The Great Bird of Love

by Paul Zimmer

 
       "The Great Bird of Love brims with a life so intense that it
        must be told quietly. The pages are quirky, full of surprise, variety,
        humor, and the sustaining reliable voice of a worthy guide to experience.
        These poems come from perception informed by sympathy, and the language
        is alive with verbal adventure."
        -- William Stafford
      A book in the National Poetry Series
 

Genres: Poetry

58 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 1989

Reviews

[Caroline]

I wish more contemporary writers knew about/appreciated Zimmer. (I hope I'm wrong but I feel like he's underappreciated). The "Zimmer" poems make and remake the self like nobody's business. Except, maybe, Whitman's.

I can't indicate "date read" on this review because I've read this book on several dates. In particular, I often re-read these poems:

"Old Woodpecker"
"Zimmer and the Age of Zepplins"
"The Old Trains at Night"
"Zimmer Ponders His Life in Books"
"Zimmer North"
"Trees Writing Poems"
"Zimmer South"
and
"The Great Bird of Love," which begins, "I want to become a great night bird/Called the Zimmer, grow intricate gears/And tendons, brace my wings on updrafts..." Such a knock-out poem.

[Ryan]

Zimmer is one of my favorite poets. His sense of humor is tossed throughout each of his books. This one in particular had a darker tone in some areas due to the loss of his parents. However, his zest for life stays out of that shadow for most of the book.