Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.) I’m late getting this together, but I have three big things to share!
1) Thank you! A huge thank you to all of you who sent both donations and good wishes to my friends Steve and Vicki Palmquist last week. I am so grateful for your generosity–truly. And thanks for all the lovely birthday wishes, too :>)
2) Save the date for a virtual book launch! On 
Wednesday, Nov. 3, at 7pm Central Time, illustrator Angela Matteson and I will be joining Red Balloon Bookshop for a launch party for If You Want to Knit Some Mittens. And there will be drawings for two prizes. I hope you’ll come! More details and a registration link soon!
3) I just got my copy of 10.10, edited and compiled by Poetry Friday’s own Bridget Magee. I’m so excited to read everyone’s poems! I’m always grateful for anthology invitations, as they spur me on to write poems I wouldn’t otherwise have written. I had a blast playing around with ten in this poem.
Don’t miss the Poetry Friday Roundup with Jama Rattigan, whose beautiful posts always make me hungry!
27 Responses
What a clever poem! Kids will love discovering all the “tens” and those last two lines were perfect!
Great poem Laura! I also went with an animal theme this week. Congratulations on your new book and upcoming virtual launch party! I’m working on one of those myself and would appreciate any tips that you have on how to host a memorable experience for the attendees. Best of luck!
Ooh, well, I’m not the expert on that, since I literally put it off until the beginning of my book’s pub date. Yikes. For my first poetry collection, STAMPEDE!, I did an enormous daylong online launch party, which was okay and was a ridiculous amount of work. But I was too nervous for an in-person launch. I still find them intimidating. Doing a launch party with a bookshop that does virtual events already is a big plus. Adding a couple of prizes or giveaways makes it feel like more than just a reading or storytime. For me, having the illustrator there will make it feel like more of a party, too. Excited to celebrate her art! But in all honesty, it’s more of a typical event as far as format. I’m hoping that we just have a more relaxed, party-like vibe, since we’re calling it a party. I’m hoping people will be able to comment in the chat (on Zoom), but many events I’ve been at have that function turned off bc some racist idiots ruined it for everyone else. I need to check with Red Balloon, in fact, to ask whether Chat will be open to attendees.
Love the hidden tens in your poem (but I only found nine… unless the one in the title counts?)
There’s a “ten” in each line, but it’s not hidden in the one line–just the word “ten.” :>)
Oh, I hope I can come to your launch, Laura, am really looking forward to this new book, have pre-ordered it. Your ‘ten’ poem is so clever. And it is fun to get the “atTENtion”, though the kitTEN rarely realizes what happened. Have a nice weekend!
Hahaha–and thank you, Linda!
Laura, I loved finding all the “ten” mentions in your kitten poem. Who would have known? That was a clever idea, and the poem is unforced and true. I love “camouflaged in cuteness.”
Laura, send me the information on the Book Launch Party. I love your poem that you submitted for 10*10. I love the contrast of the kittens being cute and at other times combat artists which you carefully executed lines to support that thought.
I still have to get my copy of 10*10. It is so wonderful that so many of us PF were selected for the book. Congratulations.
It’s fabulous looking at the TOC–so many familiar names! It’s like a yearbook of the PF community. <3
I studied your poem in 10–10, Laura. It’s packed full of fun that readers will enjoy– both the imagery and the search for hidden “tens.” So fun!
Such a cute poem, Laura! And so many tens! I’ve been reading the poems in Bridget’s anthology also. So nice to see many familiar names and read such creative entries. Looking forward to your launch!
Love your poem, Laura. Such clever uses of “ten”! The reader has to look carefully for the not-so-obvious ones. Fantastic. 🙂
Thanks, Jama :>)
Laura, So fun to read your 10.10 poem. I don’t have my copy yet, but am looking forward to seeing everyone’s contributions. Like you, I never would have written the ones I submitted otherwise.
I love how you’ve woven so many tens into your poem. But I think the last line is my favorite:
camouflaged in cuteness
indeed!
Thanks, Marti–wow, you have three poems in there! I love the imagery in your Time to Leave poem, and your tension one is lovely. It goes beautifully with the Georgia Heard collection, My Thoughts Are Clouds. Hooray for writing prompts!
Laura, I agree about being invited to contribute to anthologies–it does stretch a writer to have a theme or a TEN to reach toward! I do regret not sending anything to Bridget for this, but I look forward to seeing everyone’s contributions. Good luck with your book launch!
Thanks, Heidi!
It’s not too surprising to find “ten” in “bitten” because you can hear it, but I love that there is a ten in “cuteness.” Great job with your puzzley poem 🙂 (Also, congrats on your book launch! Lastly, I donated to Steve as soon as you asked, anonymously. Wishing him lots of good health.)
The one in “cuteness” is my favorite, too! Thank you so much for donating, Tabatha. I so love the generosity of this community in so many ways…even when we’re all dealing with the extra demands in our own lives…heartfelt thanks.
Very clever putting “ten” in each line. I had no idea there were so many words hiding the word ten! I will be looking for more details about your book launch in November. Congratulations!
Thanks for the preview Laura… I look forward to my ordered copy slowly but surely wending its way to the land downunder. Clever work with ten, it must be said. Always love wordplay.
I love how you’ve embraced the challenge of ten in so many ways in the poem! What fun for readers to find them all. Best of luck with the launch party for the new book!
You captured the essence of a kitten perfectly in your poem (and especially that last stanza)! Our big orange 14 pounder hasn’t grown out of his kittenhood, making him all the more dangerous…but still cute (though he’d probably prefer HANDSOME).
I miss cats. Hugs to your HANDSOME big kitty :>D
So fun! I love your take on “ten” it’s different and fun and true all at the same time. My kitten is laying next to me, head on my left typing hand trying to get some atTENtion. Ha!
Hahaha!