Happy New Year and Welcome to This Photo Wants to be a Poem. Let the muse take you away for a few minutes to the swamp of Louisiana where Spanish Moss drapes from trees. This week I am using a photo from photographer Henry Cancienne who head out to shoot photos on New Year’s Day when the weather was misty and warm (balmy). Henry’s photographs are featured in my book Bayou Song: Explorations of the South Louisiana Landscape.
Henry takes pictures of both flora and fauna of South Louisiana. Let this photo help you create a small new year poem (perhaps your first of 2023; it is mine). Share your poem in the comments and write encouraging responses to other writers.
Swamp fairies
Margaret Simon, draft
sprinkled dewdrops
to wake up the forest.
The new year was yawning.
Reflections on the Teche 
Whenever I see your photos and read your accompanying work, I have such a sense of ‘place’….and yet at the same
time, the poems and even plenty of the photos reflect parts of my own faraway place, too (Chicagoland). Yesterday, I was just loving, as always, the dewdrops hanging delicately on cold, cold branches and twigs. They are endlessly fascinating…
DEWDROPS
I’m holding on
shimmering in the light
tiny rainbows
on display
just for you.
Yes for tiny rainbows shimmering in the light. Beaautiful image.
Fun to see a rainbow 🌈 in early January Carol, a hopeful image to carry through the next few months, thanks!
Carol, I love this personification and personalizing it. We, too, can hold on and shimmer to bring joy to others. Happy New Year!
…and to you, Jane!
I love how you used personification and described the dewdrops as tiny rainbows.
Love the dewdrop speaking to the reader!
Love your line “The new year was yawning” Margaret! Sometimes I think about birds’ feet on cold surfaces and wonder how they do it. I think that curiosity led to my poem today:
fuzzy slippers
of dew-dropped goodness
happy new year
happy feet
Lovely, comfy feet rose for birds and humans alike, ☺️ thanks!
Love “fuzzy slippers,” Rose!
Love the connection between the first and last lines.
Fuzzy slippers makes me smile!
Delighted with the image of “fuzzy slippers of dew-dropped goodness”, Rose!
I love 💗 “swamp fairies” and “wake up the forest.” Such a delightful rise for the new year, and lovely, inspiring pic too , thanks Margaret!
Here’s my fist poem for 2023
Tendrils of mossy
greenness meander amongst
morning dew drops and
spew celebratory
sparkles for our new year!
Michelle Kogan draft
P.S. Can I borrow the pic for a post with a photo credit?
Michelle, love your alliteration throughout, especially “spew celebratory/sparkles”
“meander” is such a great word!
Love “Meander amongst” and how it feels on the tongue. Also spew sparkles is a nice alliteration. You can use the photo. I have permission from Henry. In fact, you can use any photo with credit. I make sure I have permission before posting.
Great alliteration!
Such lovely sounds throughout your poem, Michelle!
I loved the feel of “meander amongst” on my tongue when I read this out loud—thank you!
Margaret, I love your fanciful “swamp fairies” and their actions. Happy New Year!
fine and frizzy,
soft and green,
hairdresser’s nightmare,
nature’s dream
~Jane Heitman Healy draft
Adorable, Jane! And all but the “green” matches my hair LOL!
Ha! Funny. I can relate with my frizzy hair in this humidity.
Ha! This made me laugh.
Love everything about this, especially the bouncy rhythm!
How delightful, makes me laugh too, thanks Jane!
Oh, I really enjoyed the playful nature of your response. Fun!
I’ve moved your spanish moss to a northern view…
Happy New Year to all!
oak branches speckled
with feathery green and gray–
lichens perch in winter
Nice haiku! “perch” is a great word when talking about something in a tree.
Perch is a great word. I also like speckled and feathery.
“feathery” things that “perch” in trees are the best! Love this response!
The idea of the new year yawning captivated me. Here’s my response:
dewdrops glow
with starlight memories
bedazzle the moss
“Starlight memories” is a wistful idea.
[…] tanka poem was inspired by Margaret Simon’s This Photo Wants to Be A Poem, post this week, thanks Margaret and for the photo too! Stop by […]
Late, but I loved the photo and had to write:
Hope huddles
Weathers storms
Reaps glistening dreams
© Karen Eastlund
It’s never too late. I’m glad you worked out the commenting kink. I love the alliteration of “hope huddles” and how hope can survive even the worst of storms.
Karen, I love the image of “glistening dreams”. Going to try to have one soon!