Laura Purdie Salas

Small Reads for Brighters Days

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You are here: Home / 15 Words or Less Poems

15 Words or Less Poems

Hi, teachers! I’m gathering all my 15 Words or Less Poems posts here, because a lot of you like to use these photo prompts to get your students writing. I love that! Although 15 Words or Less Poems is on a hiatus, here are the 15 Words or Less Poems guidelines I give for teachers and writers—or, of course, use them in your classroom however you like! Below, you’ll find all my 15 Words or Less posts. Even though Comments are closed after 2 weeks, feel free to go back and use those photos as poem starters in your classroom. If you have any questions, please ask! Thanks.

  • Endings and Beginnings [15 Words or Less]

    December 26, 2019

    Endings and Beginnings [15 Words or Less]

    Hello, and welcome to the final 15 Words or Less Poems day (for now, anyway!) (guidelines here). I’m glad you’re here now, and I’m glad you’ve been here. I’ve been posting these photos and inviting you to write poems to them for many years now! ...

  • Immersion Suit [15 Words or Less]

    December 19, 2019

    Immersion Suit [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.  I am also so grateful for all your support as I announced the hiatus of 15 Words or ...

  • Robot Man [15 Words or Less]

    December 12, 2019

    Robot Man [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.  I wanted to let you know that 15 Words or Less will be going on hiatus for a ...

  • Broken Eggs [15 Words or Less]

    December 5, 2019

    Broken Eggs [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.  I am rather butterfinger-y sometimes. This image makes me think of several things: omelettes, natch house fire sunrise And here’s my first draft. ...

  • Pumpkin Palm [15 Words or Less]

    November 28, 2019

    Pumpkin Palm [15 Words or Less]

    Happy Thanksgiving! 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.  Happy Thanksgiving to all of you who celebrate this U.S. holiday. I firmly believe it’s always time to be ...

  • Look Through a Log [15 Words or Less]

    November 21, 2019

    Look Through a Log [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 from NCTE! I’m in Baltimore right now spreading book and poetry love and connecting with wonderful writer ...

  • Under the Bridge [15 Words or Less]

    November 14, 2019

    Under the Bridge [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.  Well, friends, I’m back home briefly! Next week, I’ll be at NCTE, and the week after is Thanksgiving. ...

  • Winter Before Fall? [15 Words or Less]

    November 7, 2019

    Winter Before Fall? [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.  I’m out of town once again this week. Lord. Next week, I will be back to usual. I ...

  • Echeveria [15 Words or Less]

    October 31, 2019

    Echeveria [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.  I’m back from my magnificent week on the Great Lakes! What an adventure–you will start seeing photos here ...

  • Fall Tree [15 Words or Less]

    October 24, 2019

    Fall 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.  You guys, I am away from my office doing some exciting research. Check out my Twitter, Facebook, or ...

  • Perfect Raspberry [15 Words or Less]

    October 17, 2019

    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: Raspberry Beret, by Prince picking berries in the Smoky Mountains on vacation ...

  • Moth Surprise [15 Words or Less]

    October 10, 2019

    Moth Surprise [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.  This pink underwing moth (I think?) lay dead on our front porch a couple of weeks ago :>( This ...

  • City Bird [15 Words or Less]

    October 3, 2019

    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 that even in a townhome very near a city’s downtown, I can look out my window ...

  • Roll the Bones [15 Words or Less]

    September 26, 2019

    Roll the Bones [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.  I love board games, and there’s a dice game we play with family (can’t remember the name of ...

  • Pond Aerator [15 Words or Less]

    September 19, 2019

    Pond Aerator [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.  At the amusement park in August, I took this pic of a bubbler in a pond. This image ...

  • Seed Pod (15 Words or Less Poems)

    September 12, 2019

    Seed Pod (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. Isn’t t this close up of a seed pod lovely? This image makes me think of several things: Butterfly wings Old, ...

  • ELO Light Show [15 Words or Less]

    September 5, 2019

    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.  Summer’s over, folks! What a whirlwind mine was, and you’ll probably learn more about it from the photos ...

  • Roller Coaster [15 Words or Less]

    August 29, 2019

    Roller Coaster [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 ...

  • Henna [15 Words or Less]

    August 22, 2019

    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 ...

  • Rearview Mirror [15 Words or Less]

    August 15, 2019

    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 ...

  • A Pig in the Audience [15 Words or Less]

    August 8, 2019

    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 ...

  • Drumsticks [15 Words or Less]

    August 1, 2019

    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 ...

  • Cow on a Flatbed? [15 Words or Less]

    July 25, 2019

    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 ...

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

    July 18, 2019

    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 ...

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

    July 11, 2019

    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, ...

  • Waterfall [15 Words or Less]

    July 4, 2019

    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: canyoning in ...

  • Sneakers [15 Words or Less Poems]

    June 27, 2019

    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: those displays of shoes/boots to represent people (soldiers often, but not ...

  • Chandelier Jellyfish? [15 Words or Less Poems]

    June 20, 2019

    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 ...

  • Coral Reef [15 Words or Less]

    June 13, 2019

    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 ...

  • Fruity Bath? [15 Words or Less]

    June 6, 2019

    Fruity Bath? [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.  I have missed you guys a lot on all these various weeks I haven’t been home to comment! Can ...

  • Formerly Known As… [15 Words or Less]

    May 30, 2019

    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.  Prince’s death was a HUGE deal here in Minneapolis, and while walking around the mall before my WW ...

  • Who Will You Be Today? [15 Words or Less]

    May 23, 2019

    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.  Thank you all for your poems and kind words last week. Though I was teaching (more about my ...

  • Ladybug, Ladybug [15 Words or Less]

    May 16, 2019

    Ladybug, Ladybug [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.  I am on the third and final day of a poetry residency with 4th- and 5th-graders today, so ...

  • Mask [15 Words or Less]

    May 9, 2019

    Mask [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.  Here’s another piece from the art crawl at the mall:>) This image makes me think of several things: coasters ...

  • Floor Bunny [15 Words or Less]

    May 2, 2019

    Floor Bunny [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.  When I went to my WW meeting a couple of weeks ago, there was an art display throughout ...

  • Korean War Veterans Memorial [15 Words or Less]

    April 25, 2019

    Korean War Veterans Memorial [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.  The Korean War Veterans Memorial in Washington, DC is so haunting. This image makes me think of several ...

  • DC Trees [15 Words or Less]

    April 18, 2019

    DC Trees [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.  My regulars, I’ve missed you the past two weeks! I was on a weeklong school visit one week, ...

  • Lighted Moose [15 Words or Less]

    April 11, 2019

    Lighted Moose [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.  I actually don’t know where I took this photo, but it was in January, and it made me ...

  • Vietnam Veterans Memorial [15 Words or Less]

    April 4, 2019

    Vietnam Veterans Memorial [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.  I’ve been to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in DC several times, and I’m moved by it every time. ...

  • Space Module [15 Words or Less]

    March 28, 2019

    Space Module [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.  Here’s a space module in the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC. This image makes me think ...

  • Coast Guard Monument [15 Words or Less]

    March 21, 2019

    Coast Guard Monument [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.  While in DC, Randy and I admired these gorgeous bas relief (maybe?) sculptures for the various branches of ...

  • Frosted Snowflake [15 Words or Less]

    March 14, 2019

    Frosted Snowflake [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.  You know I can’t resist a beautiful cookie, and while in DC I got this sparkling, lovely, iced ...

  • Leatherback [15 Words or Less]

    March 7, 2019

    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 the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History! I only had a couple of hours in it on ...

  • Metal Tree [15 Words or Less]

    February 28, 2019

    Metal 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.  I adore real trees, but I am drawn to sculptures of trees, too, like this metal one on ...

  • Moose Topiary, Sort Of [15 Words or Less]

    February 21, 2019

    Moose Topiary, Sort Of [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.  This moose topiary/sculpture charmed me at the Botanical Garden in DC. This image makes me think of several things: Necco ...

  • Olmec Head [15 Words or Less]

    February 14, 2019

    Olmec Head [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. Even though I’m not! I’m at a family wedding in Atlanta and won’t be able to reply today! ...

  • Bird on a Branch [15 Words or Less]

    February 7, 2019

    Bird on a Branch [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.  Here’s an itty-bitty birdie I spied while walking around the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History. This image makes me ...

  • Eyeborg [15 Words or Less]

    January 31, 2019

    Eyeborg [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.    Here’s another photo from my wanderings of the Smithsonian Gardens. This image makes me think of several things: a ...

  • Cloth Caught Midair [15 Words or Less]

    January 24, 2019

    Cloth Caught Midair [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.  In Washington, I spent a lot of time wandering the Smithsonian Gardens. This image makes me think of ...

  • When Clouds Grow Claws [15 Words or Less]

    January 17, 2019

    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 is a sculpture from a museum in Washington DC. I believe (but am not certain) it was ...

  • De-Icing an Airplane [15 Words or Less]

    January 10, 2019

    De-Icing an Airplane [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.  Here’s a photo taken from our plane as we sat on a snowy runway in late November. This image ...

  • Storm [15 Words or Less]

    January 3, 2019

    Storm [15 Words or Less]

    Happy New Year! 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 a good storm, but I did not get to experience this one. It’s just ...

  • Gizmo [15 Words or Less]

    December 27, 2018

    Gizmo [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.  Thanks for making time to join our community during what is a very busy holiday week for many! One ...

  • Shrouded Plants [15 Words or Less]

    December 20, 2018

    Shrouded Plants [15 Words or Less]

    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.  One brisk morning at NCTE in Houston, I was walking to the convention center when I saw that this big ...

  • Pinwheels [15 Words or Less]

    December 13, 2018

    Pinwheels [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.  Here are some pinwheels that “grow” in a lovely garden near the Houston Convention Center. This image makes me ...

  • Convention Center [15 Words or Less]

    December 6, 2018

    Convention Center [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.  This past few weeks have been full of highs and lows. I would prefer more highs and fewer ...

  • Wings Rising [15 Words or Less]

    November 29, 2018

    Wings Rising [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.  I hope you all had a beautiful Thanksgiving weekend. Ours was lovely, and fun, and busy. We celebrated ...

  • Give Thanks [15 Words or Less]

    November 22, 2018

    Give Thanks [15 Words or Less]

    Happy Thanksgiving, 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.  Our younger daughter lives overseas doing volunteer work. She lives on practically nothing and works to make ...

  • Gold Statue [15 Words or Less]

    November 15, 2018

    Gold Statue [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 went on a wonderful tour of the Minnesota State Capitol building (a couple of blocks ...

  • Infinity [15 Words or Less]

    November 8, 2018

    Infinity [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.  There’s a state office building near our place that has number sculptures out front. Many are on their side ...

  • Car with Eyelashes [15 Words or Less]

    November 1, 2018

    Car with Eyelashes [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.  I’m not a car person, but I saw this cutie parked in our neighborhood recently. This image makes me ...

  • Atlatl [15 Words or Less]

    October 25, 2018

    Atlatl [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. If you tried to visit last week, or did visit in the brief window that the post was ...

  • Dragonfly Captured! [15 Words or Less]

    October 11, 2018

    Dragonfly Captured! [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.  This is a close-up of a dragonfly on one of the herons in La Crosse, WI. This image makes ...

  • Double Vision [15 Words or Less]

    October 4, 2018

    Double Vision [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.  I took this pic over the summer when Randy and I were getting new glasses. The optometrist was ...

  • Is This Just Fantasy? [15 Words or Less]

    September 27, 2018

    Is This Just Fantasy? [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.  Okay, I try not to be too repetitive with images, but everyone had such fun with the chalk ...

  • Wind Tunnel [15 Words or Less]

    September 20, 2018

    Wind Tunnel [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.  Here’s Randy in front of a dome near our old home. It’s used to create a wind tunnel ...

  • Toys Rise Up! [15 Words or Less]

    September 13, 2018

    Toys Rise Up! [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 went to the Maple Grove Chalk Art Festival again this summer, and we were amazed as usual. ...

  • Jeweled Fish [15 Words or Less]

    September 6, 2018

    Jeweled Fish [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.  Happy first week of school for all your northern teachers! While visiting my older daughter in La Crosse, WI, ...

  • Paddle Boat [15 Words or Less]

    August 30, 2018

    Paddle Boat [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.  Okay, one last (this one a rare unfiltered one) photo from Cyprus. On our first full day there, ...

  • Bikes at a Salt Lake [15 Words or Less]

    August 23, 2018

    Bikes at a Salt Lake [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.   Here’s another pic from our trip to Cyprus. Larnaca has a couple of salt lakes. They’re near the ...

  • Foreign Letters [15 Words or Less]

    August 16, 2018

    Foreign Letters [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.  Another pic from our trip to Cyprus. This is from some kind of sculpture or monument, and I ...

  • Fountain [15 Words or Less]

    August 9, 2018

    Fountain [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.  This is another pic from our Cyprus trip. Here’s a fountain by the ocean in Larnaca, in the ...

  • Peacock [15 Words or Less]

    August 2, 2018

    Peacock [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.   Here’s another photo from our trip to Cyprus. This lovely gent lives at the same camel park as ...

  • Hay! [15 Words or Less]

    July 26, 2018

    Hay! [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.  Before today’s challenge, I want to share some lovely news from Elaine Magliaro (author of the glorious picture ...

  • Camel [15 Words or Less]

    July 19, 2018

    Camel [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.  While in Cyprus, we went to a camel park–and rode camels! I loved this handsome fellow. This image makes ...

  • Mosaic Sky [15 Words or Less]

    July 12, 2018

    Mosaic Sky [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.  I really have a thing for airport art. Here’s a close-up of a piece of a mosaic: This image ...

  • Refugee Camp Mural [15 Words or Less]

    July 5, 2018

    Refugee Camp Mural [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.  Here in the United States, we celebrated our independence and freedom yesterday. (Hope you had a fun  holiday!) ...

  • Tower Bridge [15 Words or Less]

    June 28, 2018

    Tower Bridge [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.  I love boats and water and bridges. I took this pic while we were on our Thames Rocket ...

  • Swan [15 Words or Less]

    June 21, 2018

    Swan [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. In the flat we stayed in in London (Canary Wharf area) for a few days, we could feed ...

  • London Eye [15 Words or Less]

    June 14, 2018

    London Eye [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.  Here’s a picture of the London Eye Ferris Wheel. I took it from my seat on a Thames ...

  • Red Light, Green Light! [15 Words or Less]

    June 7, 2018

    Red Light, Green Light! [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 arrived in London very late at night, took the tube, and then walked to our flat in ...

  • Iron Maiden [15 Words or Less]

    May 31, 2018

    Iron Maiden [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.  This lovely lady was along the Blackwater Basin near the flat we stayed in in Canary Wharf in ...

  • Aphrodite’s Rock [15 Words or Less]

    May 24, 2018

    Aphrodite's Rock [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.  One thing we did while visiting our daughter in Cyprus was to to a few different beaches. The ...

  • Cereal? [15 Words or Less]

    May 17, 2018

    Cereal? [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.  I feel so lucky to have visited a couple of non-English-speaking countries. It really opens my perspective. ...

  • Climbing Out [15 Words or Less]

    May 10, 2018

    Climbing Out [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.  Thank you for being such an active and kind community while I was out of town–out of the ...

  • Cow [15 Words or Less]

    May 3, 2018

    Cow [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.  I’m still off the grid, so once again, I will not be able to comment. I’m hoping ...

  • Forget charts and rules [15 Words or Less]

    April 26, 2018

    Forget charts and rules [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.  I’m largely off the grid this week and next, so I won’t be able to comment on ...

  • In a Salt Shaker Far, Far Away [15 Words or Less]

    April 19, 2018

    In a Salt Shaker Far, Far Away [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.  My older daughter Annabelle is moving to Wisconsin. I am going to miss her funny, loud, energetic, ...

  • Blur [15 Words or Less]

    April 12, 2018

    Blur [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.  Sometimes I think I have more accidental images on my phone than I do intentional ones! This ...

  • Extreme Swing and Day 5: The pause at the top

    April 5, 2018

    Extreme Swing and Day 5: The pause at the top

    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.  Here’s a photo from last summer: I like roller coasters, but not things like this. So I ...

  • Snowpeople [15 Words or Less]

    March 29, 2018

    Snowpeople [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.  I hope you’re not offended that I’m still using snow-related photo prompts, but you know March and ...

  • Mandrake [15 Words or Less]

    March 22, 2018

    Mandrake [15 Words or Less]

    Madness Poetry is down to just four matchups! My matchup with J.J. Close, who does very clever wordplay, goes live at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time here. I hope you’ll visit and vote for your favorite on all four pairs of poems. Thanks to those of ...

  • Voldetort the Turtle [15 Words or Less]

    March 15, 2018

    Voldetort the Turtle [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.  Here’s Voldetort the turtle, whom we were caring for for a month or so until we could give ...

  • Eye [15 Words or Less]

    March 8, 2018

    Eye [15 Words or Less]

    Howdy, folks! I’m taking part in Ed Decaria’s Madness Poetry this year, and today is the last day for voting in Round 1. I’m pitted against Lissa Clouser, and we both had to write poems using the word “coordinates.” Lissa’s poem is lovely, and we ...

  • Throne [15 Words or Less]

    March 1, 2018

    Throne [15 Words or Less]

    Hello, and welcome! It’s March 1, the book birthday for my new picture book, Meet My Family!  It’s all about families, animals, and diversity. Of course, that’s super exciting for me, but I know NOTHING gets in the way of 15 Words or Less :>) ...

  • Penguin [15 Words or Less]

    February 22, 2018

    Penguin [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’s photo, if you’re curious, was a filtered close-up shot of some bath salts my daughter ...

  • Silica Packet? [15 Words or Less]

    February 15, 2018

    Silica Packet? [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.  I’m not going to tell you what this one is. It’s whatever you make of it!  This ...

  • Tile Trees [15 Words or Less]

    February 8, 2018

    Tile Trees [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. Would you like to suggest a word for one of my poems? I’ve had fun with “winter,” “cymbal,” ...

  • Winter Sky [15 Words or Less]

    February 1, 2018

    Winter Sky [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.  Thank you for your poems last week! In case you’re wondering, that was a filtered picture of ...

  • Avalanche? [15 Words or Less]

    January 25, 2018

    Avalanche? [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.    This image (which I’m not going to identify right now) makes me think of several things: an avalanche Santa’s ...

  • Angel Wings [15 Words or Less]

    January 18, 2018

    Angel Wings [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.  I got so  many beautiful holiday cards this year, and one of my favorites was from Poetry ...

  • Candle [15 Words or Less]

    January 11, 2018

    Candle [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’s image was a close-up of the pompoms I use whenever we watch Dolphins games:>) This ...

  • Shredder [15 Words or Less]

    January 4, 2018

    Shredder [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.  Thank you, everyone who sent such nice thoughts of the death of our dog, Jackie. It’s been ...

  • Gloves in the Snow [15 Words or Less]

    December 28, 2017

    Gloves in the Snow [15 Words or Less]

    Hello, and welcome to the final 15 Words or Less Poems of the year! This is a low-pressure way to wake up your poetry brain (guidelines here), and I’m very glad you’re here.  Walking to the mailbox with Jack is always an adventure. Trying ...

  • Sailing Ships [15 Words or Less]

    December 21, 2017

    Sailing Ships [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.  So, the picture I posted last week was a filtered image (as usual) of some frosted glass ...

  • Coral? [15 Words or Less]

    December 14, 2017

    Coral? [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.  I took this pic in an airport a couple of weeks ago. Want to take a guess? ...

  • Traffic Cones [15 Words or Less]

    December 7, 2017

    Traffic Cones [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.  Here’s a pic from a recent road trip. This image makes me think of several things: an airport ...

  • Bike Rack [15 Words or Less]

    November 30, 2017

    Bike Rack [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.  If you didn’t see my note earlier, sorry about last week! Major blog/Wordpress fail, and I lost ...

  • Tree Puzzle [15 Words or Less]

    November 16, 2017

    Tree Puzzle [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.  The leaves are all gone now from our beautiful maple, so I’m enjoying it through photos retroactively:>) ...

  • Listening Pod [15 Words or Less]

    November 9, 2017

    Listening Pod [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.  I want to say thank you to this community! On my school visits to Pinewood Elementary in ...

  • Black Forest Face [15 Words or Less]

    November 2, 2017

    Black Forest Face [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.  This guy, which we bought at the first Renaissance Festival we ever went to, shortly after moving up here ...

  • Train Through Fence [15 Words or Less]

    October 26, 2017

    Train Through Fence [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.  I love trains, and I’ve never been on a “real” train ride–just a couple of scenic rides ...

  • Hydrangeas (I think) [15 Words or Less]

    October 19, 2017

    Hydrangeas (I think) [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.  I usually filter my photos because I like the way that makes them a little surreal and ...

  • Rescued Owl [15 Words or Less]

    October 12, 2017

    Rescued Owl [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.  One of the visitors to the Minnesota Children’s Book Festival recently was this great horned owl. This ...

  • Making Art [15 Words or Less]

    October 5, 2017

    Making Art [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.  While I was at the Anderson Center at Tower View for the Minnesota Children’s Book Festival a ...

  • Burning Maple [15 Words or Less]

    September 28, 2017

    Burning Maple [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.  One of the things that surprises me every fall is how maple trees don’t turn color all ...

  • Safety Pin [15 Words or Less]

    September 20, 2017

    Safety Pin [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.  Today is International Peace Day, so check out the #peaceday hashtag and also the Peace Padlet. It’s also, ...

  • Moray Eel [15 Words or Less]

    September 14, 2017

    Moray Eel [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.  I was in Florida for the past week, and before Irma hit, Randy and I spent several ...

  • Trinity College Library [15 Words or Less]

    September 7, 2017

    Trinity College Library [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.  Maddie took this photo in Dublin, at the Trinity College Library. Though it’s not immediately obvious due ...

  • Leopard [15 Words or Less]

    August 31, 2017

    Leopard [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.  I was at the Minnesota Zoo Friday night for an awesome Five for Fighting concert. He was ...

  • Beetle [15 Words or Less]

    August 24, 2017

    Beetle [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.  After last week’s beautiful but emotional poems, I was trying to pick something lighthearted for this week. ...

  • Life Preserver [15 Words or Less]

    August 17, 2017

    Life Preserver [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.   In Duluth a couple weeks ago, we went to the Lake Superior Marine Museum like we always ...

  • Maze [15 Words or Less]

    August 10, 2017

    Maze [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.  A nearby park has what the map describes as a maze–which I think is overstating it a ...

  • Sail On! [15 Words or Less]

    August 3, 2017

    Sail On! [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.  At Duluth Harbor last week, we got to watch a TON of sailboats come through the canal ...

  • City Hall [15 Words or Less]

    July 27, 2017

    City Hall [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.  This is the City Hall clock tower in downtown Minneapolis. I took this pic from the roof ...

  • Balcony Cat [15 Words or Less]

    July 20, 2017

    Balcony Cat [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.  While walking Jack one evening, my husband and I saw this fearless kitty marching along a balcony ...

  • Globe [15 Words or Less]

    July 13, 2017

    Globe [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.  That’s the globe that used to be on ...

  • Egg [15 Words or Less]

    July 6, 2017

    Egg [15 Words or Less]

    Hello, poets, writers, noodlers–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.  Thank you for keeping this community going while I’ve been on a semi-hiatus. Can’t believe ...

  • Eyebrows [15 Words or Less]

    June 29, 2017

    Eyebrows [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.  At that chalk festival, there were a few large-scale works on boards, so I made Randy stand ...

  • Mary Poppins [15 Words or Less]

    June 22, 2017

    Mary Poppins [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.  I took this pic at the Maple Grove Chalk Art Festival two weekends ago. We went on ...

  • Bee Cookie [15 Words or Less]

    June 15, 2017

    Bee Cookie [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.  While my sister Patty was up this past week, we indulged in way too many sweet treats. Like ...

  • Freeway Treeway [15 Words or Less]

    June 8, 2017

    Freeway Treeway [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.  Saw this on the road the other day. This image makes me think of several things: What if ...

  • Catacombs [15 Words or Less Poems]

    June 1, 2017

    Catacombs [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.  The Paris Catacombs are…overwhelming. So many bones. So many emotions: sadness, horror, reverence, acceptance, melancholy. We had ...

  • Sculpture of…? [15 Words or Less]

    May 25, 2017

    Sculpture of...?  [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.  At the Reykjavik, Iceland airport, this eye-catching statue dominates. I thought it was a berry, as I ...

  • Arc De Triomphe Stairway [15 Words or Less]

    May 18, 2017

    Arc De Triomphe Stairway [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.  Before we get to today’s picture, congratulations to Lauren McBride, longtime 15 Words or Less contributor, on ...

  • Pink Cow [15 Words or Less]

    May 11, 2017

    Pink Cow [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, I shared a picture of Mont Saint Michel. In the little village nearby, several shops/restaurants ...

  • Mont Saint Michel [15 Words or Less]

    May 4, 2017

    Mont Saint Michel [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.  Although the day trip itself was dreadful, one of the most beautiful things we saw in France ...

  • Moon and Sunbound

    April 27, 2017

    Moon and Sunbound

    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.  But because it’s National Poetry Month, I have a #wonderbreak poem to share, too! And it’s Poem in ...

  • 3 Poems and an Icelandic Horse [15 Words or Less]

    April 20, 2017

    3 Poems and an Icelandic Horse [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.  However, because it’s National Poetry Month, I have a couple of other things to share, too:>) I’m Reading ...

  • Icelandic Bicycle [15 Words or Less]

    April 13, 2017

    Icelandic Bicycle [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.  Iceland got a huge snowfall just before we arrived, so we saw lots of things buried in ...

  • Northern Lights [15 Words or Less]

    April 6, 2017

    Northern Lights [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.  One thing–OK, THE thing I most wanted to see on our February trip was the Northern Lights. ...

  • Tectonic Rift [15 Words or Less]

    March 30, 2017

    Tectonic Rift [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.  A favorite site in Iceland was the rift in Thingvellir National Park, where two tectonic plates meet. ...

  • Eiffel Tower [15 Words or Less]

    March 23, 2017

    Eiffel Tower [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 went to the Eiffel Tower kind of on a whim, on our last day in Paris. ...

  • Moonglow [15 Words or Less]

    March 16, 2017

    Moonglow [15 Words or Less]

    Hello, and welcome! I’m interrupting the normal broadcast to let you know that Tina Cho has an interview with me today, which you can read here. Thanks, Tina!  It’s all moon, all week long, since my launch party is tonight for If You Were the ...

  • Lava Cave [15 Words or Less]

    March 9, 2017

    Lava Cave [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.  For most of spring, I’m guessing, my pics will come from the wonderful trip Randy and I ...

  • The Bumble Ball [15 Words or Less]

    March 2, 2017

    The Bumble Ball [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.  Back a couple of weeks ago, game night had a toy theme, and I came across this ...

  • Last Leaf [15 Words or Less]

    February 23, 2017

    Last Leaf [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.  Our maple tree has been bare for ages, except for one or two last, lonely leaves. This ...

  • Whale Postcard [15 Words or Less]

    February 16, 2017

    Whale Postcard [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.  My sister Patty has always been the artist in our family. She is crafty and artistic, though ...

  • Barely the Moon [15 Words or Less]

    February 9, 2017

    Barely the Moon [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 night, as Randy and I were driving home from downtown, there was this cool contrail like ...

  • Party Boar [15 Words or Less]

    February 2, 2017

    Party Boar [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.  A couple of weeks ago, Randy and I went to an exhibit called Martin Luther and the ...

  • Ice Carving [15 Words or Less]

    January 26, 2017

    Ice Carving [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.  I often use filters, but this pic of the thin layer of ice on our street (which ...

  • Pawprint [15 Words or Less]

    January 19, 2017

    Pawprint [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.  This is Captain Jack’s pawprint on our front sidewalk. Something about our weather cycle of snow, melt, ...

  • Tower [15 Words or Less]

    January 12, 2017

    Tower [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.  Here’s a pic of Atlanta’s Centennial Olympic Park, which I walked through several times a day at ...

  • Dolphin Lady [15 Words or Less]

    January 5, 2017

    Dolphin Lady [15 Words or Less]

    Hello, and welcome to the first 15 Words or Less Poems of 2017! 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.  At NCTE in Atlanta, walking back and ...

  • Losing Perspective [15 Words or Less Poems]

    December 29, 2016

    Losing Perspective [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 hope everyone’s holidays have been going great! Mine have, but today is Maddie’s last day at ...

  • Airport Gorilla [15 Words or Less]

    December 22, 2016

    Airport Gorilla [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.  More fun from the Atlanta airport. There was a series of sculptures by a Zimbabwean (I think) ...

  • Jigsaw [15 Words or Less Poems]

    December 15, 2016

    Jigsaw [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.  Going through the Atlanta airport for NCTE recently, I was enchanted by this ceiling in one terminal ...

  • Cookie Monster! [15 Words or Less Poems]

    December 8, 2016

    Cookie Monster! [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.  Before we start, I want to share something. Longtime 15 Words or Less participant and fabulous teacher ...

  • Grid [15 Words or Less Poems]

    December 1, 2016

    Grid [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.  Teachers, if I met you at NCTE recently, I’m glad you’ve come to visit! This is actually my ...

  • [Crow Balance] 15 Words or Less Poems

    November 24, 2016

    [Crow Balance] 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 shared 15 Words or Less poems with some educators at NCTE last weekend, and though probably none ...

  • Umbrella Chandelier [15 Words or Less Poems]

    November 17, 2016

    Umbrella Chandelier [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.  When I was at the Minnesota Children’s Book Festival back in…September? October?–anyway, when I was there, I ...

  • Storm [15 Words or Less Poems]

    November 10, 2016

    Storm [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.  Here’s another pic from Duluth. It was a stormy early morning, and we were watching a 1000-footer ...

  • Locks [15 Words or Less Poems]

    November 3, 2016

    Locks [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.  While Randy and I were in Duluth for my birthday, we noticed this set of posts on ...

  • Viking Ship [15 Words or Less Poems]

    October 27, 2016

    Viking Ship [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.  A couple of weeks ago, Randy and I attended the Youth in Music marching band show at ...

  • Window [15 Words or Less Poems]

    October 20, 2016

    Window [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.  [Also, subscribers, did you get an email notification this morning that this post was up? I didn’t, and ...

  • Mushroom [15 Words or Less Poems]

    October 13, 2016

    Mushroom [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 was walking Jack the other day and came across this one small mushroom in a huge ...

  • Horse [15 Words or Less Poems]

    October 6, 2016

    Horse [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.  There’s a cool metal horse sculpture at the Anderson Center in Red Wing, MN, where I was at ...

  • Tennis [15 Words or Less Poems]

    September 29, 2016

    Tennis [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 was downtown in Minneapolis a few weeks ago having a food truck lunch with Randy, and the ...

  • Tower [15 Words or Less Poems]

    September 22, 2016

    Tower [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 took this picture at a drum corps rehearsal over the summer, and it makes me think of ...

  • Hello [15 Words or Less Poems]

    September 15, 2016

    Hello [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. Thank you for continuing to tune in over the summer and participate, even though I’ve been largely absent. ...

  • Subway Map [15 Words or Less Poems]

    September 8, 2016

    Subway Map [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. First off, love, love, loved the poems last week. And, if you’re wondering and didn’t see it in the ...

  • Volcano [15 Words or Less Poems]

    September 1, 2016

    Volcano [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. Writer and educator friends, can you tell what this is? I’m not going to tell you right now, but ...

  • Quilt [15 Words or Less Poems]

    August 25, 2016

    Quilt [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. Hello, writer and educator friends. As I’m clearing out loads of stuff, I keep coming across things full of ...

  • Airport Piano Man [15 Words or Less Poems]

    August 18, 2016

    Airport Piano Man [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. Hello, writer and educator friends. My life grows ever more intense (I really didn’t think that was possible), and ...

  • Tyger [15 Words or Less Poems]

    August 11, 2016

    Tyger [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. Hello, writer and educator friends. My life grows ever more intense (I really didn’t think that was possible), and ...

  • Spark [15 Words or Less Poems]

    August 4, 2016

    Spark [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.   Thank you for your continued kindness and support regarding my mom’s passing. I wish my dad was online and ...

  • Splash [15 Words or Less Poems]

    July 21, 2016

    Splash [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. Thank you for your continued kindness and support regarding my mom’s passing. I wish my dad was online and ...

  • Fluff [15 Words or Less Poems]

    July 14, 2016

    Fluff [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 want to thank you all for your kind Comments, emails, and messages regarding my mom’s passing. It is ...

  • Tractor [15 Words or Less Poems]

    July 7, 2016

    Tractor [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 took this picture outside Dairy Queen after my event at Plainview Public Library recently. I always love heading ...

  • Disappearing [15 Words or Less Poems]

    June 30, 2016

    Disappearing [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 glad you’re here. Randy took this pic while we were walking Jack. by the lake. The white edging on the trail is cottonwood ...

  • Tracks [15 Words or Less Poems]

    June 23, 2016

    Tracks [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 glad you’re here. Randy and I went downtown (Minneapolis) a week or two to attend a concert by Cantus, a choral group. The ...

  • Ducks on a Log [15 Words or Less Poems]

    June 16, 2016

    Ducks on a Log [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 glad you’re here. While Randy and I were walking Jack last week, we walked right by these mallards at the lake. Jack was ...

  • Umbrella, Inside [15 Words or Less Poems]

    June 9, 2016

    Umbrella, Inside [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 glad you’re here. Randy and I were killing time during a showing recently. We sat outside at a Freddy’s, and as I drank ...

  • Bird [15 Words or Less Poems]

    June 2, 2016

    Bird [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 glad you’re here. I was picking up the yard before a showing last week, and I saw a flash of yellow on the ...

  • Jailed [15 Words or Less Poems]

    May 26, 2016

    Jailed [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 glad you’re here. Here’s a picture taken from our family room. My husband recently converted the room from a theater room with a ...

  • Boxed In [15 Words or Less Poems]

    May 19, 2016

    Boxed In [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 glad you’re here. Here’s a picture taken out my window. This image makes me think of: soldiers standing at attention what it would feel like to ...

  • Open Wide [15 Words or Less Poems]

    May 12, 2016

    Open Wide [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 glad you’re here. Here’s a picture I took in my “Fishing Room” on a school visit in southern Minnesota, which I blogged about ...

  • Branches [15 Words or Less Poems]

    May 5, 2016

    Branches [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 glad you’re here. Here’s a picture I took while my husband and I were walking our beagle down by the lake. These barren ...

  • Play(ne)ground [15 Words or Less Poems]

    April 28, 2016

    Play(ne)ground [15 Words or Less Poems]

    Hello, and welcome! Poetry Month is almost over, but we celebrate poetry year-round here:>) I’m happy you’re here for 15 Words or Less Poems, a low-pressure way to wake up your poetry brain (guidelines here)! Here’s my final pic taken in March on the way home ...

  • Neon Sky [15 Words or Less Poems]

    April 21, 2016

    Neon Sky [15 Words or Less Poems]

    Hello! We’re more than halfway through National Poetry Month, and I hope you’re having a splendid celebration! I’m happy you’re here — this is 15 Words or Less Poems, a low-pressure way to wake up your poetry brain (guidelines here)! Here’s my next pic taken in ...

  • Sunroof [15 Words or Less Poems]

    April 14, 2016

    Sunroof [15 Words or Less Poems]

    Howdy! How is your National Poetry Month going? I’m happy you’re here and ready to celebrate with you! This is 15 Words or Less Poems, a low-pressure way to wake up your poetry brain (guidelines here)! Here’s my next pic taken in March on the way ...

  • Who, Me? [15 Words or Less Poems]

    April 7, 2016

    Who, Me? [15 Words or Less Poems]

    Welcome to 15 Words or Less Poems Day! Are you ready to wake up your poetry brains with our weekly exercise (guidelines here)? Here’s my next pic taken in March on the way home from South Bend, IN to Minneapolis, MN.   This image makes me think ...

  • Eggshell [15 Words or Less Poems]

    March 31, 2016

    Eggshell [15 Words or Less Poems]

    Welcome to 15 Words or Less Poems Day! Are you ready to wake up your poetry brains with our weekly exercise (guidelines here)? Most of my pics seem to come from airports or planes lately! All this next month I’ll be using pics taken on the ...

  • Tangled [15 Words or Less Poems]

    March 24, 2016

    Tangled [15 Words or Less Poems]

    Welcome to 15 Words or Less Poems Day! Are you ready to wake up your poetry brains with our weekly exercise (guidelines here)? Most of my pics seem to come from airports or planes lately! This one is in O’Hare. This image makes me think of: Charlotte’s web ...

  • Late Snow [15 Words or Less Poems]

    March 17, 2016

    Late Snow [15 Words or Less Poems]

    Happy St. Patrick’s Day, and welcome to 15 Words or Less Poems! Are you ready to wake up your poetry brains with our weekly exercise (guidelines here)? Here’s a picture I took in the South Bend, IN, airport on my way home from the Young Authors ...

  • Landing [15 Words or Less Poems]

    March 10, 2016

    Landing [15 Words or Less Poems]

    Welcome to 15 Words or Less Poems Day! Are you ready to wake up your poetry brains with our weekly exercise (guidelines here)? Well, I’m kind of annoyed that there’s a person in my picture! The lens didn’t click fast enough, I guess. Oh well. When ...

  • Snowplowasaurus [15 Words or Less Poems]

    March 3, 2016

    Snowplowasaurus [15 Words or Less Poems]

    Welcome to 15 Words or Less Poems Day! Are you ready to wake up your poetry brains with our weekly exercise (guidelines here)? I was walking the track at my gym a few weeks ago, and looking out the window, I could see a big tractor-thingy ...

  • Leaf Necklace [15 Words or Less Poems]

    February 25, 2016

    Leaf Necklace [15 Words or Less Poems]

    Welcome to 15 Words or Less Poems Day! Are you ready to wake up your poetry brains with our weekly exercise (guidelines here)? OK, hopefully I’ve finally got it right this week! This is a picture of a gift given to me by Kim Doele, a 3rd-grade ...

  • Sort of Ceiling [15 Words or Less Poems]

    February 18, 2016

    Sort of Ceiling [15 Words or Less Poems]

    Welcome to 15 Words or Less Poems Day! Are you ready to wake up your poetry brains with our weekly exercise (guidelines here)? Sorry for the confusion last week–I had the settings to not allow comments (accidentally). We should be all good today, though! Thank you ...

  • Garden Snake? [15 Words or Less Poems]

    February 4, 2016

    Garden Snake? [15 Words or Less Poems]

    Welcome to 15 Words or Less Poems Day! Are you ready to wake up your poetry brains with our weekly exercise (guidelines here)? Here’s a picture my friend Vida posted on Facebook and offered up for 15 Words or Less (thank you, Vida!). At first glance, ...

  • Froggy? [15 Words or Less Poems]

    January 28, 2016

    Froggy? [15 Words or Less Poems]

    Welcome to 15 Words or Less Poems Day! Are you ready to wake up your poetry brains with our weekly exercise (guidelines here)? Here’s a picture of a stuffed frog. It’s one of Jackie’s toys, and it’s pretty nasty. This image makes me think of: Barney the ...

  • Pipe Cleaners [15 Words or Less Poems]

    January 21, 2016

    Pipe Cleaners [15 Words or Less Poems]

    Welcome to 15 Words or Less Poems Day! Are you ready to wake up your poetry brains with our weekly exercise (guidelines here)? Here’s a picture from my basement clean-out. I’m gathering lots of arts & craft supplies into a pile to give to my daughter ...

  • Trunk [15 Words or Less Poems]

    January 14, 2016

    Trunk [15 Words or Less Poems]

    Welcome to 15 Words or Less Poems Day! Are you ready to wake up your poetry brains with our weekly exercise (guidelines here)? Here’s one last picture from the Bell Museum of Natural History . This is a cross-section of a tree from a fig-tree display ...

  • Antlers [15 Words or Less Poems] & Live Writing Video

    January 7, 2016

    Antlers [15 Words or Less Poems] & Live Writing Video

    Whee! It’s 2016, and this is the first 15 Words or Less Poems Day of the year! I’m glad you guys are here. Are you ready to wake up your poetry brains with our weekly exercise (guidelines here)? I took this picture at the Bell Museum ...

  • Cougar [15 Words or Less Poems]

    December 31, 2015

    Cougar [15 Words or Less Poems]

    Welcome to the final 15 Words or Less Poems Day of 2015! Ready to wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less? (guidelines here) Here’s a picture I took at the Bell Museum of Natural History on Randy’s birthday last week. This image ...

  • A Pear-y Pretty Chandelier [15 Words or Less Poems]

    December 24, 2015

    A Pear-y Pretty Chandelier [15 Words or Less Poems]

    Hi, 15 Words-or-Less-ers! Merry Christmas Eve, if you’re celebrating! Ready to wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less? (guidelines here) Here’s a picture I took at the theater where we saw So You Think You Can Dance Thanksgiving weekend. It’s hard to tell in ...

  • Great Gourd! [15 Words or Less Poems]

    December 17, 2015

    Great Gourd! [15 Words or Less Poems]

    Hi, 15 Words-or-Less-ers! Ready to wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less? (guidelines here) Here’s a picture I took at the grocery store just before Thanksgiving. These gourds were huge! Granted, that mini-pumpkin with the crow on it is pretty small, but it was between ...

  • Ice on Fire [15 Words or Less Poems]

    December 10, 2015

    Ice on Fire [15 Words or Less Poems]

    Hi teachers and writers! I’m offering something new in January for people who want to write (published, pre-published, no desire to be published–you are all welcome!) but who aren’t getting the writing done that they want to. It’s a low-cost Closed Facebook Group that will ...

  • Key Lime…Pie? [15 Words or Less Poems]

    December 3, 2015

    Key Lime...Pie? [15 Words or Less Poems]

    Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines are here)! Here’s the key lime pie I shared yesterday from a Lerner author dinner during NCTE. Looks a little odd, but oh my goodness, it was heaven. This picture makes me think of: My frequent ...

  • Jungle Tile [15 Words or Less Poems]

    November 26, 2015

    Jungle Tile [15 Words or Less Poems]

    Hello, and Happy Thanksgiving! I figure we have plenty of images of turkeys and cornucopias and all that other good holiday stuff, so I just go with whatever catches my fancy:>) I’m thankful, as ever, for this 15 Words or Less community. You’re an important ...

  • Inside Music [15 Words or Less Poems]

    November 19, 2015

    Inside Music [15 Words or Less Poems]

    Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines are here)! I usually share photos I take, but I couldn’t pass by this one that my husband emailed to me. This picture makes me think of: Shadows (again!) — I love them Tiny elves holding a concert ...

  • X Marks What? [15 Words or Less Poems]

    November 12, 2015

    X Marks What? [15 Words or Less Poems]

    Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines are here)! I love trees and their shadows! This picture makes me think of: X marks the spot (of what?) Could you climb a shadow? Do shadows wish their casters would MOVE more so they could play together? And, here’s ...

  • Armor [15 Words or Less Poems]

    November 5, 2015

    Armor [15 Words or Less Poems]

    Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines are here)! I took this picture in Edinburgh Castle, I’m pretty sure. The swords and armor felt appropriate after all the cool costumes of Halloween!  This picture makes me think of: I wonder if knights handed down ...

  • Airplane Window [15 Words or Less Poems]

    October 29, 2015

    Airplane Window [15 Words or Less Poems]

    Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines are here)! I took this picture on an overseas flight a couple of years ago. There’s something about seeing clouds from overhead that makes me feel a lot safer while flying–totally irrational, but I can’t ...

  • Cows [15 Words or Less Poems]

    October 22, 2015

    Cows [15 Words or Less Poems]

    Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines are here)! I took this picture in Ireland. I always picture sheep and cow barns as so warm and cozy, but the reality rarely supports that! This picture makes me think of: Waiting in line for my ...

  • Pipes [15 words or less poems]

    October 15, 2015

    Pipes [15 words or less poems]

    Hello, my fun 15 Words or Less community! Today, I’m driving home from a FABULOUS 4 days on the North Shore of Lake Superior. That’s one of my favorite places on earth, and Randy and I have been just hanging out, soaking up fall beauty, ...

  • Reaching Hands [15 words or less poems]

    October 8, 2015

    Reaching Hands [15 words or less poems]

    Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines are here)! Howdy, 15 Words or Less-ers! I took this picture a couple of years ago at a high school. I was walking down the hall, and these hands were overhead! They make me think ...

  • Flower Boot [15 words or less poems]

    October 1, 2015

    Flower Boot [15 words or less poems]

    Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines are here)! Good morning! I took this picture in Ireland, and though you can’t really tell, this shoe is hanging on a stone wall outside someone’s house. These flowers growing out of a hiking book ...

  • Fossil [15 words or less poems]

    September 24, 2015

    Fossil [15 words or less poems]

    OK, I think I have the Comment settings figured out so that it’s easier to Comment now. I just thought nobody was coming by! And, today’s the last day of the 99-cent sale of the Kindle edition of Riddle-ku: Haiku for Very Close Reading. Wake up your ...

  • The Giant Spider [15 words or less poems]

    September 17, 2015

    The Giant Spider [15 words or less poems]

    Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines are here)! Well, I think I’ve used this photo before, but I honestly can’t recall…and if I did, it was several years ago. So, I’m going to use it! This sculpture called Maman, by Louise ...

  • Pinata [15 words or less poems]

    September 10, 2015

    Pinata [15 words or less poems]

    Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines are here)!   I went to a friend’s 40th-birthday party this summer, and here was her pinata. This picture makes me think of: 1) It’s unsettling to watch kids swing a bat at a human-formed pinata! 2) ...

  • The Arch [15 words or less poems]

    September 3, 2015

    The Arch [15 words or less poems]

    Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines are here)!   Here’s one more pic from St. Louis on my ILA trip. This, of course, is the Arch! I had fun zipping to the top of it. Nice to see at least ...

  • Bull vs. Bear [15 words or less poems]

    August 27, 2015

    Bull vs. Bear [15 words or less poems]

    Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines are here)!   Here’s a pic from St. Louis on my ILA trip. St. Louis doesn’t have a stock market, but this cool bull and bear battle each other outside a financial firm (sculpture ...

  • Big Fish [15 words or less poems]

    August 20, 2015

    Big Fish [15 words or less poems]

    Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)!   Last week, I went with Maddie one day up to Duluth, a harbor town on Lake Superior, to take care of some stuff for her visa. She leaves for 2-3 years in only a ...

  • Eros [15 words or less poems]

    August 13, 2015

    Eros [15 words or less poems]

    Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)! Continuing my reliving of this past Father’s Day, we admired the big Eros sculpture outside of the Minneapolis Institute of Art. I could swear I featured a photo of this sculpture years ago, with ...

  • Weebles [15 words or less poems]

    August 6, 2015

    Weebles [15 words or less poems]

    Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)! On Father’s Day, we also went to the Minneapolis Institute of Art to see the Leonardo daVinci codex exhibit. Amazing! Randy wanted to browse the Mark Mothersbaugh exhibit, too. Not so amazing–well, just not ...

  • Displaying Your Students’ Poems or Other Projects

    July 30, 2015

    Displaying Your Students' Poems or Other Projects

    Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.) I learned about Padlets recently when Amy Ludwig VanDerwater created a Favorite Poem Padlet and shared it at The Poem Farm. So. Cool. I can see tons of ways that teachers could (and probably already are) using ...

  • Pit [15 words or less poems]

    July 30, 2015

    Pit [15 words or less poems]

    Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)! On Father’s Day, we went to the Smack Shack in Minneapolis (delicious), and I took this pic there and Waterlogued it. This image makes me think of: 1) summer backyard “bonfires” 2) a heat gun 3) MacBeth’s ...

  • Umbrellas [15 words or less poems]

    July 23, 2015

    Umbrellas [15 words or less poems]

    Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)!   When my sister Patty visited a few weeks ago, we went to an improv show (I love those!), and the mall had umbrellas all over. This image makes me think of: 1) Mary Poppins 2) If it ...

  • Theater [15 words or less poems]

    July 16, 2015

    Theater [15 words or less poems]

    Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)!   The Gordon Lightfoot concert last month was at the beautiful State Theatre in Minneapolis. I always love looking at the architecture and embellishments inside. This (Waterlogued) picture is looking up at the ceiling. This image ...

  • Belly of the Beast [15 words or less poems]

    July 9, 2015

    Belly of the Beast [15 words or less poems]

    Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)!   Randy and I went to see Canadian folksinger Gordon Lightfoot perform a couple of weeks ago. The stage design was very simple, with these long skinny triangles of fabric stretched taut in the background. ...

  • Marie [15 words or less poems]

    July 2, 2015

    Marie [15 words or less poems]

    Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)!   Randy and our older daughter, Annabelle, visited family in Atlanta a couple of weeks ago, and Randy sent me this sculpture of Marie Antoinette made entirely of cut paper except for the mannequin. Read ...

  • A Jig and a Poem [15 words or less poems]

    June 25, 2015

    A Jig and a Poem [15 words or less poems]

    Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)!   Usually, I post pictures I find beautiful or spooky or engaging. This one just makes me smile. When we were in Dublin, we were signed up for the Irish Dance Party at the Temple ...

  • Iron Man [15 words or less poems]

    June 18, 2015

    Iron Man [15 words or less poems]

    Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)!   When I was up in the Arrowhead Region of Minnesota in late April, doing a two-week poetry tour, I visited this 36-foot statue of an iron miner in Chisholm a couple of times. It ...

  • Dandelion [15 words or less poems]

    June 11, 2015

    Dandelion [15 words or less poems]

    Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)!   Honestly, nature blows my mind just about every single day. This image makes me think of: 1) an alien eyeball 2) each little pappus (new word for me) could be a broom or feather duster 3) being tickled And ...

  • Window [15 words or less poems]

    June 4, 2015

    Window [15 words or less poems]

    Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)!   My husband Randy took this pic out his window at work in downtown Minneapolis a few weeks ago. So cool! This image makes me think of: 1) the giant climbing down the beanstalk after Jack 2) Hickory, ...

  • Statue [15 words or less poems]

    May 28, 2015

    Statue [15 words or less poems]

    Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)! I can’t actually remember where I took this picture, even though it was in the past month or so. Oi. But even though it came out blurry, I kind of like it that way. This ...

  • Concert [15 words or less poems]

    May 21, 2015

    Concert [15 words or less poems]

    Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)!   I went to a Rush concert last week in St. Paul. Wow. I’m only a casual Rush fan (I love their smart lyrics, and I love the challenge of playing drums to Rush songs ...

  • Seagull [15 words or less poems]

    May 14, 2015

    Seagull [15 words or less poems]

    Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)! Hi, everyone! I took this picture a few weeks ago in Grand Marais, MN, a beautiful little town on Lake Superior. It was a beautiful afternoon, and I got to walk along the lakeshore ...

  • Straws [15 words or less poems]

    May 7, 2015

    Straws [15 words or less poems]

    Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)! Hi, y’all! It’s great to be back after a VERY busy and social Poetry Month! Here’s some commissioned art outside the Grand Canal Theatre in Dublin. I believe our tour guide said these are ...

  • Tip #22: Fess Up [and 15 Words or Less Poems]

    April 30, 2015

    Tip #22: Fess Up [and 15 Words or Less Poems]

    Welcome to today’s tip in my month-long Poetry Tips for Teachers series. Tip #22: Fess up. If you don’t feel comfortable with poetry (whether it’s the poetry itself or just the dramatic presentation of it), it’s okay to let students know that. In fact, they are often ...

  • Tip #17: Give a Line Some Space [and 15 Words or Less Poems]

    April 23, 2015

    Tip #17: Give a Line Some Space [and 15 Words or Less Poems]

    Welcome to today’s tip in my month-long Poetry Tips for Teachers series. Tip #17: Give a line some space. One approach to reading poems aloud is to do a slight pause at the end of each line, whether there is punctuation there or not. That’s the identifying ...

  • Tip #12: Use a Prop [and 15 Words or Less Poems]

    April 16, 2015

    Tip #12: Use a Prop [and 15 Words or Less Poems]

    Welcome to today’s tip in my month-long Poetry Tips for Teachers series. Tip #12: Use a Prop Use a simple prop to help share a poem visually. When I share Elaine Magliaro’s “Things to Do If You Are a Pencil,” I hold up–a pencil. And I point ...

  • Tip #7: Walk and Stop [and 15 Words or Less Poems]

    April 9, 2015

    Tip #7: Walk and Stop [and 15 Words or Less Poems]

    Tip #7: Walk and Stop Walk around the room as you read, and then STOP moving at the most important, powerful part of the poem. Kids will naturally be following your progress, and when you suddenly stop, they will pay attention to what’s happening. When reading the ...

  • Tip #2: Define It [and 15 Words or Less Poems]

    April 2, 2015

    Tip #2: Define it! Is there one particularly difficult word in the poem? If so, define it for kids before you read the poem. That way, not knowing the meaning of the word won’t stop them from comprehending and enjoying the poem. Before reading the poem draft ...

  • Perfect [15 words or less poems]

    March 26, 2015

    Perfect [15 words or less poems]

    Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)! I have bad wrists, so I use these Perfect Push-Up things during yoga and when I do push-ups. This image makes me think of: 1) my old spirograph (one of my fav toys) 2) being hypnotized 3) ...

  • Cow? [15 words or less poems]

    March 19, 2015

    Cow? [15 words or less poems]

    Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)! I took this picture in Scotland when I went in 2008, and I will be going there again soon! This time, though, I’ll pretty much be only in Edinburgh, not out in the highlands ...

  • Stay! [15 words or less poems]

    March 12, 2015

    Stay! [15 words or less poems]

    Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)! Sigh. I wanted to show you Jack’s trick of sitting nicely with a treat balanced on his nose. I say, “Leave it. Leave it. Leave it. OK!” And when I say OK, he whips ...

  • Spectacles [15 words or less poems]

    March 5, 2015

    Spectacles [15 words or less poems]

    Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)! I’ve been having glasses issues lately, so I’ve been to the eyeglass store several times. Sigh. I might or might not have a pair I can live with now. This image makes me think ...

  • Yarn [15 words or less poems]

    February 26, 2015

    Yarn [15 words or less poems]

    Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)! It’s yarn–pretty yarn close-up. This image makes me think of: 1) split ends 2) Santa Claus 3) bird nest And here’s my?first draft. I thought about how I find random bits of fuzz and fabric on the ground ...

  • Old Tree [15 words or less poems]

    February 19, 2015

    Old Tree [15 words or less poems]

    Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)! I think this tree was near Niagara Falls…but I’m not sure! Just one of those random pics I’ve had squirreled away for a 15 Words or Less day! OK, what kind of tree is ...

  • Onion [15 words or less poems]

    February 12, 2015

    Onion [15 words or less poems]

    Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)! I just got a nifty little macro-lens for my iPhone. The other day, I was filling our onion powder spice jar, using a funnel. When I set the funnel down on the stove, tip ...

  • Burr [15 words or less poems]

    February 5, 2015

    Burr [15 words or less poems]

    Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)! This image makes me think of: 1) a conch shell 2) a star 3) clingy people And here’s my?first draft.     Brilliant pale bony star of conch glows in ocean-sky Laura Purdie Salas, all rights reserved   Now it’s your turn! Have fun and stick to 15 ...

  • Flowers [15 words or less poems]

    January 29, 2015

    Flowers [15 words or less poems]

    Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)! I love taking close-up pics with my phone. Just ordered a little macro lens–can’t wait to try it. Maybe I’ll be able to do non-blurry close-ups! This image makes me think of: 1) Easter 2) fairy ...

  • Bell [15 words or less poems]

    January 22, 2015

    Bell [15 words or less poems]

    Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)! I love bells. I really like the big, gongy kind, but pretty much any curved metal makes me happy. This image makes me think of: 1) a jewel 2) the Seven Dwarves (not sure why, but ...

  • Swirly Jack [15 words or less poems]

    January 15, 2015

    Swirly Jack [15 words or less poems]

    Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)! I took this pic while Randy was washing Captain Jack Sparrow, who was just a teensy bit ripe! Maddie usually bathes him, but she’s been away since early September, so… Jack wouldn’t hold still, ...

  • Pineapple [15 words or less poems]

    January 8, 2015

    Pineapple [15 words or less poems]

    Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)! I often take fruit to potluck gatherings so that I’ll have something healthy to eat (between cupcakes). I love the patterns of pineapples, both the outside and the inside, when I spiral cut them. ...

  • Moss [15 words or less poems]

    January 1, 2015

    Moss [15 words or less poems]

      Happy New Year, my 15 Words or Less people! I hope your 2015 is full of joy and adventure! Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)! I took this pic in the cemetery next to my sister’s house on my recent trip ...

  • Tights [15 words or less poems] and Merry Christmas!

    December 25, 2014

    Tights [15 words or less poems] and Merry Christmas!

    Merry Christmas if you celebrate Christmas. And whether you do or don’t, I’m glad you’re here! Our day has turned a little topsy-turvy, and I don’t know whether I’ll be able to stop back in later or not, but I’ll try. I hope you have ...

  • Charmed [15 words or less poems]

    December 18, 2014

    Charmed [15 words or less poems]

      Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)! Look at the beautiful bracelet Heidi Mordhorst gave me at NCTE. Aren’t totally unexpected gifts just the best. I don’t have the packaging with me as I write this, but it’s an Alex and ...

  • Crabby [15 words or less poems]

    December 11, 2014

    Crabby [15 words or less poems]

      Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)! Saw this display while grocery shopping (OK, it was really just a donut run) earlier this week. This image makes me think of: 1) crabgrass–hahaha! 2) barbed wire 3) coat of armor And here’s my?first draft. I did ...

  • The View [15 words or less poems]

    December 4, 2014

    The View [15 words or less poems]

    Starting your holiday shopping? If you’re looking for a nonfiction book, click here to see the signed, personalized books? (including a few rhyming ones, alphabet ones, and color-based ones) I sell through Amazon. Great gifts for teachers/classrooms:>) Thanks! Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words ...

  • Silk [15 words or less poems]

    November 27, 2014

    Silk [15 words or less poems]

    HAPPY THANKSGIVING! I’m thankful for this enthusiastic, brave, wonderful group who gathers to share poems and feedback every week. Whether you’re a regular or just an occasional visitor, thank you. I’m glad you’re here! Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)! Here’s ...

  • Bow-Wow Pirate [15 words or less poems]

    November 20, 2014

    Bow-Wow Pirate [15 words or less poems]

      Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)! Here’s Captain Jack on Halloween–he didn’t keep the hat on very long:>) But since he is Captain Jack Sparrow, it seems only fitting to celebrate his piratiness at least once a year! This image ...

  • Enclosure [15 words or less poems]

    November 13, 2014

    Enclosure [15 words or less poems]

      Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)! It’s another pic from the Walker Art Center’s Outdoor Sculpture Garden. This image makes me think of: 1) a gigantic spiderweb 2) a gerbil in a gerbil ball 3) an alligator caught in a fishing net And here’s ...

  • Leaping Hare [15 words or less poems]

    November 6, 2014

    Leaping Hare [15 words or less poems]

      Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)! I took this pic at the Walker Art Center’s Outdoor Sculpture Garden on my birthday. It’s been years since I’ve been there! This image makes me think of: 1) a classic “Once upon a time” ...

  • Scary Hands [15 words or less poems]

    October 30, 2014

    Scary Hands [15 words or less poems]

      Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)! Usually, I post my own pics, but it’s almost Halloween, and I like this kinda creepy hand picture. This image makes me think of: 1) a scary funhouse 2) a cross between a demon and a ...

  • Empty Liner [15 words or less poems]

    October 23, 2014

    Empty Liner [15 words or less poems]

    Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)! After eating a tasty vanilla mini-cupcake the other day, I thought the empty liner looked kind of sad and lonely. This image makes me think of: 1) what do the other cupcakes think when they ...

  • Dino [15 words or less poems]

    October 16, 2014

    Dino [15 words or less poems]

    Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)! I had an amazing time in Sheboygan for the Children’s Book Festival. Will share a few highlights next week. Meanwhile, here’s a pic I took at Bookworm Gardens, my new favorite place!? This image ...

  • Hidden [15 words or less poems]

    October 9, 2014

    Hidden [15 words or less poems]

    Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)! Here’s a pic I took while walking the dog the other day. This image makes me think of: 1) a cemetery 2) hiding places 3) lying on the floor by a Christmas tree And here’s my?first draft. Hidden Worlds stolen????????? ...

  • Scroll [15 words or less poems]

    October 2, 2014

    Scroll [15 words or less poems]

    Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)! Here’s a pic I took when we were in New Orleans in May for the International Reading Association conference. I loved the architecture there. This image makes me think of: 1) a swan at night 2) ...

  • Scarecookies [15 words or less]

    September 25, 2014

    Scarecookies [15 words or less]

    Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)! Here’s a pic from the bakery. I love frosted cookies! But scarecrows…hmmm. I think I’ve seen too many horror movies/TV shows where a scarecrow comes to life. This image makes me think of: 1) The ...

  • Beads [15 words or less]

    September 18, 2014

    Beads  [15 words or less]

    Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)! Here’s a pic from a chandelier in our hotel on our recent drum corps trip to NY. This image makes me think of: 1) Bubbles in the sea 2) a super-fancy necklace (hey, anybody remember the ...

  • Niagara Falls [15 words or less]

    September 11, 2014

    Niagara Falls  [15 words or less]

    Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)! Here’s a pic from our amazing overnight Niagara Falls stop that Randy and I made on our way home from drum corps championships in Rochester, NY. (I shared more pics on my Water ...

  • Big Wheels [15 words or less]

    September 4, 2014

    Big Wheels [15 words or less]

    Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)! I took this picture while riding somewhere in outstate Minnesota, through farm country. I don’t even know exactly what it is, but I’d love to see it in action! This image makes me think ...

  • Weeds [15 words or less]

    August 28, 2014

    Weeds [15 words or less]

    Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)! When I was walking Captain Jack the other night, the sun shining on these weeds caught my eye. This image makes me think of: 1) a UFO shining down 2) butterflies in chrysalises, waiting to fly 3) ...

  • Lamp [15 words or less]

    August 21, 2014

    Lamp [15 words or less]

    Photo: Laura Purdie Salas Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)! Randy and I went to the American Idol concert last week, and I took this picture of a lamp in the lobby.?It makes me think of: 1)?butterfly wings 2)’sunrise 3) shuffling a deck of ...

  • Statue [15 words or less]

    August 14, 2014

    Statue [15 words or less]

    Photo: Laura Purdie Salas Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)! Here’s a pic I snapped in Vegas last spring. It makes me think of: 1)?a’deck of cards 2)?gila monsters and how their bacteria-laden saliva is what kills their prey 3) standup paddleboarding And here’s my?first ...

  • Shooting Star [15 words or less]

    August 7, 2014

    Shooting Star [15 words or less]

    Photo: Laura Purdie Salas Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)! Here’s a little prop from our?Minnesota Brass show this season, Supernova!?It makes me think of: 1)?a shooting star 2)?a squid 3) New Year’s Eve And here’s my?first draft: Comet I arc above Stars applaud my sparkling wake of dust and ...

  • Hands [15 words or less]

    July 31, 2014

    Hands [15 words or less]

    Photo: Laura Purdie Salas Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)! Our drum corps, Minnesota Brass, rehearsed at a middle school over the weekend, and this interesting sculpture was hanging in the corner. It makes me think of: 1)?a dandelion 2)?Freddy Krueger (there’s a ...

  • Fungus [15 words or less]

    July 24, 2014

    Fungus [15 words or less]

    Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)! Here’s a picture I took during my nature-poetry-writing workshop in Bemidji, MN, earlier this summer.?This image makes me think of: 1)?cauliflower 2)?Alice in Wonderland 3) s’mores! And here’s my?first draft: When I Eat S’mores, I Taste…? smoky ghost stories, crisp Superior ...

  • Metal Woman [15 words or less]

    July 17, 2014

    Metal Woman [15 words or less]

    Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)! Here’s a forgotten photo I found on my phone . This is a sculpture in an art gallery in one of the skyways in downtown Minneapolis.?This image makes me think of: 1)?the Jetsons 2)?how would you ...

  • Hoofing It [15 words or less]

    July 10, 2014

    Hoofing It [15 words or less]

    Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)! Happy Thursday, and if you’re visiting as a result of Mary Lee Hahn’s kind shoutout at nErDcamp MI, welcome! We love having new people drop by and give this a try–or use it with ...

  • Hallway Beacon [15 words or less]

    July 3, 2014

    Hallway Beacon [15 words or less]

    Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)! Surprising nature images are my favorite poetry prompt, but?everyday stuff works, too! Here’s?our upstairs hall light.?The image makes me think of: 1)?an invisible creature watching (one eye is the light; the other eye is the ...

  • Tree Eyes [15 words or less]

    June 26, 2014

    Tree Eyes [15 words or less]

    Today is the second and last day you can download Getting Published: How to Access Editors for free! This Kindle ebook is by Lisa Bullard and me, and it’s part of our Children’s Writer Insider Guide series. It covers a couple of basic tips as ...

  • Lichen [15 words or less]

    June 19, 2014

    Lichen [15 words or less]

    Photo: Laura Salas Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)! I had such a great time at the Bemidji Library Book Festival! I led a two-hour nature-poetry writing workshop and did a storytime presentation. At the nature-poetry session, we took yarn circles ...

  • Turtle [15 words or less]

    June 12, 2014

    Turtle [15 words or less]

    Photo: Laura Salas Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)! Look at what Patty,?my sister visiting from Fla., spotted as we walked Captain Jack (who totally ignored it). Here’s what this turtle makes me think of: 1)?moving boxes (which they don’t have to ...

  • Grassy [15 words or less]

    June 5, 2014

    Grassy [15 words or less]

    Photo: Laura Salas Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)! I took this picture at drum corps rehearsal last week. The little medians inside a parking lot had this tall grass that made it look like a miniature meadow! 1)?ocean waves (of course) 2)?tiny ...

  • Prickly [15 words or less]

    May 29, 2014

    Prickly [15 words or less]

    Photo: Laura Salas Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)! Here are some Velcro?balls we’re throwing at targets all this week at a Young Authors Conference. I’m sharing the poetry activity here next week, so if you’re curious, stay tuned. Meanwhile, here ...

  • Can Top [15 words or less]

    May 22, 2014

    Can Top [15 words or less]

    Photo: Laura Salas Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)! I just realized I still had this?pic from Vegas. It is just a little thingamajig that was on the floor of the High Roller observation wheel we rode in. I was intrigued ...

  • Tree [15 words or less]

    May 15, 2014

    Tree [15 words or less]

    Photo: Laura Salas Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)! One last pic from Vegas! Here are?3 things this photo makes me think of: 1)?the evil trees in various tales, like Wizard of Oz 2)?bonsai trees 3) blown glass–I love individual pieces, but when I ...

  • Globes [15 words or less]

    May 8, 2014

    Globes [15 words or less]

    Photo: Laura Salas Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)! Here’s another pic from my trip to Las Vegas recently. Here are?3 things this photo makes me think of: 1)?SCUBA diving and the bubbles that float up 2)?blowing bubbles at a wedding 3) tiny fish ...

  • Courage [15 words or less]

    May 1, 2014

    Courage [15 words or less]

    ? Photo: Laura Salas National Poetry Month is over, and I had so much fun with riddle-ku! Thank you for all of you who stopped by to read, comment, or share these poems with kids. I really appreciate it! Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or ...

  • Riddle-Ku! [drift down]

    April 10, 2014

    Riddle-Ku! [drift down]

      Riddle-Ku of the Day Alone, I drift down With friends, I lift, high and swift I make robins fly  –Laura Purdie Salas, all rights reserved ? HINT 1:   HINT 2:     .aLL Photos by Laura Purdie Salas TITLE (AND ANSWER): FEATHER   [Educators, please click here to see a roundup of the entire month’s riddle-ku and also to get ...

  • Riddle-Ku! [merry-go-round]

    April 3, 2014

    Riddle-Ku! [merry-go-round]

      Riddle-Ku of the Day This merry-go-round spins upside down: I’m singing the room full of breeze ? –Laura Purdie Salas, all rights reserved ? HINT 1:   HINT 2:     . TITLE (AND ANSWER): CEILING FAN   [Educators, please click here to see a roundup of the entire month’s riddle-ku and also to get suggestions for using these riddle-ku with ...

  • Ribs [15 words or less]

    March 27, 2014

    Ribs [15 words or less]

    ? Photo: Laura Salas Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)! I’ve been taking pictures lately for my National Poetry Month Riddle-ku feature, and here’s one of my rejects!?Here are?3 things this photo makes me think of: 1) a tree in winter 2) an x-ray ...

  • Slow Jets [15 words or less]

    March 20, 2014

    Slow Jets [15 words or less]

    Photo: Laura Salas Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)! For Christmas, we gave our nephew a glow in the dark ant farm, and the ants finally arrived last month during a “warm spell” (aka above freezing). Nifty!?Here are?3 things this photo ...

  • Behind the Glass [15 words or less]

    March 13, 2014

    Behind the Glass [15 words or less]

    Photo: Laura Salas Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)! On our plane ride home from Florida Sunday, I was behind this girl wearing her doll in a backpack. I was half amazed and half horrified. How cool! How creepy!?Here are?3 things ...

  • Cock-a-Doodle-Doo [15 words or less]

    March 6, 2014

    Cock-a-Doodle-Doo [15 words or less]

    Photo: Laura Salas Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)! When Randy and I went up to the North Shore (of Lake Superior, in Minnesota) last month, this is one of the oversized side-of-the-road things we saw. There was also a Voyageur ...

  • Ghostly [15 words or less]

    February 27, 2014

    Ghostly [15 words or less]

    Photo: Laura Salas Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)! This was?a cool scene during a color guard winter show recently.?Here are?3 things this photo makes me think of: 1)? The Boy in the Plastic Bubble (anyone remember that old movie?) 2)? a butterfly?eager ...

  • Lobster [15 words or less]

    February 20, 2014

    Lobster [15 words or less]

    Photo: Laura Salas Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)! This was part of some wall art at The Smack Shack in Minneapolis, made, according to the server, by making molds of real lobsters. Ick.?Here are?3 things this photo makes me think ...

  • Snow Cloud [15 words or less]

    February 13, 2014

    Snow Cloud [15 words or less]

    Photo: Randy Salas Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)! I took this picture a few days ago on the North Shore of Lake Superior. I was gathering lots?of images of water in various forms to use in materials related to my ...

  • Mirror [15 words or less]

    February 6, 2014

    Mirror [15 words or less]

    Photo: Laura Salas Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)! I took this pic downtown (Minneapolis) because I liked the way the mirrors made it look like there were bowls holding these decorative balls, when there were really only half-bowls. Here are?3 ...

  • Tracks [15 words or less]

    January 30, 2014

    Tracks [15 words or less]

    Photo: Laura Salas Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)! I took this pic while walking Captain Jack Sparrow by the lake. I love these tracks leading off into the distance.?Here are?3 things this photo makes me think of: 1)?tightrope walker 2)?the Yellow Brick ...

  • Look Up! [15 words or less]

    January 23, 2014

    Look Up! [15 words or less]

      Photo: Laura Salas Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)! I took this pic inside the Luxor hotel?in Vegas last year. When I’m looking for interesting pictures, I often look up. We tend to ignore what’s overhead most of the time. At ...

  • Rope [15 words or less]

    January 16, 2014

    Rope [15 words or less]

    Photo: Laura Salas Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)! This is a closeup pic, and?here are 3 things this photo makes me think of: 1)?Shampoo commercial 2)?Rope swing 3) Hangman’s noose And here’s my first draft. I had fun ...

  • Bridge [15 words or less]

    January 9, 2014

    Bridge [15 words or less]

      Photo: Laura Salas Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)! Hi, everyone–sorry if you got an incorrect email of this post yesterday (and it was probably still last week’s post, anyway). I’m switching over servers, and it’s a big honking mess! Anyway. ...

  • The View [15 words or less]

    January 2, 2014

    The View [15 words or less]

    ?? ? Photo: Laura Salas Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines are here)! Happy New Year! I mentioned earlier this week that I’ll be making some pretty major changes to the blog this year, but 15 Words or Less will not be going anywhere:>) I ...

  • Tree Neighbor [15 words or less]

    December 26, 2013

    Tree Neighbor [15 words or less]

    ?? Photo: Laura Salas Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines are here)! I hope you all had a fabulous Christmas yesterday if you are a Christmas celebrator! I did, and I totally forgot about today’s post. Oops! Sorry. Anyway, belatedly, here we go. Last ...

  • Starlight [15 words or less]

    December 19, 2013

    Starlight [15 words or less]

    ?? ?Photo: Laura Salas Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines are here)! I hope you saw my online card earlier this week–I consider this 15 Words or Less community one of my very favorite things about my online life! Here are 3 things ...

  • No bull! [15 words or less]

    December 12, 2013

    No bull! [15 words or less]

    ?? ?Photo: Laura Salas Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines are here)! I had a looooong wait in the Boston airport as I was leaving NCTE last month, so I hung out with this handsome bull (Brahmin bull?) for a while.?Here are 3 ...

  • Man or Machine? [15 words or less]

    December 5, 2013

    Man or Machine? [15 words or less]

    ?? ?Photo: Laura Salas Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here). Snow is falling hard and fast right now, so maybe by next week, I’ll have a gorgeous snowy image. But for today, it’s a picture from my physical therapy place! 3 things this ...

  • Thanksgiving [15 words or less]

    November 28, 2013

    Thanksgiving [15 words or less]

    ?? ?Photo: Laura Salas Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines are here)! Happy Thanksgiving! Well, I was trying to figure out what picture to post on Thanksgiving. I wanted it to be something I’m thankful for, but didn’t think you guys would be ...

  • [15 words or less] Elmo in Trouble

    November 21, 2013

    [15 words or less] Elmo in Trouble

    ??                                             Photo: Laura Salas Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines are here)! Three things this photo makes me think of: Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade Elmo escaping Sesame Street A kid in time-out having to watch a fun class party go on without him And here’s my first ...

  • [15 words or less] Shadeless

    November 14, 2013

    [15 words or less] Shadeless

    ?? ?Photo: Laura Salas Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines are here)! I missed you guys! Glad to be back this week! Three things this photo makes me think of: 1) Rockets2) Umbrellas3) Post-hurricane destruction And here’s my first draft! Waterproof? Yes. Windproof? No. Umbrella is batteredUmbrella ...

  • [15 words or less] Submerged

    November 7, 2013

    [15 words or less] Submerged

    ??                               Photo: Laura Salas Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines are here)! Three things this photo makes me think of: 1) Medusa2) Mermaid castle3) Duck feet And here’s my first draft! Floor Plans Beaver architectpulls soggy floor plansfrom fur coveralls,gnaws thoughtfullyon a pine pencil –Laura Purdie Salas, all ...

  • [15 words or less] Giselle

    October 31, 2013

    [15 words or less] Giselle

    ??                                   Photo: Randy Salas Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines are here)! Happy Halloween! Part of my birthday present from Randy was going to see the ballet Giselle. I’ve never seen anything but The Nutcracker (yawn). This was so cool! And, this photo ...

  • [15 words or less] Bacteria?

    October 24, 2013

    [15 words or less] Bacteria?

    ?? 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) Bacteria in a petri dish2) Fishing nets full of jellyfish3) Pods. Pods with monsters in them And here’s my first draft! Fishing Net Strainer of the ...

  • [15 words or less] Funnel

    October 17, 2013

    [15 words or less] Funnel

    ? ??     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) The Wizard of Oz2) Calla lilies3) Doing India ink calligraphy with my big sister And here’s my first draft! Weekend Visit Home from College?She brought ...

  • [15 words or less] Mermaid

    October 10, 2013

    [15 words or less] Mermaid

    ? ?? 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) Mermaid family reunion2) Sculptor who wants his statue to live3) Giant who skips boulders across a lake And here’s my first draft! On the Way ...

  • [15 words or less] Towel Dog

    October 3, 2013

    [15 words or less] Towel Dog

    ?     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) Cruise2) Pet rocks3) Traction And here’s my first draft! What My Pet Rock Can’t DoMom: Bark. Pee. Bite.Me: Wag. Beg. Love.–Laura Purdie Salas, all rights ...

  • [15 words or less] Scissors

    September 26, 2013

    [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 ...

  • [15 words or less] Book Plate and PoetryMinute.org

    September 19, 2013

    [15 words or less] Book Plate and PoetryMinute.org

    ?   Photo: Laura Purdie Salas I’m so excited! Have you heard about PoetryMinute.org, the daily children’s poetry site started by U.S. Poet Laureate Kenn Nesbitt? Every day, a poem for kids is posted–kind of like Poetry 180 for a younger crowd! And today, starting at 7 a.m. ...

  • [15 words or less] Face

    September 12, 2013

    [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 ...

  • [15 words or less] Stubble

    September 5, 2013

    [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 ...

  • [15 words or less poems] Lifeboats

    August 8, 2013

    [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 ...

  • [15 words or less poems] To the Sky Light

    August 1, 2013

    [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 ...

  • [15 words or less poems] Foamy

    July 25, 2013

    [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 ...

  • [15 words or less poems] Wispy

    July 18, 2013

    [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 ...

  • [15 words or less poems] Spidey?

    July 11, 2013

    [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 ...

  • [15 words or less poems] Blue Mood

    July 4, 2013

    [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 ...

  • [15 words or less poems] Swan

    June 20, 2013

    [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 ...

  • [15 words or less poems] Hay there!

    June 13, 2013

    [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 ...

  • [15 words or less poems] Eeek!

    June 6, 2013

    [15 words or less poems] Eeek!

    Photo: Laura Purdie Salas Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)! Oh, my funny brother-in-law and sister-in-law. When we went to their house for games shortly after Easter, they stashed this Easter decoration in the tub so that I almost had a ...

  • [15 words or less poems] Hard-Headed

    May 30, 2013

    [15 words or less poems] Hard-Headed

    Photo: Laura Purdie Salas Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)! I love this sculpture?inside a building in downtown Minneapolis. I don’t usually like art of people, but abstractions like this are fun. It makes me think of: 1) Decorated skulls and bones ...

  • [15 words or less poems] Juliet?

    May 23, 2013

    [15 words or less poems] Juliet?

    Photo: Laura Purdie Salas Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)! Last week’s photo: That was a set of plastic Easter eggs, opened, and placed on top of my open laptop. We recently went to a Gordon Lightfoot concert at the State ...

  • [15 words or less poems] Who Knows?

    May 16, 2013

    [15 words or less poems] Who Knows?

    Photo: Laura Purdie Salas Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)! I think you’ll know right away what this is, but I’m not going to say in case anyone doesn’t know. It’s fun to write poems inspired by an ambiguous image! Here’s ...

  • [15 words or less poems] Is That a #2 Pencil?

    May 9, 2013

    [15 words or less poems] Is That a #2 Pencil?

    Photo: Laura Purdie Salas Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)! I took this pic at a winterguard show (the activity color guards’do over the winter, performing with flags, rifles, sabers, and other props) a few weeks ago.?Here’s what it makes me ...

  • [psvid] “Kisses” (Robert Weinstock)

    April 11, 2013

    [psvid] "Kisses" (Robert Weinstock)

    For all you 15 Words or Less folks, your mission is to?watch the Poem Starter Video and take on its challenge in 15 Words or Less (but you only have to include your sound effect at least two times).? Happy National Poetry Month! Thanks for dropping ...

  • [psvid] “Moonlit Raccoon” (Deborah Ruddell)

    April 4, 2013

    [psvid] "Moonlit Raccoon" (Deborah Ruddell)

    For all you 15 Words or Less folks, you have two choices: Watch the Poem Starter Video and take on its challenge in 15 Words or Less, or write a totally different poem with the title “Moonlit Raccoon,” also in 15 Words or Less. You ...

  • [15 words or less poems] The Mystery of the Sphinx

    March 28, 2013

    [15 words or less poems]  The Mystery of the Sphinx

      Photo: Laura Purdie Salas Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)! Here’s a shot from outside The Luxor in Las Vegas, from my NCTE trip. This sphinx makes me think of: 1) Riddles, of course! 2) Having a root canal (something about that ...

  • [15 words or less poems] Gnarled

    March 21, 2013

    [15 words or less poems]  Gnarled

    It’s March Madness Poetry time and the Sweet Sixteen poem matchups should be live soon. Visit, read, and vote:>)? Photo: Laura Purdie Salas Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)! I took this picture of a quirky-looking fruit, though I can’t remember where ...

  • [15 words or less poems] Where Would You Like This Camel Delivered?

    March 14, 2013

    [15 words or less poems]  Where Would You Like This Camel Delivered?

    It’s March Madness Poetry time! Voting is now live on Round 1 Poems. My matchup is here–my pufferfish goes up against Walt Disney. I hope you’ll go check both poems out and vote for your favorite…and then browse through all the other match-ups, too! Photo: Screen ...

  • [15 words or less poems] Giant Snowman

    March 7, 2013

    [15 words or less poems] Giant Snowman

    Photo: Laura Purdie Salas Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)! Here’s a ginormous snowman I saw on my way home from a school visit a few weeks ago. It was huge–10-15 feet tall!?It makes me think of: 1)?What would a snowman carry ...

  • [15 words or less poems] Petal

    February 28, 2013

    [15 words or less poems] Petal

    Poetry Lovers, I need your help with two things! I’m looking for a children’s poem about perseverance, and I need it by the end of today. Ack! It doesn’t need to actually be about it, but it has to demonstrate it. I have to read ...

  • [15 words or less poems] Tickets!

    February 21, 2013

    [15 words or less poems] Tickets!

    Photo: Laura Purdie Salas Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)! Aren’t tickets fun? They mean something is going to happen!?Here’s what this image?makes me think of: 1)?Magic show 2)?Bag filled with memories 3) The old tickets Disney World had when I was growing up ...

  • [15 Words or Less Poems] Sparkle & Cybils!

    February 14, 2013

    [15 Words or Less Poems] Sparkle & Cybils!

    Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh. BookSpeak has been given the Cybils award for Poetry! I am so honored that my peeps–poetry book-lovers of the kidlitosphere–chose BookSpeak for this, especially when all the?Finalists are such fantastic collections/ anthologies that I love. (And I’m super thrilled that Wonder, which I just ...

  • [15 Words or Less Poems] Seedhead

    February 7, 2013

    [15 Words or Less Poems] Seedhead

    Photo: Laura Purdie Salas Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)! Here’s a seedhead from fall. I love how odd and prickly they look!?Here’s what this image?makes me think of: 1)?Brillo pad 2) Spiderweb 3) Hair going grey And here’s my poem first draft: Cinderella’s Beauty? Cracked skin red, ...

  • [15 Words or Less Poems] Glass Ceiling

    January 31, 2013

    [15 Words or Less Poems] Glass Ceiling

    Photo: Laura Purdie Salas Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)! Here’s the atrium ceiling from the cruise ship we were on in late December. I love glass ceilings! Here are a few things this one makes me think of. 1)?The carapace of ...

  • [15 Words or Less Poems] Roots

    January 24, 2013

    [15 Words or Less Poems] Roots

    Photo: Laura Purdie Salas Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)! Here are the roots of a cool tree in the Bahamas–I think this was at a beach in Freeport. Here’s what this image?makes me think of: 1)?Knotted shoelaces 2) Mermaid hair 3) Medusa And here’s ...

  • [15 Words or Less Poems] Glasses

    January 17, 2013

    [15 Words or Less Poems] Glasses

    Photo: Laura Purdie Salas Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)! Here’s what this image?makes me think of: 1)?Glasses of juice 2) Sunset 3) Tropical Lifesavers And here’s my poem first draft: Sunrise She squeezed Sun, caught each drop in morning’s clear glass… served the Eastern sky. –Laura Purdie Salas, all rights ...

  • [15 Words or Less Poems] Sea Serpent

    January 10, 2013

    [15 Words or Less Poems] Sea Serpent

    Just updated my What’s New page for January. If you’re interested in what I’m excited about and what I’m not excited about in my writing life this month, feel free to drop by! And share what’s on your excited/not excited list in your comment:>) Photo: Laura ...

  • [15 Words or Less Poems] Lion

    January 3, 2013

    [15 Words or Less Poems] Lion

    Photo: Laura Purdie Salas Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)! The lion in the MGM lobby at NCTE in Vegas was in a boxing ring to promote some upcoming big boxing match. It was an arresting image, this gold lion in ...

  • [15 Words or Less Poems] Webs

    October 11, 2012

    [15 Words or Less Poems] Webs

    Photo: Laura Purdie Salas Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)! This week’s image makes me think of: 1)?Scuba diving 2) Bat wings 3) Wading in Lake Superior and feeling the sharp rocks right through my water shoes And here’s my poem first draft: My Feet need gentle ...

  • 15 Words or Less and Poem-a-Day: #19

    April 19, 2012

    15 Words or Less and Poem-a-Day: #19

    Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)! Photo by Paolo Costa Baldi. License: GFDL/CC-BY-SA 3.0 I love this panoramic view of the Colosseum. It makes me think of: 1.?Gladiators, of course 2. Lions 3. The lens of a microscope Here’s my poem first draft, in haiku ...

  • 15 Words or Less and Poem-a-Day: #5

    April 5, 2012

    15 Words or Less and Poem-a-Day: #5

    I interrupt this regularly scheduled 15 Words or Less post to direct you to David Harrison’s blog, where he is featuring BookSpeak today–thank you, David! Wake up your poetry brains with 15 Words or Less (guidelines here)! Sorry for the delay, you earlybirds–computer issues this morning! Photo: Dietrich ...

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MARCH NEWS

ZAP! CLAP! BOOM! is out, and FINDING FAMILY and PUDDLE SONG are hot on its heels. I'm celebrating all 3 with a storytime book launch party at Red Balloon on April 1st. No fooling! Hope you can come (with or without kids).

Join me on April 1st? Click image for details!

I'm also presenting at a Young Authors Conference, marketing all 3 new books, and doing several virtual field trips for students. Happy almost-spring!

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