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Rearview Mirror [15 Words or Less]

Hello, and welcome! This is 15 Words or Less Poems, a low-pressure way to wake up your poetry brain (guidelines here), and I’m very glad you’re here.  We live near our state capitol building, and the other day as we were driving somewhere, I saw the building neatly framed in my rearview mirror and snapped

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In Memory of Lee Bennett Hopkins [Poetry Friday]

It’s a sad Poetry Friday today. (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.) NOTE: Some readers are commenting and not seeing their own comments show up, even though they are showing up for me and others! I don’t know what’s causing this and am hopeful the WordPress or other platform gods will figure out how

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A Pig in the Audience [15 Words or Less]

NOTE: Some readers are commenting and not seeing their own comments show up, even though they are showing up for me and others! I don’t know what’s causing this and am hopeful the WordPress or other platform gods will figure out how to solve the problem sometime soon. Meanwhile, please know that I AM seeing

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Raise Your Gaze — an Ekphrastic Definito [Poetry Friday]

Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.) Well, it’s the first Friday of the month, so of course I’m sharing a poem written in concert with my Poetry Sisters. This month, we wrote ekphrastic poems inspired by several pictures Sarah took in Israel. I was running very late and hadn’t even started

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Drumsticks [15 Words or Less]

Hello, and welcome! This is 15 Words or Less Poems, a low-pressure way to wake up your poetry brain (guidelines here), and I’m very glad you’re here.  Hello, poets of all kinds! It’s a rare unfiltered photo this week! But…still a mall one.   This image makes me think of several things:

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Cow on a Flatbed? [15 Words or Less]

Hello, and welcome! This is 15 Words or Less Poems, a low-pressure way to wake up your poetry brain (guidelines here), and I’m very glad you’re here.  On my way to a drum corps show a couple of weeks ago, we passed by this interesting object on the highway. Yep, that’s a giant cow butt.

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capitol building behind tree

Building Growing Out of a Tree [15 Words or Less]

Hello, and welcome! This is 15 Words or Less Poems, a low-pressure way to wake up your poetry brain (guidelines here), and I’m very glad you’re here.  Randy and I often walk to a small park nearby and play Scrabble. The other night, I looked up to see the tip of the Minnesota State Capitol

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Chair circle

It’s the Circle of…Barstools? [15 Words or Less]

Hello, and welcome! This is 15 Words or Less Poems, a low-pressure way to wake up your poetry brain (guidelines here), and I’m very glad you’re here. Last week was my dad’s birthday, the anniversary of my mom’s death, a medical emergency for my dad, the arrival home of my daughter Maddie for a 7‑week

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Heat Is a Lemon Lollipop

Heat Is a Lemon Lollipop — a Triolet [Poetry Friday]

Happy Poetry Friday! Welcome, everyone! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.) So, this month, our Poetry Princess challenge was a triolet on the theme of heat. I’ve been buckled under a number of deadlines and didn’t think I was going to make it. But on Tuesday, I carved out one 25-minute writing session, and

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Waterfall [15 Words or Less]

Hello, and welcome! This is 15 Words or Less Poems, a low-pressure way to wake up your poetry brain (guidelines here), and I’m very glad you’re here, especially on a holiday like today! Happy 4th of July!  This image makes me think of several things:

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Sneakers [15 Words or Less Poems]

Hello, and welcome! This is 15 Words or Less Poems, a low-pressure way to wake up your poetry brain (guidelines here), and I’m very glad you’re here.  This image makes me think of several things:

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Lion of the Sky

Poetry Blast and a Riddle-ku #PoetryFriday

Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.) Hello! I’m on my way to Washington, DC, for the annual ALA conference! I hope to maybe see a few of you there? I’m attending to take part in the Poetry Blast, an annual poetry celebration organized by Marilyn Singer and Barbara Genco. So, Saturday

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Chandelier Jellyfish? [15 Words or Less Poems]

Hello, and welcome! This is 15 Words or Less Poems, a low-pressure way to wake up your poetry brain (guidelines here), and I’m very glad you’re here.  I love public art. When I walk through a building or a square and there are interesting and unexpected shapes, forms, and colors, I feel happy. This image

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Coral Reef

Coral Reef [15 Words or Less]

Hello, and welcome! This is 15 Words or Less Poems, a low-pressure way to wake up your poetry brain (guidelines here), and I’m very glad you’re here.  It’s another mall photo. Seriously, you know I’m not getting out enough when several weeks of pictures in a row are coming from mall-walking before Weight Watchers one

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Equationpoems from Young Authors Conference #PoetryFriday

Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.) [My husband had shoulder surgery yesterday, and in the confusion, I posted this Poetry Friday post Wednesday night instead of Thursday night. Oops!] The week of Memorial Day, I taught at Success Beyond the Classroom’s Young Authors Conference–something I look forward to each year! This

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