March | 2013 | Reflections on the Teche

Archive for March, 2013

Life Force

Posted in Slice of Life on March 31, 2013| 13 Comments »

Slice of Life Challenge Day 31

There is a vitality, a life force, an energy, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and because there is only one of you in all of time, this expression is unique. And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and it will be lost. The world will not have it. It is not your business to determine how good it is nor how valuable nor how it compares with other expressions. It is your business to keep it yours clearly and directly, to keep the channel open. There is a queer divine dissatisfaction, a blessed unrest that keeps us marching and makes us more alive than the others.
― Martha Graham

This quote came to me via Kate DiCamillo on Facebook. She is my favorite author for children, so I follow her. She often posts words of wisdom or things that are speaking to her. The above quote from Martha Graham sums up what the Slice of Life Challenge means.

We are a life force.
Together we face the challenges of each day.
We write.
We live open.
We express this openness
to the world or to anyone
who may stop in to listen.
We are not good,
but we don’t have to be.
It is only for us to do it,
practice daily,
observe,
learn,
express.
We are a life force.

Congratulations to all the Slice of Life Challenge Bloggers! We did it!

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Keep Austin Weird

Posted in Slice of Life, tagged Austin, Texas, Travel on March 30, 2013| 9 Comments »

Slice of Life Challenge Day 30

I am in Austin visiting my sister and her family. We ventured downtown to South Congress yesterday, known to locals as “SoCo.” Austin has a personality, and obviously, the people here are proud of it. They sport vehicle bumper stickers that say, “Keep Austin Weird.” We enjoyed some of the weirdness.

Selection of a lunch place split up our group, and I went with my daughter and husband to the Lucky Robot. The bathroom stall said it all, I was a “Lucky Gal.”

We ordered using an iPad. How cool is that? And the table next to us had a yellow porch swing for seating. Not to mention, the food was delicious. I had two Asian tacos full of fresh vegetables and topped with avocado and tasty sauce.

As the warm breezy afternoon continued, we ran into a man with a cat on his backpack, a picture-perfect graffiti sign, and a piglet on a leash. We enjoyed the weirdness of Austin and time spent with each other.

Critter relaxes atop his owner’s backpack.

Cousin love

Three month old miniature potbelly pig

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National Poetry Month

Posted in Poetry, Poetry Friday, Slice of Life, tagged kidlitosphere, National Poetry Month, teaching writing on March 29, 2013| 15 Comments »

Slice of Life Challenge Day 29

Passion is energy. It’s the power that comes from focusing on what really excites you. When we live with enthusiasm, we fully engage our brains and bodies in our activities, building new pathways that foster health and wellbeing. –Oprah and Deepak, 21 Day Meditation Challenge

I am looking forward to the month of April. Don’t you just love the sound of the word, “April?” I love poetry. Actually some people (namely my husband) think I am obsessed. I can’t help sharing this enthusiasm, passion, obsession with my students. And what better time to celebrate poetry than the month of April! National Poetry Month

Last year I decided to teach a poetry form for every letter of the alphabet. It was a challenge to find one to fit each letter. However, with state testing taking one week, and spring break another, we ran out of days before letters. I want to do this again. I have discovered so many new forms from the triolet to the rondelet, and even a clogyrnach. We will try ghazals and pantoums, sonnets, and ekphrasis. See an alphabetized list on Poets.org.

I plan to continue our Slice of Life blog page for posting poems each day. If you or your class would like to follow us, click here.

I will write alongside my students as I always do and share the results with you here on my blog. I have joined the kidlitosphere progressive poem. See the schedule in my sidebar.

Shh, don’t tell, but we plan to post poems all around the school, secret poems, so we can have everyone reading poems throughout their day.

I am still toying with ideas for a final product. Last year we transformed old books into our own poetry books using a technique called altered books.

Do you have any plans? ideas?

If you teach 7th-10th grade, your students can participate in the Dear Poet Project.

National Poetry Month

Poems will echo in the halls,
be pasted on walls,
carried in pockets,
and shared out loud.

Listen to the words
of Naomi Shihab Nye.
Rhyme silly with Shel Silverstein.
Rap with Nikki Giovanni
and imagine like Jane Yolen.

It’s a national phenomenon,
this month of poem fun.
Come on in!
The writing’s fine!

Join Mary Lee at A Year of Reading for more Poetry Friday

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Billboard Cento

Posted in Poetry, Slice of Life, tagged billboards, cento on March 28, 2013| 10 Comments »

Slice of Life Challenge Day 28

We will be driving a long way today to visit my sister’s family and have a hippoty-hoppity Easter Day. So in honor of our long drive, I created a billboard cento. A cento is a poem formed entirely from verses from someone else. I started by taking pictures around town, but I expanded my collection with a Google image search. Here’s a link to a definition of cento. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cento_%28poetry%29

Prepare to be Inspired…

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Full Moon Rising

Posted in Poetry, Slice of Life, tagged found poetry, full moon alert, nature, spring on March 27, 2013| 12 Comments »

“I believe a leaf of grass is no less than the journey-work of the stars.” —Walt Whitman

Slice of Life Challenge Day 27

Even here in the deep south, we’ve had a blast of winter wind. The temperature this morning was 36 degrees. I bundled up in my wool sweater that I’ve only worn twice since I bought it on sale after Christmas, wool socks, and a warm scarf, gloves, the works. Despite the cold, spring is here in full color. My satsuma tree is budding. This means in the fall we will have a full tree of delicious juicy citrus, my favorite fruit. We also have a grapefruit and a lemon budding.

Once a month I get a full moon alert from my friend, Possum. I love to peruse his email for found lines. This month was full of them. Here’s my found poem:

Full moon returns
in the company of ruby-throats.
The worm, sap, or Lenten full,
whatever you call it,
the full girl rises around 6 PM.

Dog whispers, hummers hide,
the woods fill us with wonder:
Spider eyes, lightning bugs,
carnivorous plants,
and an endless frog choir.

The dawn captures a line of ants
carrying only winged seeds
of swamp red maple,
mushroom eaters,
a site to see.

Swarm of honey bees safely hived
bring hope for a fruitful year.
Pollen blowing a dust storm,
new shoots, female flowers
ripen and procreate.

This amazing earth
with arriving hummers,
with wild red buckeye,
pecans leafing out,
with bees waxing and brooding,

Take the last pile of wood
for your campfire.
Raise a glass, honor
each other and the mother.
Bask in the quiet moonlight.

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Morning

Posted in Poetry, Slice of Life, tagged aubade, hummingbirds, morning, spring on March 26, 2013| 7 Comments »

Slice of Life Challenge Day 26

An Aubade, praise poem for the morning, inspired by Frederick Snock’s Morning presented on The Writer’s Almanac post yesterday.

All year long there is
a window by the red coffee pot,
a ship’s porthole looking
out to the day’s beginning.

Sometimes there is a jay
in the birdbath beyond,
if the cat isn’t there,
flapping feathers clean and blue.

Today, I filled the feeder
with sweet red juice
waiting for spring hummers
come to decorate the sky.

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Wisteria Lament

Posted in Poetry, Slice of Life, tagged Louisiana, Nature poems, wisteria on March 25, 2013| 7 Comments »

Slice of Life Challenge Day 25

This is a clogyrnach, a Welsh poetry form inspired by Paul at birds and trees of the mind. This wisteria blooms each spring outside my bedroom window. I think I write a poem about it every year.

Lavender locks lighten the sky.
In bloom, wisteria curls cry
sweet nectar of tears,
purple popcorn tears.
Bumblebees lick them dry.

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Immersed: A Book Spine Poem

Posted in Poetry, Poetry Friday, Slice of Life, tagged Book Spine Poetry on March 24, 2013| 8 Comments »

Slice of Life Challenge Day 24

On Friday, Poetry Friday, Elsie shared this call: Travis Jonkers, from 100 Scope Notes (http://100scopenotes.com/) puts a call out each year for your (yes, you) spine poetry. He said, “If you do give it a go, take a picture and post it to your blog, or send it my way via email (scopenotes (at) gmail (dot) com). On Tuesday, April 2nd I’ll be posting a gallery with all your work, and continue to add to it for the entire month.” Click here to go to a page of hints and examples of spine poetry.

On Friday, I gathered some books in my classroom to create this book spine poem. This is fun for kids, too, but makes a mess of your library…creative chaos.

The beautiful stories of life
immersed in verse
inside out & back again
live writing
a river of words

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Farmer’s Namaste

Posted in Poetry, Slice of Life, Spiritual Growth, tagged Episcopal Relief and Development, honey, Lent, meditation on March 23, 2013| 11 Comments »

Slice of Life Challenge Day 23

For Lent, I signed up to receive a daily email meditation from Episcopal Relief and Development. The other day, the meditation was written by Sister Catherine Grace. She quoted from a prayer from the spring equinox service, “Let us be honey to each other.” That line jumped out at me and I wrote a poem. At school on Friday, a student showed up with this bottle of honey for the ice cream sundae party. This is the kind of honey we should be, home-grown and bottled in a hug-able teddy bear.

The Farmer’s Namaste

Let us be honey for each other,
Sweet on the tongue
tasting natural and real
lasting a long time.

Let us be a cup of tea for each other,
spreading comfort and warmth,
close to the heart
shared with conversation.

Let us be bread for each other
kneaded and risen,
nourishing the body and soul,
broken yet making whole.

Let us be namaste to each other,
see the One in you
as you see in me.
Look straight into my eyes;
find only love.
–Margaret Simon

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My Journals

Posted in Poetry Friday, Slice of Life, tagged journals, scribble and jot on March 22, 2013| 15 Comments »

Slice of Life Challenge Day 22

School Journal

School Journal
Wide-ruled,
100 lined pages,
composition book
covered in pictures I love
laminated with packaging tape
for Mrs. Simon only.

Car journal

Car Journal
Tucked into a pocket near my right knee,
ready to capture a wayward thought
before it flies out the window.
Flower-printed cover
wrapped with a rubber strap,
a gift from a friend.

Home Journal
fits nicely in my purse,
no lines, orange paper cover,
stocking stuffer from Santa,
open for words and wonderings,
contains recycled paper
printed down home.

Scribble and Jot journal

New Journal
ordered on Etsy from Scribble and Jot,
artfully handmade, stands on its own,
stitched together with thread
holding pages from a discarded book about plants,
too new to write in.
I just like the smell.