Bad Witch Poet

A writer's palette are the pens, paper, and platform through which are painted our human foibles.

Upcoming events where you can find me and my poetry

June 24 at The Muse Writer's Center in Norfolk, Virginia

Purchase my recent poetry book,

Serving Sweet Tea, at www.poetschoice.in 

Wild Ponies

...As night drops her cloak across the park, we walk the zigzagging trails through the property to the water’s edge, giggling at everything and nothing while the sounds of at least a hundred campers slither around us. At the water's edge, briny sulfur makes us wrinkle our noses, but we tiptoe out onto the wooden pier as it angles into the marsh. We sit cross-legged in a huddle, surprised the breeze's touch is so chilly here in mid-June. We fasten our eyes on the spiraling fairy-like light that angles from the Assateague lighthouse. We take turns making up outrageous stories until we are squirming from the sting of biting insects and jump up to race back to our cabin for more bug spray.


Later, I will be the last one to drift off. The top bunk is a hugely uncomfortable mistake, but I refuse to relinquish it. I smile as I think of our evening: the Pandora Gay Pride station I blasted on my cell phone which our neighbors may not have appreciated; our raucous game of laser tag that probably also did not endear us to the nearby glampers; building up the campfire with the popping of the pine cones we threw in for good measure while the blistering flames singed most of the marshmallows past edibility; the love the three of us share no matter our growing pains. Sleep eventually worms its way behind my lids.


Since our first year in Chincoteague when they were seven, they have never wanted to ride bikes out to Assateague, but the next morning I force them to do it again for the fifth time... 

What drives my writing...

I  speak out sharply in my poetry by running my words over one another until they become weapons.  As a professional educator, writing contemporary curriculum is the same as breathing. As a teacher of teenagers, writing mythologically inspired prose has become my passion. As an outspoken poet, writing words that will stab injustice and open minds is as necessary as breathing.

About me...

Lisa M. Kendrick lives in the heart of Norfolk, Virginia with her twin daughters. She has been teaching and writing high school English curriculum for twenty-five years; publishes a high school literary magazine; records a literature discussion series called LIT in TEN; writes poetry and fantasy; and records literature readings. She has most recently been published in River River, Otherworldly Women Press, Appalachian Heritage, Bacopa Literary Review, Wingless Dreamer, Green Writers Press, and Poets Choice.

The Requisite Resume

Skills (minimum of ten years experience per skill)

English and Creative Writing Educator, Copy Editing, Ghost Writing, Basic Graphic Design, Writing Workshop Coordinator, Published Poet, Forensic, Debate, and Drama Judge

Education  (yearly certification requirements up-to-date)

(1990-1993) BA in Communications and Theater from Mississippi State University

(1999-2001) Educational curriculum licensure work from Old Dominion University

(2010-2012) Teaching English as a Second Language licensure from Regent University

Relevant Qualifications and Training