We have a daughter in the hospital right now after two surgeries for a foot wound. Life is crazy, and this might be my only post this month. When everything went down a couple of weeks ago, I abandoned the inklings of National Poetry Month plans that I had. I just don’t have it in me.

Since my forthcoming fall picture book is a poetry collection, though, I did want to tell you it’s up for pre-order. If you’re interested in the topics of helpers, disability awareness, inclusion, and poetry, I’d be grateful if you spread the word. Pre-orders prod publishers to get behind a book, which is super helpful. Here’s a not-quite final cover. Julia Patton’s art for the book is fabulous!

Warning, this post mentions suicide and bullying.

Last week, I posted an ovillejo and talked about its evolution from a poem I’d been noodling with. After that post, I went back to my initial noodling draft and worked on it some more. Here’s the latest draft of that poem. Feel free to go back to last week’s post if you want to know what sparked this poem.

And for lots of wonderful poetry, don’t miss the Poetry Friday Roundup with author-poet-anthologist Matt Forrest Esenwine, who is funny, friendly, and fantastic.

The post If You Knew (a poem about cyberbullying or maybe just bullying) appeared first on Laura Purdie Salas.

Happy Poetry Friday! Welcome, everyone! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)

Two things before moving onto poetry:

1: I’ve been having a lot of trouble commenting on posts lately. Mary Lee and Tanita gave me some tips on Inlinkz work arounds, so if the Roundup this week is through Inlinkz, I might better be able to comment. I’ve been reading at least 10 or 12 posts the past couple of weeks, but I ‘ve only been able to comment on maybe two. So frustrating!

2: Book banning. Ugh. Here’s a bit of my Facebook/IG post: “Just learned from my friend author Jyoti Gopal that We Belong is one of the books being targeted by Rutherford County Library in Tennessee…My We Belong is flagged for showing “diverse children in urban setting.” Damn straight. Editors Carol Hinz and Shaina Olmanson, illustrator Carlos Velez Aguilera, the entire Lerner team, and I worked very hard to make this a book that includes and celebrates all people. To Luanne James and all librarians fighting for kids to have access to books that reflect their lives–thank you! Keep up the fight” Here’s a link to the newspaper article.

Now, poetry!

1. Irene Latham’s leading a poetry webinar through Inked Voices!

2. David L. Harrison and Tim Rasinski talked about 40 Poems for 40 Weeks on the Robb Review!

Warning, this post mentions suicide and bullying. 

At the start of this year’s American Idol season, one auditioner sang a song inspired by the terrible story of a young girl who died by suicide after being relentlessly bullied. It’s a story we’ve seen played out across the United States a number of times in recent years, and it’s utterly horrific.

I couldn’t get this story out of my mind, and it made me wonder about these young, modern bullies who attack someone through not just the usual whispers and rumors and lies but the online posts and texts. I wonder if they have any realization in their heads when they’re writing those comments or clicking Like that they’re actually attacking someone. That their words have power. That hurting someone else shouldn’t be the thing that makes them feel better about themselves. 

I’ve been noodling around with this topic for weeks, calling it my “did you know” poem.

And then along came the ovillejo, a poetry form that Tanita chose for our March Poetry Sisters poem. It’s a pretty strict form, with three couplets and then a quatrain. The first line of the couplets and all of the lines in the quatrain are eight syllables. The second lines of the couplets are three or four syllables. Ideally, the second lines are supposed to either echo or answer the first lines. I didn’t adhere to that part; each of my couplets is a thought. 

And then there’s the rhyme scheme. 

a
a

b
b

c
c

c
d
d
c

Even though I love to write in poetic forms, I’m just still feeling a bit overwhelmed with life. I looked at this form and just thought, huh. So then I thought about my did you know poem I had been noodling with, and I wondered if I could pour a bit of that into this form and make it work. 

Writing process note for those interested: Looking back at my notes draft of that earlier noodling, I wrote:

So these lines are calling out to me:

Are you a person with a heart
or just a skin of bloody thorns?

To use those as the ending lines, I’d need rhyming pairs for skin, bloody, and thorns.

And then I brainstormed rhyming words, and I reverse engineered a draft.

Not really :>) Putting some of my lines and thoughts into this container definitely shifted the meaning of the poem. It started as something that included both personal and political bullying. But it turned into a poem about wider evil, about those who just really don’t care about other human beings. I didn’t want to name specific people, because I think it’s a question we can ask many people. But I do think it’s especially timely to be posting this right before the big No Kings marches this weekend! 

So, here you go. This is my second draft. And I’ll be back to noodling with my initial more specific topic too…

For lots of great poetry this weekend, check out the Poetry Friday Roundup, hosted by Marcie Flinchum Atkins, who’s celebrating twilight in honor of her almost-here picture book, When Twilight Comes. And don’t miss the ovillejos by my poetry sisters and maybe some others in our Poetry Friday community. 

Liz
Sara
Tanita
Tricia
Mary Lee

Click here to see all our previous Poetry Princesses collaborations.

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The post Did You Know? An Ovillejo appeared first on Laura Purdie Salas.

A couple of weeks ago, Randy and I spent a week at Walt Disney World. We both grew up in Orlando, so WDW has always kind of been a part of our lives. This was our first visit in I think more than 15 years, though. We visited all four parks, rode tons of rides, saw boatloads of shows, and escaped into unreality :>) Geez, I swore I’d just pick 2–3 pictures. Stopping here, even though I could share 200 fun moments!

In the Magic Kingdom, the Haunted Mansion is one of the rides that I remember going on from a super young age. It starts out in a room with artwork high on the walls. And then the room shifts, and you see the rest of the art–which all has a horrible twist. Because of my own phobia of alligators/crocodiles, this portrait is the one that mesmerizes me.

A few years ago, at NCTE, I was working on several poems, and I started one inspired by this portrait. I was thinking about how people assume they know someone’s life just by virtue of how someone dresses or looks or what kind of mood/personality they project. At the Magic Kingdom, we of course rode the Haunted Mansion ride, and I dug out that old draft.

Also in my head during the revision was Brandi Carlile’s song, “The Story.” I love that song so much, and we got to see her perform it live when we attended her recent Minneapolis concert (which raised $600,000+ for The Advocates for Human Rights). 

And all of our friends who think that I’m blessed
They don’t know my head is a mess

Isn’t that the truth for most of us?

Anyway, I spent a bit of time on a revision, and here’s draft 2 for you.

Okay, that’s it for this week. For lots of wonderful poetry, don’t miss the Poetry Friday Roundup , hosted by the funny, fabulous middle grade author, Tanita Davis!

The post The Roiling appeared first on Laura Purdie Salas.

A couple of weeks ago, Sara from Walla Walla, Washington, reached out to me. She teaches an adult drumming class, and she and her students had worked on a piece adding percussion sounds to my poem, “Voice of Winter.” She was asking permission to share it on YouTube so that drummers could share it with family, etc. What fun!

It’s delightful! SO much fun to hear people interact with my poem (scroll down to the bottom of that post to see the poem on its own), add their own talents, and make something new. What a gift to me <3 Here’s the video–enjoy (and maybe even leave a comment to encourage this kind of lovely collaboration).

Thanks for dropping by. Whether you’re a regular participant in the Poetry Friday world, or you ended up here from a search or a link, please know that we’re a welcoming community! Read, comment, think, share, and enjoy! And for more wonderful poetry, don’t miss the Poetry Friday Roundup with Denver’s one and only Linda Baie.

The post The Voice of Winter, a Percussion Celebration appeared first on Laura Purdie Salas.

Happy Poetry Friday! Welcome, everyone! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)

Y’all, thank you so much for all your kind words and wishes this past month. I can’t tell you what they’ve meant as I’ve dipped into comments when feeling overwhelmed and had a lovely few minutes of respite each time.

I didn’t meet up with my Poetry Sisters last week, but at least I’m posting a poem in the right Poetry Friday–unlike last month. Yep, I’m gonna call that progress.

Our challenge this month was to write a poem in response to a poem by U.S. Poet Laureate Arthur Sze. I’m embarrassingly ignorant of him and his work. After reading a few poems, it’s clear I need to read more. Maybe soon.

I chose his poem “At the Equinox.” Its vivid, natural imagery combined with emotion drew me right in. I especially love this bit:

“Looping out into the world, we thread

                and return.”

Yes. Looping out and back, out and back. It could refer to simply getting out the front door into your neighborhood or to taking grand travels or to immersing yourself in perhaps a different layer of the world than the one you live in. I went with travels, and it was so difficult choosing just a few tiny moments from the amazing places I’ve been lucky to visit. This is my first draft.

Meanwhile, here’s what the rest of the Poetry Sisters got up to.

Liz

Sara

Tanita

Tricia

Mary Lee

Click here to see most of our previous Poetry Princesses collaborations.  

Our Poetry Friday host is the creative bayou poet Margaret Simon. Thanks for wrangling us in the Roundup , Margaret!
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The post And What Have I Strung?, a Response Poem appeared first on Laura Purdie Salas.

This week, I’m sharing my third and final tricube from last month. Here’s tricube 1 and tricube 2, if you’re interested. And below is that set of first drafts that I jumbled around to create new poems. 

Having grown up in Florida, and with all my family still there, plus extended family in Georgia and Texas, I always watch hurricane news with a sense of skepticism, dread, and awe. And there’s always that sense of relief when the forecasts are wrong and the storms pass by. And hurricanes are a good metaphor for all the other things in life that don’t follow the path we thought they would…This poem ended up going in a kind of lighthearted direction in that third stanza, and it didn’t really end up resonating that much for me. Maybe I’ll go back to it…but probably not.

The creative Susan Thomsen (I have so many of her posts bookmarked with notes to “Try this!”) has the Poetry Friday Roundup this week.

The post A Different Drum, a Tricube appeared first on Laura Purdie Salas.

I’m so far behind still, but I’m at least tossing out my second tricube. Here again is that set of first drafts that I ended up mixing up lines between the poems to create new poems.

And in honor of my wedding anniversary last week and Valentine’s Day this week, I’m sharing this tricube. So much lately has been about the sudden, deep realization of the need to say things. Out loud. With passion. So this little oddity came forth :>D And with this in mind, I want to say how much I love you, my wonderful Poetry Friday community. <3

The wonderful artist Robyn Hood Black has the Poetry Friday Roundup this week.

The post The Unsaid Thing, a Tricube appeared first on Laura Purdie Salas.

I didn’t share my 2026 word here, but it’s PROTECT. Protect my community and family, and also protect my own mental health. Finding the balance between speaking out and helping and also continuing to live my own life is tricky! We were at the site of Alex Pretti’s killing on Wednesday, and it was devastating. Also, Friday is Randy and my 38th wedding anniversary, which makes me so happy. That dichotomy…goodness.

Anyway, though I didn’t post last Friday (protesting at the Whipple ICE Detention Center with my daughter that morning), I did meet up with my Poetry Sisters in late January for a live write. It was so lovely, and I wrote three tricube drafts. My goal is to share one today and one each for the next two weeks. 

Someone in the group mentioned how they had written several tricubes and then moved lines around from one poem to another, mixing them up. Since every line is three syllables, you can do that! That sounded like so much fun! Here were my three quick first drafts:

AnAnd here’s one tricube. I love those videos I’ve seen of Emperor penguins shooting out of the sea onto shore!

I’ll be very honest and say I probably won’t be visiting many other blogs this month. That makes me feel guilty for posting. But I’m hoping that guilt will nudge me to get to at least 3 posts weekly. Stay safe, everyone. Protect, create, and appreciate!

Lovely Molly at Nix the Comfort Zone (am I ever!) has the Poetry Friday Roundup this week.

The post Launching from Waves, a Tricube appeared first on Laura Purdie Salas.

Happy Poetry Friday! Welcome, everyone! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)

Well, friends, I feel like 2025 is kind of limping to a close here. Covid and various bugs have been spreading around my family the past couple of weeks, and I’m exhausted.

We’re supposed to have our Christmas Eve celebration Saturday night (postponed due to Covid, etc.), and I’m putting this post together Tuesday afternoon, the 23rd, while I’m upright and able! Meanwhile, I’m hoping both you and I enjoyed some wonderful holiday celebrations between today and when this post goes live.

I didn’t make it to the Poetry Sisters Zoom live writing time, but I did throw down a first draft on Tuesday. Our assignment this month was any poem on the them of peace, light, or hope. Here’s what I’ve got. I often think that the price of light and hope is the darkness we go through. Does either one mean anything without its opposite? Of course, that doesn’t stop me from wishing for more light and less darkness for all of us in 2026!

Meanwhile, here’s what the rest of the Poetry Sisters got up to.

Liz

Sara

Tanita

Tricia

Mary Lee

Click here to see all our previous Poetry Princesses collaborations. I need to update this, and I hope to feel more involved in 2026. 2025 has thrown me for a loop.

Our Poetry Friday host is the smart and thoughtful Tricia Stohr-Hunt, maker, educator, and poet! She’s got the Roundup for us, and I’m excited to see what light everyone brings to the party.
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The post The Price of Light appeared first on Laura Purdie Salas.

Howdy, friends. Well, I’ve barely recovered from NCTE 2025, haha, and it’s time to think about NCTE 2026! I just wanted to throw out the idea that I’d love to be on a poetry proposal or two for next year. I have a picture book poetry collection coming out from Astra/Wordsong next summer: Meet the Mighty Helpers! If you’re putting together a proposal around poetry, writing process, or disabilities, I’d love to hear from you!

And for some great poetry, don’t miss the Poetry Friday Roundup with the one and only Linda Mitchell!

The post Poetry Proposal for NCTE 2026? appeared first on Laura Purdie Salas.