My name is Marc Drexler, and this web page is a chronological listing of my poetry publications. I won the Pratt Poetry contest in 2024, and people have been asking where they can find more of my poetry, so I thought I'd make a page with links to the poems that are available on line, as well as links to the books containing the other ones.
I can be reached via e-mail at the following address: my first initial and last name (all one word, all lower case) at the education domain of my alma mater.
My first published poem was 2nd Grader Killed by Stray Bullet, which was a Split This Rock poem of the week in June 2012.
also here
My poem After Eden won second place in the 2019 Bend Source Poetry Contest in November of that year.
There was a reading for this contest at the Deschutes Public Library, 24 November 2019, which happened to coincide with my visit to my cousin in Bend for Thanksgiving, so I was able to attend. My part of the reading is from 4:55 to 15:40, but if you have the time it is worth listening to the whole thing.
I read:
"Baltimore, 1977" won second place in the Maryland Writers' Association 2020 poetry contest and was published in Maryland In Poetry in March 2020.
The book is available on Amazon for $6.00 by following the link on that page, but here is the poem:
Baltimore, 1977
I learned about racism
first time first hand in an airport
not yet named for Thurgood Marshall.
The van from Homewood didn’t have room
for all the freshmen who had just arrived,
so I gave up my seat to the kid
the driver said we didn’t have room for,
because he had been bumped from the last
shuttle, too. Then we all fit.
In April of 2020 I participated in the Re(En)Vision challenge, the 2020 version of Mike Maggio's 30 for 30 which he does annually in conjunction with Potomac Review. The idea was to take a poem and manipulate it following certain constraints to end up with another poem. I chose one of my word palindrome poems, "Age", which was transformed into "Star Formation".
Here are both poems:Re(En)Vision Day 25: Marc Drexler
"Dangers" and "Glimmerings" were published in May of 2023 in the Mid-Atlantic Review, which was then known as Bourgeon.
My short poem "Practice" was selected as one of nine poems to appear on Arlington, Virginia ART buses from March through September of 2024.
Here is an image of the placard.
I had four poems published in Echoes Through the Stacks in March of 2024.
Echoes Through the Stacks is an anthology of poetry written during the first five years of Poetry Evenings at Quince Orchard Library, originally a monthly event, but then becoming twice monthly when it eventually went to Zoom after COVID closed the library. The book is available on Amazon for $15.00.
My poems included are:
In April 2024 my poem "A Few Blocks" won the 2024 Enoch Pratt Free Library Poetry Contest. Besides appearing on the .pdf file of winning poems on the Pratt website, it was published in the Summer 2024 issue of Little Patuxent Review, which you can purchase through links on their website. I participated in two readings in conjunction with the publication of "A Few Blocks", one for the launch of the issue of Little Patuxent Review, and one hosted by the Enoch Pratt Free Library. You can hear my part of the LPR launch reading on 23 June 2024 at the Kittamaqundi Community Church where I read:
LPR also did a print interview with me for their blog where I talk a bit about myself and my poetry.
I had two poems, "Pilgrimage" and "Anniversaries", published in the July 2024 issue of Pen In Hand, the official literary and art publication of Maryland Writers' Association. It can be downloaded as a .pdf file.
I had three poems in Gargoyle Online #9 in October 2024. Those poems are:
"Comforts of Home — Kharkiv, Ukraine" and "Deck of Days" were published in the January 2025 (.pdf download link) issue of Pen in Hand.
In March of 2025 another short poem of mine, "Things We Do for Love", was printed on placards for the Arlington ART buses as part of Moving Words, and was displayed through September.
You can read all the Moving Words winners and honorable mentions in the archive.
"Generation Q" and "Introduction to Poetry: 'It isn't for want'" appeared in Gargoyle Online #11 in July 2025.
"Chardonnay Picnics" was selected to appear on a placard in Luzerne County Transit Authority buses in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania as part of their Poetry in Transit project from September 2025 to July 2026. Facebook and Instagram pages with additional information.
"Three Horses" appeared in Volume 21 No.2 of the Loch Raven Review in December 2025.
"Now It Is up to Us" was published in Gargoyle Online #12, also in December 2025.
"s.g." and "Jockey Bob" were in Pen in Hand in January 2026. (.pdf download link)
"Green" appeared in Issue 11 of Ink & Marrow in February 2026.
