Earlier this week, I witnessed a female monarch laying eggs in my milkweed. She was an unexpected, yet welcomed visitor. I watched while she flitted from leaf to leaf. I have gathered 10 of the leaves into a net habitat to wait and watch.
My writing partner Catherine Flynn wrote an etheree today on her site, Reading to the Core. Here is the definition of the form:
An etheree is a poem of ten lines in which each line contains one more syllable than the last. Beginning with one syllable and ending with ten, this unrhymed form is named for its creator, 20th century American poet Etheree Taylor Armstrong.
Inspired by Catherine’s Queen Anne’s Lace Etheree , I decided to write one about my monarch eggs.
Monarch Nursery
Pearl
Margaret Simon, 2020
on milkweed,
seed for monarch,
still and quiet August:
Promised ingredient
to Mother Earth’s recipe
for autumn migration glory.
Like watching the birth of a grandchild,
I’m mere observer of this miracle.
For my birthday last week, Catherine sent me this sweet golden shovel. I’ve met many kind people in the Poetry Friday community, and Catherine is one of the best. We’ve been in a writing group for five years. We meet by Zoom (even before the pandemic) every other week. I am blessed to have such a kind and loving writing partner. Thanks, Catherine. The feeling is mutual.
“…all that might be gained
from opening one’s heart wider.
Rebecca Mead, My Life in MiddlemarchHow fortunate am I that of all
Catherine Flynn
the people in the world that
I might
have met, I met you, a kindred spirit, destined to be
friends. So much to give, so much to be gained
by writing together, learning from
you, opening
my eyes to new vistas, so different from ones
I know, reaching my heart,
helping it grow wider.
Reflections on the Teche 