Scorpion's Question Mark - Paperback

by J. D. Debris (Author)

The Scorpion's Question Mark, a formally inventive debut collection of poetry driven by narrative and character, was the winner of the 2022 Donald Justice Poetry Prize.

In this stunning debut, JD Debris writes about characters who live on society's outskirts and demand greater visibility in the face of marginalization. At the book's heart are extended narrative elegies for two musicians. First, the poet follows Mexican singer and songwriter Chalino Sánchez as he avenges his sister's sexual assault, and then he turns to Gato Barbieri, an influential Argentine tenor saxophonist who is haunted by a shadowy "man in dusk-colored glasses." As these musicians question their purpose, we as readers are invited to reflect on our lives, our legacies, and ourselves.

The Scorpion's Question Mark is personal and mythological, representational and abstract. These formally inventive and metrically attuned poems compose a range of contrasts--boxers Manny Pacquiao and Marvelous Marvin Hagler appear alongside Tupac and Herman Melville, and apparitions of the Virgin Mary manifest in both human and mirage-like forms on public beachfronts. Looking to the scorpion's tail that forms the shape of a question mark, Debris seeks to occupy uncertain space within the poems, bending forms to find both expansiveness and tension.

Author Biography

J.D. Debris was born in Salem, MA. He holds an MFA from New York University, where he was a Goldwater Fellow. In addition to the Donald Justice Prize, his work has received awards from Ploughshares and Narrative. He is the author of The Scorpion's Question Mark and the chapbook Sparring as well as the music albums Black Market Organs, J.D. Debris Murder Club, and Yanquis. Formerly a touring musician and an amateur boxer, he currently works as a teaching artist in the Boston Public Schools.