Read the poem ‘First Frost along the Sebasticook’ by Dana Holley Maloney
Maine Poets Spotlight: New Jersey Scholar Dana Holley Maloney’s “First Frost along the Sebasticook” Debuts in Deep Water
BENTON, ME — A crisp September morning on the Sebasticook River has found its way into a Maine‑based literary magazine. “First Frost along the Sebasticook,” a poem by Dana Holley Maloney, appeared in the latest issue of Deep Water, a publication run by the Maine Writers & Publishers Alliance. The piece captures a fleeting moment when light and mist collide over the river, leaving the landscape painted in white shards of early frost.
Deep Water, the quarterly that “especially eager to share poems by Black writers, writers of color, indigenous writers, LGBTQ+ writers, and other underrepresented voices,” announced the poem’s publication in a brief note from editor Megan Grumbling, a Portland‑based poet and writer. “We’re thrilled to bring Maloney’s evocative piece to our readers,” Grumbling said. “The imagery of light exploding white in fog above the river feels both intimate and universal.”
Maloney, who teaches English at Montclair State University in New Jersey, is a frequent contributor to literary journals. Her work has appeared in Lips, North Dakota Quarterly, Killing the Angel, English Journal, and the Journal of New Jersey Poets. In 2025, she was the recipient of Duke University’s Anne Flexner Award for Poetry. When she isn’t in the classroom, Maloney splits her time between her home in New Jersey and a residence in Freeport, Maine, where she draws inspiration from the region’s rugged natural beauty.
The poem itself opens with a traveler turning east toward the river, only to find a bridge swallowed by a spectacle of mist and light. “The light exploded white in fog that rose above the river, refracted, splintered even by what was wholly hidden behind mist,” Maloney writes. She continues, “Words spilled out of me, addressed to whomever might hear me struck by The Sublime that mid‑September morning while en route to the Common Ground Country Fair.” The imagery culminates in a line that captures the moment when ice crystals “wilt tender vines, leaving green gourds far from orphaned,” a poetic nod to the river’s seasonal transformation.
Maloney’s experience as an educator and writer has given her a unique perspective on how natural phenomena can inform creative expression. “It’s about the intersection of earth and ether,” she explained to a local radio program in 2024. “You see something that feels otherworldly and it forces you to articulate that feeling.”
For writers interested in sharing their own work, Deep Water remains open to submissions through the end of the year. The publication’s website notes a particular enthusiasm for pieces by writers of color, LGBTQ+ writers, and underrepresented communities. Prospective contributors can submit their work and author bios to mainewriters.org/deep-water.
The inclusion of Maloney’s poem in Deep Water underscores the magazine’s commitment to showcasing diverse voices while also highlighting the natural landscapes that inspire them. As the region’s first frost sets in, readers of the publication can experience the quiet beauty that has moved a New Jersey scholar to write and share.
