Bomb Threats by Mark ZImmerman
Bomb Threats, a poetry collection by Milwaukee’s Mark Zimmerman was released in late 2025. His poetry has been featured in a variety of Wisconsin publications including
Lake Effect and Cream City Review among others as well as the Madison Museum of
Contemporary Art.
For Zimmerman, poetry has been his way of sharing his experiences and world view—one steeped in his upbringing. “Before I could read or write a single word, poetry came to me
through nursery rhymes, fairy tales, lullabies and other children's songs,” said Zimmerman.
“As hazy as my memories of these early experiences are, I still remember the words and rhymes of many of them. The fantasy, imagination and, sometimes, danger in these poems and stories attracted me and provided a sense of drama and strangeness that even a little kid can sense. Later on, more of the same just kept coming from a widening circle of sources and experiences, even though it'd be years before I started writing poems regularly,” he continued.
Bomb Threats includes some distinct themes that build off
Zimmerman’s interests and imagination. Chief among them is the impact of war on popular culture, specifically in the U.S. The title of Bomb Threat has to do with the
militarism Zimmerman sees within American society and world-wide. Tying historical events with our current cultural upheaval, the poems weave a narrative of Zimmerman's observations, comparisons and thoughts on the matter.
“A handful of poems also deal with issues, persons,
and/or events from World War II,” explained Zimmerman. “And since we all live in a world still affected by that war, such material seems to me timely.”
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The book is more than just a collection about the connection with popular culture and world militarism, however. “The poems in the book strike other notes as well: the
medical-industrial-complex's exploitation of people at their most vulnerable, for instance,” says Zimmerman. “There are also a variety of more personal reflections on my own shortcomings, vulnerabilities, and uncertainties. I have plenty of them.”
Despite the many subjects touched on in the book, most of the poems share a touch of ironic gloom, from world events to American popular culture through the author's eyes. At the
end of the day, poetry is like all art forms, and each reader will experience it differently than the next. Zimmerman explained that he feels that “Once a poem is ‘out there’ in public/publication, it's no longer completely the author's own—except in legal terms of property and permitted use.”
On Friday, Feb. 20 Mark Zimmerman will read from Bomb Threats, at 7 p.m. at Club Garabaldi, 2501 S. Superior Street in Bay View. The event promises to be an interactive show with surprises and audience participation.
Get Bomb Threats on Amazon here.
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