Pleasantville Poet Thrills at Seeing His Works Published

For those who know Pleasantville resident Jim Zimmerman, it’s natural that they might associate the creative side of his life with music.

That would make sense since as a young musician in the 1970s he performed alongside some big names in the music industry such as Seals & Crofts, Nancy Wilson and David Bromberg, among others. Locally, he was also one of a group of village residents who helped make the Pleasantville Music Festival a reality in 2005.

But trace Zimmerman’s life to high school and he has had another longtime passion – poetry. Dylan Thomas, Langston Hughes, and in college, Gary Snyder were some of his favorites.

When he tired of the music industry and incessant touring and songwriting, he returned to school to become a psychologist, which has been his profession for more than 30 years, but he also rediscovered his love of poetry.

While he occasionally dabbled with some writing, in recent years, Zimmerman has been making up for lost time.

“With poetry you can write it, if you want to send it out to see if it gets published you do, if not, you keep them,” Zimmerman said in explaining the difference between writing music and poetry.

His growing portfolio of works enabled Zimmerman to take the step to try and get some of his poems printed. In 2015, after he had a few published by Passager Books, which specializes in publishing writers over 50 years old, he was invited to submit a manuscript in celebration of the company’s 25^th anniversary.

That book, “Little Miracles,” included poems that deal with largely with existential issues and mortality.

Last year, Zimmerman’s second collection “Family Cookout,” was published, and was recognized by The Comstock Review, capturing a Chapbook award. Many of the poems were loosely based on multiple generations of his family life.

“I find it really fascinating as a process,” Zimmerman said of poetry writing. “I also, I used to as a songwriter, I hated to have to edit myself. With poetry, I had a difficult time with that, which is really interesting, and it takes into account different parts of your brain.”

Not only has he presented his poems on the printed page, but on Friday evening he will do so in a public forum. Zimmerman will participate in a poetry reading of his works at The Village Bookstore in Pleasantville with fellow Westchester poet John Allman. The reading gets underway at 7 p.m. at the bookstore, which has been carrying both of his books.

Even as his collection grows, Zimmerman said it’s challenging getting published. He addresses so many different thoughts and topics in different styles that it’s difficult to pitch. Sometimes he’ll write vertical poems, that have just a few words on a line

“I find it challenging to come up with a collection because publishers expect a collection to have some coherence,” he said. “Some poets will write a collection based on one theme.”

Now that Zimmerman has been discovering his poet’s voice, keep on the lookout for

For more on Jim Zimmerman’s poetry, visit www.jameskzimmerman.net. The Village Bookstore is located at 10 Washington Ave. in Pleasantville.