August 20, 2025 by margaretsmn
Summer is winding down. Although, the temperatures remain high. Once again, I turned to teacher-writer-photographer Molly Hogan for a photo prompt. Molly captured this water strider in perfect stride to open up a world. The photo itself is a poem.
It’s a just right day for a haiku. Please consider writing a response poem. Leave encouraging comments for other writers.
Glass pebbles glide
below water strider toes
tapping into green.
Margaret Simon, draft
Our address on the Bayou Teche
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April 1 Linda Mitchell at A Word Edgewise
April 2 Tricia at The Miss Rumphius Effect
April 3 Robyn at Life on the Deckle Edge
April 4 Donna Smith at Mainely Write
April 5 Denise at https://mrsdkrebs.edublogs.org/
April 6 Buffy at http://www.buffysilverman.com/blog
April 7 Jone at https://www.jonerushmacculloch.com/
April 8 Janice Scully at Salt City Verse
April 9 Tabatha at https://tabathayeatts.blogspot.com/
April 10 Marcie at Marcie Flinchum Atkins
April 11 Rose at Imagine the Possibilities | Rose's Blog
April 12 Fran Haley at Lit Bits and Pieces
April 13 Cathy Stenquist
April 14 Janet Fagel at Mainly Write
April 15 Carol Varsalona at Beyond LiteracyLink
April 16 Amy Ludwig VanDerwater at The Poem Farm
April 17 Kim Johnson at Common Threads
April 18 Margaret at Reflections on the Teche
April 19 Ramona at Pleasures from the Page
April 20 Mary Lee at A(nother) Year of Reading
April 21 Tanita at TanitasDavis.com
April 22 Patricia Franz
April 23 Ruth at There's No Such Thing as a Godforsaken Town
April 24 Linda Kulp Trout at http://lindakulptrout.blogspot.com
April 25 Heidi Mordhorst at My Juicy Little Universe
April 26 Michelle Kogan at: https://moreart4all.wordpress.com/
April 27 Linda Baie at Teacher Dance
April 28 Pamela Ross at Words in Flight
April 29 Diane Davis at Starting Again in Poetry
April 30 April Halprin Wayland at Teaching Authors
Reflections on the Teche 
Glass pebbles is perfect. They look so solid.
Partners for 47 years
Walking on water
seems like an impossible thing to do
and yet, we are asked
to do it every day.
Difficult problems
are more the norm
than the abnormally.
Let me be your pebble
just below the surface
to hold you up
long enough
to get to the other side.
I love the sweet sentiment of this poem. “Let me be your pebble.” That reminds me of a song from Godspell that’s about putting a pebble in your shoe and walking.
Diane, what a love story of the truth of “for better, for worse.” My partner and I have been a pebble for each other many times over our 42 years. Thank you for this.
Whether this poem is about a marriage or simply about being alive in the world, it holds big truths about how we should be there for others!
Perfection
The trick to walking on water?
Never look beneath the surface.
Never study your reflection.
Stride. Glide. Stride.
Love this photo, Molly! And glass pebbles is perfect, Margaret.
I love the deeper meaning of this small poem.
Buffy, I love the sound and surety of the steps in that last line. Stride. Glide. Stride. Yes!
Thanks for the advice! 🙂
Molly & Margaret, I look at this beautiful picture and it brings such peace. Glass pebbles–so true. I can’t unsee them now.
surface tension holds–
at rest, at peace, holds those who
need a way across
Let’s promise to be the surface tension for each other!
[…] Responding to “This photo wants to be a poem” […]
What a photo, Molly! WOW! I, too, love your glass pebbles, Margaret.
five small mirrorscapture a glimpse of the skylook down to look up
Why did I lose my formatting??? I’ll try again…
five small mirrors
capture a glimpse of the sky
look down to look up
Looks good now. I’m not sure why it didn’t work the first time. I love that last line!
I love the intricacies of the photo that each poem captures a different part. I see the five mirrors with the reflected sky. I too love that last line.