While I was in Ohio for NCTE, my husband sent me this photo of a harvested sugarcane field under an awe-inspiring sunset. He described it to me this morning, “It covered the whole world!” Ethical ELA held its Open Write this week. Kim Johnson prompted us to write a poem using Ada Limón’s poem Give Me This. I wrote a golden shovel about this photo using a striking line: “Why am I not allowed delight?”
So many sunset photos, I wonder why
attraction to orange, pink, purple sky is what I am
with you. Loving this mirror–I
with you, noticing. We are not
the same, yet we’re always allowed
a sunset delight.
Margaret Simon, after Ada Limón
I invite you to write an ekphrastic poem about this photo. Imagine the bigness of the sky, the awe-inspiring sunset, a field of brown…wherever the muse takes you. I hope you take a moment away from your Thanksgiving preparations to write. Come back if you can to comment on others’ poems with encouraging words. Most of all, “Happy Thanksgiving!”
Reflections on the Teche 
cotton candy sky
cloud-filled sweets find me below
praising autumn’s light
What a fabulous strike line…perfect question for this photo. And, with a nod to the great Ada Limon. Bravo!
💙your “cotton candy sky” Linda and praise for nature’s treasures—thanks and
Happy Thanksgiving! 🦃 🍁
Here’s to Autumn’s light and nature’s delight. Happy Thanksgiving!
Your metaphor is just right–cotton candy sky!
Yes, that is cotton candy sky. I love to see you below “praising”!
Linda, “cloud-filled sweets” is perfect for the “cotton candy sky.” Thank you!
Gorgeous color and lovely poem and post Margaret, thanks for sharing your “sunset delight” and captivating pic!
Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family! 🦃🍽🍁
samony-pink sky
pause us, take us in—refresh
our perspective…
Michelle Kogan, draft
Lovely how nature can help us “refresh”
Happy Thanksgiving!
I’m thinking of how a refresh of our perspective changes us and makes us more empathetic.
Michelle, such a lovely turn when you address the sky “pause us, take us in” I feel it wrapping me up.
Michelle, I love the idea of the sky taking us in and refreshing us. Thank you!
Beautiful picture and poem, Margaret. You captured the feeling of a shared-from-afar experience with your husband. His words also inspired me:
why does it take
the beauty of a sunset
to remind us that we are united
under one sky
seeking peace
Happy Thanksgiving to you and those you love.
Sometimes beauty hits us in the face and says, “We are all one!” Such a good question/poem.
Rose, your poem inspired mine today. I love the idea of us “united / under one sky” and “seeking peace” So beautiful.
Such a piercing question, Rose. Why, indeed? Hope you find many things to be thankful for this day.
I love your sweet poem, Margaret, and the fact that you and your husband discussed the sunset through text messages. What a lovely gestures on his part to send you that photo. I wrote a golden shovel with what he said about the photo.
It is a one-of-a-kind sunset
covered in pink-blue puffs–
the birth of hope for the
whole broken
world to start afresh
If only a beautiful sunset could save the world. I love how you used Jeff’s words and added a dose of hope.
“the birth of hope” can happen anywhere, anytime under a sky like this. Happy Thanksgiving, Denise
Margaret, your golden shovel is loving and lovely. Thanks, too, for sharing the Limon poem, new to me. We, too, have had beautiful sunrises & sunsets, each a wonder.
Oh, sky, you loom large enough to
swallow me whole.
Instead, you put on a
colorful, ever-changing show,
expecting me as your audience.
~Jane Heitman Healy, draft
I love the idea that the sky is putting on a show, and “expecting me” And when I don’t show up, the show goes on anyway. What wonderful thoughts your poem conjures.