Chiaroscuro: Vice and Virtue anthology. Includes two of my poems: “Why I Threw My Daughter” and “Bedbugs as Sand Men.” LINK
Loveland Poet Laureate Facebook page “A Serenade in Cerule” Written in response to Joy Harjo’s poem, “The First Day Without a Mother,” an elegy in Conflict Resolution for Holy Beings. Dedicated to my father-in-law, Kulwant S. Mahal. LINK
National Federation of State Poetry Societies, Summer 2021. Three honorable mentions: League of Minnesota Poets Award for “Madness of the Moment,” Florida State Poets Association Award for “Carsick Facing Backward (Bradenton Greetings),” Alabama State Poetry Society Award for “Stays With Me Still.”
Encore: Prize Poems 2020 LINK.
National Federation of State Poetry Societies anthology, Summer 2020 / Illinois State Poetry Society Award (127 entries) Judge: Alan Perry 1st Place: Budd Powell Mahan, Dallas, TX “Estate Sale Biography” 2nd Place: Laura Mahal, Ft. Collins, CO “No One in Particular”
“No one in particular”—a simple scene in a library captures a life: a snapshot that goes deeper than an ordinary moment in time. A follow-up to “Ancestors Take a Walk.” LINK.
New Avalon Review. “Harmony of Circles” A pairing of femininity with ecological cares and concerns. LINK
Veterans Voices “The Day Monsters Climbed from My Forearm” A soldier released PTSD demons during a hands-off massage. LINK.
DoveTales: Resistance “Advice for a Mother” A mother gains confidence over time. LINK.
Unsettled community art exhibition, fall 2020. Brought together regional artists and all forms of artistic mediums that expressed the darker side of being human. “Whether a fear is real or imagined, it has the power to influence us. Unsettled examines the fears we struggle with and reveals the beauty behind self-expression and enlightenment.” I had two poems featured in the exhibit: “Soul Sister” (Lower Gallery 2, Scene 5) and “Hoot-and-Holler Night” (Upper Gallery, Scene 1)”
Veterans Voices “Soul Sister” A true story about how Laura’s brief illness as an enlisted soldier permanently bonded her to a fellow soldier. This poem won the Gladys Feld Helzberg Memorial Award. LINK.
Sunrise Summits poetry anthology, a finalist for the 2017 Colorado Book Awards. Three poems: “Letter to Clouds on Fire”—Forgiveness through Gardening, “It’s Different”—A generation gap between a parent and her children, “Ancestors Take a Walk”—A wealthy woman is trapped in circumstances but her immigrant servants know what it is to be free. LINK.