In Off to War, Daughter, readers will accompany Trapper Markelz as he looks back on the tenderness of early parenthood while reckoning with the uncertain world his children will someday inherit. Though rooted in a father’s experience raising his daughters, these poems reach far beyond parenthood itself, speaking to the joy and wonder that naturally accompany loving others deeply.
—Anne Marie Wells, founder of The Joy of Poeting, author of Survived By: A Memoir in Verse + Other Poems
Off to War, Daughter is a poignant ode to fatherhood, where tenderness and self-reckoning move alongside exquisite imagery. Universal to any parent—or anyone who has loved a small, beautiful thing meant to leave—these poems ask to be carried and returned to like any book you’d never leave “outside in the rain.”
–Candice M. Kelsey, author of Another Place Altogether
Off to War, Daughter is a beautiful tribute to fatherhood and raising three daughters, while skirting the fragile boundary between love and impermanence. Written with lyrical precision and rooted in everyday life—clothing, routines, small exchanges—these poems keep close to what might otherwise be missed.
—Susan Michele Coronel, author of In the Needle, A Woman (winner, 2024 Donna Wolf Palacio Prize)
In Off to War, Daughter, readers will accompany Trapper Markelz as he looks back on the tenderness of early parenthood while reckoning with the uncertain world his children will someday inherit. Though rooted in a father’s experience raising his daughters, these poems reach far beyond parenthood itself, speaking to the joy and wonder that naturally accompany loving others deeply.
—Anne Marie Wells, founder of The Joy of Poeting, author of Survived By: A Memoir in Verse + Other Poems
Off to War, Daughter is a poignant ode to fatherhood, where tenderness and self-reckoning move alongside exquisite imagery. Universal to any parent—or anyone who has loved a small, beautiful thing meant to leave—these poems ask to be carried and returned to like any book you’d never leave “outside in the rain.”
–Candice M. Kelsey, author of Another Place Altogether
Off to War, Daughter is a beautiful tribute to fatherhood and raising three daughters, while skirting the fragile boundary between love and impermanence. Written with lyrical precision and rooted in everyday life—clothing, routines, small exchanges—these poems keep close to what might otherwise be missed.
—Susan Michele Coronel, author of In the Needle, A Woman (winner, 2024 Donna Wolf Palacio Prize)
Title: Off to War, Daughter
Author: Trapper Markelz
Publisher: Rockwood Press
Released: 2026 - March
Format: chapbook, acid-free paper, silk cover
Pages: 54
Price: $10
ISBN: 978-1-59498-215-6
