Dave Morrison

Jack Dupree has done a lot of things he regrets, and a lot of things he can't remember, but that's all behind him now. He doesn't drink or tend bar any more. He doesn't play piano any more, at least not in public. He works the door at a blues bar called the Hideaway - he is trying to put his life back together and move on. He does not feel obligated to find his missing brother: Danny is a charming liar and loose cannon, and has disappeared before. Bit it is Annie, Jack's wild ex-girlfriend who begs him to help. When Annie is murdered Jack has to find out who is responsible and bring them to some kind of justice, not knowing that he is about to open a Pandora's box of family secrets.

In his 18th collection of poetry, Dave Morrison explores, accepts and celebrates a lifetime of undiagnosed ADHD.

First published in 2008, Sliver remains one of poet Dave Morrison's most popular works. Hailed as 'A hearty weed in the garden of American poetry' Dave Morrison's poems have been published in literary magazines and anthologies, and featured on Writer's Almanac, Take Heart, and Poems from Here. Another Good Day Begins (Soul Finger Press 2022) is his most recent collection. After years of playing in rock bands in Boston and NYC, Morrison now lives on the coast of Maine.

This chapbook is Morrison's seventeenth collection of poems, and features his trademark workaday wisdom, unblinking worldview and sucker-punch humor. These poems are distilled down to their essence, lean and streamlined, and accessible to those who love poetry, and those who don't. "A sort of Socrates among poets - dogged by his awareness of his own ignorance, and thereby wiser than the rest of us." (Dana Wilde, Bangor Daily News)

A Murder of Crows Descended, Displacing an Exultation of Larks is poet Dave Morrison's sixteenth collection. Writing during a pandemic amplified his usual themes of yearning and loss, unresolved personal history, the back-alley brawl between joy and despair, endurance and redemption, all with his trademark understatement.

Welcome Homesick is poet Dave Morrison's thirteenth collection. "...a hearty weed in the garden of American poetry." P.H. Madore, Dispatch "There is no voice quite like his. What shines in every poem is musical sound and rhythm, grittiness, reality, humor, and the rare ability to tackle serious subjects without taking himself too seriously. There is a wonderful, refreshing lack of pretentiousness and self-pity in all his poems and books." Alice Persons, Editor and Publisher, Moon Pie Press "By tapping into his tumultuous past, Morrison has created work that is not only technically sound, but viscerally engaging. His is no passive verse; it grabs you by the collar and demands your attention." Allen Adams, themaineedge.com "sharp, revealing imagery in crisp and subtle but tightly rhythmic language" Dana Wilde - Bangor Daily News

When poet Dave Morrison was diagnosed with tonsillar cancer he reacted the only way he knew how; by writing poems. "In these honest and courageous poems, Morrison shares his turbulent journey through the landscape of cancer, its painful paths and nearly unclimbable hills, its tremendous skies with bright stars of gratitude. These poems encompass a geography of emotion, from self-deprecation and moments of despair, to humor, love, and resilience. Morrison describes the beginning of illness, the long days "where each breath is a/ noticeable event," the measurement and exhaustion of pain, the beautiful allure of morphine. This collection reminds us that life's brutal blows are meant to help us learn "important lessons about what/ is real and good and valuable," and to sing "a song of thanks/ as loud as a/ saxophone." -Ellen Taylor, author of Floating . This second edition contains additional poems and extended author notes.

Stethoscope is poet Dave Morrison's ninth collection of poetry. Hailed as 'A hearty weed in the garden of American poetry' Dave Morrison's poems have been published in literary magazines and anthologies, and featured on Writer's Almanac. "In Stethoscope, Dave Morrison the poet has fully arrived. Few people participate as fully in the musical awe beaten out in these poems as Dave Morrison maintains naturally all the time. "I'm transcribing as fast as I can," he says of words given to him in a dream, "but / they are disappearing in the / morning sun." Luckily for us, he has trained his ear to pick up the pulse no matter how faint, and amplify it with practiced skill. In this book, his transcriptive powers have hit full blossom." Dana Wilde - author of The Other End of the Driveway and editor of Uni-Verse

Hailed as 'A hearty weed in the garden of American poetry' Dave Morrison's poems have been published in literary magazines and anthologies, and featured on Writer's Almanac. 'Fail' is his eighth collection of poetry. "There is no voice quite like his. What shines in every poem is musical sound and rhythm, grittiness, reality, humor, and the rare ability to tackle serious subjects without taking himself too seriously." (Alice Persons, Editor and Publisher, Moon Pie Press) "Morrison's eye for detail and his razor-sharp sense of humor elevate his words into something visceral and anchored in the real world, whether it's in the past or the present." (Emily Burnham, Bangor Daily News) "By tapping into his tumultuous past, Morrison has created work that is not only technically sound, but viscerally engaging. His is no passive verse; it grabs you by the collar and demands your attention." (Allen Adams, themaineedge.com)

It was energy & fatigue, wildness & sameness, authenticity & illusion; it was magic & possibility & expression, it was boredom, ego, bullshit. It was fun & sex & drinks, abuse & addiction & violence. It was inclusion & loneliness, defeat and heartache, it was transformation & magic, it was music, it was everything, it made everything else not matter. Welcome to Clubland. No cover, no drink minimum. Clubland is a collection of poems about rock & roll bars, written in verse. This is Dave Morrison's seventh poetry collection. "Morrison can be trusted to not waste your time; every poem is worth the read. He never missteps in his wistful yet frank look at the bars, motels, managers, band members and girl friends that make up the world of Boston rock. It's a perfect book for late night with a drink..." (review excerpt - Boston Groupie News)

Morrison writes poems about the landscape of the heart, the weather inside the skull, and how Rock & Roll becomes part of your DNA. Morrison's second book of poetry is chock full of poems about String Theory, Khrushchev, Death, Jerry Lee Lewis, Fear, Norton Commandos, Time, Transistor Radios, Keith Richards, and the blues.