DEBRIS
by
ELIZABETH MARINO

Praise for Debris

After reading her book Debris: Poems & Memoir, I realized that Elizabeth Marino is a writer whose depth and feeling is profoundly clear because she knows that a well-crafted poem will leave an indelible image on the canvas of the mind and heart. Her poems can live comfortably in the sacred halls of academia or by Augie's gas station, east of Ashland. Her reality is powerfully stark, beautiful and graceful, like thunderbolts and roses. After knowing her work for over 20 years, I've concluded that Elizabeth Marino is not just a major writer but a hero - it's my honor to know her. Gracias Elizabeth - I'm waiting for more!
              David Hernandez - famous poet


Elizabeth Marino's collection Debris is a road map of the heart, and an excavation through the layers of an individual's and our society's psyche. She claims the parts that can be saved, grieves for what must be abandoned, and re-uses anything salvagable. "Touch bone, touch lock, touch floor. / It is time to sort this debris into refuse." From Chicago to Paris, from Amsterdam to Puerto Rico, Marino never averts her gaze and creates poetry from both the "feathered parachute" and "the wall rimmed with broken glass." She looks unflinchingly at what is lost in childhood trauma, which memories can be saved, and which become bonfires for our nightmares. Turning her gaze to the outside world, Marino is one of the few poets who dares to write about landmines, war and poverty, "the unpaid labor/of childrearing, eldercare, aiding/the... needy" while envisioning something better. Yet her cityscapes are so delicate you can hear a sparrow's beating wings. Marino is a poet who urges us to "Open your eyes." Debris is a collection that will be read and remembered.
              Julie Parson-Nesbitt - poet/author of Finders