“Art is not a mirror held up to reality
but a hammer with which to shape it.”
― Bertolt Brecht.
Bearing in mind Mitchell’s admonition and Brecht’s thought, here are selected published or forthcoming literary and other creative endeavors from yours truly for your interest and enjoyment:
The Germ Haiku Poem in print, copy here
Big River Poetry Review “The Diner” (not available online)
Calliope “Kindred Spirits” in print, copy here
Jewish Currents “The Yankee Diner” in print, copy here
Poetica Magazine “Responsum To A Poster” in print, copy here
Misfitmagazine “Body Parts”
Eclectica Magazine “Vindicating Holocaust Poetry” essay
Star 82 Review “Running Out Of Gas” in print and online
Star 82 Review “The Unseen” in print and online
China Grove Featured Poet: “Terezin: Trilogy Of Names” – “The Walk To Terezin”, “The Train To Terezin”, “The Suitcase To Terezin” Annual Issue 3, in print
China Grove “There Are No Ghosts In Savannah” Annual Issue 4, in print
Belle Reve “Sunrise On Big Pine Key” and “Watching The Moon Rising”
Dialogual “From Generation To Generation” flash fiction
Verse-Virtual “The Pope’s Prayer” and “Repairing The World”
Sediments Literary-Arts Journal “That’s Why They Call It The Blues”
Piece Meal Reviews “January 19, 1969” by Gerard Sarnat, literary review
Indiana Voice Journal “Blessed Union” and “America’s Sport“
Remarkable Doorways Literary Magazine “Scraps Of Time“, “The Butterfly Effect“, and “Carrion“
The Review Review “Writing and Copyright, What Every Author Needs to Know” article
Blue Bonnet Review “I Don’t Look Up At The Sky Anymore” and “The Ride: Memoriam For Robin Williams”
On Being “The Poetry of Bearing Witness” essay and “Terezin: Trilogy Of Names”
I Am Not A Silent Poet “Baltimore Mom Proves Violence is America’s Answer”
Dissident Voice “Ferguson-Rashomon”
Yellow Chair Review “The Changing Face Of Beauty”
Crack the Spine “The Concert”
Rattle Online “Ekphrastic Challenge” artist and guest editor
Clear Poetry Magazine “Undercover”, “My Friend Is Leaving”, and “Sliver Of A Moon”
Poetry Life and Times “Windows, Doors, And Walls”
The Review Review “Ekphrasis and Beyond” article
The Jewish Literary Journal “My Granddaughter’s Prayer Shawl”
I Am Not A Silent Poet “A Virtual Cry For Help”
Clear Poetry Anthology 2015 “My Friend Is Leaving”
Syzygy Poetry Journal “Fading Away” and “Michael The Wretch”
Silver Birch Press “On The Road To Matrimony”
InkStain Press “Morning Blessings” “The Cynic” and “Sadness In The Midst Of It All“
Spank the Carp Judge, 2016 Ekphrastic Poetry Competition
Scarlet Leaf Review “A More Perfect Union”, “Dear Daughter Mine”, “Visitation”, “The Dead In Me, A Dirge”, and “Awakening”
Indiana Voice Journal “The Watch in the Pawnshop” short story
Social Justice Poetry “Payday Lender Customer Briefly Seen On TV”
Dime Show Review “Being At The Right Place At The Right Time”
The Basil O’Flaherty “Unscathed” “It’s A Biblical Matter” and “Learning Right From Wrong” (Note: Open July 2016 Archive and scroll to find these poems)
The Basil O’Flaherty Song Lyrics: “The Magic Show” and “The Last Serenade” (Note: Open July 2016 Archive and scroll to find these song lyrics)
Silver Birch Press “Kite Flying At The Beach”
I Am Not A Silent Poet “Nigeria Is Not Known For Its Scrabble But It Should Be”
I Am Not A Silent Poet “Another First”
Tuck Magazine “Unfit, A Hypothetical Conversation between Cicero The Statesman and Plutarch the Historian” and “The End Of The World Approaches”
Silver Birch Press “Moving To The Boonies”
The Lake “The New Cat” (Note: Open October 2016 Archive and scroll to find this poem)
Verse-Virtual “Indigenous”
Whispers “Poetry Is Back In The News For A Day Anyway”
Silver Birch Press “My Grandfather, The Billy Goat Curse,
And Game Seven Of The 2016 World Series”
New Verse News “The Conspiracy Surrounding The 2016 Word Of The Year”
The Galway Review “The Passing Of A Poet,” “Laissez Les Bons Temps Rouler,” “Winning—Another Day At The ALF,” “The Day We Lost One Of Our Grandchildren In A Corn Maze,” and “Growing Up With M&M’s”
Cleaver Magazine “Sieg Heil/Their Shoes”
I Am Not A Silent Poet “Je Suis Juif“
Social Justice Poetry The “Backfire Effect”- Untruth Versus Poetry
ReformJudaism “The New Wave of Anti-Semitism: Lest We Forget” essay
Poets Reading The News “On Reading About The Lost Poetry Of The Angel Island Detention Center”
Visitant “Abe Lincoln, Homeward Bound”
Hevria “The Holocaust on Display” essay including the poem “Pictures Of The Lodz Ghetto”
I Am Not A Silent Poet “Holocaust Remembrance Day: things they left behind”
Tuck Magazine “The Thimble is Gone, What Next?”
Poets Reading The News “Waypoints”
Verse-Virtual “All American”
Unlikely Stories “Survival Of The Fittest” and “Dystopian”
Verse-Virtual “First Responder”
Writers Resist “The Salt March”
Riggwelter “Encounter With Truth Via Czeslaw Miłosz”
The Bees Are Dead “Fundamental Attribution Error”
Unlost Journal “Justice”
The Galway Review Howard Richard Debs’ debut work Gallery Recipient of 2017 Best Book Award
Tuck Magazine “The New Tyranny”
Indiana Voice Journal Review of Gallery: A Collection of Pictures and Words
Poets Reading The News “Real Fake News”
Tuck Magazine “Before Hanukkah, 2018”
Tuck Magazine “Drumbeat”
Tuck Magazine “Virus Inhumanius”
I Am Not A Silent Poet “The Party Formerly Known As The GOP”
Poets Reading The News “Walmart Was the Largest Retailer in America”
Former People Journal “Political, An Annotated Illustrated Trilogy”
ReformJudaism “What’s Real about a Virtual Shabbat Service?” essay
The Forward “How I Finally Came to Appreciate Virtual Shabbat” essay
Trouvaille Review “Second Earth”
Silver Birch Press “What Is On The Other Side Of The Door”
Brown Bag Online “Flowers For The Dead” and “Dorian Before, During, After” (scroll to find these pieces)
Silver Birch Press “American Landmark””
Silver Birch Press “The Trains Must Run on Time Even if the Cars Are Empty”
Reapparition Journal “Genes”
Rhino Reviews Review of Political
Poetry Spoken Here Reading and Interview with host Charlie Rossiter March 31, 2021
Topical Poetry “Boulder feels like a bubble. And the bubble burst.”
Silver Birch Press “How To Give A Hug”
Visible Magazine “2:46 a.m. Chicago”
Silver Birch Press “Beach Blanket Babylon Is Gone, Ferlinghetti Too”
The BeZine “Fervor”
Global Poemic “And The World Will Be As One”
Visible Magazine “Avant-garde”
Topical Poetry “When Will the Sun Explode?”
Visible Magazine “Dystopian Justice”
Silver Birch Press “The Saga of the Sea Turtles Olaf and Elsa”
Synchronized Chaos “The Gallery Group”
Dissident Voice “Would Joan Baez have Performed for the Crowd on January 6th?”
Topical Poetry “Harbinger”
Visible Magazine “Composing a Country”
New Verse News “Babyn Yar 2.0”
Topical Poetry “J’accuse”
Impspired “Summers with Aunt Sissy,” “The State of Hate,” and “Aliens”
Verse-Virtual National Poetry Month Event April 2022, featured reading
Provenance Journal “Giveaway”
Visible Magazine “One Less Gun in Kenosha”
Stanford Life in Quarantine Project Featured Writer: poems on the pandemic
The Journal of Radical Wonder four-part series “Radical Reflections of an American Jew”
Visible Magazine “Baseball, America, Yankees: A Photo Journal”
New Verse News “Inmates in Charge of the Asylum”
Directory of Poets & Writers: author listing
Communicators & Communications 
[…] Muse-ings […]
[…] Comment from the artist, Howard R. Debs, on his selection: “For me this poem is the one that best evokes the spirit of the pictorial presented; it is technically well written, the poetics, construction, language usage, literary devices, etc. all support the narrative which stretches the ‘canvas’ of the visual to rightfully claim the designation, contemporary ekphrastic poem. For those interested, in my just published article, you can read more about the merit of contemporary ekphrasis, the ‘how to’ aspects for those unacquainted with or just starting to work in this genre, as well as consider my apologia putting forth an argument for multi-media in the internet age. Besides Ann’s poem, without being modest, another good example of the ‘new’ ekphrasis I champion may be found in a published essay of mine which concludes with an ekphrastic poem trilogy. Have a look, then ‘challenge’ yourself to try your own hand at this art form by participating in this forum.” (website) […]
[…] by Howard R. Debs. Used by permission, Frederick County Division of Parks and Recreation. “Offering” was written […]
[…] Howard Richard Debs received a University of Colorado Poetry Prize at age 19. After spending the past fifty years in the field of communications, with recognitions including a Distinguished Achievement Award from the Educational Press Association of America, he has recently resumed his literary pursuits, and his latest work appears or is forthcoming in Calliope, Big River Poetry Review, Jewish Currents, Poetica Magazine, Misfitmagazine, Star 82 Review, The Review Review, Belle Reve Literary Journal, Verse-Virtual, Dialogual, Sediments Literary-Arts Journal, Piecemeal Review, Remarkable Doorways Literary Magazine, Indiana Voice Journal, Blue Bonnet Review, China Grove, I am Not A Silent Poet,among others, and On Being online in which appears his ekphrastic Holocaust poetry series “Terezin: Trilogy Of Names” and also in On Being online his essay “The Poetry of Bearing Witness” and Eclectica Magazine, in which his essay “Vindicating Holocaust Poetry” appears from which stems the work in progress, New Voices from Salvaged Words: An Anthology of Contemporary Holocaust Poetry and Essays. His work has been selected for final judges’ consideration for the Anna Davidson Rosenberg Poetry Awards for Poems on the Jewish Experience. His background in photography goes back many years, both creative and technical, and his photography will be found in select publications, including inRattle online as “Ekphrastic Challenge” artist and guest editor. Born and bred in Chicago, he now lives in sunny South Florida with his wife of 50 years Sheila, where they spend considerable time spoiling their four grandchildren. Author listing Poets & Writers Directory https://www.pw.org/content/howard_debs Author website: https://communicatorsandcommunications.com/muse-ings/ […]
[…] ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Howard Richard Debs is a poet, writer, photographer, sometime artist, musician, singer/songwriter. At age 19 he received a University of Colorado Poetry Prize; after some 50 years in the field of communications with recognitions including a Distinguished Achievement Award from the Educational Press Association of America, he resumed his creative pursuits. A Finalist and recipient of the 2015 Anna Davidson Rosenberg Poetry Awards, his latest work appears in Blue Bonnet Review, Yellow Chair Review, Crack The Spine, Poetry Life and Times, Clear Poetry Magazine and its 2015 Anthology, among others, and On Being online in which appears his ekphrastic Holocaust poetry series “Terezin: Trilogy Of Names” and also in On Being online his essay “The Poetry of Bearing Witness.” His background in photography goes back many years, both creative and technical, and his photography will be found in select publications, including in Rattle online as “Ekphrastic Challenge” artist and guest editor. Born and bred in Chicago, he now lives in sunny South Florida with his wife of 50 years Sheila, where they spend considerable time spoiling their four grandchildren. Visit him at the Poets & Writers Directory and on his website. […]
[…] Author listing Poets & Writers Directory https://www.pw.org/content/howard_debs Author website: https://communicatorsandcommunications.com/muse-ings/ […]
[…] Howard Debs […]
[…] Howard Debs […]