Poetry | Reflections on the Teche

Archive for the ‘Poetry’ Category

NPM #9: Festivals and Forms

Posted in Poetry, Teaching, Writing, tagged crochet canopy installation, dodoitsu, Lao New Year, New Iberia travel, Spanish Festival, student poetry on April 9, 2022| 2 Comments »

It’s festival season and most of them are back from a long Covid break. All week I introduced different poetry forms to my students. They could choose their own topics. Coincidentally two chose to write about upcoming festivals using the dodoitsu form. Dodoitsu is a Japanese form that uses the syllable count of 7,7,7,5. Avalyn, 2nd grade, wrote about the Lao New Year Festival. Avalyn’s family belongs to the Buddhist Temple located in Coteau, a suburb of New Iberia. In the 70’s Laotian immigrants were aided by Catholic Services to purchase land to build a temple. Every year around Easter, the community celebrates the Lao New Year. Avalyn is looking forward to it with enthusiasm. She wrote a cherita here. I’m sharing her dodoitsu.

My Lao New Year
First we go inside to pray
next we go outside to play
food and fun and lots of joy
spend money on toys
Avalyn, 2nd grade

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lao_New_Year,_flour_throwing.jpg

The Spanish Festival queen is a substitute teacher at our school, so she and her cohort visited the school to promote the Spanish Festival happening this weekend in New Iberia. This beautiful crocheted canopy is on display downtown.

Chloe was prompted by the queen’s visit to write her dodoitsu about the Spanish festival.

Spanish Festival
Crochet ceiling, knit till dark
staying up with family
Everyone’s culture matters
As dawn sets down day
Chloe, 6th grade

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This Photo Wants to be a Poem: Dandelion

Posted in Photography, Poetry, tagged #poemsofpresence, #smallpoems, #verselove, dandelion, Ethical ELA, Lory Landry, Mary Lee Hahn, This Photo Wants to be a Poem on April 6, 2022| 23 Comments »

If you are here for the first time, this post is a weekly photo poetry prompt originated by Laura Purdie Salas as Fifteen Words or Less. This is a place to play with words and interact with other poets. On Ethical ELA this week there were two different Verse Love prompts in which the writer took inspiration from another writer, a word or a line traveled from poet to poet.

Let’s play with this idea of poems communicating with each other. I will start us off. The first person here can take a word or line from me. As always, you may choose to go your own way. That’s fine, too.

Today’s photo is from my friend, first grade teacher Lory Landry. When she isn’t teaching, she is taking photographs. I loved the intimate perspective of this one.

Mary Lee Hahn is writing a poem each day about the climate crisis. I loved her poem about dandelions.

https://twitter.com/MaryLeeHahn/status/1511411818236985349

Wake up, dandelion!
Starbursts ready to fly.
Blow, spring wind, blow!
Margaret Simon, draft

The Progressive Poem is with Linda Mitchell today. Molly had a conflict, so Linda stepped up to add the next line. Thanks, Linda!

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Slice of Life: Jump Day

Posted in Poetry, Slice of Life, Teaching, tagged #techeproject, Bayou Teche, Jump Day!, student poetry, wood duck nesting box, wood ducks on April 5, 2022| 6 Comments »

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

Thirty-four days. Our wood duck hen sat for thirty-four days. We were losing hope, afraid the freeze back in March did it. On Sunday morning I got a text from a bayou neighbor, “Today is jump day for one of our houses!”

“Our duck has been sitting for 34 days. No hatching yet. I’m not sure we should keep waiting.”

“Mine sat for longer than usual.”

So I flipped over to our RIng app. Did I hear cheeping? Mother hen was eating a shell. They were hatching!

You probably want to know how many, but it’s nearly impossible to count when they are little blurry black blobs wiggling.

Monday was Jump Day. It was also a school/work day. We had to rely on the camera. Jeff set up a new Ring camera outside of the house in order to record the jump. Around 10:00, I checked the cameras. Gone. All the ducks had jumped. I missed it, but the camera did not.

As I showed the video to my student, Avalyn, she named the little ducklings. “Come on, Tiffany, you can do it!” she urged as one of the babies hesitated to jump. Avalyn also wrote a poem-song (impromptu) to celebrate Jump Day!

Wood duck, wood duck
open your shell.
Come out, come out, come out now!
Little duck, little duck,
quack with your snout.
Little duck little duck, little duck
don’t you frown
Come play in the bayou
and make no sound.
Avalyn, 2nd grade

Jump Day, 2022: Watch the lower right corner to see Momma Duck come back to get a wayward duckling.

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NPM #4: Literary Festival

Posted in Poetry, Teaching, Writing, tagged #verselove, Books along the Teche Literary Festival, Ethical ELA, National Poetry Month, Poem Portraits on April 4, 2022| 1 Comment »

What a full weekend! The Books along the Teche Literary Festival was held in New Iberia. On Saturday, my friend, artist Paul Schexnayder and I led a children’s workshop. He taught the art part and I led the poem part: Poem Portraits. The kids wrote a bio-poem and decorated a cardboard face with Picasso-esque facial designs.

Outside in Blue Dog Park, there was a children’s authors area, but I decided not to sit and sell books this year. I had a good time supporting my SCBWI friends, hanging out at their tables, chatting and selling their books.

It certainly helped that the weather was probably the best we’ve had all year.

Blue Dog Park was the location of the Children’s Author Tents

For Ethical ELA, Gae Polisner and Lori Landau led the prompt with a suggestion to choose a line from another writer’s poem and create your own poem. They called it Collaboration Inspiration and it was probably the most prolific day for writing so far. Pop over to read the amazing poetic responses and to be inspired yourself. I borrowed my first line from Stacy: “Yesterday I wore only a sweater.”

Yesterday I wore only a sweater
Cream-colored comfort
in the morning chill.
I left it on a folding chair
in the children’s authors’ tent
where we joyfully greeted
a couple from Ohio
who loved children
and storybooks
and the craft of illustration.
A book festival can be an inadequate space,
sitting for hours
no sales in sight
pondering imposter syndrome.
Yet on this April day
I dropped my sweater,
tossed my discomfort to sunshine
and a circle of writers
who fed my soul
and warmed my shoulders–
no sweater needed.
Margaret Simon, draft

Progressive Poem is with Mary Lee today.

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NPM #3: Core Memories

Posted in Poetry, Writing, tagged Ethical ELA, memory poem, National Poetry Month on April 3, 2022| 2 Comments »

I am participating in Ethical ELA VerseLove. On Saturday, the prompt was given by Emily Yamasaki, a teacher in San Diego. She led us to write a poem after things I have memorized by Maria Giesbrecht. To me, scent is a memory maker, so most of my lines center around smell.

Things I have Memorized (randomly ordered)
The smell of coffee and pancakes on Saturday morning
How many turns and stop signs in the circle drive from Beechcrest to Sedgewick
Hum-buzz of a hummer at the feeder
First words
Stench of our house after the flood
Sparkle of diamond
Scent of his cheek on the pillow
Honeysuckle, Sweet olive, and Aunt Alabel’s perfume
Recipe for cornbread dressing
My childhood phone number (956-2526)
The Lord’s Prayer, My Country ‘Tis of Thee, and Itsy Bitsy Spider
Margaret Simon, draft

Hummingbird at the feeder in my backyard. Taken August 30th. Photo by Margaret Simon

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Slice of Life #30: This Photo Wants to be a Poem

Posted in Photography, Poetry, Slice of Life, Teaching, Writing, tagged #small poems, equation poems, student photography, This Photo Wants to be a Poem on March 30, 2022| 45 Comments »

Last week I took my students out to the playground to find photos. I wrote about the activity yesterday. I was surprised by the variety and interest their photos generated. Without any direction, Adelyn straddled the drainage and folded herself in half and took this photo upside down. When I asked if I could use her photo for the poetry prompt, she said, “Be sure to give me credit.” Of course. She wrote this equation poem: Investigation = question + adventure.

Now it’s your turn. What do you see? Write a small poem in the comments. Support other writers with your comments.

Follow your curiosity.
Landing among the stones,
Explore a mystery.
Margaret Simon, draft

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This Photo Wants to be a Poem: Bloodwort

Posted in Photography, Poetry, Slice of Life, Writing, tagged #poemsofpresence, #smallpoem, bloodwort, Laura Shovan, secret garden on March 23, 2022| 32 Comments »

Laura Shovan is an author-poet-friend who lives in Maryland. She posted this photo on Facebook with the following message:

Bloodwort is one of my favorite #secretgarden plants. They only bloom for a few days in early spring. The dogs (or I) stepped on this flower — rescued and happily in an espresso cup!
Laura Shovan, 3/22/22

I love the idea of a secret garden. I love the book The Secret Garden. When I first moved to the house I live in now, every season I would discover new-to-me plants and flowers.

I also love that Laura rescued this little blossom and placed it on a table in an espresso cup. Something so ceremonial and sacred about that.

Bloodwort is also known as bloodroot because the roots are red. Join me in musing on this photo today. Leave your small poem in the comments and encourage other writers with your responses.

Prayer
Grace
from her secret garden
fell
at her feet.
She knelt in the still cold earth
to notice
and return its kindness,
placing the small flower
in a small cup,
like a prayer.
Margaret Simon, draft

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Slice of Life #22: Hope Haiku

Posted in Poetry, Slice of Life, Teaching, Writing, tagged haiku, inspirational quotes, Mr. Brown's precepts, simile on March 22, 2022| 7 Comments »

Quote-of-the-day from Matthew, age 11, in 365 Days of Wonder:

This precept gave me the opportunity to teach about simile. Avalyn understood immediately and created her own simile. When the syllable count emerged as 5, then 7, I saw a haiku in the making. Avalyn completed it with a dazzling 5-syllable line.

Hope is the rainbow
sparkling in the sunshine rain
dazzling air with Joy!
Avalyn, 2nd grade

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Slice of Life: Symbols

Posted in Poetry, Slice of Life, Writing, tagged charm bracelet, grandmother, The Slowdown on March 19, 2022| 7 Comments »

I wasn’t going to write today. My tired body and weary mind said, “Nope. You are all out of gas.” Then I took a walk. While walking I listened to sweet Ada Limón on her poetry podcast The Slowdown. More than the poem she read, I was inspired by her introductory words. She said, “There are symbols everywhere.” I took that line and mused on it. This is what I dictated into my Notes app (with some revision).

There are Symbols Everywhere

No one noticed
I wore my grandmother’s bracelet–
charms with each grandchild’s name
engraved, missing Beth, the youngest
born too late to make it onto the chain
before Nene’s death. I wonder
if she wore the tinkling charms
placing me in the center of her circle
a symbol of her love for us,
or a symbol of God,
family, humanity?
It is a symbol
nevertheless
to me, to me.