Paul Zimmer

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Paul Zimmer Biography

Paul Zimmer (born 1934 Canton, Ohio) is an American poet, and editor. He flunked out of college, and worked in a steel mill. From 1954 to 1955 Zimmer served in the United States Army as a journalist. The Ribs of Death, his first book, was published in 1968. He received a Bachelor of Arts and Science degree from Kent State University in 1968. He has directed the university presses at Georgia, Iowa, and Pittsburgh, and helped found the Pitt Poetry Series. His papers are held at Kent State.)

The Best Poem Of Paul Zimmer

Zimmer Envying Elephants

I have a wide, friendly face
Like theirs, yet I can't hang
My nose like a fractured arm

Nor flap my dishpan ears.
I can't curl my canine teeth,
Swing my tail like a filthy tassel,
Nor make thunder without lightning.

But I'd like to thud amply around
For a hundred years or more,
Stuffing an occasional tree top
Into my mouth, screwing hugely for
Hours at a time, gaining weight,
And slowly growing a few hairs.

Once in a while I'd charge a power pole
Or smash a wall down just to keep
Everybody loose and at a distance.

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