Poetry | Reflections on the Teche

Archive for the ‘Poetry’ Category

This Photo Wants to be a Poem: Reflection

Posted in Photography, Poetry, Slice of Life, tagged #poemsofpresence, #smallpoems, Molly Hogan, This Photo Wants to be a Poem on March 16, 2022| 16 Comments »

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

Is it always the right time for reflection? The newness of the year has passed. In my spiritual life, it’s Lent which is a time of reflection. And the season is changing. But really, reflection should be an ongoing practice. Taking a look at what was in order to prepare for what is to come.

Reflection in a photograph is different. In a way this sort of reflection shows what is in a different light, new position. Molly Hogan is a writing partner, teacher, blogger who takes amazing photographs and offers them freely to this writing community. Take a minute to reflect and muse on this photo by Molly. Write whatever comes in the comments and leave encouraging comments for others.

You criss.
I cross,
and together,
we bridge.
Margaret Simon, draft

Read Full Post »

Slice of Life #12: After Irene Latham

Posted in Gifted Education, Poetry, Slice of Life, Writing, tagged Artspeak, Irene Latham, student poems, teaching poetry on March 12, 2022| 6 Comments »

On Fridays with my 6th grade gifted kids, we unpack a poem. We discuss everything from form to figurative language, assign tone and theme, and write a poem in response. This is my favorite lesson of the week. The Promethean Board with the annotation tool makes it even better.

Yesterday we focused on Irene Latham’s spring poems. She posts a video each week designed for homeschoolers, but it works for me, too. This week we watched this video:

Using Irene’s Art Speak Padlet, we located the poems she highlighted and selected one to unpack. My first group chose “because every day is a symphony in spring.” So many things to see, imagery, personification, word choice, rhyme…

When yellow rings,
green cannot await
its return.
As white fades
in discord,
yellow rings.
Once again
as purple, pink
orange, and red
splash the fields.
Jaden, 6th grade

When green season
arrives,
the rainbow comes out
from every direction
and all around
you.
Red triangles grow with yellow spots
on green string,
orange sky falls
and the orange sky rises.
Yellow lights
shine through the heavy white marshmallows,
green spikes
poke out of the ground.
The sky’s blue
falling down in may,
with purple and pink petals
that have been waiting for
this season.
Green season,
green season,
full of delight
and color.
Katie, 6th grade

Read Full Post »

Slice of Life: The Living Room

Posted in Poetry, Slice of Life, tagged favorite room, pets, Poetic Justice on March 6, 2022| 8 Comments »

I have volunteered to write for Poetic Justice: Distant Learning.

Poetic Justice’s mission is to offer restorative writing and creative arts programs to individuals who are incarcerated in women’s prisons and jails.
Our vision is to offer opportunities for healing and growth by holding space to process trauma and rewrite personal narratives to transform the story of incarceration.
Poetic Justice.org

This week’s writing prompt was to write about a favorite room. The prompt involved comparing objects in the room with animals. For me, I wrote about the animals in the room. I read a quote from an article about Ukrainian refugees in National Geographic. The quote became interspersed into my poem. I will send this poem to my writing partner and hope for a response. I haven’t heard from her yet, but I am assured that I should keep writing anyway.

The Living Room
“We don’t need much,” said one refugee Lidiya Ivanenko. “A warm corner is enough.”
A warm corner is enough,
where a red fleece blanket
with holes the dog chewed
covers my bare legs. This warm space
is my respite
from a war-torn world,
from sound of sirens,
from calling chores.
The white cat plays in the corner
jumping for elephant ear leaves.
She darts away like lightning
then back in a flash
kneading the blanket
purring, bunting my hand.
We don’t need much.
We long for safety,
for the warmth of a room
that says you belong here.
Margaret Simon, draft 2022

Read Full Post »

This Photo Wants to be a Poem: Story

Posted in Photography, Poetry, Slice of Life, Writing, tagged Explore, Leo, small poems, This Photo Wants to be a Poem on March 2, 2022| 48 Comments »

Welcome to This Photo Wants to be a Poem. If this is your first time here, let me explain. Originating with Laura Purdie Salas’s weekly writing prompt 15 Words or Less, This Photo is a weekly photo-inspired writing prompt. Each Wednesday I post a photo and invite you to write a small poem in response in the comments section. If you write a poem, please write encouraging comments to other poets by replying to their comments. This is a safe place to play with poetry. No worries. No critics.

This week I am posting a photo that my daughter Maggie took of her 3 year old, my grandson Leo as they were leaving a diner. That’s as much as I want to tell you because when I saw this picture, I thought there’s a story in this photo. You can write the story in your small poem. Have fun with it.

Did you have your coffee?
Do you see the door?
I’m ready to explore.
Won’t you come with me?
Margaret Simon, draft

Read Full Post »

This Photo Wants to be a Poem: This is a Rainbow

Posted in Photography, Poetry, Writing, tagged chalkabration, rainbow, This Photo Wants to be a Poem on February 23, 2022| 39 Comments »

Welcome back to “This Photo Wants to be a Poem”. I took today’s photo on my morning walk. It was a quiet morning, but there was evidence that kids had been out playing with sidewalk chalk. Years ago I participated in a blog round-up with Betsy Hubbard of Two Writing Teachers. She called her idea “Chalkabration,” and every last Friday of the month, she encouraged teacher-bloggers to take their students outside to write chalk poems on the sidewalks. It was a favorite day for my students. I haven’t thought about it for a while, but I should definitely bring it back in the spring.

This photo qualifies as a Chalkabration. I love the simplicity of the sentence and how the child who drew it felt compelled to label the drawing. I hope you can find inspiration here, too. Write a small poem in the comments. Be sure to leave encouraging comments for other writers. Let’s have a Chalkabration!

This is a rainbow
that you can see, touch and tap
hop-scotch to the sky.
Margaret Simon, draft 2022

If you’d like to sign up for the Kidlit Progressive Poem happening in April, click here.

Read Full Post »

Slice of Life: Release Day

Posted in Poetry, Slice of Life, Writing, tagged #poemsofpresence, Laura Shovan, monarchs, small moments on February 22, 2022| 11 Comments »

This month of February has been rich for my writing life. I’m writing at least one poem a day along with other writers in Laura Shovan’s 10th Annual February Project on Facebook. The theme this year is Time. Susan Brisson posted a prompt that began like this: “Tiny moments in time, brief exchanges with nature, split seconds of seeing something so beautiful, as fast as the flash of your camera or the time it takes for your thoughts to travel from your eyes to your brain. Have you ever had such a moment? Not a life changing moment but a mood changing moment.”

I immediately thought of releasing monarchs. I’ve been raising monarchs in my kitchen since Christmas. We’ve had a few freezes, so I collected them from my own garden as well as a school garden. I had around 20 caterpillars that successfully made 11 chrysalises. Of those 11, 8 have eclosed into beautiful butterflies. They’ve all been males. They have to be released in temperatures above 50 degrees.

One afternoon last week I released two of them onto outdoor plants. When I checked the next morning, they were still there and completely still. One was even flat on the ground. I brought them back into the enclosure in my kitchen. After warming up, they actually revived, but getting them to let go and fly took a bit of coaxing.

Release

The male monarch
emerged whole
and beautifully designed,
contrast of orange and black wings.
On the day of release
I gently placed my finger near his tiny legs.
He held me so tight my skin tingled.
We walked together.
I tried to coax him to fly,
but he clung, walking gingerly up my arm. Not ready
to let go.
Not ready
to fly.
I held him on my shoulder like a baby.
Then, as a mother knows best,
laid him down
and let him go.
He flew away.
I remember his touch.
Margaret Simon, draft

It’s time to sign up for the Kidlit Progressive Poem for National Poetry Month. The sign up post is here.

Read Full Post »

Kidlit Progressive Poem Sign Up

Posted in Poetry, Poetry Friday, Progressive poem, Writing on February 17, 2022| 49 Comments »

You may use the graphic for your Progressive Poem Post

Poetry Friday Peeps, it’s time to sign up for the National Poetry Month Progressive Poem. If you’d like to play along, you can commit to adding a line to a child-friendly progressive poem and posting it on your own blog. Copy and paste the poem into your post and add a line. You can also copy the following schedule (once complete) onto your blog site with the above graphic.

April 1 Irene at Live Your Poem
2 Donna Smith at Mainely Write
3 Catherine Flynn at Reading to the Core
4 Mary Lee at A(nother) Year of Reading
5 Buffy at Buffy Silverman
6 Molly at Nix the Comfort Zone
7 Kim Johnson at Common Threads
8 Rose Cappelli at Imagine the Possibilities
9 Carol Varsalona at Beyond Literacy Link
10 Linda Baie at Teacher Dance
11 Janet Fagel at Reflections on the Teche
12 Jone at Jone Rush MacCulloch
13 Karin Fisher-Golton at Still in Awe
14 Denise Krebs at Dare to Care
15 Carol Labuzzetta @ The Apples in my Orchard
16 Heidi Mordhorst at My Juicy Little Universe
17 Ruth at There is no such thing as a God-forsaken Town
18 Patricia at Reverie
19 Christie at Wondering and Wandering
20 Robyn Hood Black at Life on the Deckle Edge
21 Kevin at Dog Trax
22 Margaret at Reflections on the Teche
23 Leigh Anne at A Day in the Life
24 Marcie Atkins
25 Marilyn Garcia
26 JoAnn Early Macken
27 Janice at Salt City Verse
28 Tabatha at The Opposite of Indifference
29 Karen Eastlund at Karen’s Got a Blog
30 Michelle Kogan Painting, Illustration, & Writing

Leave your date choice, name, and blog address in the comments. I will update the calendar as often as I can.

Read Full Post »

This Photo Wants to be a Poem: Beach Bubble

Posted in Photography, Poetry, Writing, tagged #haiku, #poemsofpresence, #smallpoems, beach, Kim Douillard, This Photo Wants to be a Poem on February 16, 2022| 20 Comments »

I follow teacher/writer/photographer Kim Douillard who lives in California. I envy her beach photos. Images of the beach take me away. They have the power to relax me. This photo brought me joy. One of my grandsons is particularly attracted to bubbles. If he is having a tough time, a single session of bubble time will soothe him. What is it about bubbles that is both fascinating and calming?

Bubble on the beach by Kim Douillard
on Instagram as @kd0602

You reach out to touch
knowing your touch will destroy
beauty in thin air.
Margaret Simon, haiku draft 2022

Read Full Post »

Slice of Life: Hearts and Monarchs

Posted in Poetry, Slice of Life, Teaching, Writing, tagged concrete poem, heart painting, monarchs on February 15, 2022| 6 Comments »

My mind has been on hearts and monarchs. For Valentine’s Day, I gave each of my students a small canvas to create a heart-inspired art piece. We looked at Pinterest images and got inspired. They enjoyed spending time focused on design and playing with paint.

In my email inbox, the Poetry Foundation Poem-of-the-Day was a concrete poem in the shape of half of a heart. I used the idea to create a poem for Laura Shovan’s poetry challenge. It was a challenge. I managed to make the shape, but I’m not sure if I managed a cohesive poem.

I came home to find four monarchs hanging out in my butterfly enclosure. Such beautiful creatures. I am worried, though, because we are still having cold temperatures. I released two of them in the afternoon 60 degrees. Today the temps will climb to 70, so I’ll release the other two.

Read Full Post »

This Photo Wants to be a Poem: Balancing Stones

Posted in Photography, Poetry, Spiritual Growth, Writing, tagged #poemsofpresence, #smallpoems, cairn, labyrinth, This Photo Wants to be a Poem on February 9, 2022| 12 Comments »

Welcome to Wednesday again. Time to take a minute to observe, breathe, and write. This week’s photo is one I took of balancing stones I’ve placed in a front flower bed. I gathered the stones from a labyrinth at Solomon House, our church’s outreach mission. The labyrinth was not being used and there were some maintenance issues, so the board decided to dismantle it. I feel the stones still have spiritual significance, so I stacked them. The literal term is cairn.

For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. Romans 12:4-5

What are your gifts?
How do you balance gifts
and beauty
and time?
Will you ever find peace of mind?
Look to the stones.
Together they form
one
balanced structure.
It’s possible.
Margaret Simon

Please share a snippet of a poem/ thoughts in the comments. Encourage other writers with comments.

Read Full Post »

« Newer Posts - Older Posts »