Selected poems in journals
“Hombres de Maíz” (prose poem)
“Visiting Tía” (full poem here)
Selected Personal Essays
“How to Fall”
By Rebecca Balcárcel
“Goggles
I lift a hand to my goggles more than once, triple-checking, nudging their snug resistance. Fitting over my glasses, the plastic edges press hard against my cheekbones. These polycarbonate lenses will show me plane wing, wrist altimeter, ground far below, and hopefully my parachute with untangled lines unfurling, full canopy, above me . . .”
“Knots, Map, Water, Oranges”
by Rebecca Balcárcel
“It was spring of 1994, a fresh and moist time of year in the Southwest, when my husband and I set out. Three months pregnant and not particularly in shape, I began a trip from Houston to Santa Fe by bicycle. It took thirty-two days and a resolve to “live deliberately,” as Thoreau says. With pages torn from a road atlas, a tent, water bottles, backpacks of food, and a change of clothes, we pedaled out of town . . .”
“The Clothesline”
by Rebecca Balcárcel
“Fifteen dollars, a trip to the local hardware store, and I was all set. One retractable clothesline, guaranteed not to break, rust, or raise the electric bill. Since I own a perfectly-running dryer, more than a few folks wondered at my new purchase. At the store, clerks passed my question back and forth like a smelly cloth diaper. “Clothesline did you say? Let me ask hardware.” “A clothesline? Let me check with domestics.” “Do you mean a line for hanging clothing? Stay right there; I’ll find the manager . . .”
Selected Short Stories
“La Gringa Reloja”
by Rebecca Balcárcel
“By the time I met her, she was already known as la gringa relója. The American watch woman you might say, and I saw her myself many times, because she married my uncle Tito, and Tito swore he didn’t mind the watch grown into her wrist, confided that he found her unique (who could disagree?), and knew that no other man in history could be as certain that his bride would arrive on time for the ceremony. Which she did. In fact, quite early, and the middle-aged in the crowd whispered that this was a good sign. They were looking for good signs because Tito was thirty-eight . . .”
“Breakthrough”
by Rebecca Balcárcel
“I wanted the sledgehammer.
Twelve pounds of steel on the end of a thick, hickory rod.
I ran my fingers over the brand name burned into the handle in the Tools section of the home improvement store. I watched the light strike the flat planes of its dull silver head. I even hefted it just to feel its weight, its power. My power.
But the YouTube video said no . . .”
Essay in textbook
A textbook for teachers and students who want to write authentically in any genre
My essay is “Loosening the Collars,” about how I found my writing voice and how I help students find theirs.
Rebecca Balcárcel 