Welcome

Welcome to Moon Penny Musings.

I’m Laura Smith, a writer and teacher
based in Western Massachusetts.


I write about all three of those things and more,
here at my blog, and at my Substack.

You can find more about me here.

Below you can find my latest entries.
You can also view my posts by category: Poetry, Fiction, and Non-Fiction.

Please reach out with comments, questions, or opportunities to collaborate.


Poem of the Day Project

Day 146 Look towards the lightwhen feet refuse totouch the ground.Feel strength on thesupport of neighboring hills.Feel hope in the delightedeyes of children.Find peace in the soft furof a dog’s ears.Delight in each moment of freedom from fear.Look forward to the light.Allow it to drapeover you -warmth – strength – love.

Choose Me

The following short story could possibly used for as the beginning of a longer piece. I wrote it during my graduate program at SNHU and have no idea where to go from here. I put my head down onto the smooth surface of our kitchen table. It was cool on my forehead, although I felt…

Poem of the Day Project

Continued! I have been writing one poem per day as part of my morning writing routine. Some make sense, others do not, but all rise from my desire to delve under the surface of language and to connect to universal truths. The following poem was written in the beginning of this poetry journey, while watching…

About Me

I wrote and published my first blog post on May 26, 2009. I was about to turn 36 and had been accepted to Mount Holyoke College as a non-traditional student, on my way to completing a Bachelor of Arts in English with a minor in Medieval Studies. I had managed, finally, to know what general direction I was traveling. As a self proclaimed voracious reader I knew that I needed a vocation that would allow me to engage daily with words: reading words, writing words, and hearing words. I also needed to eat, so I navigated my way to a teaching position and I began to fine tune my craft. I love to teach and I love my students, but I also needed to continue to hone my own literary technique, voice, and style. I continued my education in order to delve deeper into literature, making connections, and most definitely, writing. I gained more confidence as a reader as well as a writer of both creative and analytical text. That first blog post in 2009 is short, the writing average, and the topic mundane, but as I continued to learn from other writers I began to understand that to become a better writer I needed to write more. Each time I write and release a poem, a post, or a story, I hone my skills. I invite you along for the ride, for this journey of mine as I attempt to wrangle a wealth of ideas and competing directions into an organized freshly paved path to publication. I might get distracted along the way, but sometimes those detours lead us to amazing views and new friends. 

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