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Archive for February, 2025

Poetry Friday is hosted today by Denise Krebs at Dare to Care.
Alma Thomas, The Eclipse1970, acrylic on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the artist, 1978.40.3

Each day this month I have written a poem. I know that this sounds impossible. It certainly feels impossible to me. I joined a group of like-minded poets arranged by Laura Shovan to celebrate her February birthday with poetry. Writing in a community can feel impossible. How can I meet the standards? Who am I to believe I am a poet?

But I did it, every day. This makes me believe that impossible things are possible. I have hope that we can exist in a world where poetry brings solace, hope, and community. Today, Heidi Mordhorst posted a similar art piece to compare our group to a circle of stars. I went to the linked page and found The Eclipse. There are different perspectives from each person in our galaxy. Some may see a circle, some see the dots of paint, and some focus on the dark center. However you view art, poetry, or time is yours alone. You get to decide.

But as Heidi so wisely said, “Some days, our circle was a parachute, lifting or sinking, catching or launching you. Some days our circle was the deepest well or mirrorest puddle, and maybe there was a day when our circle was a black hole of obligation, until the next day when you caught sight of a certain name, a certain voice, and our space became a sequin of possibility again.”

Tomorrow I will begin another writing journey, the annual Slice of Life Challenge from Two Writing Teachers. Today it feels impossible to write a blog post every day in March. If you read my blog, you are always welcome to swipe left and delete it. But I hope you’ll stick with me, cheer me on, and remind me that impossible means “I’m possible.”

Learning to write can seem impossible to a 6 year old. As I watch my grandson develop his reading, writing, and drawing skills, I am amazed at the capacity of our brains to learn. Here is a poem I wrote this month beginning with the space we make between words.

What space are you giving to yourself? How are you doing impossible things?

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Metal Sculpture by Ida Kohlmeyer at New Orleans Aquarium

Last week I met our friend from Maine, Molly Hogan, and her husband in the Quarter in New Orleans. She was visiting, and it was Jeff’s birthday, so we took the day off to visit with them during their vacation. One of the things we came upon (in addition to a fabulous walking parade) was a unique sculpture garden outside of the Aquarium of the Americas.

Further research identified these sculptures as being restored sculptures by artist Ida Kohlmeyer (1912-1997). The installation was supported by a grant to the Ogden Museum of Art. The sculptures are titled Aquatic Collonade Maquettes. AI defines this as “a small scale model, or “maquette”, that depicts a colonnade, which is a row of columns typically joined by an entablature, often used in classical architecture to create a covered walkway or part of a larger building.” For more information, click here.

I invite you to write a small poem about this sculpture. In the spirit of shared art, please encourage others with your comments.

I chose to write a cherita poem. A story poem told in three stanzas (1 line, 2 lines, 3 lines).

The collonade invites her in

with a curtsy and a bow,
curly flowers in her hair.

She dances in her ocean dream
obliviously happy
among her aquatic guests.
Margaret Simon, draft

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Poetry Friday is hosted today by Laura Purdie Salas.

Today is my husband’s birthday. I wrote him a poem. The poem came from a prompt from Georgia Heard during her Write Bites workshop with Ralph Fletcher. She shared Imperfection by Elizabeth Carlson. Elizabeth’s poem begins with the line “I am falling in love with my imperfections.” It’s a wonderful poem about accepting your faults. I turned my attention to the imperfections of our house. If you own your own home, you’ll understand. This week we had a water heater go out. Oh my, how we take hot water for granted until it’s gone.

Imperfection
after Elizabeth Carlson

I’m learning to love
the smell of dust gathering
in soft corners
how mold creeps in the crevices
of window sills.

I’m finding joy
in the left behind sliver of soap,
stash of tea-stained cups,
single smelly sock.

Our house has become a home
of imperfections. That door
never stays shut. That switch
doesn’t turn any light on.

We are ignoring the leak
streaking the living room wall. I’d rather sit
next to you on the sofa,
make space for the dog between us,
talk about the day behind, the future ahead.

Let the house be. Let the rain come. 

Margaret Simon, 2025

The Big White Castle in the snow of January, 2025. (We call our house a castle because it has a turret, a unique mid-century modern architecture feature of the early 70’s.)

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Ice Kingdom by Molly Hogan

Here is another amazing photo from my friend Molly Hogan. She had to work hard to capture this scene. She used bubble mixture and a straw. She said it took patience and that her hands were freezing. Sometimes what looks easy is actually hard work. The reward is in this amazing ice kingdom inside a bubble.

Ice Trees

A magical dome
where ice trees rise, multiply–
Still frozen kingdom
Margaret Simon, draft

Please leave a small poem in the comments and offer encouraging responses to other writers.

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Thank you to Two Writing Teachers for creating an amazing community of writers and a safe, welcoming space to write and share.

Every year at about this same time I look ahead to March and realize it’s coming. During the month of March for at least 10 years, I’ve written a daily post alongside many others for the Two Writing Teachers daily Slice of Life Challenge. I approach March with a sense of dread and excitement. Writing a daily post, looking at a blank page and filling it with something worthwhile, is daunting; however, after so many years of experience, I know that writing in a community of other writers drives me.

This month I’ve been writing with a Facebook community for Laura Shovan’s 13th annual February Challenge. I feel it’s an impossible task until I get it done and look at my collection of poems. Most of them are drifty drafts, but it pleases me to have written them.

The most common denominator I have seen among writers who commit to daily writing is the fear of writing for an audience, and the best feeling is having written for an audience. My students experience the same fear. They don’t know it yet, but I’ve signed them up for the classroom Slice of Life Challenge. Writing out loud for an audience makes us vulnerable, yes, but it also makes us strong and brave.

If you are planning to do the SOL Challenge, let me know in the comments. We can support each other.

Here’s a small brave poem I put on my Instagram yesterday. I was visiting Mississippi where my brother and my mother live. We met yesterday with a very sweet Hospice nurse, and for the first time, I left my mother feeling hopeful. There is a gift in small moments of hope. I’ll take it.

Morning walk encounter with hope
rising from the lake
like our heroic Hospice nurse
who speaks in loving lift,
healing hearts.

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Poetry Friday is hosted by Linda Baie at Teacher Dance.

Last Friday and into the beginning of this week, my students worked on heart maps inspired by Georgia Heard. To see their “maps” and poems, see this post.

I wrote an epistolary poem to the violin. Inspiration flowed when playing Vivaldi’s Four Seasons. The violin is my favorite instrument. My grandmother was a violinist, though I never heard her play. When Jeff and I hear Cajun music, my favorites are the waltzes with dual fiddles. The instrument is universal to all kinds of music. In the poem, I used my One Little Word Still.

I have left a card on the kitchen counter for my husband. We’re in our 43rd year of marriage. I am blessed with long love. Here is the note (poem) I wrote for him.

Acknowledgement

“Acknowledge the many ways in which your life and relationships are good.” Enneathought of the Day 1/17/25

Life is good.
I don’t have to sit on the floor
for hours talking so you will understand,
but I would
and so would you.

Even in the silence
of making the bed,
we hold each other.

We can laugh at a photo
and bring it up later
with only a word;
giggles rumble
like rainbow bubbles
between us.

We are not One.
We are Two
dancing a waltz
of life-is-good
together. 

Margaret Simon, draft

Happy Valentine’s Day! I hope your heart is full. Take a peek at Carol Varsalona’s padlet. A few of my students are featured there.

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Cardinal in the Snow, by Molly Hogan

Molly Hogan doesn’t mind cold fingers. She takes amazing pictures around her home in Maine. She posted this one of a male cardinal all puffed up for the cold. The contrast of red on white makes the cardinal stand out. Recently I witnessed a cardinal couple in the fruit tree. The male was on the lookout while the female fed on the ground. It’s sweet how they care of one another.

This is the week we celebrate love with Valentine’s Day. I am sharing a zeno (8, 4, 2, 1, 4, 2, 1, 4, 2, 1) for the cardinal which symbolizes many things.

 Hope and Renewal: The vibrant red plumage of male cardinals is often associated with vitality, strength, and renewal. Their presence can symbolize hope and the promise of new beginnings, particularly during challenging times. Love and Relationships: Cardinals are known for forming strong and lasting pair bonds. Because of this, they are sometimes seen as symbols of devotion, loyalty, and the deep connections found in romantic relationships and partnerships. (from the birdhouse.ca)

Use any form that works for you and leave a small poem in the comments. Be sure to spread poetry love with comments for others.

Cardinal Zeno

Filling the frozen bird feeder
cardinal spy
waits for
seeds
tweets out his call
while Mom
feeds
affectionate
bird heart
freed.
Margaret Simon, draft

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Thank you to Two Writing Teachers for creating an amazing community of writers and a safe, welcoming space to write and share.

I subscribe to Georgia Heard’s Heart map newsletter, Heartbeats. Last week she inspired me to use her print outs with my students on Poetry Friday.

We usually analyze a poem and write in the form of the poet or steal a line, etc. But on Friday, after the AR dance, we needed a break. I turned on Vivaldi’s Four Seasons. My students spread around the room and played with paper. I was surprised at how focused they became on a Friday!

We’ve returned to our heart maps to write poems from them. Some wrote as Georgia suggested, a letter poem to the thing you love most. Some wrote a poem like Danusha Laméris’s poem The Heart is Not.

James’s heart map

Dear pillow,

You comfort
My head
Every night
And
Keep me warm
Until
It is morning
Where the sun
Rises.
When I go to school
I miss you
Because 
You’re my
Object with a story.
James, 4th grade

Marifaye’s Heart Map

I love how Marifaye took the map idea to a literal design making her heart look like a map. I sent this one to Georgia through Instagram. Marifaye wrote about her cat Carson. I feel partial to this poem because I was involved in matchmaking Marifaye to Carson. Carson was a stray kitten in my mother-in-law’s yard this summer. He was fostered by my friend Corrine. Then Marifaye’s family adopted him. He has found a soft place to land.

My Cat Carson:

How I love you so so much
makes me smile every touch
you make me happy
when I’m sad
hearing you purr
and watching your tail flap
hearing you meow, begging for pets
then you take off,
as fast as a jet.
as soon as someone comes get me
I just can’t wait
to see my baby
my baby cat,
Carson.
Marifaye, 5th grade

My messy heart map with letter poem draft.

Avalyn was drawn to the model poem by Danusha Laméris.

The Heart is Not

a bowl
it’s not something you could just place
your thoughts,
emotions, 
memories in
until it overflows.

The heart is not a bowl
it’s not something you could just
discard

The heart is not a bowl
it’s not just a 
pretty
decoration.
Avalyn, 5th grade

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Poetry Friday is hosted today by Carol at Beyond Literacy Link

On the first Friday of the month, Inklings (my trusty writing group) respond to a challenge. Mary Lee made it easy this month. She asked us to type a color into the public domain image archive and find a photo to write about. I chose lilac. I immediately got a photo I knew was telling a story. I imagined that Lilas and the bug are having a conversation.

“Unhappy the man who never had his eyes fill with tears at the sight of a particular flower. Such a one can have been neither a child nor a youth. He can have had neither mother, sister, nor affianced bride. He never loved.” This is the tone and tenor throughout Les Fleurs animées (The Flowers personified), a collection of floral — and sometimes florid — writing, featuring playful illustrations by J. J. Grandville (1803–1847), engraved and hand-colored by Charles Michel Geoffroy.

How Lilas Learns of Love (a cherita)

With draping lilacs for long locks,

Lilas questions Sir Ladybug,
“Where will my love grow?”

Love grows from a starter seed
planted small in your heart
until with wisdom, grace, and tender care…Blooms!

Margaret Simon, draft

To see other Inkling poems, visit their blogs:
Linda @A Word Edgewise
Mary Lee @ A(nother) Year of Reading
Molly @ Nix the Comfort Zone (and oh boy, did she ever…)
Heidi @my juicy little universe
Catherine @ Reading to the Core 

Spiritual Journey first Thursday is gathered by Bob Hamera.

Bob suggested we ponder the idea that doors may close while another one opens, how focusing on the closed door may lead us to miss the open one. My father spoke about this in his firm belief that there is always a resurrection. Jesus showed us in a very real sense that when someone dies, it is not the end. I’ve always prided myself on a belief in the resurrection; however, when faced with an actual closed door, a death of something in my life that I put my trust in, whether it be a job, a friendship, a manuscript, I get lost and lonely and question. That is the rough part of the death/resurrection story arc.

I am following a path to a new journey to retirement. This is a door I’ve chosen, but even so, I have mixed feelings. So many of my days with my students are good, happy, and fulfilling. I will miss teaching, I know. I also know I’m a teacher through and through. I chose this career when I was 15 years old. I will find ways to still be a teacher. I keep telling myself this truth, but it’s not easy. When I tell people I’m retiring, I hear “Congratulations!” I wish I could feel excited. Is it the closed door I fear? Or the open one I’m unsure about?

Resurrection fern is grey when the sun is out, but turns to bright green after the rain. May God bless us with the knowledge and grit to survive the grey and thrive again after the rain.

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Photo by Jeff Simon in downtown New Iberia, LA.

With Toto in her arms, Dorothy clicked her heals and repeated “There’s no place like home. There’s no place like home.”

Brainstorm your thoughts around the word home. You may use Dorothy’s iconic words as a title. Or describe a place in your life that feels like home.

I used a form created by J. Patrick Lewis called the zeno based on a numerical sequence for syllable count: 8, 4, 2, 1, 4, 2, 1, 4, 2, 1 in which each one syllable line rhymes. For more examples, I found this 2014 post from Today’s Little Ditty.

Snow transformed home to wonderland,
silent ocean
of white
flakes
reminding us
climate
wakes
imagine us
safe from
snakes.

Margaret Simon, draft

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