Lori Mathes
 
 
Welcome Welcome to the official website of Iowa poet Lori Mathes. Lori's strong connection to family and its rich rooted layers is a central theme in much of her poetry, often reflecting the overlapping lives of one generation to the next. Her subjects have included a tribute to her grandfather, a song she penned for her "first" father after his untimely death and a "Christmas Miss" letter to a son-in-law gone astray. A middle child with two older and two younger siblings, Lori learned early on there are times one needs to listen and learn, and other times one must talk and teach, even when it felt like standing in a busy intersection fraught with inevitable collisions. Lori is best known for "A Christmas Poem ~ To my Family," a narrative about familial friendship and love she wrote, had duplicated on parchment and then framed for each family member in Christmas 2004. When a sister -- moved by the heartfelt gift -- wrote about it on her blog and posted a small image of the framed poem, more than two thousand visitors viewed the poem over the holidays. In 2006 and with Lori's permission, her sister posted the lyrics separately. By Christmas, the page had more visitors than all her sister's other page views combined. In simple yet beautiful prose, Lori's poetry continues to capture the very essence of family and faith, loss and rebirth, and the human heart's steadfast resilience when surrounded by those one loves. Lori's Poetry