About My Poems – Pauletti Publishing

I have written poetry most of my life. My formal training includes courses of poetry writing at the University of Wisconsin; poetry workshops taught by poet laureates; critiques of both formalism and free verse metrical poetry by published, fellow poets. Examples of formalism poetry I have written include sonnets, villanelles, couplets, pantoums and sestinas. My experience includes participation in open mics in Chicago and suburbs, participation in Grand Slam performance poetry, and private performance poetry for different occasions.

Two poems appear in An Immigrant Mother’s Journey: From Loss Through Courage to Triumph:
• To America, 1902, written in free verse of internal rhyme and in Giuditta’s voice, recounts the crossing of the ocean.
• A White Slave Girl in Chicago recounts the horrors of the sweatshops, told in the young female worker’s voice. It is a 39-line formalism poem known as a sestina, written for historical accuracy, while emotionally nuanced to invoke a feeling of empathy in the reader for the plight of those female workers, who were as young as twelve years old.

I offer personalized poetry on a contractual basis.
• Original, customized for your friend or loved one
• Written for any event
• Any length from 2 – 100 lines in rhyme or free verse, or formalism poetry
• The poem becomes yours to keep.
Please contact me for more information about this service at:

info@paulettipublishing.com

Excerpts of some of my poems

Birthday poems:

On Turning Seven.
^{poem of 26 lines.}
You’re bound for great possession
In the land of red white and blue
Your over-the-top expression
Is a money-making extension
Of a future ballyhoo!
_{©2024 by Susan Nelson, poet}

Swaying Sixty
^{poem of 4 lines.}
Are you really 60?
  I don’t see jiggly fat!
    Your muscles seem to be in place 
    sculptured, round or flat!
_{©2024 by Susan Nelson}

Wedding poetry:

One Special One
^{poem of 2 lines.}
  …your soul’s dearest friend,
             to embrace intertwined beyond life’s end.

Farewells:

The Parting of Friends
^{poem of 4 lines.}
Since the lives of dear friends intertwine as they do
the bonds cannot break apart—
You’re going away and my thoughts are with you
You may go, but you’ll be in my heart.
_{© 2023 by Susan Nelson}

Seasonal:

Tax Time:
^{poem of 26 lines.}
Good morning, Mr. Accountant.
It's coming around to that time again, 
pull-out-my-hair and swear again
….
keeps me from jail for the stated reason
of not paying my taxes, called evasion or treason!
I cannot evate!  I want to stay free
I want to live life in joy and glee
I want to pay up.  Oh, say, can you see
I'm brainwashed to live in liberty!
_{Susan Nelson © 2024}

Reflections of a Christmas Caroling:
^{poem of 28 lines.}
The music we’d heard on the radio that day
was all about Rudolph and an old-fashioned sleigh.
Now the evening was mild, so quiet and clear,
that voices of Silent Night softly rang through the air.
_{© 2025 Susan Nelson, poet}

Please contact me for more details about this service at:
info@paulettipublishing.com