M.A. Dubbs's Blog

My poem “Thoughts from a Middling Poet” was published in The Brave Issue of Body Talk zine. This zine explored the various ways one can be brave and what bravery meant to them. My piece explores the insecurities I feel at times as a writer. Like many artists, there is often the nagging doubt of whether your art is good enough. Imposter syndrome wields its ugly head and you wonder if you are a fraud and you wonder if you’re really talented or you’ve tricked everyone into believing you are good when you’re not (or maybe that’s just me?!).

What’s so brave about art even if you are a middling artist, though? Well, you can rest easy because you’re not doing it for the fame or the moolah (if someone knows where the giant mountain of poet cash is, DM me stat!). You are writing and creating vulnerability solely for the sake of art! That’s amazing! No one is getting rich off of passion projects, indie zines, underground writing, esoteric art and music. We’re all doing it because we have a passion, a message, and a drive to share them with the world!

You can check out the Brave Issue (along with Body Talk’s other pieces and zines) here: https://shopbodytalk.myshopify.com/products/body-talk-the-brave-issue-digital

I’m participating in an online reading with Garden Party Collective November 11th 8 pm EST! I’ll be reading from my unpublished chapbook Ain’t to Lie: I’m Bi, Bi, Bi which was a finalist in this year’s annual chapbook contest. I really enjoyed last year’s reading and am exciting to read some poetry I haven’t read to an audience before! To join the online reading and get the link you’ll need to sign up here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSepMcjf4TuNexDXZos1OIHWO-uT8OFFSYXVY2RKlI9hqfIidA/viewform

Happy Autumn dear readers!

I’m writing this blog update curled up on the couch on a blustery, rainy fall day. The first real true day of fall this season! It finally felt right to pull out the black and orange sweater I thrifted early this year and it was a great day for a writing update.

Today was mail day and I received my contributor copies of Headstone 1, a zine focused on death, grief, and loss of various kinds. My free verse poem “Loose Ends” was included in this publication and it explores my journey of wrapping up the loose ends after my uncle’s suicide last summer. It’s a memory of going through his things but also examining the distant relationship we had and the complicated feelings I feel after his unexpected death. I wrote a lot of poems last year for solace and reflection and this is the first of this set to be published. Thank you Headstone Zine for including me!

I also had my first op-ed published in my local newspaper. I’m happy to have the freedom and platform to share evidence-based and researched facts into the negative political fallout occurring in Indiana at present. I actually didn’t know this was being published into I sat down to read the paper (yes, I’m an old curmudgeon) and recognized my writing. The news world publication is different than the literary world because usually there’s a back and forth of edits and notice of publication. The world of journalism moves much faster than literature…and the sky is blue and water is wet!

I have continued to expand my advocacy with attending peaceful protests and boycotts. I wrote a tanka titled “A Baby Starved Today” after reading an Associated Press article about the death of a child in Gaza named Zainab. She died of starvation, weighing less at death than when she was born. I was so distraught by the article, especially as a mother myself, that I felt writing was the only outlet. Here is hoping the ceasefire continues to hold and relief can go in to help these children.

I also did some catching up on my reading backlog (which just continues to grow!) and read through some indie chapbooks I purchased. I just wanted to showcase these in case you need to add books to your own book list or want to support small publishers and indie writers. Now that I’m done reading I will be sharing this with my community through my Buy Nothing Group and our Free Little Library.

As the holidays begin to inch their way closer (because honestly everything after Halloween feels like a blur into warp speed), don’t forget to support local authors, publishers, and artists! Also don’t forget that A Walk to Americana is out now and can be purchased through Dancing Girl Press! https://dulcetshop.myshopify.com/products/a-walk-to-americana-m-a-dubbs

I am proud to announce that my fourth poetry collection, A Walk to Americana, is out now with Dancing Girl Press! The chapbook is a curated collection of free verse and blackout poetry and is my most political release yet. It explores themes of climate change, social justice and wealth inequality, and the various lenses of what Americana means today.

Chapbooks available for $10 through Dancing Girl Press: https://dulcetshop.myshopify.com/products/a-walk-to-americana-m-a-dubbs

The release of this collection is impeccable in a time where the U. S. feels like its in a tailspin. We’ve had the National Guard pushing into cities, citizens and non-citizens experiencing violent arrests based on racial profiling and without due process, a genocide in Palestine funded by the U. S., attacks on free speech on comedians, teachers, and other government/public employees due to wrong think and not participating in a state-forced public mourning for an individual who espoused racist, homophobic, and sexist talking points, a government shut down over whether millions of Americans will lose health insurance and millions more see a huge increase in their premiums, and (in my home state) the Attorney General falsely accusing a long withstanding refugee re-settlement agency with “labor trafficking” in order to scare them and waste their time/money/resources to discourage welcoming refugees in Indiana. Not to mention the uncertainty if Indiana will engage in a special session to redistrict in order to gerrymander votes away.

This collection captures the exhaustion and the frustration I have experienced as an American over the years. It is a collection of protest and resistance. However, there is also a mix of pride in the individuals who have fought back and a love for the quiet beauty of Midwestern landscape and escapism that brings my respite. I greatly appreciate Dancing Girl Press for offering me a place to showcase my work and thank Kristy Bowen for her work as editor and cover artist (isn’t the cover gorgeous?!!) I also want to thank my readers who continue to support my art, my message, and my person-hood!

I’m thrilled to promote a workshop I will be running with host Poets Laureate of Lawrence. This workshop “Building a Writer Website, Blog, & Social Media Pages” will introduce writers and building their online presence to help attract attention from readers and publishers along with connecting with fellow authors.

I’ll talk about specific sites to use, some pitfalls to avoid, some opportunities you can gain, and even discuss SEO (search engine optimization). You are welcome to register for tickets here: https://www.artsforlawrence.org/events-1/poets-laureate-of-lawrence-21 but walk-ins are welcome as well!

My chapbook “Ain’t No Lie, I’m Bi, Bi, Bi” was selected as a finalist through Garden Party Collective’s annual chapbook contest. I’m thrilled to be selected as a finalist and that my manuscript was enjoyed by the judges.

This chapbook is a collection of poems, short fiction, and even visual collage exploring my queer identity. Some pieces are fun, tongue-in-cheek (as you might tell from my cheesy NSYSC title), while others explore themes of politics or navigating my Catholic upbringing with my present day self.

It felt essential to compile this collection in light of the current political climate which is banning transgender troops from servicing in the military, LGBTQ+ pride events at the Kennedy Center were cancelled, grants relating to LGBT issues were cancelled, companies pulled back from supporting diversity (though with my personal criticism of rainbow capitalism, I’m not very surprised), North Dakota tried to reverse gay marriage policies, the deletion of historical diversity highlights (which also led to the ridiculous removing of Enola Gay bomber which shows another layer of incompetence), and even on a local level, the banning of books that just so happened to mostly be queer (Sure, Jan!).

I will continue to fight for future, younger generations of queer kids will feel safe to be themselves and have rights in our society. If you’re a queer American or queer elsewhere in the world where you face discrimination, hatred, or bigotry, you are loved! Keep writing, making your art, making your voice heard! We have the right to exist!

The Spring 2025 edition of Vernacular Journal is live and includes my poem “The Crossroads of America” in it! Vernacular Journal defines its vision as:

Vernacular is anything that reveals a sense of place.
Vernacular is the local and the vulgar – food, music, buildings, speech, flora, fauna, etc. Something regional that serves as a means of reaffirming or establishing identity.
Familiar forms in an informal city.

About from Vernacular Journal

I was really drawn in with this vision and immediately thought of two pieces that explored local language and identity with the lens on place. “The Crossroads of America” is a piece inspired by my long drives across my home state of Indiana and a conversation with my husband about sound barriers along the highway. Being from an engineer background, he explained the physics behind various road barriers ranging from sound to car crashes but I was curious about the various socio-economics that influence the structure and appearance of barriers or fences people to use: What things are they keeping out? What things are they keeping in? What is public versus private on each side of town? What do the materials and porousness of each mean to the communities they were built in?

So much can be learned by local definitions and vocabulary, often allowing a quickfire way to indicate the in-group versus out-group. It’s a fast tell that someone isn’t from my home region when they call the locals Indianaianas or refer to Indianapolis by spelling it as Indie or they don’t drive around 465 like a bat out of hell. But even within the city and donut counties, we still have references and terminology to distinguish belonging and our in-group. Within a 15 minute drive you could be code-switching and interfacing in different ways. I know this is very common in any city but I really wanted to explore what this looks like in my home city, exploring what my state’s slogan of “The Crossroads of America” means as a state that prides itself at being a pit stop on a journey to somewhere with a better final destination.

You can read my piece (and many others) at Vernacular Journal here: https://vernacularjournal.com/The-Crossroads-of-America

I have two poems live today with online journal redrosethorns! If you’re unfamiliar with this journal their About Me describes their mission very well:

“redrosethorns is a woman-owned educational publication that promotes mental health and advocates for gender and sexuality education. We provide insightful literature and resources to connect our readers, believing that education is key to breaking stigma and fostering healing. Our content focuses on addressing mental health challenges and offering actionable steps toward building one’s self-worth.”

About Me from redrosethorns

I really resonated with this mission and love the intersection of gender, education, and mental health combining in a unique way I don’t see often in other journals. My pieces explore my journey with mental health. “A Canterbury Tale from My Bedroom” explores how anxiety and depression create isolation within the home. I was inspired to write this poem after attending a poetry open mic (ironic!). An individual there was discussing their hike through the Camino de Santiago and encouraging others to fly out and embark on this great journey to help find creative sparks!

I was reeling with thoughts at suggestion as COVID restrictions were still present not including the expense and time to travel for such an expended period in Europe! Money was going towards part time pre-school which cost more than my mortgage! I thought to myself, hell, I’m lucky to get out the door some days, that’s MY Camino de Santiago! And thus the poem was born.

“Thoughts from a Neuro-Divergent Gamer” was written randomly but was generally inspired by a presentation I did in 2019 at a convention call “Mental Health and Video Games” where I explored the depiction of mental health imagery in video games, particularly the horror genre, alongside some other topics (I still have a copy of the PowerPoint so if anyone is interested let me know I can I post it!). I love horror, especially video games, but I’ve always had mixed feelings about how mental health is depicted. For example, I really enjoy Silent Hill 2’s depiction of grief and loss through repression or how the town manifests the unresolved traumas of those who are called back. The Suffering is an excellent game but I had mixed feelings about Dr. Killjoy. He could be another archetype playing into the role of the crazed doctor who tortures his patients (not exactly helping fighting the stigma against getting treatment) but he also could be a criticism of unethical treatment forced upon prisoners and/or those forced into asylums facing abysmal conditions and barbaric “treatment”. I was not a fan of the enemy type who were literally called “lunatics”, donning mouth and head restraints, in Batman: Arkham Asylum. As far as I recall, Batman never comes to question their treatment in Arkham Asylum just beats them unconscious so they can be put back into their cell. Batman, you’re supposed to be the good guy here! Games like Outlast where the backdrop is an asylum and the enemies are patients also call into questions their depictions of mental illness.

Anyway, I could write forever about mental health and video games but long story short, this poem is one exploration of my thoughts and experiences. You can read my pieces and many others at these links: https://www.redrosethorns.com/post/a-canterbury-tale-from-my-bedroom & https://www.redrosethorns.com/post/thoughts-from-a-neuro-divergent-gamer

You're currently a free subscriber. Upgrade your subscription to get access to the rest of this post and other paid-subscriber only content.

It’s been hard to keep up with various changes occurring in the United States but amongst the many violations I have found the treatment of undocumented people reprehensible. Almost all of the protest around illegal immigration in the U.S is not for concern of undocumented workers facing abusive and dangerous working environments, living conditions, and unfair labor practices and payment (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=41vETgarh_8). We can tell this isn’t true because the focus of reprimand would come upon the massive corporations employing immigrants and migrants instead of upon individuals trying to make a living. Nor is the concern really for public safety, considering American citizens are more likely to commit a crime (https://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/research/debunking-myth-immigrants-and-crime). Nor can we say the concern is about harm reduction, such as wanting to end human trafficking or reduce substance use because then we would see federal policies offering protections for sex workers instead of arresting them or we would see substance use programs and education to help reduce the U.S. high demand for drugs (https://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/drug-trafficking/index.html)

The real motivating factor is, blatantly, racism and xenophobia. As a Mexican-American who grew up hearing frequent, casual racism this is disturbing but I unsurprising. My grandfather wasn’t even a U.S. citizen when he was drafted during Vietnam, though he obtained his citizenship afterwards. Moments of racism continue to slice into my life. Last year I attended a local Author Fair and experienced unkindness when a woman who was friendly and chatting to me about my books, quickly put my book down and walked away abruptly after I explained that “Mujer” is Spanish for “Woman” and that I was Mexican-American. It felt awful.

This unfortunately isn’t a new thing for the United States. Just this past week I finished watching the excellent PBS documentary The Eugenics Crusade (https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/eugenics-crusade/#transcript). Here’s a quote from Charles Davenport, a leader of the eugenics movement at the time: “Can we build a wall high enough around this country,” he wondered, “so as to keep out these cheaper races?” and “If we don’t put up the bars and make them higher and stronger,” she warned, “there no longer will be an America for Americans.” Does that rhetoric sound familiar to you? At the time immigrants who were from Southern and Eastern Europe including people who were Italian, Jewish, Catholic, etc. and was on top of the already existing racism and discrimination for resident African American, Native Americans, and Asian Americans.

The U.S. also has a long history of imprisoning and trafficking marginalized people such as residential schools for Native American youth, the forced internment during WWII of Japanese and Italian persons, the imprisonment of Black civil rights activists, the torture of innocent persons in prisons such as Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay and now what is occurring with Venezuelans being deported to El Salvador. What are their names and charges? We certainly know that a trial certainly didn’t take place. Some were accused of gang involvement due to having tattoos that were wrongly identified (https://apnews.com/article/guantanamo-aclu-trump-migrants-2949f003ddfcc26bfacab9fd009be4e1). The pressure for state governments to report “suspected” undocumented persons to ICE for even minor offenses encourages this racial profiling as well. And I use the word trafficking because that it is precisely what it is: forcibly taking humans from their homes, confining them, and exploiting them. What else can we call false imprisonment of people forced to perform labor but slavery?

In moments like these, I feel small. Like a leaf twirling in a rough ocean. I have pushed myself to be more involved with advocacy, including attending state senate meetings, emailing and mailing my representatives, and joining local advocacy groups. But one other I can do is use my voice, my poetry, to protest. Poetry is often political, even if that sometimes isn’t our goal when we sit down and write. Above and below you will find two protests pieces I have created. The first is a visual collage compiled of recent and past events of human trafficking and unjust incarceration in the U. S. I also provided a list of links for references to each image along with history. Below is a black out poem created using “Invocation of the Alien Enemies Act Regarding the Invasion of The United States by Tren De Aragua” published by the White House on March 15, 2025.

For my fellow writers, artists, musicians, playwrights, and creators, now is the time to use your talent to protest! Share your voice and gifts to stand up for your fellow human and RESIST!

References to Deportation Protest Collage:

https://www.npr.org/2019/01/18/685844413/i-gave-up-hope-as-girls-they-were-jailed-in-squalor-for-protesting-segregation

https://apnews.com/article/trump-venezuela-el-salvador-immigration-dd4f61999f85c4dd8bcaba7d4fc7c9af

https://niafblog.wordpress.com/2020/05/07/untold-wwii-history-u-s-internment-of-italians-americans/

https://www.npr.org/2024/10/19/nx-s1-5156027/alien-enemies-act-1798-trump-immigration

https://www.justiceinfo.net/en/137233-guantanamo-torture-legacy-abuse-still-haunts-america.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abu_Ghraib_torture_and_prisoner_abuse

https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/seattle-remembers-events-to-observe-75th-anniversary-of-us-internment-of-japanese-americans/

https://www.voanews.com/a/usa_native-americans-feds-own-americas-indian-school-history/6207014.html

Hello readers and writers!

It’s been a minute since my last post. Things have been a bit quiet poetry-wise, at least in the announcement aspect, recently. That certainly doesn’t mean behind the scenes, though! In the past two months of the year I put together a new chapbook and have submitted poems and chapbook collections out into the world…and now we wait…sigh…

I also was offered a writing opportunity and am getting it together by the end of this month. More on that once things have been solidified. It feels so taboo to talk about uncompleted writing projects! We are quite the superstitious bunch! But something that is solid is my poetry reading group performing a group reading in honor of National Poetry Month! Ahh! Look at us!

Saturday April 5th 2025 at the Fort Ben Branch Public Library (9330 E 56th St, Indianapolis, IN 46216) from 10:30 am to 1:30 pm we will be reading from our various collections and even have our books for sale. This is a great chance to hear from, meet, and support local Hoosier writers, most based off out Indianapolis. We will also have an open mic so you can share your own writing, too!

Talking about my poetry group, Poets Laureate of Lawrence, they are amazing! We have a small group ranging from 5 to 12 poets who meet monthly on the fourth Tuesday of each month. We welcome new members to simply listen or even bring some poetry (written by yourself or even other writers) to share. We also have some featured poet slots available, mostly in the summer and fall. If you are an Indiana poet and have a chapbook or full length book of poetry to sell, please reach out! You’ll have the floor for the first our to read and chat about your book and then sell your book(s). Books can be indie, self-published, hand-made or through a big publisher. We also occasionally have spoken word performances, too! We’ve had a wide range of topics and forms ranging from delicate nature haiku to hard hitting poems about death, cancer, addiction, racism, trauma, etc. to crude, hilarious limericks to playful children’s poetry to esoteric, metaphysical free form! We love it ALL!

Check out the flyer I made below for more info. Also, you are welcome to reach out to me if you have any questions or would like for me to help set you up scheduling with Joyce B. Find my email via my Contact Page and shoot me a message or find me on Instagram and DM me there!