“Flow Like Lyrics” Review with Poet Q&A

Flow Like Lyrics is a book of poetry by Lori Katherine. In this collection, Lori K explores life’s many facets. Her poetry oscillates from moments of delicate hope to deep despair.

Throughout this short chapbook, Lori K invites the reader to explore a world where the lines of poetry flow like the music to a popular melody. Like folk music, there is something deeply familiar about Lori Katherine’s words. She touches on themes and topics that poets have explored for ages, but she does so in such a way that the reader can hear their own story reflected in her words.

Lori Katherine invites the reader to look at the world as if it is a song. Sometimes the music of life is sweet and hopeful. Other times, it is a mournful melody.

I have always loved poetry and I am especially interested in the work of women writers. That is why I was excited when Lori Katherine was kind enough to sit down with me in order to discuss poetry, her writing process, and her upcoming book of poetry, Twilight Carnivals.

Rev. Rebecca:  I really enjoyed your poetry collection, “Flow Like Lyrics.” I was particularly impressed with the piece from which the collection took its name. Can you speak a little bit about what inspired you to write the poem “Flow Like Lyrics?”

Lori K: “The Flow Like Lyrics” piece was inspired by my husband, who would always tell me that my poems “flowed like lyrics”. He, being a musician, is always looking for lyrics for his songs and I am his head lyricist I guess you could say. Many of the poems I write he has used in songs.

 RR: I enjoyed how this collection included poems that explored both the dark and the light aspects of life. Can you share a little bit about how this collection came together? Where do you find your inspiration?

Lori K: This collection came together from my years and years of writing, jotting down thoughts here and there and ideas for lyrics. My husband is a musician, and would always be asking me for song lyrics, sometimes on a weekly basis. My inspiration for my poetry comes from my personal experiences, feelings I’ve had to work through and emotions that I believe many of us have felt and had to deal with. My goal for each piece is to make the reader relate to what is going on in the poem; to feel like I’ve nailed their feelings to a “T”.

RR: What did you find most challenging when writing this collection?

Lori K: My most challenging aspect of this collection was not being patient enough to use all of my work in the book. I so desperately wanted to be able to see MY name on MY book of poetry, that I wouldn’t take the time to bulk up on more of the collection. Lesson learned the hard way for sure! My current collection will be packed with more poetry.

RR: Do you have a favorite poem or poems in Flow Like Lyrics?  What do you hope people will carry away from your writing?

 My FAVE poem from Flow Like Lyrics is “Beneath the Amethystine Sunset”. I just LOVE how the words flow into images. I hope my readers will carry away inspiration to write themselves, a connection to a certain poem or poems in my books and an understanding that they are not as alone as they may feel or think in whatever situation they may be going through or have gone through in their life.

RR: When did you first start writing poems? How did you become confident enough to share your poetry with others?

Lori K: I began writing poems at a young age; I want to say around 7 or 8 years old. I have always loved to write, whether it was stories about ghosts or love; I craved just sitting down with a clean piece of paper, my perfectly sharpened pencils and just allow the words to flow. I was always willing to share my work with my family and friends, but never confident enough to actually put that work out to complete strangers! For many years, my husband and children would say, “Why don’t you just write a book of poetry?”, and I always just figured they were being kind. One day, my husband sat me down and he gave me that push to go for it! I haven’t looked back!

RR: For a long time throughout history, people believed that women couldn’t write poetry (they also believed that they couldn’t preach!). What advice would you give to a young person, especially a woman, who aspired to be a poet?

Lori K: To any woman, young or old who aspired to be a poet, my advice to them would be to never doubt yourself, you CAN do this, surround yourself with a wonderful support system and try not to compare yourself to other poets- develop your own style and just write what makes you happy!

RR:  I know your next book, Twilight Carnivals, is being released in the near future. Could you speak a title bit about that work? What excites you most about, Twilight Carnivals?

Lori K:  I’m super excited for Twilight Carnivals to be released with my goal of February 14th, 2019. I’ve been pushing myself to write new material for the collection and truly capture those dark and light emotions that are hidden in all of us. I want my readers to get so lost in the collection that they forget it’s just a book of poetry. I just love this collection this time around and the deeper emotions each poem touches upon. I smile every time I think about it. I’ve been putting out some teasers here and there on my Twitter with great responses, so I’m super happy about that!

Flow Like Lyrics can be found at the following locations:

Amazon

Kobo

The Book Patch 

Smash Words

Lulu 

For more about Lori Katherine, check out her blog. You can also follow Lori Katherine on Twitter and Goodreads 

Thanks for reading! Don’t forget to follow me on Twitter and to Subscribe to my blog so that you never miss a post!

Next Friday I will be doing an interview with the poet Christina Crahall about her collection entitled  Poems from a Loquacious Heart: Prayers. You won’t want to miss it!

Peace Be With You,

-Rev. Rebecca