Photography | Reflections on the Teche

Archive for the ‘Photography’ Category

This Photo Wants to be a Poem: Under the Pier

Posted in Photography, Poetry, This Photo Wants to be a Poem, Travel, Writing, tagged #poemsofpresence, #ThisPhoto, Dr. Mary Howard, Myrtle Beach, small poems, sunset, This Photo Wants to be a Poem on January 18, 2023| 29 Comments »

I can’t resist a good sunset photo. I don’t think I’m alone in this. A brightly colored sunset reminds us that things will be alright. I saw this wonderful photo on Mary Howard’s Facebook. She often posts sunsets from her new home in Hawaii, but this one is from Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. She happily granted permission for me to use it.

“I was in Myrtle Beach SC for a SERRRA presentation. Each night I’d walked the beach to get sunset photos. On this day I noticed that I could actually walk under this and it made for a perfect photo. I’m learning to pay attention to my gut!” Mary Howard

Please post a small poem in the comments and support other writers with encouraging responses. I will be posting my own poem later today.

Sun reluctantly sets
in golden glow
sending us a message
of hope.
Margaret Simon, draft

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This Photo Wants to be a Poem: Full Wolf Moon

Posted in Photography, Poetry, This Photo Wants to be a Poem, Writing, tagged Full Wolf Moon, Iphone photography, Jone MacCulloch on January 11, 2023| 63 Comments »

Did you see the moon last week? The Full Wolf Moon came out on January 6, the 12th night of Christmas. I was struck by a photo from Jone MacCulloch on Instagram. Like Jone, I was taking an early morning walk and tried to capture it with my phone. She used an iPhone 13. They seem to improve the camera feature on every new phone.

When I asked Jone about the photograph, she wrote, “Every morning I take the dog out sometime between 6:30- 7:30 ( when he gets up. I’m always the first up). This was last Friday. I used an IPhone 13. The moon was setting and one thing that struck me was how it is now more northerly in the sky.”

Can you follow your moon muse and write a small poem? Share in the comments and write encouraging comments to other writers.

The moon glows
in harmony with the sun–
a perfect reflection
of peace.
Margaret Simon, draft

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This Photo Wants to be a Poem: Moss

Posted in Photography, This Photo Wants to be a Poem, Writing, tagged Henry Cancienne, Nature poems, small poems, Spanish moss on January 4, 2023| 37 Comments »

Happy New Year and Welcome to This Photo Wants to be a Poem. Let the muse take you away for a few minutes to the swamp of Louisiana where Spanish Moss drapes from trees. This week I am using a photo from photographer Henry Cancienne who head out to shoot photos on New Year’s Day when the weather was misty and warm (balmy). Henry’s photographs are featured in my book Bayou Song: Explorations of the South Louisiana Landscape.

Henry takes pictures of both flora and fauna of South Louisiana. Let this photo help you create a small new year poem (perhaps your first of 2023; it is mine). Share your poem in the comments and write encouraging responses to other writers.

Swamp fairies
sprinkled dewdrops
to wake up the forest.
The new year was yawning.
Margaret Simon, draft

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This Photo Wants to be a Poem: Papère’s Hand

Posted in being mamére, Gratitude, Photography, Poetry, This Photo Wants to be a Poem on December 28, 2022| 5 Comments »

Welcome back to This Photo Wants to be a Poem, a weekly writing prompt that I borrowed from Laura Purdie Salas’s Fifteen Words or Less. I was not here last week, so Linda Mitchell took the reins with a beautiful photo from Amanda Watts. I was busy last week with the arrival of my 4th grandchild, June Margaret. You can read about that experience here.

On Christmas Day, my husband and I were separated for the first Christmas in 40 years. He traveled to New Orleans on Christmas Day to meet his new grandchild and have a bowl of gumbo. Baby June is a big baby, and her fingers are long. I marveled at them as Jeff (Papère) held her tiny hand. This is a more personal image than I usually post. Forgive me, I’m smitten.

Papère’s Hand

Christmas package
wrapped in tiny fingers
perfectly peaceful
Margaret Simon, draft

Take a peaceful moment for yourself to write, remember, marvel and share. If you are able, write an encouraging comment for other writers.

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This Photo Wants to be a Poem: Early Sunset

Posted in Photography, Poetry, This Photo Wants to be a Poem, tagged #poemsofpresence, #smallpoems, This Photo Wants to be a Poem on December 14, 2022| 31 Comments »

I read somewhere that the earliest sunset is on December 13th. Did you think, like me, that it would be on Winter Solstice Dec. 21st? After carpool duty, I was walking to my car and saw this beautiful ray of sunlight peeking through the clouds. I noticed the sun was lower in the sky. My school is situated out in the country among sugarcane fields. This single horse only recently appeared in the field next door. At the end of a long day, this scene brought me peace.

Winter sun slyly slips
lower in the sky
beckoning me to slow down
and be still.
Margaret Simon, draft

Write a small poem in the comments and support other writers with encouraging words. Thanks for stopping by.

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This Photo Wants to be a Poem: Fountain at the Zoo

Posted in Photography, Poetry, This Photo Wants to be a Poem, Travel, Writing, tagged New Orleans Audubon Zoo on December 7, 2022| 4 Comments »

A few weeks ago our family celebrated Stella’s second birthday by going to the Audubon Zoo in New Orleans. After a full day of rain on Saturday, Sunday dawned clear and mild. A perfect day for the zoo. The Audubon Zoo has a signature fountain as you walk in. Some of the sprays create an arch over the walkway. It is a place where families meet to take a photo.

I’ll be writing later with my students and will add my poem here. Please consider writing today and supporting other writers with encouragement.

Avalyn and I wrote together using Rose’s poem as a model. Thanks, Rose.

Meet Me at the Waterfall

Meet me
at the waterfall
where elephants
play,
where penguins wiggle
toes
in a cold, icy sleigh.

Meet me
at the waterfall
where my dreams
come true,
and if you make a wish,
yours
will come true, too.
Mrs. Simon and Avalyn (3rd grade)

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This Photo Wants to be a Poem: Start with a Dream

Posted in Photography, Poetry, This Photo Wants to be a Poem, Travel, tagged #gratitude, #poemsofpresence, #smallpoems, Barry Lane, Paul Hankins on November 30, 2022| 28 Comments »

Welcome back. I’m sorry I missed posting last week, but my flight left Los Angeles at 5:50 AM. I had a wonderful trip to NCTE and lovely visit with my friend Julieanne. Then it was home for Thanksgiving and to New Orleans for a birthday weekend with my grandchildren. Life has been full and busy lately. ‘Tis the season.

The photo today was posted by Barry Lane, author, musician, and educator. It was tagged for This Photo by Paul Hankins on Facebook. Not only does the photo speak to travel, it seemed to travel itself to get to me. Even if you haven’t been traveling lately, you can relate to the image through the inscription on the building (which I totally missed the first time I saw the photo, so I’m pointing it out.).

Add your small poem in the comments and respond to other writers with encouragement.

Dream your dream.
Carry on.
Take me with you.
Margaret Simon, draft

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This Photo Wants to be a Poem: Cajun Prairie

Posted in Photography, Poetry, This Photo Wants to be a Poem, Writing, tagged Cajun Prairie Habitat Preservation, haiku, James Edmunds on November 9, 2022| 27 Comments »

In most parts of the northern hemisphere, fall is a time when leaves change hue and fall getting ready for the dormancy of winter. But here in the deep south of Cajun country, the prairie goes to seed. My friend and neighbor James Edmunds recently photographed fields of prairie grasses. I was attracted to the starlike seed pods of this one.

On Instagram, James wrote, “The Cajun Prairie project in Eunice right now is in a beautiful post-flowering, going-to-seed stage. The perimeter can be walked on nice sidewalks and gives views into a wide variety of native grasses!” To see more, I found a website for Cajun Prairie Habitat Preservation. It does my nature-loving heart good to see there are organizations dedicated to preservation and restoration of natural land.

Prairie grass sashays
replanting, replenishing
starlike seedlings soar

Margaret Simon, haiku draft

Write your own small poem in the comments and support other writers with comments. Thanks!

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This Photo Wants to be a Poem: Milkweed Seed Pod

Posted in Photography, Poetry, This Photo Wants to be a Poem, Writing, tagged Karen Eastlund, milkweed, seedpod on October 12, 2022| 9 Comments »

I love how both students and poet participants are on the look out for photos that want to be poems. Last week I featured a sunset photo taken by a third grader. This week Karen Eastlund sent me an interesting photo from her garden. She said they planted milkweed hoping for monarchs. I have recently found 3 monarch caterpillars on my own milkweed. Two of them were on volunteer milkweed that had planted itself in a crack of concrete near my air-conditioner units. I’m so glad I left it there growing wild and free like the weed it is meant to be. Thanks Karen for this amazing photo of a milkweed seed pod, open, soft, and free.

Seed pod opens
to the morning sun
waiting for a wisp of wind
to carry feather-soft seedlings
to the sky.
Plant me upon your pinwheel
and carry me along.
Margaret Simon, draft

Please leave a small poem draft in the comments. Come back, if you can, to write encouraging comments for other writers. Happy Hump Day!

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This Photo Wants to be a Poem: Student Version

Posted in Photography, Poetry, This Photo Wants to be a Poem, tagged #poemsofpresence, #smallpoems, student photo, sunset on October 5, 2022| 35 Comments »

This week’s photo is from my student Brayden. Over the weekend I got a text from his mom. First came the photo. Then she wrote, “Brayden took this picture and wants to write a poem about it.”

I think my eyes welled up. I won’t go into the whole history of Brayden for privacy’s sake, but this felt like a turning point to me, not only in his writing life, but also in his relationship with me (and all things School). What teacher wouldn’t want a student to look at a beautiful sunset and think about poetry? It’s a first for me.