Reflections on the Teche

Poetry Friday: Spirit Writing

November 6, 2026 by margaretsmn

Poetry Friday is hosted by Joyce Uglow at Storied Ink.

Happy November! A month designed for a change in the weather and gratitude. As the first Friday approaches, my attention is on the Inklings challenge for this month. Heidi’s turn to share. She invited us to “Automatic Writing”.

“Try a thing that I do from time to time which always produces surprising and often striking results: close your eyes and type a poem. Keep going until you’re done. There will always be little typos to deal with afterwards, but something about not watching what’s coming out (and immediately proofing/editing/revising/critiquing/arranging it) is extremely freeing. It’s not really automatic writing at all, but sort of paranormal anyway!”

I clicked on the Wikipedia link and saw “Spirit Writing”: “Spirit writing, later called fuji (扶乩/扶箕), has a long tradition in China, where messages from various deities and spirits were received by mediums.”

When you close your eyes to write, draw, create, you open to a spirit of creativity dwelling within. This kind of writing differs from my usual process of looking, observing, noticing.

Spirit Writing

Sitting, saving
space for
presence,
spiritual me
internally shifting
perspectives & goals
holding me safe
and precious—
A palm
of a hand,
warm golden light
in my heart.

Hold still and be
in this simplicity.

Margaret Simon, draft

*simplicity is my one little word for 2026. I’d almost forgotten about it until I revised my automatic writing and found it waiting to be added.

I recently read in 64 Parishes, a Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities journal, that Darrell Bourque, former Louisiana Poet Laureate and a writing mentor to me, is going blind. In the article, he talks about how he thought losing his sight would keep him from writing, but he’s still writing. He has a book forthcoming in 2027. I went back to my notebook, closed my eyes, and wrote another poem.

Blind Contour Poeming

If I don’t look at the page,
am I really here
writing?

Or is my hand an automatic pilot
jarring, jotting turbulence
making nonsense?

We are guided by our vision,
but my poetry mentor is losing
his sight while still writing brilliant poems.

Words don’t require sight.
Vision is in me,
who I am,
blind.

Margaret Simon, draft

Check out other Inklings and how they approached this challenge.

Molly
Mary Lee
Catherine
Linda
Heidi

Posted in Poetry Friday, Writing | Tagged automatic writing, Darrell Bourque, Inklings challenge, spirit writing | Leave a Comment »

Slice of Life: Bird Whimsy

November 3, 2026 by margaretsmn

Thank you to Two Writing Teachers for creating an amazing community of writers and a safe, welcoming space to write and share.

Book signing at the Louisiana Book Festival with Lindsay Cordero, author of The Great Snuffle Truffle.

I had a fun time at the Louisiana Book Festival with fellow SCBWI authors being silly about our books. I wore a feather hat, the extent of my “bird” costume, but it attracted kids and parents, so I felt the day was a success. I signed books most of the day and had a storytelling in one of the Children’s Storytelling tents where the kids enjoyed gluing bird feathers to bird shapes.
I’m taking an art class for seniors, not the high school kind. It’s sponsored by the Council on Aging and is one of the best perks of being over 60 and retired. My friend Cathy Mills is teaching it. She is a former social studies teacher, so she knows how to teach. (In my limited experience, many artists do not have teaching experience.) A few weeks ago, we drew whimsical birds. I’ve been playing with the idea in my junk journal.

I’m not sure what it says about me that I enjoy whimsical bird art. I am loving Jill Badonsky’s Substack. Her most recent article is “Silliness is a Prescription for Sanity”. How are you practicing silliness and whimsy?

Posted in Slice of Life, Writing | Tagged art, creative process, Louisiana Book Festival, What’s That Sound? Birds of the Bayou, whimsy | 10 Comments »

Poetry Friday: Self-Care

October 30, 2026 by margaretsmn

Poetry Friday is being gathered today by Jone MacCulloch.

The Poetry Sisters challenged the Poetry Friday peeps to write a terzanelle. I wasn’t going to do it. Such a difficult form with all its rules and rhymes. Mary Lee and Heidi inspired me to give it a go.

Yesterday I practiced some self-care and treated myself to a massage. It led to a quite silly poem. If you’re interested in the form, hop onto Poetry Friday gathering by Jone today and read them all.

Self Care

After the massage, I felt like Jello
covered in a sauce of pleasure,
A Swedish massage of all my Jello.

Under a warm blanket wholly demure,
I gave into relaxation and slept
covered in a sauce of pleasure.

Massage for healing is not a new concept.
In ignorance of muscles and pressure points,
I gave into relaxation and slept.

I’ve heard at this age, I could lose my joints
challenging my daily resolve to survive.
In ignorance of muscles and pressure points,

I left rejuvenated and alive.
I took myself out into the world
challenging my daily resolve to survive—

Tender, vulnerable, sensitive, yet bold—
After the massage, feeling like Jello,
I took myself out into the world.
After the massage, I’m mellow as Jello.

Margaret Simon, draft

Collage created in my art class this week, another form of self-care.

Posted in Poetry Friday, Writing | Tagged #Poetrypals, massage therapy, self-care, terzanelle | 15 Comments »

Slice of Life: Write Out Version Chalkabration

October 27, 2026 by margaretsmn

On Friday last week I had the privilege of joining a number of other artists and musicians in providing a day of fun called “Everybody Grows.” The premise is to give teachers an opportunity to plan for 3 hours while their students participate in art activities provided by the Arts Council teaching artists.

I taught 3 different second grade classes in the morning and 4th grade in the afternoon. In my activity, the kids composed a fall poem and then chalked it outside on the playground. By 3:00, I was zapped and not happy that the earlier fall temperatures had risen to a very warm 85 degrees, but I persevered.

As I was leaving, tired, hot, dehydrated, and wondering if what I did was as valuable as banging on drums or doing a torn paper collage, our director Bree said to me, “You don’t know where you may have sparked a child’s interest in poetry.”

We don’t know what seed we have planted with kids. And it may not have been the flower I was expecting to grow.

I did the same writing activity with my grandchildren on Saturday. These seeds I will be able to watch as they grow.

Posted in Chalk-a-bration, Slice of Life, Teaching, Writing | Tagged #smallpoems, Acadiana Center for the Arts, chalk poetry, Teaching Artist | 6 Comments »

Poetry Friday: Write Out Wishing

October 23, 2026 by margaretsmn

Poetry Friday is hosted by Tracey at Tangles and Tales.

As we finish the two wonderful weeks of #writeout with the National Writing Project and the National Parks, I offer two poems I wrote during the week. The first was inspired by Kim Douillard’s poem “Wishing”.

Wishing

On butterfly wings,
flutters around marigolds
while white chrysalises
line the doorway,
waiting.

Wishing on egret’s silhouette
for fresh water,
open, untouched
by empty styrofoam
and sinking plastic bags.

Wishing for a future
of ecological awareness,
more scout heroes,
preservation
of the wild ones
we love.

Margaret Simon, draft

I also wrote a poem to this photo on Substack here.

This second poem was inspired by a prompt from Audrey Gidman. I chose 6 words from a poetry book by my friend/ fellow Louisiana poet Liz Burk, “Learning to Love Louisiana.”

Look

In the window,
a reflection—
rippling golden light,
mossy dank threads
spun like crepe paper
careening haphazardly
over branches
building a scene
of an old steel mirror
of autumn’s grace.

Margaret Simon, draft

Posted in Poetry Friday, Writing | Tagged #poemsofpresence, #writeout, Kim Douillard, National Parks, National Writing Project | 11 Comments »

Slice of Life: National Day on Writing #WhyIWrite

October 20, 2026 by margaretsmn

Today is the National Day on Writing sponsored by NCTE and the National Writing Project as part of Write Out. I wrote a quick tricube-image poem. Why do you write?

Photo is Devil’s Pond sunrise in City Park, New Iberia, LA.

Posted in nature, Poetry, Slice of Life, Writing | Tagged #WhyIWrite, #writeout, National Day on Writing, National Writing Project, NCTE | 11 Comments »

Poetry Friday: Write Out

October 16, 2026 by margaretsmn

Poetry Friday is hosted today by Rose Cappelli at Imagine the Possibilities.

When I was teaching, my students and I looked forward to the National Writing Project’s Write Out. It’s a yearly event in cooperation with the National Parks. We would make special “Write Out” journals and spend more time writing outside. I miss those days, but I enjoy the luxury of a long walk through the park each morning. I enjoy having time with a cup of coffee and my notebook. I enjoy sharing coffee with a friend. Retirement is wonderful, but I miss writing in community.

Write Out leader Christina Cantrell has created a community online for us to share our writing in the NWP teacher studio. Every other day there is a prompt/ writing challenge. Kim Douillard of the San Diego Writing Project’s is posting on her blog. So I am finding a virtual community to write alongside.

Tuesday’s challenge was to write from kilo, a Hawaiian traditional practice of observation. You can see a short video here.

Kim suggested we share a Google doc of prompts. I have been reading Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer’s book The Wonderment. I added a prompt using her poem “For This I Walk Outside.” I love the conversational tone and accessible language of Rosemerry’s poetry. I borrowed a line from her poem as the title for mine.

Outside Everything is Teacher*

Setting into soil
a golden marigold,

I noticed a white chrysalis hanging
on the edge of the pot.

I spoke to it in a whisper,
“Sorry to disturb your rest.”

As I gently placed the pot
near a metal pumpkin,

the chrysalis moved,
bent toward the edge

as if hiding,
curling into protection.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen a chrysalis move,
shape-shift, be alive.

Tomorrow I hope to witness
an emerging butterfly.

Proof that magic
still lives.

Margaret Simon, draft
*line from Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer

Gulf fritillary chrysalis on a pot of marigolds

Posted in Poetry Friday, Writing | Tagged #naturepoems, #poemsofpresence, #writeout, kilo, Kim Douillard, National Parks, National Writing Project, Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer | 14 Comments »

Slice of Life: Mishka Finds Us

October 13, 2026 by margaretsmn

My neighbor Svitlana is an animal whisperer. You know them. They just have a way with animals. Animals in need seem to gravitate to her. In September I saw her while I was out walking, and she told me about a neighborhood cat that had kittens in a planter box. She was feeding the momma and watching out for the four babies.

I told my husband Jeff about it and kind of asked/ told him I wanted to take in one of the kittens. We already have two cats outdoors, Fancy and Wally. We’ve sworn off having any more indoor cats. But this litter was born outside. They would be naturally outside cats.

Last Sunday I went by to meet the kittens. They were quite skittish and following the mother cat who was slowly weaning them. Svitlana was feeding the kittens a mixture of pate and dry food. Svitlana with all her skills was not able to catch any kitten for me to take home. She and the momma cat were both having trouble letting them go.

On Tuesday evening, I was outside feeding Fancy and Wally when I heard mewing coming from our shed. It was definitely a kitten mew. I called Svitlana. She came running over.

Apparently on Monday night two of the kittens had wandered. One returned, but one was missing. She had worried all night long about this baby. She came prepared with a can of cat food, salmon flavored with a high stink value.

Sure enough, little Mishka was in our shed. She found us! I exclaimed. Svitlana brought the momma cat over to see her baby while I set up our back porch with a litter box. We placed little Mishka in a crate, and she was happily purring. Mishka is the name that Svitlana was calling her. It’s a term of endearment in Russian meaning “little bear.” Svitlana is Ukrainian.

Mommy checks on baby who found her way to our shed.

Since last week was the celebration of St. Frances, I took her to church to be blessed by Madre Annie.

I took her to our vet on Monday. She is 3.5 lbs and healthy, approximately 10 weeks old. She will live on the “cat-io” for another month or so before I let her out into the wild. Mishka has found a soft place to land.

Posted in Slice of Life, Writing | Tagged kitten rescue | 12 Comments »

Poetry Friday: Harvest

October 9, 2026 by margaretsmn

Poetry Friday is hosted today by Jama at Jama’s Alphabet Soup.

On Saturday I attended Jone MacCulloch’s Poetry Pop-up Salon by Zoom. We were all familiar with each other through our poetry blogging and easily settled in to write. Something about writing in community creates magic. Everyone had a poem to share around Jone’s chosen word prompt, “harvest.”

At this time of year in New Iberia, sugarcane is being harvested and ground. Many people don’t like this season. The sugarcane trucks slow down traffic flow. The smoke from the mills and the burning of the fields aggravates allergies. And there’s the bagasse smell that makes you think you stepped in dog poop. But to me, it means fall. Cooler temperatures and sweet air.

Yesterday as the sun was going down, I was delivering food to a friend down the country roads, so I stopped to take some photos of the cane fields. I didn’t get a shot of the big dinosaur-like harvesters, and I was swatting at swarming gnats, but I loved the light of the autumn sun falling down the fields.

Harvest

Before humidity drops,
before leaves fall,
before the day lowers itself to comfort levels,
sugarcane harvesters gear up—
their dinosaur maws suck up
spit out husks of tall grass—
work once done by strong backs
and torn hands of Africans,
now mechanized and modern.

Soon fires will blaze
in plowed rows, smoke rising
like ancestral ghosts toward
an autumn sky.

Sweetness comes at a cost.
Harvester heaves and leaves behind
a field, fallow and fertile.

Margaret Simon, draft

Posted in nature, Photography, Poetry Friday, Writing | Tagged free verse poem, Jone MacCulloch, New Iberia, sugarcane harvest | 12 Comments »

Poetry Friday Roundup: Inklings Challenge

October 1, 2026 by margaretsmn

The Poetry Friday Roundup is here today.
Scroll down to add your links with Inlinkz.

Each first Friday of the month the Inklings write to a challenge from one of us. This month Linda Mitchell offered the challenge from a post she saw on Instagram: “‘Find a poem you like, or one you don’t like. Write the first 6 lines of the poem. Under each line write your own response. Delete the original lines, use what you have as a beginning for your poem.’ Tusiata Avia #30in30 writing prompt.”

Once I started doing this, I couldn’t stop. Recently I bought The Selected Poems of Wendell Berry. What a wonderful mentor, nature writer, poet. On Substack for “This Photo Wants to be a Poem,” I wrote after “To the Unseeable Animal” my side by side version “To the Shadow Moving.”

For Thursday’s Spiritual Journey post, I wrote beside James Crews.

The most satisfying thing about writing like this is you can remove the original poem because your new poem is unique to you.

To What Flies

(after To What Listens by Wendell Berry)

I see it again lonely

and alone, the image of the heron

opening his wings wide

to fly to the other side,

no mate will follow,

no nest to call home.

I subscribe to Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer’s daily poem. (I also highly recommend her new book Wonderment.) On Sept. 26, she sent out a poem “Sometimes When I am Stuck.”

Sometimes When I am Dwelling

When I feel as if my body
is slowly shutting down,
and my spirit is made of jelly,
when my feelings
go deep as if darkness
dwells within me,
that is when I awake
to an inner peace,
ever waiting my notice, my voice.
That peace is longing
as if whispering words.

Margaret Simon, draft (after Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer)

Please consider visiting other Inklings posts. Link to your own Poetry Friday posts using InLinkz below.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!Click here to enter

Posted in nature, Poetry, Poetry Friday, Writing | Tagged Inklings challenge, Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer, Wendell Berry | 14 Comments »

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