Laura Purdie Salas started a sharing group on Facebook around the journal companion to Steal Like An Artist by Austin Kleon. One of the exercises asks you to steal a title to create your own story.
I recently attended an art show for my friend and SCBWI colleague, Denise Gallagher. The title of her show was “A Teaspoon and a Bit of String.” She is currently involved in an ArtSpark grant for her upcoming middle grade fairy tale. This is her title illustration.
I stole (like an artist) this title to write a poem. For a few weeks this summer I was cleaning out my parents’ home. They moved to a retirement home. I found treasures as I whittled through drawers and closets. A teaspoon and a bit of string fit just right.
A Teaspoon and a Bit of String*
We live in shared spaces
thirty years or more
storing things away
for someday
when you need
a bit of string.Tie it to your shoelace
or round a simple gift.
Hand it to your lover
to remember you with.Down in the abyss
of the silverware drawer,
a teaspoon speaks
of years of sugar
measured,
perhaps the purple medicine
to calm a cough.I tuck this teaspoon
(c) Margaret Simon
into days-old news
tie with a bit of string
and carry it with me
into next time.
*title from Denise Gallagher
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Perfect
This is beautiful! I can relate to it because my mother is in a therapy rehab and my sister and I are looking for places for her to live next. I like the repetition of string, the images of sugar and purple medicine on the spoon. The ending of wrapping the teaspoon with the string almost made me cry. Actually, I am crying, now. Thank you for the gift of your poem wrapped with a string. You should publish this poem.
This change of a life is difficult in so many ways. I’m trying to find the gratitude in the small things. All my best with your mother’s transition.
Huh! Someone gave us permission to steal (like an artist)? Well, shoot! There goes gobs of guilt off my shoulders right there. The illustration art is beautiful. I love the prompt in that alone. And, what a sweet way to capture the experience at your parents house…a teaspoon and a bit of string. I’m inspired to find a bit of my own little bits….and of course, I’ll steal a title to tie it to.
A poem to tuck away with other special keepsakes, Margaret—it’s a beautiful way to honor this transitional moment in your life.
Margaret, my sister is in the middle of cleaning my uncle’s house. it is a big job since he is a hoarder. Next weekend, my husband and I are traveling to Central NY to see him in his assisted living place. I will keep your poem in my heart as I see the years of “stuff” that has filled his space. Your poem has depth, meaning, and a beautiful image in its closure.
This post is gorgeously rich Margaret, your friends artwork and your stolen titled poem. So glad you stole it from her. I’d like to ponder in both of these works of art for a while… Thanks, and thanks for hosting the roundup!
[…] Simon, at her blog Reflections on the Teche, is hosting the Poetry Friday Roundup this week with an incredibly rich post about stolen art, […]
[…] sure to stop by Margaret Simon’s blog Reflections on the Teche today. She’s hosting this week’s Poetry Friday Roundup with a beautiful, poignant poem, […]
This is a beautiful, poignant poem and speaks to the heart. You really have captured so much here, and I especially love your final stanza. It brought a big lump to my throat. On another note, I’ve been thinking a lot about titles lately, and I love how you stole this evocative title from your friend’s fabulous artwork (another Wow!) and made it your own. Thanks for hosting this week!
It’s a beautiful capture of the time when we must find our own “teaspoon and a bit of string” for support during a hard time of changing lives. I love the story behind it, too, Margaret. We never know what a prompt, this time a title, will bring to us, often the best gift! Thanks for hosting!
So charmed by your poignant poem! You reminded me that I had once written about little plastic cups my grandmother gave me.
What a touching poem, Margaret. I’m in the process of cleaning out my folks’ house, where I grew up, now that they’re in a nursing home, so seeing all these little things they’ve held onto over the years is overwhelming, both literally and figuratively. Thanks for sharing, and for hosting today!
So many can connect to this process. It is overwhelming and difficult. My best to you at this time.
I do love how you wrap your little poem and tie it up so neatly! Well done. And thank-you for hosting us here today.
I think everyone who has reached a certain age experiences cleaning out the detritus of a parent’s life. You have captured the poignancy of this process in your poem. I too have kept A Teaspoon and a Bit of String (and much more) from my mother and mother in law.
[…] If you’re looking for today’s complete Poetry Friday roundup, you’ll find it at Reflections on the Teche, where Margaret Simon “stole” the title of an illustration to write a touching, […]
I’m on the same wavelength this week, just back from my childhood home, where we were sorting through boxes and saving spoons (and sewing machines, and photographs, and the letters mom and dad wrote to each other before they were married…which I can’t read just yet, but will someday). This is a beautiful poem, and (another connection) I finished reading Kleon’s newest book on the drive. I love his work.
This is just beautiful. We aren’t quite there yet, but can see this moment approaching with our parents. It’s amazing how those little things–a teaspoon and a bit of string–can evoke so much emotion and memory.
Oh, this is so beautiful…especially the details in those second and third stanzas. What a lot of changes this year…
This poem is so hauntingly beautiful and full of such truth. Thank you, Margaret. I am grateful that you went to that show and found such a title to take you – and all of us – on this journey. I wish you and your parents love at this new stage of life. xx
[…] be sure to visit my good friend and critique group partner, Margaret Simon, at Reflections on the Teche for the Poetry Friday […]
Thank you for hosting! Have a wonderful weekend.
Margaret, this poem is so full of love and memories and comfort. What a comfort to know that you have that spoon, so you can “carry it with me
into next time.” Beautiful. Thank you for hosting today!
[…] week, Poetry Friday is hosted by Margaret on her blog, Reflections on the Teche. Thanks for hosting, Margaret! Be sure to stop by and check out her blog and also see what others […]
This is a lovely poem–you really capture the tenderness of reliving the past while handling each little thing.
Thanks for hosting!
After a week spent almost entirely in the company of my parents, your poem is poignant–sometimes the teaspoon and the bit of string are not tangible, but still there. This poem is definitely going somewhere! My favorite is the last stanza with its tuck, teaspoon, tie and with a bit and carry it–lovely language!
P>S> Denise Gallagher’s illustration is something special, the angles and shades of limited color. Good steal!
I love
“Hand it to your lover
to remember you with.”
Thanks for hosting.
Ruth, thereisnosuchthingasagodforsakentown.blogspot.com
[…] already written most of this post and had my plan in place. Then, I read Margaret Simon’s PF post two weeks ago. Rats! Apparently, my idea was not as innovative as I had thought! lol She noted that […]