It’s a new year for Poetry Friday, so I created a logo using a photo from Henry Cancienne. Henry was the photographer for my book of poems, Bayou Song, and he recently emailed me a slew of photographs with permission to use them on Reflections on the Teche. Thanks, Henry.
Today is the first Friday, so the Inklings have a challenge. Heidi Mordhorst challenged us this month to write about #change. When we met on Sunday, everyone had had a full holiday with little time to write, so rather than critique, we created an exquisite corpse poem together. Each person wrote a line and sent it to the next person on a private chat message. After we had each had a chance to respond with a line, we shared the whole thread. Mary Lee was the experienced one at this process, so she placed the results in a Google doc with the instructions that we could manipulate the lines to create our own poem.
I drew bubbles in my notebook and placed each line inside a bubble to give myself the freedom to move around and play with the words and phrases. I like what I have for now. It was a fun exercise. I can’t wait to see what my other Inklings did with the original poem. Here is mine:
#Change (like the wind)
The wind unwinds us day by day
shifting clouds,
shining light,
casting shadows.When we choose to wander,
Margaret Simon (with Mary Lee Hahn, Molly Hogan, Heidi Mordhorst, Catherine Flynn, and Linda Mitchell)
submit like leaves on the forest floor
and understand
without challenging the direction
of the wind, we can walk
where steps and stones
still lie.
Follow these links to read how my writing friends #changed the poem.
Mary Lee at A(nother) Year of Reading
Molly at Nix the Comfort Zone
Heidi at my juicy little universe
Linda at A Word Edgewise
Catherine at Reading to the Core
Book Announcement: Along with many of my Poetry Friday friends, I have poems in the just released “Two Truths and a Fib” anthology from Bridget Magee. I wrote about bubbles. I’m excited to be a part of such a fun collection. Check it out!
Reflections on the Teche 
Margaret, your poem about change resonates with me because it is based in nature imagery. Well done! Congratulations on having poems in Bridget’s anthology! I look forward to reading it! Take care-
Love it! Your poem has what I’ve come to know as your classic tenderness. Your placement of the first and last lines is spot on. Bubbles in a notebook….that sounds fun. I might have to borrow that idea!
Beautiful poem! I’ve enjoyed reading all the variations that grew from the same words.
Your opening line grabbed me, Margaret. Beautiful poem. And thanks for sharing your process.
I loved reading about your process! I typed the lines, enlarged them, then cut them apart in strips so I could move them around. I found myself folding down parts of lines (words or phrases) until I finally found ways to make my haiku lines.
This was so much fun — seeing the variations each of us created from the same raw material. All similar, but all so very different!
It seems that ‘bubbles’ were on your mind! I like the idea of your poem, not only ‘change’ but a ‘letting go’, Margaret – “without challenging the direction
of the wind”. Happy New Year!
Oh! Such fun to read about how you approached this. Your poem has such a lovely flow and gentle mood. The photographs are a beautiful accompaniment to your piece.
Ooooh. I love that ending, Margaret. And LindaM’s comment is spot on, too – about your classic tenderness.
Wow, I love the line “the wind unwinds us.”
Hmm… Margaret, your Change poem has me thinking that in change, as in wandering, there is an element of choice.
Congratulations, Margaret, on being a Two Truths and a Fib writer. I just received my book today and hope to find time to read through the poems. My son saw the book and commented on how wonderful it is for me to be published in it. I like the idea in your poem that the winds unwind us.
Congratulations on your new inclusion in the book. How lucky to be gifted with photos.
I really liked your process for writing the #change poems.
Thanks for the shout out, Margaret, and for being a part of the anthology. I love your change poem – you truly are gifted with tenderness and bubbles! 🙂
Congrats on the publication! I like your poem & the comments about process, too.
I love what you did with our lines, Margaret! The opening stanza is perfect. Congratulations on being included in Bridget’s anthology!
Margaret, apologies–I thought I had commented on Friday but I missed you! Your remix is so YOU, and I like the addition of choice alongside change. I’m looking forward to diving into TT&AF soon but I have Cybils reading first!