Gratitude | Reflections on the Teche

Archive for the ‘Gratitude’ Category

Slice of Life: A Wig for Christmas

Posted in being mamére, Gratitude, Poetry, Slice of Life, tagged art, girl wishes, hair, long hair, Merriam Webster Word of the Day, music, technology on December 24, 2024| 6 Comments »

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

When I was 12 years old, all I wanted in this world was long hair. My hair was shoulder length with an uncontrollable wave right near my earlobe. But I could not grow long, luscious locks like other girls. So I asked my mother (Santa) for a wig. On Christmas Day, my wish came true. I remember wearing that long blond wig and being humiliated by comments from other kids. Shamed, disappointed, dreams dashed, I never wore the wig again.

Yesterday my now 4 year old granddaughter got an Elsa wig for her birthday. Oh, how Stella longs for long hair. My daughter tells me she wears her swimming cap with the fabric along the sides to pretend to have long hair, so the Elsa wig was an immediate hit. Stella didn’t wear it for long, but not because she was bullied about it. It just wasn’t practical for playing on the park’s ultimate tree house; you can’t roll around on a net without your hair falling off. I wish I could have been more like Stella when I was young.

I look at her boldness, her wild clothing choices, and her undying spirit of I’m-always-right, and feel hope for this new generation of girls. I hope we continue to raise girls who, like Stella, do what they want and stand up for what they believe in.

At the birthday party, my daughter was dressed like Stella requested, in two different animal prints. She looked amazing. Life is far from perfect these days, but watching my fierce daughter raise an equally fierce daughter gives me hope and delectation.* (Word of the day meaning a feeling of delight or enjoyment.)

At the party, I held the 4 month old daughter of one of my daughter’s friends. This poem came to me after reading the meaning of the word delectation.

Delectation
Holding the baby
small as a doll
seeing through her eyes
to the Aegean sea

feeling the weight of her
sink into my arms
wondering what kind of world
we are creating for her.

She smiles anyway,
grabs at the print of my shirt
rooting toward my breast
(a let-down tingles)
and I relax, trusting

as this infant trusts
she will be safe.

Margaret Simon, draft

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Poetry Friday: On Love

Posted in Gratitude, Poetry Friday, Writing, tagged Amber Tamblyn, Lory Landry, The Isolation Journals on December 20, 2024| 11 Comments »

Poetry Friday is hosted this week by Jone MacCulloch

I have subscribed to The Isolation Journals for years and often read the prompts but don’t do them, usually because I read them at a time when I don’t have time to stop and write. They usually speak to me, but perhaps there is a little intimidation happening with me as well. I don’t know. I try to keep my doubt under control, but it’s not always that easy.

I tucked away a prompt from Amber Tamblyn. She used anaphora in a poem titled “This Living”. Her prompt suggested we use this same phrase, “It’s going to be”. As I was driving to school on a particularly foggy day, a phrase came to me, “I could fall in love with”. I played around with it in my Notes app. Autocorrect created the title.

On Love

I could fall in love
with someone
playing acoustic guitar
singing breathy tones.

I could fall in love
with a fog bow
reaching for a waning moon.

I could fall in love
with twinkling lights
blue, red, golden
on the tall Main Street
Christmas tree.

I could fall in love
with my own alto voice
rising in this small car
joining a choir
cantata.

I could fall in love
with darkness
coming so soon–
a winter solstice
Peace.

by Margaret Simon, draft

Peace has been my One Little Word for 2024. I’m grateful for the way “peace” showed up for me and for this poem. Have a wonderful holiday season!

Christmas tree on Main St. by Lory Landry

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This Photo Wants to be a Poem: Fountain

Posted in being mamére, Photography, Poetry, This Photo Wants to be a Poem, Writing, tagged #poemsofpresence, #smallpoems, advent elfchen, Main Street New Iberia on December 18, 2024| 9 Comments »

Last weekend I took my grandchildren to the Main Street library to do Christmas crafts. They enjoyed playing around the fountain. They were full of questions: Can you swim in there? Can I touch the water? Leo genuflected with the water, a move he apparently saw Spider-Man do.

I took this photo, marveling at how the drops of water seemed to dance in the wind.

I offer this photo as inspiration for your writing today. Do you have memories that may emerge? Can you write a small poem or haiku describing what you see? Anything is possible in poetry.

I’ve been writing Advent elfchen. Today’s poem sticks with this form.

Fountain
Dances along
While children play
Splashes of joyful laughter
Bubbler

by Margaret Simon, draft

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Spiritual Thursday: Wintering

Posted in Gratitude, Spiritual Growth, tagged Enneagram, spiritual journey, Susan Piver on December 5, 2024| 8 Comments »

Spiritual Journey, First Thursday is being hosted today by Kim Johnson at Common Threads. This is Kim’s first time to host, so please give her some comment love!

Kim Johnson, our SJT host, has read a new book, Wintering by Katherine May. I have not read this, but I loved reading Kim’s thoughts about how winter gives us some time to read and reflect. I wish I could say that I’ve had that kind of time, but the truth is things have been quite frenzied around my house. But a spiritual journey means even in times of stress, we should make moments in our day for prayer, meditation, and reflection.

I am currently reading The Buddhist Enneagram: Nine Paths to Warriorship by Susan Piver. I heard her on a podcast called The Austin Enneagram by Elizabeth Chapin. The author Susan Piver writes concisely about the enneagram numbers while adding in Buddhist teachings around warriorship. Who doesn’t want to be a warrior? I struggle to embrace the good aspects of my number (four) and tend to focus more often on the negative ones, such as overrun emotions and shame. Working on ourselves and with our personalities is a lifelong spiritual journey.

AI tells me “In Buddhism, warriorship is about being present with what is happening, and not reacting with fight or flight. It’s about facing one’s own neurosis in order to address the neurosis of the world”

I can become a warrior by living in gratitude.

On one of those frenzied days, I became overcome by irritation, so I took a drive by myself. I went to the pharmacy to pick up a prescription. While I checked out, a woman recognized me and told me how her husband was in the hospital. My heart went out to her. Also, my irritation was relieved. God was letting me know, through presence and empathy, I can be selfless and generous. Maybe I can be a warrior who “addresses the neurosis of the world.”

What are you reading on these cold days? How are you being a warrior?

Here is the link to the Google spreadsheet for 2025 if you would like to host a month for Spiritual Journey First Thursday. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1G73WNfn54dXAqT8gJTAcPfPtmWh0pXxo1LrTdf2aTMA/edit?usp=sharing

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Slice of Life: Novel Coffee

Posted in Gratitude, Slice of Life, Writing, tagged Maine, Molly Hogan, Portland, Travel on November 26, 2024| 16 Comments »

My husband and I are on vacation in Portland, Maine. On Sunday my dear friend and fellow Inkling (writing group) Molly Hogan and her husband Kurt took us to the most photographed lighthouse.

The views were incredible, but the best part was seeing Molly in person and getting to know her husband. We talked for hours.

The highlight of our time here yesterday was the ferry cruise. We happened upon a ride that carries supplies and mail to the islands. There was a young man who did everything, and one of his jobs was to find us and tell us stuff about the islands. I’m guessing in the winter months there are fewer tourists.

I like some alone time in any given day, so after shopping at Reny’s (Molly was right; we found good deals), Jeff dropped me at the Novel coffee shop where one can read and have coffee. I picked up a copy of a book I didn’t know existed about a poem that few knew existed.

Walt Whitman’s Live Oak, with Moss is not the poem you think it is. The papers he wrote the poem on were torn and put back together into other more acceptable poems. Originally Whitman was writing a love poem to a man (or men).

The book drew me right in and I read it on the spot. Brian Selznick took an idea he had discussed with Maurice Sendak to illustrate the long hidden poem. Sendak never had the chance.

Here are some pages:

In every vacation there are the things you plan and the happy happenstances. This little treasure was waiting for me, I believe.

Happy Thanksgiving! May you find a small moment to treasure in your heart.

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Poetry Friday: My Place in the World

Posted in being mamére, Gifted Education, Poetry Friday, Writing, tagged "my place in the world" poem, #bayoulife, #beingmamére, student poetry on November 23, 2024| 11 Comments »

Poetry Friday is gathered by Ruth at There is no such thing as a God-forsaken town.

My students and I are reading Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse. In the book, there is a poem “On the Road with Arley” that begins with line “Here’s the way I figure it, my place in the world is at the piano.” It’s been fun to find music of the time period and write alongside it. My students worked hard to create poems using this beginning line. I asked them to use imagery to create a tone. I wrote a model poem about my place in the world.

In a Canoe

Here’s the way I figure it,
my place in the world is
on the bayou
lazing about in a canoe
with you.

I’m just a mamere
wanting the best time
to be outside
watching for eagles
slipping through slow current
listening for Mr. Owl
to cook-cook-for-you!

My place is in open toes
among cypress knees
sniffing catfish air
hearing cicadas buzz
when the sun goes down.

Here’s the way I figure it,
my place in the world
is in a canoe with you.

Margaret Simon, draft

Photo by Nitin Arya on Pexels.com

Here’s the way I figure it,
my place in the world is
out of it.

My place is in a different place,
far away from here.
In a mythical world,
or one that is crumbling
even more than mine is.

With my favorite characters
I venture
for escape.
Escape.
My feet will beat the ground,

in my head a pound,
and then I settle down.
In a bed or a chair,
I wind

wind

wind

down.

I read, and I am free.

Here’s the way I figure it,
my place in the world is
seeking distraction from it.

Adelyn, 6th grade

Where is your place in the world?

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Poetry Friday: Ode to the Satsuma

Posted in Gratitude, Poetry, Poetry Friday, Teaching, tagged #poemsofpresence, Louisiana fruit, ode, satsumas on November 8, 2024| 16 Comments »

Poetry Friday is hosted today by Cathy at Merely Day by Day

With my fifth and sixth grade students, I am reading Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse. I’m amazed at the parallels of the Dust Bowl to our current climate crisis in Louisiana, but that is a post for another time. Today I am determined to focus on beauty.

The poem Apple Blossoms was our mentor text. I wrote alongside my students about our favorite fruits. Mine is currently overflowing on a tree in our backyard, the satsuma.

Ode to the Satsuma

after Karen Hesse “Apple Blossoms” Out of the Dust

Not just an orange,
you are the ultimate
citrus,
hanging like golden ornaments
on our tree near the fence
where butterflies play
and spiders web.

Your easy-to-peel goodness
makes anticipation grow
in fall, until by Halloween,
the tree is full, overflowing, drooping, dripping
inviting me to basket
a gift for you
to share juicy sweetness
and smile!

Margaret Simon, draft

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Poetry Friday: Ten Ways of Looking at a Grandchild

Posted in being mamére, Poetry Friday, tagged #Poetrypals, grandchildren, Wallace Stevens on September 27, 2024| 17 Comments »

Poetry Friday is hosted today by Irene Latham at Live Your Poem.

This last Friday of September, the Poetry Sisters called out a challenge based on Wallace Steven’s Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird. I enjoy puzzling together ideas into poem forms. In the model poem, Stevens uses few words in each stanza to convey a single emotion or thought.

I became intrigued by the idea of looking at grandchildren, not a single one, but the idea of having a grandchild. I have three daughters, and have been blessed with 4 grandchildren, ranging in age from 5+ years to 21 months. Each of my daughters have had at least one miscarriage.

To write this poem, I started using sticky notes, I carried the collection around for a few days. It worked well for separating each one and arranging them into some logical order. Thanks to my Inklings’ honest feedback, I am ready to publish this poem here, but I’m not leaving it. I want to feel that it will grow as my grands grow and reveal more to me about this amazing journey in grandparenting.

Ways of Looking at a Grandchild

I.
Grandmother
Mother
Daughter
3 in 1
1 in 3
Egg to egg to egg

II.
Cut the cord
connection broken
New bond forever woken.

III.
Cells divide.
Divide again.
Sometimes there is no
heartbeat.

IV.
The way a mother looks
at her child with purest adoration–
A bloom of a flower planted
long ago.

V.
Golden curls,
crystal blue eyes–
Precious gems to hold.

VI.
Hand sign
three fingers
I
Love
You

VII.
One day she’s Ariel
another Anna, Batman, Spiderman—
always a fierce girl wonder.

VIII.
Whose eyes are these?
I think I know. I’ve seen them
from a portrait glow.

IX.
Whispers at bedtime
“Sing me the song you sing”
A grandmother’s lullaby.

X.
Curve our bodies together
and turn pages of a book,
We enter a magical place.

Margaret Simon, draft

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Spiritual Journey and Poetry Friday: Wholehearted

Posted in being mamére, Gratitude, Spiritual Growth, Writing, tagged #beingmamére, #HurricaneFrancine on September 13, 2024| 18 Comments »

Today is a dual post for Spiritual Journey and Poetry Friday. Ruth Ayres is our host for the Spiritual Thursday link up here. Heidi Mordhorst has the Poetry Friday gathering here.

Ruth chose the topic of “wholeheartedly” for Spiritual Thursday. When I looked up the meaning of wholeheartedly, I read “with complete sincerity and commitment.”

Due to the invasion of Hurricane Francine, I wholeheartedly jumped into protection mode. My daughter sheltered at our house with her two littles, Leo (5.5) and Stella (3.5). Combine that toddler energy with a 6 month old puppy and you get an equation of full on energy. We baked, we colored (Albert ate a few crayons), we read, watched a fun Disney movie “Brave”, and played and played and played. My daughter said to me as they took all the plastic containers out of the cabinet, “They never get bored.”

My teacher heart was happy when Leo wanted to write a book. We folded a zine, and he wrote and drew. It was fun so see him making the connection between letters and sounds and words. His first page read “Mat is soopr hro.” He couldn’t stop laughing when he decided that Mat would sit on a pear. I loved seeing his face shine with pride.

I’m happy to report that Francine came through with little fanfare here in the arch of the boot, New Iberia. She skirted by to the east and only dumped rain and some leaves and branches. My grandchildren have learned about earning cash for chores, so they happily helped pick up sticks (a penny a stick) and swept cypress needles off the deck.

This post is neither very spiritual or poetic, but I felt I should post something. There’s a reason I didn’t write much while my children still lived in our home. I am wholeheartedly a mother and now a grandmother. I wouldn’t change a thing.

Leo and Stella show pride in their baked banana bread.

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Spiritual Journey: Pause a While

Posted in Gratitude, Spiritual Growth, Writing, tagged pause, spiritual journey on August 1, 2024| 6 Comments »

Carol Varsalona is gathering Spiritual Journey posts. She chose the topic of Pause.

Pause. Be still. Take a break. Breathe.

I hear a mantra in Carol’s call for us to reflect on the word “Pause.” My summer has been a time for pause, a time to reflect and rest. Here I am on the first day of August awake before the sun. Teachers report back to school today. My pausing time is at an end.

So especially today, I want to remind myself that even though I will be in the classroom among the hubbub of school activities, bells, schedules, carpool, crazy, I can still make space for pause.

A pause can be small.
Stop to notice.
Breathe in a peaceful moment.
Look at a child.
Rest in their smile.
Pause is a peaceful word,
the sound of silence
in the midst of my day.
As I drive the country roads,
I can pause to notice the clouds,
how they drift without direction
or concern.

Soften your eyes. Notice where your body
feels pain or anxiety. Speak to it.
Honor the feeling, then release it.
You can do this, I tell myself.
You can be calm, open to what the day
offers. Rest in the knowledge that all
will be well. All will be well.