Posted in Photography, Poetry, This Photo Wants to be a Poem, Writing, tagged #haiku, #poemsofpresence, Molly Hogan on September 28, 2022| 16 Comments »
Our friend Molly loves to rise early and with camera in hand, head to the nearest water source. Morning light illuminated some mysterious bubbles on her recent excursion. I marvel at her photography skills and her ability to see beauty. Let’s take a moment to stand in awe, to see beauty, to feel alive.
Write a small poem in the comments and respond with encouragement to other writers.
Just below surface
Margaret Simon, draft
mysterious, magical
breath of life bubbles
Posted in Photography, Poetry, This Photo Wants to be a Poem, Writing, tagged fruit trees, modern haiku, small poems on September 20, 2022| 26 Comments »
I try to get outside early in the morning for a walk, often before the sun rises. On my path is a grove of fruit trees. I watch these trees as the season slowly changes to fall. Trees seem to know even before we can feel the air temperature change that fall is on its way. I know the slant of light changes and all that, but I just wish for a little cooler breeze. My husband always says that satsumas (oranges) ripen around the time of the first report card. I wrote a modern haiku in honor of the wet green fruit. Please take a moment to write a small poem in the comments and support other writers.
Sweet fruit of the earth
Margaret Simon, draft
Taste of rain, taste of sun
Abundantly enough
Posted in Photography, Poetry, This Photo Wants to be a Poem, Writing, tagged #smallpoems, Kim Douillard, Stone sculpture, Stuart Collection, UC San Diego on September 14, 2022| 16 Comments »
This week’s photo comes from California photographer/ teacher Kim Douillard. I couldn’t resist this not-so-cuddly bear-of-stones. She took the photo on the campus of UC San Diego, marked with the hashtag Stuart Collection (click here to see a size reference).
I hope you enjoy musing on this photo. I’ll be back later with a poem. Post a small poem in the comments and encourage other writers with responses. Thanks for stopping by.
A Fib Poem (1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8)
Bear
Margaret Simon, draft
your
boulder.
Be bolder
in your stone-cold suit.
Hold a steady shoulder for me.
Posted in Photography, Poetry, This Photo Wants to be a Poem, Writing, tagged #smallpoems, acrostic poetry, Nature poems, Paul Hankins, spider webs on September 7, 2022| 22 Comments »
I don’t know much about spiders, but orb spiders are out and about doing their thing and making amazing intricate webs. I took the first picture from my front courtyard. The web was huge and glimmering in the sunlight. I couldn’t really capture it with a phone camera. If you look closely, you can see the big black spider in the center.
On my Instagram feed I saw Paul Hankin’s photo of a similar style web. His caption read, “What might you create in your own little corner?”
In my classroom, we are answering “This or That” questions for attendance these days. So I put these images side by side and ask you this or that? Are you the type to hide your masterpiece in a corner, under and away from others who may harm it or misunderstand? Or do you place your art where everyone can see it, if only they stop long enough to notice?
Create a small poem around your thoughts today. Share it in the comments. Return, if you can, to leave encouraging comments to other writers.
Weaving in my own corner
Margaret Simon, draft
Ever-winding path
Behold a work in progress
Posted in Photography, Poetry, This Photo Wants to be a Poem, Writing, tagged #poemsofpresence, pink sky, small poems on August 31, 2022| 43 Comments »
The skies have been dramatic lately with storms rolling in and out. On a morning walk earlier this week, I looked up and saw a carpet of pink. A few steps later, a rainbow. Then the sky became yellow and the clouds broke apart. All in a matter of minutes.
Let this image inspire your muse this morning. Where will you walk? Who is with you? What can you imagine? Write a small poem in the comments and come back to leave encouraging responses to others.
Avalyn (3rd grade) wrote this haiku with me:
Cotton candy sky
Mrs. Simon and Avalyn
If you look closer, you see
aesthetic heaven.
Posted in Photography, Poetry, This Photo Wants to be a Poem, Writing, tagged #poemsofpresence, #small poems, Maine, Molly Hogan, nature poetry, Tern, This Photo Wants to be a Poem on August 24, 2022| 19 Comments »
If you’ve been here before, you know that one of my favorite photographers is a critique partner, Inkling Molly Hogan. Molly lives in Maine and is an amazing photographer. Please take a moment to read her Tuesday post about “gathering calm” through nature.
When I go out to take pictures, I usually have at least the location in mind, which dictates some of what I’ll see. Ocean versus marsh versus river. Forests or fields. Still, there are surprises here, too. I never know what will capture my attention at that particular time. Will the fog call to me, or shadows or spider webs? Will interesting patterns emerge in sand, water or sky?
Molly Hogan
What does the poet see? What will draw your attention? The ocean waves? The striking bird? The patterns in the sand?
Hunger…
makes the baby cry
Margaret Simon, draft
the great owl hunt
the fledgling squeal
Hunger opens our souls
for feeding
Posted in Photography, Poetry, This Photo Wants to be a Poem, Writing, tagged #poemsofpresence, #small poems, country roads, white cow on August 17, 2022| 3 Comments »
School has started and thus, my itinerant trek from school to school. Last year I found an alternate route that took me through the country. I have come to love this scenic route. In the spring I stopped to take a photo of a barn among wildflowers. One day last week I saw a new calf in the field with the white cows. I passed a few times before I decided to stop. On this particular day no one was anywhere around, so I pulled into the driveway. Momma cow saw me coming and kept a close eye on me, but I spoke to her kindly and was able to get this photo of her new baby.
White cow, white cow
what do you hear?Little calf, little one
Margaret Simon, draft
love is always near.
Posted in Photography, Poetry, This Photo Wants to be a Poem, Writing, tagged Julie Braybrooks, newleafstudio, Salish Sea, Seattle on August 10, 2022| 34 Comments »
Words fascinate me. But sometimes they just puzzle me. I was scrolling through Instagram and came across my sister-in-law Julie’s beautiful post. She lives in Seattle and is a potter. Her Instagram is newleafseattle. She observes (and photographs) nature in her own unique way. This photo was captioned “On an Island in the Salish Sea – ‘choose a path and follow it.”
I asked “Where is the Salish Sea?” Then I googled and started to feel dumb (this is not a new feeling for me). The Salish (say-lish) Sea includes Georgia Strait, Puget Sound, and Strait of Juan de Fuca. Surely I have heard of this before with as many times we have visited Seattle. My google search revealed that the term was created in 1988, so it’s fairly recent, and was created to honor the Coast Salish, indigenous people of the area. Wikipedia offered this statement, “In a 2019 survey of residents in the general vicinity of the Salish Sea, only 9 percent of Washingtonians and 15 percent of British Columbians were able to correctly identify and name the Salish Sea.” This justifies my confusion but does not excuse it.
Let’s take a look at the photograph of rocks. Are you drawn in by the different colors of rocks or by the rings around the large stone? Let the muse take you where it will.
Like rings around a stone
encircle time,I hold close
embrace
Margaret Simon, draft
my path.
Posted in Photography, Poetry, This Photo Wants to be a Poem, tagged #smallpoems #poemsofpresence, modern haiku, summer, This Photo Wants to be a Poem on August 3, 2022| 39 Comments »
We have had a string of rainy days here in South Louisiana. It happens most summers and helps to regulate the rising temperatures. Some days you feel as though you will never dry out. The air is wet. The ground is wet. Your body is wet.
The grass loves all this moisture and it grows and grows. In a nearby empty lot, the grass is almost as tall as I am. On a recent walk I stopped to look at it. Even the weeds of nature that grow out of control are beautiful. Nature is ongoing, reliably replenishing, and ever growing. Maybe your area of the world is hot and dry. Wash yourself in the lushness of the bayou side.
Nature makes no demands.
Modern haiku, Margaret Simon, draft
Listen to the wind through the grass.
Earth’s song in harmony.
Posted in Digital Learning, Photography, Poetry, Poetry Friday, Writing, tagged Carol Varsalona, summer poem swap on July 29, 2022| 10 Comments »
My summer is winding down quickly. I start back to school next Friday. But the Summer Poem Swap is in full swing. Tabatha Yeatts organized pairings of poets to exchange creativity, gifts, and poetry. My third swap was with Carol Varsalona. (Note: I still owe her my end of the bargain.) Carol is a digital master. If you visit her website, you can find pages of inspirational digital creations. She used this prowess to create for me a Google slide show. She also sent me a print form. You can view the whole slideshow here.
The poem that Molly Hogan sent me had a similar theme of peace and tranquility. Are these poets trying to tell me something? Or do they recognize something in me that I am struggling to find within myself? Poetry is a profound and powerful presence in my life. Thanks Carol for your creative and sensitive expression of love.
Our address on the Bayou Teche
Order on Amazon.
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 