Author of Three-Penny Memories: A Poetic Memoir (EIF-Experiments in Fiction, 2022). Pushcart Nominated Poet 2022. Editor MasticadoresUSA.
Nolcha Fox and I have another poetry collaboration up on Hotel! Thank you, Michelle Ayon Navajas, for appreciating our goofy creations! Here is the opening verse, written by Nolcha. Mine are in italics. I’m no poetry groupieeven though I loveto meet online withfellow poets, lovecollaborations.Words flow bestwhen I’m alone.Images turn intopoems whenthis old lonerbasks in... Continue Reading →
My husband, Dierik, took this video of butterflies on Mud Island, a large sandbar that he named on the Missouri River. A couple of years ago, when the water receded after a flood, new life emerged. Flowering plants, bees, monarch butterflies, and moths. Some flowers reminded him of Dr. Seuss stories and smelled of lavender.... Continue Reading →
Photo by Eric Sanman on Pexels.com My gratitude to Editor Abhilash Fraizer for publishing “Hiking with Haikus” by Nolcha Fox and me. There are five Haikus, but the spacing between them is missing. Here is part of the poem. Nolcha wrote the first Haiku, I did the second one, and we alternated verses. Hiking with... Continue Reading →
I’m hiding in a meadow of wildflowers on a hike in the Rockies back in the day. Those of you who suffer from osteoarthritis know about joint failures and replacements. Surgeons want you to wait until your screams bleed because new joints have a shelf life. Taking a step is like trying to jog pulling... Continue Reading →
Image by Dierik Leonhard 2024 My gratitude to Editor Strider Marcus Jones for curating my poem today in his esteemed Lothlorien Poetry Journal. I’m so honored. Dierik took the photo of me in the field of Henbit after we did a hike of over 3 miles along the Missouri River on a trail he helped... Continue Reading →
The 2024 Eclipse as Seen Through a Colander. Doesn’t the image appear ancient? Dierik and I wanted to see the eclipse without traveling. I hear some places were charging $900 a night. Being in large crowds or stuck in slow traffic didn’t sound appealing. We decided to forego the chance to see the full eclipse... Continue Reading →
My tribute poem to Mom was just published by Grief Book Club. The anniversary of her death was April 3. Mom, I remember You were at my side when I was paralyzed with encephalitis & recovering from the coma I cried in your arms after school each day, learning was so challenging after encephalitis, & the... Continue Reading →
Mom and me Sensitive Content: Abortion and Miscarriage I’m busy with final preparations for a major reading from my poetic memoir, Three-Penny Memories. the reading will also include a PowerPoint presentation about why my poetry book reads like a novel. I've been working on this presentation for months and even gave a version last October... Continue Reading →
Photo by Lisa Fotios on Pexels.com I have a poem up on Hotel Masticadores House. My gratitude to Editor Michelle Ayon Navajas! @poetrybymich How to Write a Poem Right by Barbara Leonhard A haibun a daykeeps the sonnets at baybecause in the haikuthe meter isn’t true…..If you need a chuckle today, you can read the... Continue Reading →
Cover and Interior Art by Francisco Bravo Cabrera (also Known as Bodo Vespaciano) I was honored and delighted to write a review of Joni Caggiano’s stunning debut poetry collection, One Petal at a Time (Prolific Pulse Press, 2024). It’s published on MasticadoresUSA. I invite you to go there to read the review and preorder the... Continue Reading →
Extraordinary Sunshine Weaver 