sharp as a ferret
  on the shoulders
  but is only my wings
  unfolding


  now the children
  strap bombs to my body
  lead me outside
  to the colder air
  the starlight
  the free and buoyant wind
Copyright © 2007-2008 by J. Zimmerman.
This e-publication @ Ariadne's Poetry Web, 6 August 2007.
An earlier version first appeared in Monterey Poetry Review (2007).
Other poems of J. Zimmerman.

Still Waters Run Between Cup and Lip:
The Advice of an Immigrant to her Granddaughter


  Still Waters Run Between Cup and Lip:
  The Advice of an Immigrant to her Granddaughter  
  J. Zimmerman

  There's many a slip not heard.
  Little children should be seen and unturned.
  Leave no stone out of mind.
  Out of sight, soon parted.
  A fool and his money are a silver lining.
  Every cloud has no moss.
  A rolling stone gathers for no man.
  Time and tide wait, lost.
  He who hesitates is the fair.
  None but the brave deserves the most noise.
  Empty pots make the heart grow fonder.
  Absence makes you gain on the roundabouts.
  What you lose on the swings comes around.
  What goes around as handsome, does.
  Handsome is the worm.
  The early bird catches just before dawn.
  The darkest hour is deep.
Copyright © 1999-2008 by J. Zimmerman.
This e-publication @ Ariadne's Poetry Web, 11 August 2007.
An earlier version first appeared in Quarry West (1999).
Other poems of J. Zimmerman.

Links and Books.

Links and Books.

Related pages: *Poetry index. * How to Write Poetry.
How to write specific forms: * Haibun. * Haiku. * Hay(na)ku. * Rengay. * Tanka.
New New books on writing poetry. * Books of Poetry Form.
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