Lisa Salinas
Lisa Salinas is a nationally award-winning poet, genealogist and home educator. She is the 2014 winner of the Edwin M. Eakin Memorial Book Award given by the Poetry Society of Texas (PST). Her winning manuscript, Smallest Leaf: A Collection of Poetry, is available on her website smallestleaf.com.
Lisa's poems also appear in editions of the Poetry Society of Texas first prize winners' anthology A Book of the Year since 2008 and in editions of the National Federation of State Poetry Societies winners' anthology Encore since 2010. Lisa is a versatile poet who enjoys using various poetic forms to write about travel, history, the natural world, faith, and life with children.
Lisa enjoys presenting to poetry groups throughout Texas, and was the featured speaker at both the 2014 and 2015 Poetry Society of Texas Summer Conferences in addition to presenting at a PST monthly meeting and various meetings of PST chapters throughout the state.
As Poets Northwest Program Chair for 2014-2015, Lisa helped coordinate the Poetry Society of Texas Summer Conference held in Houston in 2014. She is currently a Councilor-at-Large for the Poetry Society of Texas, and Webmaster/Publicity Chair for Poets Northwest.
Lisa's poems also appear in editions of the Poetry Society of Texas first prize winners' anthology A Book of the Year since 2008 and in editions of the National Federation of State Poetry Societies winners' anthology Encore since 2010. Lisa is a versatile poet who enjoys using various poetic forms to write about travel, history, the natural world, faith, and life with children.
Lisa enjoys presenting to poetry groups throughout Texas, and was the featured speaker at both the 2014 and 2015 Poetry Society of Texas Summer Conferences in addition to presenting at a PST monthly meeting and various meetings of PST chapters throughout the state.
As Poets Northwest Program Chair for 2014-2015, Lisa helped coordinate the Poetry Society of Texas Summer Conference held in Houston in 2014. She is currently a Councilor-at-Large for the Poetry Society of Texas, and Webmaster/Publicity Chair for Poets Northwest.
How to Read a Poem
Make yourself the smallest leaf
upon the tree and let the breeze
of gentle words begin to blow,
then loosen from your branch. Let go.
As gusts of newfound thoughts begin
to give your soul a little spin
allow the air to raise you high
and let yourself begin to fly
to see the world you knew beneath
from vantage point of soaring leaf.
© Lisa Salinas
For permission to publish or otherwise share this poem, please contact Lisa.
This poem won first place of 257 entries in the 2010 National Federation of State Poetry Societies' Barbara Stevens Memorial Award sponsored by the South Dakota State Poetry Society. The award was for the best poem of 12 lines or less on any serious theme. The poetry contest was judged by Verna Lee Hinegardner of Conway, AR, Poet Laureate of Arkansas from 1991-2003. How to Read a Poem was published in the National Federation of State Poetry Societies’ anthology Encore 2010 and in the Poets Northwest anthology Windows in 2011.
upon the tree and let the breeze
of gentle words begin to blow,
then loosen from your branch. Let go.
As gusts of newfound thoughts begin
to give your soul a little spin
allow the air to raise you high
and let yourself begin to fly
to see the world you knew beneath
from vantage point of soaring leaf.
© Lisa Salinas
For permission to publish or otherwise share this poem, please contact Lisa.
This poem won first place of 257 entries in the 2010 National Federation of State Poetry Societies' Barbara Stevens Memorial Award sponsored by the South Dakota State Poetry Society. The award was for the best poem of 12 lines or less on any serious theme. The poetry contest was judged by Verna Lee Hinegardner of Conway, AR, Poet Laureate of Arkansas from 1991-2003. How to Read a Poem was published in the National Federation of State Poetry Societies’ anthology Encore 2010 and in the Poets Northwest anthology Windows in 2011.
Song of the Artist in Autumn
It won't come willingly to canvas,
this gypsy season.
Slanting October light
dances, dazzles, blinds
with beauty, then darts aside
giving way to great shadows.
Its splendor defies brushstrokes,
refusing to be captured
in the Indian corn rainbow
of paint on the palette.
Fleeting glimpses of harvest glory
remain a memory; their true
auburn, crimson and gold goodbyes
painted only onto my soul.
© Lisa Salinas
For permission to publish or otherwise share this poem, please contact Lisa.
This poem was winner of the 2011 Puissant Pen Award sponsored and judged by Dr. Robert G. Duchouquette of Dallas, Texas in memory of Henry J. & Imogene Duchouquette and Daniel G. & Minnie Rose. The award was for the best free verse poem of 12-18 lines on any subject. It was published in the Poetry Society of Texas' A Book of the Year 2012.
It won't come willingly to canvas,
this gypsy season.
Slanting October light
dances, dazzles, blinds
with beauty, then darts aside
giving way to great shadows.
Its splendor defies brushstrokes,
refusing to be captured
in the Indian corn rainbow
of paint on the palette.
Fleeting glimpses of harvest glory
remain a memory; their true
auburn, crimson and gold goodbyes
painted only onto my soul.
© Lisa Salinas
For permission to publish or otherwise share this poem, please contact Lisa.
This poem was winner of the 2011 Puissant Pen Award sponsored and judged by Dr. Robert G. Duchouquette of Dallas, Texas in memory of Henry J. & Imogene Duchouquette and Daniel G. & Minnie Rose. The award was for the best free verse poem of 12-18 lines on any subject. It was published in the Poetry Society of Texas' A Book of the Year 2012.
Rose in Winter
I learned that you were coming in the spring.
The trees had new leaves - a lively, sun-kissed green.
Flower buds were announcing themselves shyly
with hints of color. The climbing roses near my bedroom
window were preparing to burst into bloom...and so was I.
I knew that you were coming.
It was summer and the world was warm with life.
I could feel you now. Your little limbs moving,
you were trying to understand your quiet little world.
You were growing, growing...and so was I.
Soon you would be coming. Summer had ended. Fall was here.
The cycle of life was coming to a close. Leaves prepared
to say their last goodbyes in red, orange and gold.
I wondered when you would say goodbye to your quiet world.
I longed to hold you in my arms and welcome you into
your new world... the world that we would share together.
Now… finally… you are here!
The air is cold outside; the garden is a quiet brown,
but in my arms is the warmth of new life –
my long-awaited little flower. You are here.
I had waited for so long, through so many days, through
so many seasons, and now my waiting has come to a close.
I revel in the sweet fragrance of your baby skin,
the softness of your hair and the gift that is you.
As I hold you close to my heart, I glance
out the bedroom window into the garden. Another gift awaits
me there in the midst of winter’s chill, a tribute to new life:
One single pink rosebud, a reflection of you.
© Lisa Salinas
For permission to publish or otherwise share this poem or share the photograph, please contact Lisa.
This poem was winner of the 2007 Pearl Sterman Memorial Award sponsored and judged by Annette Schwartz of Houston, Texas. It was published in the Poetry Society of Texas' A Book of the Year 2008 and the anthology Poets Northwest Inspired in 2009.
The trees had new leaves - a lively, sun-kissed green.
Flower buds were announcing themselves shyly
with hints of color. The climbing roses near my bedroom
window were preparing to burst into bloom...and so was I.
I knew that you were coming.
It was summer and the world was warm with life.
I could feel you now. Your little limbs moving,
you were trying to understand your quiet little world.
You were growing, growing...and so was I.
Soon you would be coming. Summer had ended. Fall was here.
The cycle of life was coming to a close. Leaves prepared
to say their last goodbyes in red, orange and gold.
I wondered when you would say goodbye to your quiet world.
I longed to hold you in my arms and welcome you into
your new world... the world that we would share together.
Now… finally… you are here!
The air is cold outside; the garden is a quiet brown,
but in my arms is the warmth of new life –
my long-awaited little flower. You are here.
I had waited for so long, through so many days, through
so many seasons, and now my waiting has come to a close.
I revel in the sweet fragrance of your baby skin,
the softness of your hair and the gift that is you.
As I hold you close to my heart, I glance
out the bedroom window into the garden. Another gift awaits
me there in the midst of winter’s chill, a tribute to new life:
One single pink rosebud, a reflection of you.
© Lisa Salinas
For permission to publish or otherwise share this poem or share the photograph, please contact Lisa.
This poem was winner of the 2007 Pearl Sterman Memorial Award sponsored and judged by Annette Schwartz of Houston, Texas. It was published in the Poetry Society of Texas' A Book of the Year 2008 and the anthology Poets Northwest Inspired in 2009.
Heritage
I am from the land of spices and the great plain;
the land of dance and song and warm soup.
The island of a lone language and strong people
in the midst of an ocean of other languages and lands.
The last bastion of faith against a tide of trial and testing
embodied in the faces and armor of a “darker” people.
I am from the land of the root crop,
of song and dance and poetry and warm bread.
The island of a strong people of faith in the midst of the sea
that could not shelter it from other worlds,
but instead carried ships of unwelcome pain
embodied in the faces and laws of an “enlightened” people.
These were worlds I never knew,
yet they shaped
my family,
my features,
my life,
my soul.
Such distant lands, yet they are a part of me.
Their soul is my birthright.
Their legacy is within me.
Their peoples and the culture, music and language
they embody are my inheritance.
My feet have never stepped into their borders,
yet in many ways they have set boundaries for my life,
and laid foundations which have given me strength
for my own world and my own time.
© Lisa Salinas
For permission to publish or otherwise share this poem, please contact Lisa.
This poem was winner of the 2010 David Atamian Memorial Award sponsored by the late David Atamian of Arlington, Virginia. The award was for the best poem of 36 lines or less on world citizenship, and was given in memory of Atamian's parents, Manoog & Turfanda Atamian, who lost their lives in 1915 during the Armenian massacres in Turkey. The poetry contest was judged by Sharon Martin Turner of San Antonio, Texas. Heritage was published in the Poetry Society of Texas' A Book of the Year 2011.
the land of dance and song and warm soup.
The island of a lone language and strong people
in the midst of an ocean of other languages and lands.
The last bastion of faith against a tide of trial and testing
embodied in the faces and armor of a “darker” people.
I am from the land of the root crop,
of song and dance and poetry and warm bread.
The island of a strong people of faith in the midst of the sea
that could not shelter it from other worlds,
but instead carried ships of unwelcome pain
embodied in the faces and laws of an “enlightened” people.
These were worlds I never knew,
yet they shaped
my family,
my features,
my life,
my soul.
Such distant lands, yet they are a part of me.
Their soul is my birthright.
Their legacy is within me.
Their peoples and the culture, music and language
they embody are my inheritance.
My feet have never stepped into their borders,
yet in many ways they have set boundaries for my life,
and laid foundations which have given me strength
for my own world and my own time.
© Lisa Salinas
For permission to publish or otherwise share this poem, please contact Lisa.
This poem was winner of the 2010 David Atamian Memorial Award sponsored by the late David Atamian of Arlington, Virginia. The award was for the best poem of 36 lines or less on world citizenship, and was given in memory of Atamian's parents, Manoog & Turfanda Atamian, who lost their lives in 1915 during the Armenian massacres in Turkey. The poetry contest was judged by Sharon Martin Turner of San Antonio, Texas. Heritage was published in the Poetry Society of Texas' A Book of the Year 2011.
Summer Tourists at the National Archives, Washington D.C.
A Shakespearean Sonnet
We are the people. Gathered here we stand
assembled peacefully in one long line.
The summer heat beats this once vast farmland;
now nation’s treasure house gleams in sunshine.
We wind around it waiting for a look
at charters of our freedom on display.
With these choice words our founding fathers shook
the world they knew one long ago Wednesday.
We are the people, ones they sought to serve
with creed and law: the famous Bill of Rights.
We come to see their words – freedom preserved:
the evidence of national birthright.
Beneath the grand rotunda, one and all,
we’ll honor liberty in this great hall.
© Lisa Salinas
For permission to publish or otherwise share this poem or share the photograph, please contact Lisa.
This poem was winner of the 2010 Abbie Frank Smith Memorial Award sponsored by the late Elizabeth Warham Brewster of Houston, Texas in memory of her sister. The award was for the best poem on the theme “The Bill of Rights to the United States Constitution”. The poetry contest was judged by Dr. Emory D. Jones of Iuka, MS. Summer Tourists at the National Archives, Washington D.C. was published in the Poetry Society of Texas’ A Book of the Year 2011.
assembled peacefully in one long line.
The summer heat beats this once vast farmland;
now nation’s treasure house gleams in sunshine.
We wind around it waiting for a look
at charters of our freedom on display.
With these choice words our founding fathers shook
the world they knew one long ago Wednesday.
We are the people, ones they sought to serve
with creed and law: the famous Bill of Rights.
We come to see their words – freedom preserved:
the evidence of national birthright.
Beneath the grand rotunda, one and all,
we’ll honor liberty in this great hall.
© Lisa Salinas
For permission to publish or otherwise share this poem or share the photograph, please contact Lisa.
This poem was winner of the 2010 Abbie Frank Smith Memorial Award sponsored by the late Elizabeth Warham Brewster of Houston, Texas in memory of her sister. The award was for the best poem on the theme “The Bill of Rights to the United States Constitution”. The poetry contest was judged by Dr. Emory D. Jones of Iuka, MS. Summer Tourists at the National Archives, Washington D.C. was published in the Poetry Society of Texas’ A Book of the Year 2011.