Parker published her first volume of poetry, "Enough Rope," in 1926. The collection sold 47,000 copies and garnered impressive reviews. "The Nation" described her verse as "caked with a salty humor, rough with splinters of disillusion, and tarred with a bright black authenticity." Although some critics, notably "The New York Times" reviewer, dismissed her work as "flapper verse," the volume helped affirm Parker's reputation for sparkling wit. Parker released two more volumes of verse, "Sunset Gun" (1928) and "Death and Taxes" (1931), along with the short story collections "Laments for the Living" (1930) and "After Such Pleasures" (1933). "Not So Deep as a Well" (1936) collected much of the material previously published in "Rope," "Gun," and "Death" and she re-released her fiction with a few new pieces in 1939 under the title "Here Lies."