I drive the same roads every day as I travel between two schools. Both of my schools are rural, and I’ve come to appreciate the calm of the countryside. This spring the black-eyed Susan wildflowers have been in full bloom. Usually I am on a time schedule and can’t stop to take pictures, but recently as I was passing, I put on the brakes and put the car in reverse right there in the middle of the road. I took this photo. It was a bright sunny day and I took it quickly, but the next day the field had been mowed and all the yellow flowers were gone. I realized I should appreciate the present moment. The old adage “Stop to smell the roses.” What else are we given but this moment right now?
Invitation: Share your own poem in the comments and encourage other writers with comments.
No one can tell you what to do.
Margaret Simon, draft
You have to be bold.
Some see weeds
where others find gold.
Reflections on the Teche 
What a poignant reminder to notice, but also to sometimes throw it in reverse and capture moments of beauty and joy.
Thank you for finding the gold and sharing it with us, Margaret! Here’s my offering:
Abandoned barn
Ceding to dereliction and decay,
Sacrificing to rust,
Still hosts Black-eyed Susans
With wild hospitality.
Jane Heitman Healy, draft 5/18/22
Love the description of the barn–those delicious d words and the wild hospitatlity.
What a grand old barn, despite its decay, that your poem describes to hold out and host those Black-eyed Susans.
I love the “wild hospitality”!
Love the weeds/vs gold perception, Margaret. My native plant/weed garden approves! Black-eyed Susans won’t bloom until summer around here, so I’ve jumped seasons.
Summer Party
Dancing with the grass,
flirting with the bees,
Susan with her Black eyes,
swaying in the breeze.
–Buffy Silverman
Love your poem Buffy, I see those Suzie’s swaying too!-and stirring internal movement!
Oh, this is lovely! cha, cha, cha!
Such a happy little ditty with dancing and flirting.
What a wonderful image Margaret and marvelous responses from all– love the gold you found in that farm field! A question for you… Can I borrow the image for my Poetry Friday post this week? My poem is a bit longer, so I’m sharing half today and the rest with my post for Friday, thanks!
FARMFIELD WILDFLOWER’S
Look
close,
even
closer…
Feel Black-eyed Suzie’s
Lace-feathery edge
dance ‘round
Burnt sienna old barn, and
kiss her dried out edges
as she playfully moves
up and down barns
sun-warming facade
creating her dense golden-crown mass
among field’s tree-lined horizon…
Michelle Kogan
draft
First half of poem
Holding my breath for the second half on Friday, Michelle. I like this close-up.
Thanks Jane!
Of course you can use the image. I wish it were a better photo. I look forward to seeing where you take this. So much great description.
Thanks Margaret, and for stopping and capturing the scene!
Thanks for this photo, Margaret, and for the eyes to see its poetry:
Some would say lonely
But I am drawn by
Quiet blue sky
Nodding yellow blooms
Weathered boards
Rusty roof
And the void that held a window
In the old barn
This is such a thoughtful poem, Karen. Loneliness vs. aloneness, void vs. filled, nature vs. mand-made–all interesting contrasts to ponder.
I love this perspective seeing the place as peaceful rather than lonely.
Summer Sonnet of the Black-Eyed Susans
Bronze eyes shaded by gleaming brass bonnets
Sue bobs and sways to breeze whispered sonnets
Caressing the soul of the steadfast red shed
While marching along to the nowhere they’re led
Their roots put to task in warmed fruitful soil
Their dance belies purpose disguising their toil
Thus beelines are made in haste after dew
To reap of their gold before it is through.
Donna JT Smith ©2022
Your rhymes delight me, Donna.
You are so good with rhyme and meter. Love “caressing the soul of the steadfast red shed.”
What a great thing to notice. I can’t help but reflect on my own instances of a constant seemingly important “hustle.” Thanks for sharing and inspiring.
Looking for Poetry
I scan through my notebooks for signs of poetry.
I find very rushed jumbles
concerned with an “ending” or “message.”
I need to take time.
Slow down.
Wander along the flowers of letters,
pay attention to how their alchemy
beckons.
[…] poems today come from Margaret Simon’s post yesterday, for This Photo Wants to be a Poem.Thanks Margaret for taking time to stop on your way to teach, and capture this photo for all of us […]
[…] me through the country. I have come to love this scenic route. In the spring I stopped to take a photo of a barn among wildflowers. One day last week I saw a new calf in the field with the white cows. I […]