Poetry | Reflections on the Teche

Archive for the ‘Poetry’ Category

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 »

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

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.

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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 »

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

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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

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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

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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.