Announcing...

I'm excited to announce that preorders of my new chapbook Hello, it's Your Mother are now under way through my publisher, Finishing Line Press. I'd appreciate it if you'd consider buying your copy now. The number of books sold during this period (which ends August 28) determines how many will be printed during the press run. I appreciate your support.

Memorial Day- A Double Acrostic

Malachite-like gem
Engraved in stone
Memorialized dream
Omniscient hero
Revered with honor
In remembrance I
Admire your bravery, a
Life risk eternal

Daily you sacrificed
America for America
Your name honored today

April Activities and 2 FREE Poetry Books for National Poetry Month (Leave a comment to get your name in the drawing!)

Every year around this time I feel like a CPA (not that I can crunch numbers or anything) because April is to me like I guess it must be for them: CRAZY BUSY. Only I earn no fat paycheck. My reward is way better, though. It's the satisfaction of knowing that I did everything I could as a poet to honor National Poetry Month. And it's fun, too. Here are a few things I'll participate in this year. Read to the end and learn how you can win 2 free poetry books.

1. The Found Poetry Review's PoMoSco. Each day, poems found in different ways will appear on the PoMoSco site under my name. I hope to move up to top rank by the end of April. Maybe I can fulfill my Girl Scout Laureate Scout dreams.

2. Poetic Asides Poem-a-Day (PAD) Challenge. I always love this. Guest judges will select top poems for each day, which will then be compiled into a book courtesy of Words Dance Publishing.

3. Kelli Agodon's Big Poetry Giveway. This one is new to me and I'm thrilled about it. You can read the details below this picture. You can also participate if you'd like. Go to Kelli's blog and find out how. 

So everyone who signs up is giving away 2 poetry books. I'm giving away Helen Losse's Seriously Dangerous and my complete collection of poetry, Upon the Blue Couch. No matter where you live, if you win I'll ship these books to you for free! You must leave a comment with your email address to enter.

If you are reading this post, the giveaway has begun. Again, all you have to do is leave a comment below with your name and email address. You have until midnight April 30. I will draw a winner the first week of May. If you are interested in participating in the big poetry giveaway, check out this post or this one.

A little about myself now with borrowed interview questions from Kelli and Allyson Whipple.

Welcome! As you can see from the banner, my name is Laurie Kolp. I am a wife and mother of three children. I'm the president of Texas Gulf Coast Writers and am involved with the Poetry Society of Texas.

Last year I: Ran over 100 miles in 6 weeks.

I believe in UFOs and mermaids because I watched some documentaries that have me convinced!

I am always looking for chocolate.

People think I am sweet.

I recently cursed the oak trees in my yard (while bagging oak pollen) even though I LOVE them.

If I could live anywhere it would have to be tropical.

I do not do cartwheels anymore.

I am thankful for this sunny day.

I cheer for my alma mater Texas A&M... gig 'em.

To me, success is being happy with less.

My writing sometimes overpowers everything else.

I am most like a river.


Oh, yeah. In April, I'm also taking a poetry class, attending a week-long poetry retreat, speaking at a writer's meeting, attending readings, along with all the end-of-year activities for my three kids. Maybe I will feel as tired and drained as a CPA when April is over. It's so worth it, though.

What do you have planned for April?

Beyond Green

You can sit by a green river flowing 

beneath tourist-packed streets 

drink green beer, share stories 

about kissing the Blarney Stone

and four-leaf clovers 

found in fields of green 

stretching on and on and on 

like the depth of your green eyes 

luring me in with unspoken words of love

words I know I can make you say, change

the feelings you hide. When I look deep enough, 

I see a faint spark lurking in those green eyes. 

It calls to me, begs for me to pull it out 

from places deep within, the light 

before a train appears 

in a tunnel-vision mind

your mind, the spark 

I know is there.

A Chat with E. Kristin Anderson-- Poet, Young Adult Author, & Blogger

I met her several years ago when we both participated in The Found Poetry Review's Pulitzer Remix, and ever since then, she seems to pop up everywhere. If you haven't read her work, you're missing out. Let me introduce you to E. Kristin Anderson.

L: Tell us a little bit about yourself.

E: I'm a girl from Maine living in Austin, Texas, writing poetry and the occasional YA novel or essay.

 L: Sorry to interrupt, but what brought you to Austin all the way from Maine?

E: Coming to Austin is kind of a funny story. Either a tragedy or a comedy, depending on your POV, but I believe in silver linings. I moved here for a guy I met online, hung out with a few times, and fell in love with. He turned out to be a terrible person. But I fell in love with Austin. So now Austin is my boyfriend. Austin gives me tacos whenever I want them. I mean, what more can you ask for?


L: Austin will never disappoint either. Okay, go on…

E. I have two chapbooks out -- A GUIDE FOR THE PRACTICAL ABDUCTEE with Red Bird Chapbooks and A JAB OF DEEP URGENCY with Finishing Line Press -- and I co-edited the DEAR TEEN ME anthology with Zest Books. I'm addicted to television, vintage dresses, and guacamole. I also have a third chapbook on the way with ELJ Publications, ACOUSTIC BATTERY LIFE, forthcoming in 2016.

L: Three chapbooks... wow. You are a busy woman! Please, do tell us your secret of success.

E. I have been accused by critique partners of never sleeping. And I must confess, I do suffer from insomnia. But I think the real secret to any success is pigheaded delusions of grandeur. I write my heart out, and I send my work to magazines (somewhere in between the writing and the sending is, of course, critique and revision) and I ask myself "What would Buffy do?" a lot. The answer is usually kick ass now and apologize later when I break something. So, you know, that totally translates to writing.

L: What is your favorite type of poem to write?

E: My favorite type of poem to write definitely depends on my mood, but I think I'm always excited when I get to write a poem about weird things like jackalopes and UFOs. And I'm even more excited when I find a way to do this with found materials.

L: Will you please share a poem with us?

E: Sure. This is one I really enjoy reading at events (it's also in my chapbook A GUIDE FOR THE PRACTICAL ABDUCTEE):

Unicorn in Central Park

You've heard the city is magic –
it's why I came, knowing
I'd be a workhorse, carting tourists
down Fifth Avenue, donning bells
that clank. Never a jingle. 

                          Hiding – it should be simple. 
The carousel, though, it reflects truths
where I am a lie. 

Magic – this city has it, sure:  The first snow,
a kiss in the park, the off off Broadway theatres
exposing names in lights. 

I am just another creature with feet touching
            wet pavement. Myth is a line blurred
                         between starlet and waitress,
                                  between horse and cart. 

There are worlds here
which we render invisible. 
The wind in my hair, a girl's breath,
a last ride in the settling dusk.


//

L: If you could sum up your style in one word, what would it be?

E: My style, in one word, is narrative. Whether found or traditional free verse, I think every poem should tell a story. I try to reflect that in my own work.

L: Where can we find you? (FB, Twitter, blogs, etc.)

E: I blog at http://EKristinAnderson.com and also run http://DearTeenMe.com with friend and fellow author Priya Chand. You can find me on Twitter at @ek_anderson and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/authorekanderson.

Military Burial

Photo by L. Kolp: Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery, San Antonio, TX

Trees line the graveyard entrance 

like soldiers at attention,

rustling leaves 

their intense expression 

grim reality. 

I bet none of these souls 

rot in hell, 

but instead are gifted 

with eternal peace. 

One, two, three shots 

ring through the air 

and the wind
carries you home.

**

Poetic Inspiration:

Poetry Jam~Graveyards

3WW~ gifted, intense, rot

PU Verse First~ Tree(s)

Seeking Power

Photo by L. Kolp

In barren pool of gray 

she casts aside all

worry but a shield 

against conception 

that with enchantment

from above

spells intense results.

**

Poetic Inspiration~

Poetry Jam: Magic

3WW: barren, intense, worry

Cloud Coverage

"Clouds" by L. Kolp

The sky above abuzz

with deceased relatives

gathering to show respect

while he laments

the release of his father.

Emitting words explosive, 

storm clouds rain down

tears as if lost years

don't matter.

He stands beneath a canopy

of limbs, beneath expression

adequate for his mother, yet

inside a parasite festers

like violent thunder 

hovering.
 

 

**

Poetic Inspiration~

Poetry Jam: Clouds

PU Verse First: Heritage Day

3WW: adequate, explosive, parasite

Hold Life

lined in autumn colors

a winding path that leads to you

door after door adorned

with wreaths of red, yellow and orange

pumpkins and cornucopias the frames

of mind, I'm a bit unsettled here

walking on waxen floors

so shiny I'm following shadows

to your room where I'll find you

holding onto life

 **

Poetic Inspiration:

Poetry Jam~ Harvest Time

Poetic Asides~ Hold (blank)

The Sea Waltz

a waltz across the sea, it seems
the sailboat rocks methodically

oNe, TwO, tHrEe, OnE, tWo, ThReE

she lies topless catching rays,
his pole is cast throughout the day

oNe, TwO, tHrEe, OnE, tWo, ThReE

at night after their catch is won
a floating bed, it seems finespun

oNe, TwO, tHrEe, OnE, tWo, ThReE

**

Prompt Inspiration:
Poetry Jam~ The Sea
PU Mid-Week~ Melody

Sophomoric

entanglement
in the parking lot,
heartless honks
and cars backed up
in jagged lines
like zipper spines--
walk with a book
on your head--
need not lead to death,
but saggy pants just might

~~~

Poetic Inspiration~
Poetry Jam: Back to School
3WW: entanglement, death, heartless

Faith, Fiction, Friends: Laurie Kolp’s “Upon the Blue Couch: Poems”

Faith, Fiction, Friends: Laurie Kolp’s “Upon the Blue Couch: Poems”: Write what you know, the experts say. As I sat reading the poems that comprise Upon the Blue Couch by Laurie Kolp , the thought ke...