Royal(ty) Rendezvous

House At Dusk, 1935, Edward Hopper

Ramble down the accordian path

past the window where I sit

past the lamppost

past the House of Hopper.

Perambulate into the woods, wait

past dusk, my love. I'll meet you there.

A plethora of pleasure will come.

©laurie kolp

Picture inspiration: The Mag 119
Linked to IGWRT Open Link Monday

Surprise

Watercolor Art by Laurie Kolp

I painted this very elementary piece (but I'm still proud of it) at a museum earlier this week while on a field trip with my middle child. I never aimed to be an artist, although I did take art in college and loved it. My assignments proved to be great fodder for bunts of jokes and resulted in highly humorous entertainment to all my friends and family. That is until I was taught how to sketch still life from upside down pictures. I hope to one day get back into painting/drawing. What do you think?

Becoming Sasquatch

A course layer of brown hair
thicker than a bristle brush
covered his body like Sasquatch.

Kids teased him behind his back
with a pluck out of nowhere
or a piece of duct tape
pulled!
off !
real!
fast!
a bit of dignity stripped
with each hair.

For years hatred festered.
The haunting taunts
followed him around
like a pesky ghost,
until he died

inside, shed his coat,
grabbled in a puddle of despair
a bald Sasquatch.

©laurie kolp

Prompt inspirations:
Poetry Jam- Bully
Poetic Asides- Hairy

A must-read suspense

Gone to Ground by Brandilyn Collins is a fast-paced suspense novel that is hard to put down. From page one, the reader is drawn into a clever plot with lovable characters; three women who believe someone they know is a serial killer in their small Southern hometown of Amaryllis, Mississippi. The catch is that they all think it's someone different.

The chapters vacillate between the characters' points of view, each unique and well-developed. Cherrie Mae is a scholarly and spunky widow who has cleaned houses her entire adult life. One day she snoops in the wrong place and opens up a can of worms. Tully is a pregnant nineteen-year-old married to the baby's father, who happens to be volatile and abusive. Deena is a practical hairdresser who knows everybody in town. She is very protective of her abnormal brother.

 Woven throughout the story are snippets of a report written by a native of Amaryllis who no longer lives there, but is in love with Deena. He won a Pulitzer Prize for the article on the closet killings, which have been occurring for three years. I found this a clever way to provide the reader with backstory. Another feature in this book which I particularly like is the inlusion of a glossary with famous quotes used throughout the story by Cherrie Mae. Also, the favored discussion questions can be found in the back.

I loved Gone to Ground and would have read the entire novel in one sitting if their were enough hours in the day. It reminded me a bit of The Help by Kathyrn Sockett (which I previously discussed here), although the storyline is completely different. Read it and you'll see what I mean.

*Added bonus-- This book is suitable for adolescents and adults.*

At the Dance Recital

chagill

a whirl, a twirl, a spin, a grin

a whisper in the dark

when your child shimmies in

a dance, a glance, a tap, a snap

a leap of thumping heart

when the beating music raps

a plunge, a lunge, a WOW, a bow

a banana split treat

indulging parents proud

a throw, an OH, a pause, applause

a gracious genuflection

when the final curtain falls

©laurie kolp

Picture prompt- The Mag 118

Bad Neighborhoods

You were forewarned
not to go, not to go, not to go
into that neighborhood
but you did anyway.

Did you hear the beggar
on the street corner
calling out to you,
“I ain’t got nothin’
no new clothes
my shoes have holes
and my rat’s nest of a house,
it’s too small for my family.
Help me, help.”

Help me
Help me

Or did the whiskey woman by the bar,
strutting her stuff with confidence,
catch your eye when she bragged
about being 40 and better than you?

Better than you
Better than you

What about the peddlers in the park?
Did they tell you you’re not good enough,
that your art sucks, go away?

Go away
Go away

I told you not to go there
that neighborhood’s dangerous.
Why don’t you come to the beach
and relax with me?

©laurie kolp

Prompt inspiration:
IGWRT- Mary's Mixed Bag

NAANI (nanny, boo-boo)

when wavelengths collide
navigate like a demure fawn,
juggle thoughts until
harmony rings peace

©laurie kolp

Prompt inspirations:
3WW- fawn, navigate, juggle
Poetic Bloomings- NAANI Poetic Form- “expression of one and all” 4 lines, 20 to 25 syllables, nontitled (usually)

Break Through: How To End Relationship Dysfunction

"Alarms are intended to spur us into immediate, lifesaving action. Yet people who wouldn't consider staying in a building when the fire alarm goes off will stay in enmeshed relationships after numerous wake-up calls." (Break Through, pg.54)

Break Through by Dr. Tim Clinton, LPC & Pat Springle is a Christian-based book on how to create healthy relationships as adults. It includes real-life examples, Christian/Bible references, and study guide questions at the end of each chapter. It speaks of real love as nonpossessive wealth and shows how to love like Jesus.

Many get trapped in enmeshed relationships of enabling and justification rather than honesty and tough love, which is something we carry over from childhood. Tim and Pat (which is how they refer to themselves throughout the book) help the reader identify these patterns and learn to break through the barriers to change.

The book also speaks of moral schizophrenia, and how we blame ourselves and then blame others for certain unhealthy relationships in which we become trapped. It shows us how to set boundaries, gain wise adult-like trust and confront those we love with the truth rather than continuing to enable them. Change doesn't come easy, but it can happen with consistency.

I really enjoyed the book because it's interesting and easy to read. It touches upon many forms of dysfunction so that just about anyone can relate. I like the practical application advice as well as the appendix, which includes a guide for parenting. There is also an outline on how to use this book in a group setting. The Christian touch is like homemade chocolate icing on your favorite cake. I think you'll agree.

*Click here if you'd like to order the book.*

Nuances

The Meal, 1891, by Paul Gauguin
Picture inspiration: The Mag 117

Amid internal darkness
obscurity presents
autumn colors

laid before the hungry
as elusive as shadows
haunting stability

like a knife in the hands
of a killer.

@laurie kolp

A Path of Cherry Pits

Why is it we find ourselves
victims of tumultuous times

where peace is privileged,
laced with turgid truths
as thick as throbbing tongue?

An amaroidal aftertaste
these nauseating lies
promises forsaken

spit like cherry pits
leaving a path that treads
on troubled tactics.

When will this relay end?

~~~

©laurie kolp

Prompt inspiration: IGWRT- A Word with Laurie: turgid

Coons and Gators

Baby raccoon

The baby coon scoots across a pebbled path

the tremble of its body but a blur

and small enough to fit into my hand.

With dampened eyes

I keep my distance,

hope the mother finds it

before a hungry gator snaps.

Baby alligator

©laurie kolp

Both pictures were taken by my husband

outside his office (which is by the river).

The baby raccoon on Monday and the baby alligator a few months ago.

Prompt inspiration: 3WW- dampen, keep, tremble

The Receipt

image: River Irwell by R.A.D. Stainforth

Emerging

in small print

answers to your sudden chill.

A river of fear
runs through my mind

this contrast like
rapids
pulling me under. 

Up and down
I bob
struggle for air

as I try to align

emotion and reality

with a dot of hope

a chance to clear the doubt
so we can drift forward once again.

Will you say our love is dead,

grind cobalt nerves

to fleshy slivers

that vibrate, pierce my heart?

Or will you reassure me

with that wink of yours

that hooks me every time?

©laurie kolp

Prompt inspiration: The Sunday Whirl 55~ cobalt, align, hook, vibrate, print, grind, contrast, emerging, chance, clear, dot, wink

Picture prompt: The Mag 116

A Farm in the City

A garden grows in the front yard
Of the gray house down the street.

The front yard, the front yard
Oh, yes, the front yard!

Tomatoes, corn, beans, squash
Sectioned off with marsh cane
Bean poles and chicken wire

Chicken wire, chicken wire
Oh, yes, chick, chick, CHICK-
EN! wire

Two chairs, a rickety table
Where an ashtray sits.
Rumor has it the man
lost his high-paying job

lost his job, lost his job,
Oh, yes, he lo-st his job

needs money for a loan,
his wife and kids left him
last week; but I think he’s
lost his wet-brained mind

Lost his mind, lost his mind
Oh, yes, he’s lost his MInd

farming in the big city
like that, don’t you?

©laurie kolp

Prompt inspiration: IGWRT w/ Marian (Runaway Sentence)- A tribute to Leon Helm

Mayday, It's May Day

Mayday, Mayday
Come in Mayday!
Two rejections
In two days
Do you hear me, mayday?

What’s this you say?
I need an assistant
‘Cause the poems I choose are…
What did you say, mayday?

I’m feeling pretty shitty, mayday.
I do this for my readers anyway.

Thank you for your support!

©laurie kolp