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[15 words or less] Scissors

?   Photo: Laura Purdie Salas Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines are here)! Three things this makes me think of: 1) Kindergarten2) Pelican pouch3) Baby bird with its beak gaping And here’s my first draft! Hunger Body small as your palmBeak gaping like Grand CanyonMade of emptiness and need–Laura

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Thoughts

[for writers] Why to Accept a Job You’re Not Sure You Can Do

Recently, I?accepted a short assignment doing teacher tips on lesson plans. It was my first assignment with a new company, I wasn’t sure I precisely understood the requirements, and I was pretty sure I would barely break minimum wage.?Was I insane? Yes, probably! But I did have reasons: try a new company try a brand

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[poetry friday] Voyager 1

Photo: NASA I’ve missed you guys! It feels so good to be back for Poetry Friday here at my new blog! I’m sharing a quick first draft I just wrote upon reading articles about Voyager One, which scientists say has left our solar system and will travel 40,000 more years to reach the nearest star.

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[15 words or less] Face

?   Photo: Laura Purdie Salas Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines are here)! Three things this makes me think of: 1) Sand castles2) Death mask3) Optical illusions And here’s my poem first draft: Dream MonsterEmpty eyes,sunken foreheadknock at 2 a.m.,coffin holdingiron screams –Laura Purdie Salas, all rights reserved Your

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[15 words or less] Stubble

?   Photo: Laura Purdie Salas Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines are here)! Welcome to my new blog! I’m still decorating and organizing, but I hope to start posting again next week! Here’s what this picture makes me think of: 1) Joysticks2) Razor stubble3) Buttons And here’s my poem

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[15 words or less poems] Lifeboats

    Photo: Laura Purdie Salas Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines are here)! I’m on hiatus for a month or so, but I’m posting pictures on Thursdays so you all can still participate if you want to:>) Here’s what?this picture?makes me think of: 1)?Bumper boats 2)?Titanic 3) Buttons And

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[15 words or less poems] To the Sky Light

Photo: Laura Purdie Salas Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)! I’m on hiatus for a month or so, but I’m posting pictures on Thursdays so you all can still participate if you want to:>) Here’s what?this picture?makes me think of: 1)?The incredibly strong weeds in my yard! 2)?Medusa’s hair

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[15 words or less poems] Foamy

Photo: Laura Purdie Salas Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)! I’m on hiatus, but I’m posting pictures on Thursdays so you all can still participate if you want to:>) Here’s what?this picture?makes me think of: 1)?A log cabin 2) The ball pit at McDonald’s (I don’t know why) 3)

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[15 words or less poems] Wispy

Photo: Laura Purdie Salas Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)! I’m on hiatus for a month or so, but I’m posting pictures on Thursdays so you all can still participate if you want to:>) Here’s what?this picture?makes me think of: 1)?A cloud that fell to Earth somehow 2) Baby

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[15 words or less poems] Spidey?

Photo: Laura Purdie Salas Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)! I was downtown (Minneapolis) for a food truck lunch with Randy recently, and these window cleaners were hard at work. Here’s what they made me think of: 1)?Those circular swing rides at amusement parks 2)?Spies/thieves 3) Rescuers going to

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[poetry friday] “Fire” (by Laura Purdie Salas)

Check out the cool printable that the Poetry Friday Anthology folks created for my cinquain poem, “Fire!” As we?already know, and as sad national news is proving more than ever this week, firefighters are truly heroes who risk their lives for our safety. (This printable was created before that news broke.) . They have a

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[15 words or less poems] Blue Mood

Photo: Laura Purdie Salas Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)! Happy 4th of July! I don’t know if anyone will stop by today, but I’m posting just in case:>) Isn’t this pretty??Here’s what?this picture?makes me think of: 1)?A blue-jay feather 2) A snow wake from someone skiing 3) A

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[15 words or less poems] Swan

Photo: Laura Purdie Salas Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)! I did a young authors conference in Winona, MN, recently, and snapped this pic there. Here’s what it makes me think of. 1)?You are what you eat 2) A swan with feathers made of leaves 3) Taxidermied animals–ick And

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[15 words or less poems] Hay there!

Photo: Laura Purdie Salas Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)! I was driving home from a school visit in outstate Minnesota when this hay-filled truck passed by. Took a few pix without looking, and this one came out ok.?Here’s what?this picture?makes me think of: 1)?A little critter who was

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[my writing life] Waiting for Water

Water Can Be… (Millbrook, 2014) doesn’t come out for eight more months, but it’s been front and center for this past couple of weeks. First, I got to see the fantastic finished art by Violeta Dabija (I hope to get to share a sneak peek soon). Then, I wrote the dedication (to my parents–both nature

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