We’re thrilled to share that the very first submission to the 2026 WriteAngles Journal came in!
Member and poet, James K. Zimmerman submitted his poem “Beginner’s Mind (October)” We particularly loved the concrete imagery throughout.
We think you’ll love it too.
Beginner’s Mind (October)
by James K. Zimmerman
when I step outside
this morning, rain
is the scent of childhood
fresh on flagstones
I stand in it alone, let it
trickle down my cheeks
streak my shirt, guide
my eyes to the green
still holding on, hopeful
to a blade or two of grass
leaves scatter like a game
of hide-and-seek
a breeze leans in
from the north
but I am again a child
dripping, laughing
fingers reaching up
to catch each silver
drop as it falls
A frequent Pushcart Prize nominee, James K. Zimmerman’s work appears in American Life in Poetry, Folio, Lumina, Nimrod, Pleiades, Rattle, among others. Author of six volumes of poetry – most recently “Uncertainty,” “Portrait Miniatures,” and “Unbroken Circle, Unending Thread” – he values his neurodivergence as an essential wellspring of his creative inspiration.