by Kelly

I’d like to sit here

with you, Alison, and drink

wine and talk of life

by Kelly

Just as in our girlhood,

Jenny P. and I swap germs.

She gave me the flu!

by Kelly

the rapture passes –

I toast fruity martinis

with college girlfriends

by Kelly

A resolution —

treat myself better this year

than I did last year

Me & Jenny P. -- Friends Since Birth

Here’s one of my plans:

a women’s lecture series

to engage my mind

Pre-show happy hours

and appetizers with my

crib-mate Jenny P.

Much needed girl time

to reconnect, share secrets,

gossip, giggle, learn.

This year, the Smart Talk lecture series will bring Bette Midler, Alison Levine, Isabella Rossellini, Ann Compton and Sigourney Weaver to Minneapolis.

I’ll be penning haiku about what each one of them has to say, so stay tuned over the next five months. Or, if you think you’d like to check out the events for yourself, I have a coupon code to offer: KW2011.

Don’t live in Minneapolis? Smart Talk also tours Ohio, Iowa, New Jersey and Delaware.

by Kelly

girlfriend on the phone:

“He makes me shy and blushy!”

spring is heating up

by Kelly

I’m not exactly the intended audience for Hot Flash Haiku. I mean, I’m not even 40 yet.

Nevertheless, I picked up a copy of the book, which is filled with 5-7-5 poems on the topic of “la meno,” as it is called in Mexico.

With such a catchy title and a clever theme, how could I pass it by? Surely whatever was inside would make me smile.

I wasn’t disappointed. I snickered my way through the five chapters titled denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance.

While many of the poems were certainly geared toward women older than me, there were many that resonated with me. Like this one:

I pluck, tweeze, shave, wax.

Worse than dealing with crabgrass.

Argh — always grows back.

And even though most of the haiku in this book poke fun at middle age and menopause, plenty ruminate on the meaning of life.

Like this one:

There are days when life

seems so beautiful that all

I can do is cry.

A few times, the authors lined up several haiku that all started with the same first line. One of those repeated first lines was “I swore I’d never.”

This seemed a fine writing warm up and I noted it as something I’d like to try the next time I’m facing a severe case of writer’s bloc, which–sadly–comes along more often than I care to admit.

The book is pint sized. It’s not a novel, but a gift book instead. And it was wholly fun to read. It’s just the kind of thing that one girlfriend should give to another.

Or that you should bring to your next girl gathering — you know, one where there will be lots of wine, lots of laughs, and no men.