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NPM16 #7 Merciful

Posted in Photography, Poetry, Spiritual Growth, Writing, tagged cinquain, Liz Steinglass, mercy, Spiritual poetry on April 7, 2016| 5 Comments »

Day 5 is with Liz today. Click here.

Join the Spiritual Thursday round up at Reading, Teaching, Learning.

For Spiritual Thursday, we are reflecting on the word “Merciful” today, Bobbie Ann Taylor’s One Little Word.

A Merciful Cinquain

Failure
clouds my vision
like fog in the morning
drapes the coming sunshine in
mercy

Every morning I drive to my school in the country while the sun rises. I am often in awe of the way the light plays in the sky. This image of fog covering the sun made me think about my feelings of failure. These are natural, I suppose, as a teacher who cares deeply for her work with children and as a writer putting her words out to the world every day.

Liz Steinglass inspired me to use a cinquain form (2, 4, 6, 8, then 2 syllable lines.)

One tenet of faith that I have trouble grasping is mercy. We are already forgiven even before we ask it. When I fail, I tend to wallow in self-doubt. I need to repeat the mantra I am worthy until I believe it.

“Surely goodness and mercy will follow all of my days. I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” Psalm 23

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NPM16 #4 A Day in a Poem

Posted in Photography, Poetry, tagged #imagepoems, NaPoWriMo, National Poetry Month, Poem a Day on April 4, 2016| 6 Comments »

Day 4 is at Random Noodling with Diane

I first “wrote” this poem by speaking to my phone in the notes app. I didn’t start with a photographed image. If I could have, I would have taken a picture of the heron, but as we watched the scene, my cat snuck out and scared it off.

Instead I took a picture looking up at our church.

Sunday

On this day
I have plans,
compartments in my mind
like squares on the calendar.

But first, I look out
at the heron on the bayou.
He stretches his neck
into the bright morning sun.

I sip my warm coffee,
listen to the news,
the call of the mourning dove.

I will worship today
stick my neck out long
to catch the rays of the sun,
listen to an orchestra on the lawn.

–Margaret Simon

Here is a link to a padlet from JoEllen McCarthy from The Educator Collaborative with links to great #PoetryLove sites.

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SOL16 #24 Shine!

Posted in Photography, Slice of Life, Spiritual Growth, Writing on March 24, 2016| 17 Comments »

Join the Two Writing Teachers blog for March Slice of Life Challenge.

Join the Spiritual Thursday round up at Reading, Teaching, Learning.

Today the Spiritual Thursday group is writing about Doraine’s word, Shine. Dori is a poet and blogs at Dori Reads. In the spirit of Dori’s poetry, I wrote two haiku inspired by images of light.

Sunrise field created in Painteresque

The sun
never fails to shine
like my heart that opens to
shine for you.

Lake Martin sunset by Sandra Sarr.

Shine
The echo of light
calling amidst the darkness
See me.

–Margaret Simon

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SOL16: #7 Another Tree

Posted in Photography, Poetry, Writing, tagged cypress tree, tree poem on March 7, 2016| 22 Comments »

Join the Two Writing Teachers blog for March Slice of Life Challenge.

In February I took Kim Douillard’s photo challenge “One Tree.” I photographed and wrote a poem about our grandmother oak. Today I took pictures of another old tree. This one is a century-old cypress. It sits in the back surrounded by our deck. I can see it from my living room windows.

Cypress 1

Late winter sky
branches bare
reaching upward
in arabesque.

Cypress 2

Beauty builds in bold lines.
The cat climbs
crouches on a wide branch,
waiting.

Cypress 3

Whispers of wind
move wind chimes
watch the weather
and sense the day’s calm breath.

Cypress 4

This old tree cradles my bones,
my health, my heart.
Soon fresh citrus green will appear.
Showing me that life returns
again and again.

–Margaret Simon

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SOL16: #1 Sun Beams

Posted in Photography, Slice of Life, Spiritual Growth, Writing, tagged OLW, spiritual presence, sun photo on March 1, 2016| 16 Comments »

Join the Two Writing Teachers blog for March Slice of Life Challenge.

I try to take a photo of the sun coming through the clouds. My photo can’t capture the beauty. It can’t capture the moment. So I will try these words. Maybe they can tell you what I see and why it is magnificent.

The sun is a bright yellow-white light shining through a bluish-grey sea of clouds. Beams of light reach from the sun to the ground below, spotlighting the golden fields fallow now in winter. The clouds are white-capped waves dancing on the surface of the sea.

When the sun does this, no matter my mood or what I am worried about, my breath calms and sighs. Because of the magnanimity of it. How can I stay moody, anxious, or worried? Like when the geese fly with Mary Oliver and “announce my place in the family of things.”

I am driving to school. My car slows. Another driver passes me, honks the horn, zooms the engine, but still I slow down. I should slow down, enter my day like this sun plays on the sky’s monkey bars.

A dedicated science teacher I knew had a bumper sticker that read, “I stop for road kill.” My bumper sticker should be “I slow down for sun beams.” How else are we to be present in this world? How else can we say “thank you” to our creator? Recalls to mind a church camp song, “This is the day that the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it.”

Glad! That’s it. Be glad.

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Grandmother Oak: A Photo Poem

Posted in Celebration Saturday, Photography, Poetry, Poetry Friday, Writing, tagged celebrating live oaks, Grandmother Oak, photo poem on February 27, 2016| 14 Comments »

Poetry Friday round-up with Liz Steinglass.

Kim Douillard who blogs at Thinking Through my Lens hosts a photo challenge each week. The theme this week is “One Tree.” Armed with my new camera, I decided to create a photo poem about the Grandmother Oak who stands in my backyard.

Mr. Jim tells me this oak is more than 200 years old.
Her name is Grandmother.
Yes, my tree has a name.
Her name defines her
as strong and old and able to bear
the weight of the whole world
as gently as she would hold
a small child
or a cardinal’s nest.

She holds the weight of the world as gently as she holds a cardinal’s nest.

A rope swing waits
swinging in the soft breeze
remembering the children
taking turns to ride
and lean back to view the sky,
squealing delight,
making Grandmother smile.

Rope swing

Branches as wide as she is tall
twist and reach across
the yard, a place of shade
protection form the harsh sun
or the whipping wind
of hurricanes; she’s seen a few.
She knows when to shed and when to hold.
She knows how far to bend before she’ll break.
She knows.

branches wide and open

When I look up, the smallest branches
spread a canopy of tiny leaves
high and open to the blue
of sky, clusters of brothers
and sisters, a playground for squirrels,
a nesting place for Mr. Jay and his mate.

Branches high and small
open to the blue of sky.

Grandmother Oak holds her jewels
of resurrection fern and Spanish moss
like modest ornaments.
As a grandparent would, her home
is clean and fresh,
waiting and wanting
for you to stop by
and have a cup of tea.
–Margaret Simon

For Celebration Saturday, I offer this celebration of Grandmother Oak.

Ruth Ayres invites us the celebrate each week. Click over to her site Discover. Play. Build. to read more celebrations.

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Spiritual Thursday: Mindfulness

Posted in Photography, Poetry, Spiritual Growth, tagged mindfulness, One Little Word, Spiritual poetry on February 25, 2016| 10 Comments »

Join the Spiritual Thursday round up at Reading, Teaching, Learning.

For Spiritual Thursday, we are writing about each other’s One Little Word for 2016. Today we are exploring Violet Nesdoly’s word, Mindfulness.

Mindfulness

My mind is full
like the bayou after a long rain
that today blows wild
waves, cold and moving.

My mind wants to rest
like the dog at my side
snoring softly,
warm and content.

My mind seeks to understand
like that student who questions
and questions, driving me
to stop and think.

My mind is aware
of light coming through the window,
a spotlight on my hands,
open and close.

My mind turns to you
like the wind chimes chanting
Om mani padme hum
carries me across the rough water
to a place of peace.

Mindfulness, much like my own One Little Word present, means to “be still and know that I am God.” I sing this mantra over and over, making my mind clear to notice the spirit within me, to notice that I am not alone, to notice my love is enough. Stillness leads me to understanding. Presence to mindfulness.

Morning birdbath by Margaret Simon

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Celebrating Gifts

Posted in Celebration Saturday, Gratitude, Photography, Writing, tagged MudLove, World Wildlife Fund on February 20, 2016| 12 Comments »

Ruth Ayres invites us the celebrate each week. Click over to her site Discover. Play. Build. to read more celebrations.

It’s not even my birthday, but I received three “Just Because I Love You” gifts in the mail this week. A bracelet from “MudLove” that inspires me and helps provide a week of clean water to someone in need.

Word bracelets from MudLove.

A hand-knitted scarf. I took a quick selfie.

A bouquet of roses from my daughter and her fiancé.

roses from Kat

These gifts were thoughtful and made me feel special. Two of these friends have come to me from this blogging community. I am so grateful for the friendships I am forging through writing.

My students received some gifts this week as well. An artist who visited our class before Christmas sent tiny journals, just the right size for collecting small Slice of Life moments. They started decorating them on Friday.

Nikki Loftin will be Skyping with my class for World Read Aloud Day. She sent bookmarks.

My students raised money for the World Wildlife Fund by holding a bake sale. They raised $250. This week we received two buckets of animals. Now each student has a tiny stuffed companion.

I celebrate gifts of the spirit, too. Across from our house on the bayou is wooded property. In reality, it’s marshy land that would be difficult to develop, but years ago we bought it with our neighbors in order to keep it wild. In the early morning light, reflections are vivid. Beauty in nature is a gift every day.

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Poetry: Process or Product?

Posted in Photography, Poetry, Poetry Friday, Writing, tagged What is poetry?, William Stafford on February 19, 2016| 19 Comments »

Poetry Friday round-up with Donna at Mainly Write

Where does a poem come from?
From play with words?
Intention of language?
Simply throwing confetti to the wind?

A poem takes shape
whether I am present or not.
Some days the muse is mine.
Others I merely stroke the fire
waiting for the flame to ignite.

William Stafford said I should kneel
in the deep earth and dig.*

I kneel.
I pray.
I sing.
Then I open my notebook,
lay my pen against soft paper,
and wriggle these fingers.

A gift is given.
I will not let go.
–Margaret Simon

I’ve been thinking about where poems come from and whether the joy is in the process or in the product. I don’t know the answer. But I enjoy asking the question.

Kevin Hodgson sent out postcards. I got one and added my given word on the padlet he created. In this instance, the process was the fun. The sending and receiving of postcards in the real mailbox was exciting. None of us are really quite sure what the product means, but we all agree it’s cool.

* “Successful people cannot find poems; for you must kneel down and explore for them.”
–William Stafford.

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DigiLit Sunday: Inspiration

Posted in Digital Learning, Photography, Writing, tagged #sdawpphotovoices, Bayou Teche, digital literacy, Digital photography, inspiration, Kim Douillard, quiet on January 24, 2016| 4 Comments »

Please use this button on your site for DigiLit Sunday posts

As an educator and as a writer, I am always on the look-out for inspiration. It can come in the form of a blog post, a quote, a video, or an image.

This school year I decided to start a new posting on my kidblog site. I called it Snippet of the Sea to go along with my blog title, Mrs. Simon’s Sea. Each week I post something and ask the students to respond. I started out using quotes. I’ve used videos. And since the new year began, I’ve posted poems.

At first my goal was to promote kindness. The quotes had to do with kindness. But now I see that my purpose is more about inspiring real thinking. I want to expose my students to good, strong words and inspire them to be good stewards of their own words.

To view last week’s poem post by Irene Latham and my students’ thoughtful responses, click here.

I was this close to choosing Inspire as my one little word. I still feel attached to it. The meaning connecting breath and creativity appeals to the core of who I want to be. However, the root meaning spirit tells me that this word belongs to the Creator.

in·spire inˈspī(ə)r/ verb
1. fill (someone) with the urge or ability to do or feel something, especially to do something creative.
“his passion for romantic literature inspired him to begin writing”
synonyms: stimulate, motivate, encourage, influence, rouse, move, stir, energize, galvanize, incite
2. breathe in (air); inhale.

Kim Douillard of Thinking through my Lens inspires me. This week her photo challenge is Quiet. Works well with the quiet, restful week I’ve had. Living on the bayou, I am witness to the quiet calm of nature. On Saturday morning, a blue heron was perched on the water in the rising sunlight. He was there again this morning in the fog. I captured these images.