Laura Smith Writer

Poem of the Day Project

—

March 8, 2026

I fought hard for the fire tonight. 

The kindling giving up - 
too weak and thin to put up any effort -
lethargic and fearful.

The balance was lost and
light succumbed to the darkness - dusk
settling too soon.

The pattern emerges -
the cyclical nature, the bark -
tough yet tender, my exterior hardened
as the strip of bark. 
I take a breath - long exhale
and light emerges - my breathing slows;
the light is expansive.

I do not now where I end and my fire begins -
where my body is defined - clothing, skin, muscle;
the words do not come from me.

The fire grows - it dances in textures,
defined shapes, deepening colors, shadows, sparks,
and tendrils of smoke. 

And I dance in my mind and on the page
as my mind sashays from flame to flame,
from desire to expression.

I am lost in the flames, the warmth,
the feeling of home, my self-containment.
And I pick up a pen. And I write.

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● 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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