Poetry | Reflections on the Teche

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Poetry Friday: Divination

Posted in Poetry, Poetry Friday, Writing, tagged ekphrastic poetry, John F. Simon on June 28, 2019| 12 Comments »

Divination drawing pairs improvisational drawing with rationalized writing as a method of discovering layered meanings in thoughts.
John F. Simon

Divination

He fell in love with
the smooth flow
of a pencil
drawing beauty
in lines
becoming shapes
becoming a feminine body
on a 3×5 card.

I fell in love, too.
Her face
my child Self,
that tender one I lost
and seek to touch again.
I hold her in my hand
like a shell
from an endless shore.

She knows how to love me.
I am slowly learning
how to be loved.

(draft) Margaret Simon, June 22, 2019
ekphrasis on drawings by John F. Simon

I wrote this poem at a writing workshop around John F. Simon’s art show at the Hilliard Museum. The first line was borrowed from Barbara Crooker’s ekphrastic poem on Van Gogh’s Field with Wheat Stacks published on The Writer’s Almanac on June 22, 2019.

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Slice of Life: Searching for the Image

Posted in Poetry, Slice of Life, Writing, tagged ekphrastic poetry, John F. Simon, Paths and Loops on June 25, 2019| 5 Comments »

See more posts at Two Writing Teachers Slice of Life

Sculpture by John F. Simon, “Moment of Release”

The empty calendar of my summer has filled up leaving less time for writing. The cure for not getting exercise is to sign up for a class. So the cure for my lack of time to write was to sign up for a class.

At a local museum, The Hilliard, my friend Clare was offering a 3 hour writing workshop. I know from experience with Clare that she offers lots of empty space for real writing. We discussed our writing practices and our familiarity with ekphrastic writing (writing to an image). Then she sent us into the museum to the show of John F. Simon’s work.

I was immediately drawn to the piece in the photo above. It’s large, probably 5-6 feet across by 3-4 feet in width. The title of the work is Moment of Release. I love how the title really doesn’t dictate the interpretation. I gave in to this freedom to explore and released a poem.

Moment of Release
This collection
of energy
stored and sealed
into a protective sheaf
will one day open
the well
spilling contents
of a life–
rain it down
like a delta flood
releasing
to a renewable
Source.
Margaret Simon, (c) 2019

My advice to you is don’t wait for a workshop. Grab a writing buddy and head out to the nearest museum or gallery. If you take pictures, ask permission first. Gather words, images, sounds on the page to transform into a poem or prose. The poem I shared is only one of four I wrote in the hour we were given. I plan to give myself permission to take another artist date this summer. What about you?

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Poetry Friday: Welcome Ducklings!

Posted in Photography, Poetry, Poetry Friday, Writing, tagged #techeproject, wood duck house on June 21, 2019| 7 Comments »

Poetry Friday round-up is with Linda at A Word Edgewise.

We’ve been watching our wood duck nest box for months. The first clutch did not hatch. Overcoming our disappointment, we set out new wood shavings and hoped for the best. By and by, another wood duck hen came in and laid 18 or so eggs. (Maybe it was two hens?) Nevertheless, we watched again. She seemed to be doing it all right, turning the eggs, covering them in down before leaving to feed, and sitting, sitting, sitting.

Yesterday morning my husband texted and said, “Look in the house.” (I am away from home this week.) When I looked at the video on my phone sent from the camera in the nesting box, I saw three dark blobs. At first I was afraid they were dead, but eventually realized that hatching is hard work, so they lay still.

We are both proud parents of 12 wood ducklings. Today was Jump Day. At 7:30 AM, Momma went out and called her babies. They climbed the wire mesh my husband had nailed into the wall nearest the hole. One by one they reached the hole and jumped out.

A poem will come, I’m sure. Yesterday, Laura Purdie Salas posted her 15 Words or Less image and I wrote this little ditty.

Ripple Effect

One egg hatches
then another.
Soon the whole nest
is chattering.
Margaret Simon, draft, 2019

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Poetry Friday: Residing in the Moment

Posted in Poetry, Poetry Friday, Writing, tagged meditation, mindfulness, On Being on June 14, 2019| 16 Comments »

Poetry Friday round-up is with Laura Shovan.

Lucretius just presents this marvelous and important idea that what we are made of will make something else, which to me is very important. There is no nothingness — with these little atoms that run around too little for us to see. But, put together, they make something. And that to me is a miracle. Where it came from, I don’t know. But it’s a miracle, and I think it’s enough to keep a person afloat.
Mary Oliver in an interview with Krista Tippet of On Being.

I was listening to On Being with Krista Tippet, an old podcast of an interview with Mary Oliver from 2015. The episode repeated the week of Mary Oliver’s death in January of this year. Listening to Mary Oliver makes me feel I am in the presence of a wise yogi.

The practice of writing poetry, I am learning, is an exercise in mindfulness. To be open to the universe of words and to put them down on a page is a gift. Then there is the renewing of the words as you revise, reorder, read aloud to a writing group, and go at it all again.

This poem came from all this listening and doing the work of the morning.

Residing
If we could make of everything
a sacred movement–
Digging in the deep mud
watching the earthworm squirm.
Painting on of pale eyeshadow,
touching my face with gentleness.
The cat is purring a prayer.

Wind chimes are ringing a hymn,
And here I am,
lifting my coffee mug to my lips
Even the cicadas are laughing.
Margaret Simon, draft 2019

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Poetry Friday: Water Breaks

Posted in Poetry, Poetry Friday, Writing, tagged Jackson flood of 1979, Teche Center for the Arts, water on June 7, 2019| 6 Comments »

Poetry Friday round-up is with Michelle Kogan

Water Breaks

Floods begin as a drop,
rain from upstream flowing–
overflowing–Breaks.
No control over Water’s
strength or where it wants to go.

Knock out soggy walls,
Strip muddy carpet,
Dig through disaster.
Survive.
Stronger.
Healthier.
Build again.

At birth, water breaks,
baptizes an infant wrapped
in woven cloth.
Mother bathes her son
in warm water, rubs his clean skin.

Tears break as a single drop
washing my face,
bathing me in warm water,
where he kisses me,
says, “I love you.”
This is all I need.

Margaret Simon, draft 2019

On Tuesday, I attended a mini writer’s retreat at the Teche Center for the Arts. Clare led us through brainstorming a list of water words. Then we circled ones that stood out to us or told a story. I wrote this poem draft. It’s still a work in progress. I wonder if it contains too much.

In 1979, my childhood home flooded. I was a senior in high school with so much more on my mind than loss and rebuilding. My mother was the stronghold. She handled an amazing amount of mess and muck and insurance claims. There is a story, a bigger story than this poem could contain. After 40 years, that disaster still influences me. Maybe it’s finally time to write about it.

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Poetry Friday: The Magic of a Single Line

Posted in Poetry, Poetry Friday, Writing, tagged Naomi Shihab Nye on May 31, 2019| 13 Comments »

Poetry Friday round-up Mary Lee at A Year of Reading.

http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/naomi-shihab-nye

Naomi Shihab Nye has been named the Young People’s Poet Laureate of the US. I can’t think of anyone better. I’ve met Naomi on a few occasions, most recently when I moderated an NCTE presentation in November, 2018. Her gentle manner and down-to-earth style is just right for these times. She’s comfortable and makes you feel comfortable, too.

One of my favorite young people’s poetry book by Naomi Shihab Nye is A Maze Me. For one, this is a great title with multiple meanings. It’s a book of poems specifically for girls. The poems comfort, amaze, and give readers a sense of the timelessness of childhood.

My favorite line of poetry appears in the poem Ringing that seems to be about all the sounds of ringing a child may hear. The vegetable truck, milk truck, and the ever-ringing ice-cream truck. “They are all bringers.”

The last line reads “I want to be someone making music with my coming.”

Along with all the luscious on the lips m-sounds is a deeper meaning. A longing we can all relate to. We want to be expected. We want to be adored. We want to be loved. Naomi captures this universal longing in one simple line. That is the genius of her poetry.

I sing lullabies to my grandson. I am embarrassed if anyone hears me. But I shouldn’t care. I want to be the someone in his life who makes music with my coming. This is love.

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Poetry Friday: Nature Pi-Ku

Posted in Gifted Education, Poetry, Poetry Friday, tagged Gifted by Nature Day, Pi-ku on May 16, 2019| 42 Comments »

Poetry Friday round-up is here! Scroll to the end of this post to find the InLinz linky.

Wednesday was our annual Gifted by Nature field trip to City Park. All the elementary gifted kids in the parish (district) gather for a day of games and art and nature. I’m usually the one to lead a poetry writing activity. This year we designed our learning fun day around the concept of pi, so of course, we wrote Pi-ku!

Pi-ku follows the syllable count of pi, 3.14. Some students challenged themselves to more digits, 3.14159…

A beautiful spring day on the shore of Bayou Teche with lily pads and duck families, draping oaks and cypress trees became the perfect setting for inspiring pi-ku.

Lilypads
Lilypads
are
in the water.
They’re
absorbing sunlight
providing habitat for wildlife
such as
Louisiana bullfrogs
and other creatures.
The shadow
drops the temperature
providing a cool habitat
Nature has many examples–Pi!
Josie

Beautiful
blooms
rest peacefully
watch
as the calm wind blows.
The flowers dance to the soft music.
They stop
moving from side to side
surrounded by leaves
friends of vines
saying Hello to
multi-colored dragon flies and bees.
Jayden

Outside I
see
a tree with a
hole.
Could I make it a
home? A place warm, quiet, safe and dark.
–Izabella

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party! Click here to enter

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#NPM19 Reflection on a Month of Poetry

Posted in Poetry, Slice of Life, tagged #nationalpoetrymonth, #playwithpoetrynpm, National Poetry Month, Nature poems, Progressive Poem 2019 on April 30, 2019| 6 Comments »

See more posts at Two Writing Teachers Slice of Life

What a wonderful month full of poetry love! Looking back over the month, I wrote 28 posts. The thing is to write one poem worthy of publishing on this blog, I had to write more than one poem a day. Some will stay buried in my notebook.

Thanks to Mary Lee Hahn for inviting me to play along with her this month. I’ve enjoyed sharing this playtime with Christie, Molly, Jone, and Elisabeth.

One of the perks of my teaching job is I get to write poetry every day with my students, too. They’ve been working on a poetry project that included writing at least 5 poems and reading a poetry book. We were immersed in poetry, between testing sessions, that is. You can read their poems at our kidblog site.

Last night I participated in the #NYED Twitter Chat. If you have a chance, check out the hashtag. I made a Padlet of resources to use throughout the year. It’s public and open for comments and additions.

The Progressive Poem is complete! I am so amazed at the talents of Donna Smith who pulled out a “found” ending and actually put the song to music. Check it out!

Another exciting part of this month was being a featured poet-teacher on Today’s Little Ditty. Being among these poets was an honor: Classroom Connections.

When you walk in poetry every day, everything becomes a poem. This morning on my walk I dictated this poem. The air was sweet with the scent of jasmine, gardenia, and magnolia. The scents of the southern landscape energize and inspire me. What do you see, hear, smell while walking? Make each step into a poem.

Breathe the jasmine air.
Rest in Love,
the love that created you
as perfect as
a star blossom
on the vine of the world.
–-Margaret Simon, draft 2019

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#NPM19 Day 28 Lazy Poet

Posted in Poetry, tagged magnetic poetry, parking lot beauty on April 28, 2019| 6 Comments »

Today I’m tired. I spent yesterday outdoors in wonderful warm spring air at the Festival International de Louisiane. Today I am tired all over my body. We walked, we drank, we ate festival food, and danced. Too much. Today I wasn’t going to write, but my friend in this daily poetry game, Christie Wyman, wrote using online magnetic poetry, nature version, because she didn’t want to get off the sofa. Like Christie, I am writing by moving pieces around on my computer. Is this really writing? Thus the title for today’s blog, Lazy Poet.

Being an itinerant teacher, I drive from parking lot to parking lot. During March Slice of Life Challenge, I wrote about the shoe in the parking lot that seemed to be haunting me. This week, I noticed a tiny wild flower blossoming amidst the stones. So here’s a little quiet moment to breathe.

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#NPM19 Day 27 Magnets and Metaphors

Posted in Poetry, Writing, tagged #playwithpoetrynpm, haiku, magnetic poetry, metaphor dice on April 27, 2019| 1 Comment »

The more I play with the poetry tools, the less I trust them. I want to manipulate the words into something, anything that rings true. Yesterday I combined magnetic word pieces with metaphor dice. Both of these poems interested me, but I don’t think either is a great poem. Let’s just live in the moment for a moment.