Poems From The Heart

I wrote my first poem in 1996 (The Girl). One of my friends convinced me to enter it in a contest sponsored by The National Library of Poetry. A few weeks later I was notified that I was a semi-finalist in North America. I automatically became a member of The International Society of Poets and was invited to their conventions in Washington D. C. where I competed for Poet of the Year. In both 1997 and 1998. I was honored to be chosen a world semi-finalist for my poems A Window To My Soul and 'The Princess. Many of my poems have been published in anthologies throughout the United States and the United Kingdom. My poems tell stories of my life my feelings my children my God and current events. I have taken the liberty (with permission) to include four poems in my book that are not my poems but were written by two people very close to me my son Toby Rex McLaughlin and my grandson's wife Jeanne Swansey. I am so very proud of my son's poem because he used this format to explain his feelings for me. My granddaughter-in-law Jeanne Swansey is extremely talented and her poems were written after the deaths of three close relatives. I hope that you enjoy reading these pages. I know that they were inspired by God. Thank you for buying my book.