1,029 research outputs found
Come November
No full textcome cold eye corrective, come pendulum take wrecking ball to venerable wallsThis poem is published as Marquart, Debra., “Come November.” Terrain.org, 28 October 2018. https://www.terrain.org/2018/poetry/letter-to-america-marquart/. Posted with permission
How Fish Learned to Sing
No full textDebra Marquart, a winner of Narrative’s 2025 Winter Story Contest, is the author of eight books, including the memoir The Horizontal World: Growing Up Wild in the Middle of Nowhere, the essay collection The Night We Landed on the Moon, and the poetry book Gratitude with Dogs under Stars. She directs the MFA program in creative writing and environment at Iowa State University and teaches in the Stonecoast Low-Residency MFA Program at University of Southern Maine. In addition, Marquart is a singer/songwriter, performing with her jazz-poetry rhythm-and-blues project, the Bone People
Things Not Seen in a Rear-View Mirror
No full text"The opening scene of Things Not Seen in the Rear-view Mirror,'" says Debra Marquart, "deals with the morning of my father's funeral—a day of odd confluences (the
house on the highway), and other strange sights and inexplicable occurrences. I still puzzle over the events of that day." Marquart first came to the attention of this magazine
when she won our 1989 Literary Award in the Essay. She later won our Literary Award two more times—each time with a separate national judge, and each time judged with
scrupulous anonymity.This essay is published as Marquart, Debra., “Things Not Seen in a Rear-View Mirror.” New American Essays. Eds. Conger Beasley and Robert Stewart. New Letters, 2005, 72(1); 233-254. https://www.newletters.org/magazine_issue/vol-72-no-1/. Posted with permission
Frack
No full textfrom Small Buried ThingsThis book chapter is published as Marquart, Debra., “Frack.” Rewilding: Poems for the Environment, edited by Crystal S. Gibbins, Flexible Press, 2020;87-89. https://www.flexiblepub.com/rewilding-1. Posted with permission
Whisker Meditations
No full textWhen I told my fiance's mother about my persistent, recurring whisker-lower right, underside of my chin-she smiled sideways, said, "Be glad it's only one."This poem is published as a part of Alexander, Robert, Eric Braun, Debra Marquart, eds. Nothing to Declare: A Guide to the Flash Sequence. Buffalo, NY: White Pine Press, 2016. Posted with permission.</p
The Unhappy Hour
No full textWe charm the waitress in her colorful sombrero at Paradiso Mexican Restaurant when our party of seven arrives. Three tables pushed together against a long booth, the scrape of metal on ceramic tile. It’s $2 margarita pitchers this afternoon, and all the chips and salsa you can eat. The piped-in Tejano music insists on our liveliness, harmonizing trumpets and a tenor sax with a two-step accordion.
If you saw us walking down the sidewalk, you would know we’re a band. We move together in a fixed constellation, The Look. Torn jeans and worn thin t-shirts. Jackets too small and inadequate for the season.This essays is published as Marquart, Debra, The Unhappy Hour, Ascent, Nov 2019. https://readthebestwriting.com/the-unhappy-hour-debra-marquart/. Posted with permission
Ecdysis
No full textThe female lobster waits by the den
of the largest male, wafts perfume
in his direction, the invitation to mate
or be eaten. Boxing proceeds until
she rests her pincers on his head,
a sign of her readiness.This poem is published as Marquart, Debra., “Ecdysis.” River Styx 89 (2013); 8-9.https://www.riverstyx.org/archive. Posted with permission
Lament
No full textNorth Dakota
I'm worried about you
the companies you keep
all these new friends
North Dakota
beyond the boom, beyond the precious
resources do you really think htey care what
becomes of youThis poem is published as Marquart, Debra., “Lament.” Portside: Material of Interest to People on the Left. 21 April 2017. Online. https://portside.org/2017-04-21/lament. Posted with permission
The Taste of Home
No full textAt the Bismarck Airport, I pick up the jar of chokecherry jelly in the gift shop before boarding my flight back to Iowa. Not sure when I'll make it home to North Dakota again.This article is published as Marquart, Debra., “Taste of Home.” On Second Thought | Sense of Place Issue. Humanities North Dakota, April 2021; 37-40. https://www.humanitiesnd.org/. Posted with permission
Healing the Wild
No full textTo spend a blustery spring afternoon walking the acres of WildWay with Marlene Ehresman, the longtime executive director of the Iowa Wildlife Center, is to enter into the dream of the place.This article is published as Marquart, Debra.,“ “Healing the Wild.” The Iowan. November/December 2022; 17– 27. https://heuss.presencehost.net/customer_portal/theiowan.html. Posted with permission
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