Tolson 4 TEARS Reviews Poetic Reflections

Review of Poetic Reflections: Keep the Heart of A Child by Lori R. Lopez

Author Lori R. Lopez @LoriRLopez is known for her mystery, horror, and suspense stories. In Poetic Reflections, the reader sees her talent for writing poetry, prose, and song lyrics. What a prolific word-smith!


Poetry is often so abstract that it requires too much mental work to interpret: This is not the case with Lori's readable and understandable style. Lori R. Lopez's writing is raw yet carefully polished.

As I was reading Keep the Heart of A Child, I often felt as if Lori had been taking snap-shots of my thoughts, those elusive thoughts that come and go so quickly that they defy capture. Lori has the unique ability to contain and examine those thoughts, explore the emotions, and translate them by using words with substance. All this occurs with well-crafted twists and turns of language that convey the universal human condition of slow rises and fast falls as we ride the roller-coaster called LIFE. 

Lori weaves her life story into this volume, creating textures that are not easily labeled but are readily resonating. The reader may feel as much joy from the poem “Sweet” as he/she does sorrow from a paragraph about abuse. Then, a poem like “Trust” appears, exploring the word in verse so that the reader can identify with the feeling, unlike a dry dictionary definition. Speaking of the dictionary, Lori uses words that even I, considerably literate and a teacher of ESL and adult literacy, had to research. She toys with words, and her clever word-play entertained me.

Each chapter has a narrative introduction that helps to organize the sheer number of words that will follow and the great span of subjects Lori R. Lopez covers. A reader cannot be disappointed; there is some thing, some word, some topic that will speak to your heart.

Review completed by Lynn C. Tolson, author of Beyond the Tears: A True Survivor's Story