I'll Never Forget

I remember your exuberance
Exuberance, exuberance
I remember your smile
Your smile, smile
I remember your zest for life
Z-e-s-t- Go Life!
I remember your undying support
UNdying
I remember your last day
The last day
I remember
Yes, I re-mem-ber
You

©laurie kolp

Prompt inspiration: Day 30 NaPoWriMo- 3 I remember’s
PA- A fade away poem

Two More for Day 29

Richard Simmons

from obese to SLIMmins

an energizer bunny

on steroids who’s funny.

NaPoWriMo- Clerihew

~~~

Thoughts During Sunday Mass

He said he’d rather sleep in church
than go back to bed
and now he’s carrying up the wine

while my other son examines
his pinky finger
which is crooked like mine.

My daughter sits close to her daddy
who she favors
except for that thick wavy hair.

It’s colder than Antarctica
in this place
but love's radiance fills the air.


PA- Take a line from another poem, mine was it's colder than Antarctica.

Jarred

image by Manu Pombrol

The whiz always read on a pot
Sipped his whiskey at the same spot
Until one Sunday
He was flushed away
Confined to a jar, he's now caught

@laurie kolp

Picture prompt: The Mag

How I Roll

The problem is
I want my shoulder back
the one I used to

roll back and forth
lift up and down
shimmy Charo style

without a kink or spasm
that stops me in my tracks
like an Indian sunburn

and I want it back yesterday
not a year or two from now
because that’s just how I roll.

©laurie kolp

Shared at IGWRT Open Link Monday

Day 28
Prompt inspiration: PA- Problem

*Indian sunburn

The Trouble Is In the Water

Photo by L. Kolp

~~~

Murky placebos spiral

‘round and ‘round

ripple through summer

a pulsating guise

of one-upmanship

keeping score

in waves of monomania

like a piranha

that feeds on money~

Schlitterbahn

Sea World

Galveston Island~

slurp, slurp

ka-ching!

Water

ahh.

~

©laurie kolp

Prompt inspiration: PA- The Trouble is _____

I Wonder Why

Twenty-three dead cats spread
with matted fur, malnutrition
in the foreclosed house of a louse
like prisoners of war
five still alive which means
close to thirty dwelled in hell
the toxic fumes a fire hazard
among the hoarder’s trash stashed
for heaven only knows how long
these inhumane conditions existed.

©laurie kolp
Prompt inspirations:

PA- an animal poem
PU Thursday Think Tank- Wonder

You can read about this atrocity here.

IMHO, Don't Take It To the Bank

I pace the floor back and forth, back
to the back window, forth. The sun a splash

of golden light, dust dancing in the wings
as birds tweet their morning melodies

my sweet children sit in a desk for four
hellacious hours, coloring in the right

answer, I hope, but I really don’t care
because this test, this *STAAR* test

is like the government, not run by
lobbyists, though, but by textbook

companies, I bet you $50.00 that’s
the truth hiding in Texas’ balanced budget.

It’s all about the money MON-EY, it’s all about
the money; not the fresh air of childhood

that breezes through school in a floral
springtime bliss, or the dryer’s pacifying

whir as I stir about like a mother hen
looking for answers in the sky.

©laurie kolp

Prompt inspiration: IGWRT Ella's Edge- Inner/Outer poetry

~~~
**I changed it up a bit. I'd love to know which one you like better.

I pace the floor
back and forth,
back to the back
window, and forth.
The sun a splash
of golden light
dust flecks dancing
in the wings
as birds tweet
their morning melody

my children sit
in a desk for four
hellacious hours,
coloring in the right
answer. Check it once
twice, thrice; but
don’t read or draw
or blow your nose
lest you disturb

the air of childhood
breezing through the school
a floral springtime bliss.

I pace the floor
back and forth,
back to the back
window, and forth

and look to the sky for answers
as money blows through the trees.

A New Olympic Sport?

Sex as a sport, why not?
Think about it-

Rough and tough like boxing
Sometimes even bloody
Below the belt… pervert!
How long can they hold out
One, two, three… to thirty?

Dancing with the *stars*, RrrR
Promiscuity, promise cutey?
Oh, so kinky, provocative
Pump it up, slam dunk
Thrust-that-pel-vic-to-the-beat

Tender as a ballerina breeze (sigh)
Flexible and lithe, a demi-plié
Bending into new positions
Libido in second, please
Dreamy butterfly kisses

Sex as a sport, why not?
In the Olympics, I think not.

©laurie kolp

Prompt inspirations: 3WW- bloody, kinky, tender
PA- sport

A Skyward Day

Birds’ morning songs
fill our world with buoyancy~

a splash of sun’s
vibrant colors on high

sizzling bacon
crispy in my mouth

a morning kiss and hug
a swoosh outdoors.

Allow joy to lift today
skyward, a vow of amity.

©laurie kolp

Prompt inspiration: NaPoWriMo, Day 24 - A Lipogram (refrain from using the letter E)

A Mother's Love

Let me wrap my arms around you
keep you safe within their reach
away from life’s hard knocks
the violence, bitterness
hatred and injustice
so your innocence
won’t fade away
like a ship on
the horizon.

©laurie kolp

Prompt inspiration: PA- Love

My Most Beautiful Thing

There's something in the water today, a splash of love felt throughout the World Wide Web. Do you feel it? Would you like a bit? Please take a seat and let me explain.

Fiona Robyn, creator of "small stones" and co-founder (with her husband Kaspalita) of the Writing Our Way Home writing community, has written a novel The Most Beautiful Thing. It is free for the Kindle on Amazon today and tomorrow. I loved it and I'm sure you will, too.

So the splash is actually a wave of blogs spreading the news and sharing with the world their most beautiful things. Read more about it here.

I've been thinking for weeks about my most beautiful thing. The key word here is MOST, which means ONE. There are many things dear and beautiful to me; how could I choose just one?

Of course my family was tops on the list. I decided to ask them what their most beautiful things were in hopes that I could weasel my way out of this debacle. Here are the answers I received.

Pete: Me

Katie: Trees

Andrew: A sunset

Nicholas: Me

It was getting down to the wire and I was starting to have a panic attack. My children are so very precious, as is Pete. My present life is very dear to me because without it I would have nothing. Cardinals (you know how much they mean to me) and other birds are so gorgeous. I love the beach, nature, writing, reading, blah blah blah-ing.

That's when it hit me. I knew what my most favorite thing was. It's LOVE.

Love is my most beautiful thing! Without it, where would we be? Love is in the air we breath, the mountains we climb, the trickle of a river on a quiet wooded path, the sound of laughter in the park. It's childbirth and death; the circle of life. Love is being at peace and knowing all will be okay. It's trust, hope, forgiveness, acceptance. Love is God. God is love.

Now I've told you my favorite thing. What's yours?

*Click here to read about all the other blogsplashers taking part in today's most beautiful revolution!

Poet Kellie Elmore: An Interview

Kellie Elmore

1. Who is Kellie Elmore?

lol This question always reminds me of that movie Anger Management, where the counselor asks Adam Sandler who he is and everything he says is wrong. So funny! But, I will answer by saying that I am a mother and a wife first and foremost. I am consumed with memories of the past and making memories for the future. Followed by, completely crazy and emotional but, I have rights to that because I am a woman. =) Then, I am a writer...and I write from all that I have said I am.

2. What is Magic in the Backyard, and how did it come to be?

Magic in the Backyard began as a poem. A rhyme I wrote that I am so very proud of, as I have never had the ability to do it well. That poem lead to the title of my blog and now my book. Ironically, the poem was about a girl and her love for writing. I never dreamed when I was writing it, that I would see it in print!

3. Do you have a favorite poem you'd like to share?

Ode to a Country Road

Upon her shoulders

I have wept

and she has carried me

through valleys

soothing me with her gentle hum

sharing with me her stories

and I imagine

should I die in her care

I would leave smiling

because I will linger in the hills

beside her

haunting her dale

like the old barns

whispering memoirs of simpler days

with nostalgic breezes

softly sweeping ‘cross the lily’s

perfuming the air in subtle melancholy

guiding another lost traveler

as they journey beside her

in search of solitude

and fishing holes

Magic in the Backyard*

COPYRIGHT © 2012 by Kellie Elmore

Excerpt appears courtesy of Winter Goose Publishing

4. If you could be a rock or a river, what would you be? Why?

I suppose I am already a river. I am ever changing and going with the flow and I am happy with that so I will keep it.

Courtesy of Wikipedia

5. What advice or suggestions can you give to emerging poets?

 In poetry, one thing I have learned is you cannot force your words. You cannot fake a feeling and expect it to reach someone. I only write when I feel it and I stop when the feeling has passed. Some of my best work has come this way. Once you begin searching for "pretty words", or big words, or just forcing your pen for length, you end up losing the spirit of the piece. Feel it, write it, stop. Also, the best way to create a scene for the reader is to go there. Close your eyes for a moment and allow yourself to become a sponge for the image or memory, then slowly squeeze it out in ink. =) I'm not an expert but, it's what works for me.

~~

I enjoyed our visit, Kellie. Thank you so much for sharing your beautiful words with the world AND for inspiring so many.

*Now available in Paperback: Barnes & Noble and Amazon eBook: Nook & Kindle

NaPoWriMo, Day 23

Photo by L. Kolp

When the path narrows

and loneliness prevails

reach for one another

like branches of trees
young and old

across nature's
trail, join hands
in fellowship

and pray.

@laurie kolp

Adolescence

image by Alex Stoddard

From goldfish to Golden Boy
from tanked to incubated
survival in the wilderness
of testosterone
invading his ever-growing body
taller than pines
erected in a lustful mind
calling him to venture out
satisfy a growing urge
he'd rather keep a secret.

@laurie kolp

Picture inspiration- The Mag, 114

Coming up...

What is your most beautiful thing?

Is it your one year old niece's golden smile? The pale pink peony buds in your garden? A silver ring given to you by your grandmother? Your shiny red Vespa scooter? Is your most beautiful thing a place or a moment? Is it a philosophy or a value?

On Tuesday the 24th of April, I'm taking part in a Blogsplash to celebrate beautiful things, inspired by Fiona Robyn's new novel, 'The Most Beautiful Thing'.

People all over the world will be blogging, tweeting & writing about their own most beautiful thing.

You could post a photo or write a prose piece about your most beautiful thing. You could write a small stone or show us a piece of artwork you've made in honor of your most beautiful thing. It's completely up to you. You could be extravagant and post a whole series of your most beautiful things.

Writing Our Way Home is making a directory of everyone who's taking part, and they will also re-post their favorite entries on their blog over the following month.

If you'd like to join me, email fiona@writingourwayhome.com for more details.

Don't Listen

So go ahead and make mistakes. Make all you can. Because that's where you will find success. On the far side of failure.

~Thomas J. Watson, Sr.

~~~~

I don’t want to write this poem
I don’t want to say a thing
To hell with a life event
And an engagement ring

I don’t want to tell you
It wasn’t the first
And how one was shunned
For an unquenchable thirst

I don’t want you to know
It flew from finger to bush
When I crash-landed, yes
Hit the ground with a swoosh

I don’t want to bore you
Or rehash it again
The broken tooth
And stitched-up chin

I don’t want to forget
The small price paid
When God intervened-
The best mistake I ever made

©laurie kolp

Prompt inspirations:
PA- A life event poem
Poet United- Quotes
NaPoWriMo, Day 19- Opposite

Inside Me

Inside me lives
A rumple of emotions
A lover
Wife, mother, sister, daughter
Passionate and caring
Sometimes too much

Inside me lives
Secrets that I’ve kept
For too long
Truth blooming like tulips
A forever battle
Between faith and fear

Inside me lives
A survivor
With a tainted past
An unknown future
Living in today
With dependence on God

©laurie kolp

*Modeled after the poet Cora Coralina

Prompt inspirations:

IGWRT- Kenia’s Wednesday Challenge- celebrate feminine
3WW- dependence, kept, rumple

Catching Up on NaPoWriMo, Days 13, 14 & 15

A Parody of First Fig by Edna St. Vincent Mallay

My candle doesn’t burn at both ends
an all-nighter’s not my style
go ahead friends, ooh and aah
but I’d rather in sheets be a pile.

©laurie kolp

Prompt inspiration: NaPoWriMo, Day 15 (parody)

~~~

A New Life

How can you walk away and turn your cheek
from all we shared when we were so naïve?
I thought you cared enough to never leave
perhaps the neon lights you had to seek,
they reeled you in with feminine mystique
and left me broken-hearted with such grief;
a stone within my heart, hard to believe
the cuts and burns with thoughts of you so meek.
Your memory will stay within my soul
our time together over, this I see
and now I must step out from this big hole
so like a cardinal I can fly free,
away from hopes of us, that is my goal-
a new refreshing life now waits for me.

©laurie kolp

Prompt inspiration: NaPoWriMo, Day 14 (sonnet)

~~~

Prince Charming

The young lady had dreams of meeting Prince Charming,
many frogs she kissed in her search for Prince Charming.

Some men came in swarms like thick locusts when farming,
and destroyed all hope she had for Prince Charming.

The rejection she stuffed in her body was harming,
but she put on a show to lure in Prince Charming.

The prospects bailed out in numbers alarming,
unwilling to serve any time for Prince Charming.

One day she gave up on her search for Prince Charming,
and in walked Pete, Laurie’s destined Prince Charming.

©laurie kolp

Prompt inspiration: NaPoWriMo, Day 13 (ghazal)

The Covenant

The sun's rays, like arms
reaching out to you,
sprinkles diamonds
on the water's clear blue

sky, the stars that shine
on a cloudless night-
a twinkle in your eyes
and I know I'll be alright.
~~
©laurie kolp

Prompt inspiration- NaPoWriMo, Day 16

Your Wake

The trail you leave
weighs heavy
in my mind-
an anchor
falling
to the bottom
of the sea.
I reach for you
try to stop you
so close
and yet so far-
your touch
a mirage.

©laurie kolp

~~

Prompt inspiration:

IGWRT, A Word with Laurie- Effervescence
NaPoWriMo- Day 13

Something Mysterious

A feeling you get
that something’s not right,
an instinct, a hunch
when out of sight

but not out of mind
like things from the past
swept under the rugs
stuffed in closets, last

year she discovered
a cousin three times removed
had wrestled a fox
at the zoo, ain’t that rude?

And hillbilly grandma,
what a scandalous thing,
running off with thief
when he gave her a ring.

Shh! Please don’t tell
the last one’s a bitch
no, a bastard, I think-
which one is witch?

Yes, this feeling you get
about family history
an instinct, a hunch
this secretive mystery.

~~

©laurie kolp

Prompt inspirations:
PA- Something ____
Poetry Jam- Mystery
Day 12- NaPoWriMo

A Renga of Toads

Grace O'Malley over at Imaginary Gardens has urged us to create a renga poem.

The renga is a long Japanese poem, a series of very short verses in an alternating pattern, built by the group. There are links and references scattered within the greater poem, and each verse is related without being repetitive, writes Grace.

I am the fifth person and here is what I've written:

her graceful waves in

a risque spring ballet, legs

kick the silver sky

The Pendulum

The tree, a vessel-
a way to escape
through the forest
of life, and you
rode it with fervor
like a valiant knight
on horseback, whipping
through the blurry leaves
as branches scratched
your face, but you
never looked back.

©laurie kolp

Prompt inspiration: Poetic Asides, Day 10 Tree/ Forest

NaPoWriMo, Day 10

Candyland Forest

A path lined with eggs led me today
Through a golden forest of children at play

Pastels the footsteps, the bunny hops
The PEEPS, the jellybeans, the caramel pops

All pleasing sweet treats, giggles and fun
This Candyland forest with a Popsicle sun

High on sugar, coming down with a spin
Because our Savior saved us from sin

©laurie kolp

Prompt inspiration: NaPoWriMo- Day 8

Permanent Tears

I’m sitting against the wall
half-way listening
to someone drone on and on
like Charlie Brown’s teacher
wah-WAH-wah-WAH

and it’s colder than Antarctica
in this hellish room of gray
so much it seems
my brain is frozen.
I cover my ears with my hair
scan the room so my eyes won’t stick
like moist lips to ice cubes

and in the corner sits a teen
so miserable and lost
it’s written all over
his dazed-out face
two teardrops
inked beneath his left eye
his sadness, disillusionment permanent
lost in a world where he knows not his place
his eyes meet mine

and I offer him a warm smile of hope. I hope.


©laurie kolp


Prompt inspiration:
Poetic Asides (PA) Day 7- "write a poem describing a scene in which two or more people interact without speaking"

NaPoWriMo, Day 7- Color

A Haiku for NaPoWriMo, Day 6

a toddler

in the candy aisle jumping

the Easter Bunny

~or~

in the candy aisle
a toddler jumps for joy
the Easter Bunny


©laurie kolp


~~Which one do you like better?~~

 Prompt inspiration: NaPoWriMo- Animal

Dulce de Leche

Hidden
in a corner
of the freezer
w-a-y back
behind
the green beans
and chicken breasts
covered
in a thin layer
of frost
the kind you scratch
with your fingernail
draw hearts
or XOXO
...because it’s mine!
...and I can’t wait!
until Sunday
to eat ice cream again.

©laurie kolp


Prompt inspiration: PA- Hiding

~NaPoWriMo, Day 6~

Before Technology

Can you imagine life without round-the-clock TV?

No-
March Madness
Golden Globes
RE-AL-i-ty (crap)
Or lIve probes

No-
MTV
CNN
HBO
ESPN

Now visualize sports sans the net, fans lacking RPIs.

No-
instant replays
beer ads
baseball trade-offs
betting Dads

No-
missed games
FANtasy
couch potatoes
obesity

Have we progressed or digressed with this technology?

©laurie kolp

Prompt inspirations:
PA- Something before your time
NaPoWriMo- Opening Day (sports)

The 100% Boy Blues

Watching Dolphin Tale while he's home from school sick

My son’s best lookin’ eight-year-old in town
Lord, my son’s best lookin’ eight-year-old in town
And he still looks good when he’s feelin’ down

Oh, he’s a sheep; my son’s a sheep like me
Oh, he’s a sheep; my son’s a sheep like me
We were born the same, creative and dreamy

A drive of passion steers him through the day
Yes, a drive of passion steers him through the day
And when his mind’s made up ain’t nothin’ make him sway

My son, he’s every bit a boy
Oh, my son, he’s every bit a boy
A HUN-derd-per-cent-boy, my son’s a joy

©laurie kolp

Prompt inspirations:
NaPoWriMo- Blues song
PA- 100% ____



Are You Sorry?

Please forgive me if I sound a bit
brash, but I do believe your choice is quite
rash. I mean, who but you would marry a witch
a pernicious stickler for cursing, a b-
Itch, did you say? An iTCH? You just want to
marry? Then pick me, I’m the one you should
carry over the threshold into your life
but instead you chose a crone as your wife;
are you sorry?

©laurie kolp

Prompt inspiration: NAPOWRIMO- A wedding poem
PA- Apologetic &/or Unapologetic

~~

I'm so pleased to be featured on Cara Holman's Prose Posies: Poet Showcase

Don't Come Looking for Respect

Rhetorical is the question - may you
Enter? - Why of course. Not. You’re
Standing at the front door like a
Pompous ass- has it been that long?
Even the neighbor’s dogs remember how
Callous you are. What? No respect?
Truth is, you’ll never earn it from me.

©laurie kolp

NAPOWRIMO (day 2)- #1 song @ your b-day: RESPECT by Aretha Franklin
PA- Visitor

Linked to IGWRT- Open link Monday