Poetry | Reflections on the Teche

Archive for the ‘Poetry’ Category

SOLC2019: #29 Secret Gardeners

Posted in Poetry, Poetry Friday, Slice of Life, Teaching, Writing, tagged school garden, service learning on March 29, 2019| 15 Comments »

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Poetry Friday round-up is with Carol at Carol’s Corner.

Spring is in full swing and weeds are choking the ground. When we discussed service projects we could do for this quarter, Landon brought up the garden. He is in the garden club, so he knows it needs some loving care.

I suggested Thursdays. 30 minutes. Keep it a secret.

When Thursday came, the sun was high in the sky with a slight breeze and the perfect temperature to be outside. The kids didn’t forget.

Landon showed us the stash of gloves and tools, and we went to work on a small patch of weeds.

I was surprised at how excited they were to get down and dirty. Kaia said, “I have a poem.” We had also talked about writing secret poems for poetry month and placing them in the garden.

We hadn’t brought our notebooks (note to self for next week), but I had my phone, so I opened Notes and captured her poem. Jayden laughed when she got the chance to star in our poem.

We are the secret gardeners.
We don’t make a sound.
We are digging weeds
Right out of the ground.

We are pulling and pulling.
Watch out for the bees.
What a charming day!
Jayden’s about to sneeze.
Aaaaah…..Choo!

by Kaia, 3rd grade

Bouquet of flowers from the garden.

Poetry Month is just around the corner. My NPM19 Poem A Day project is Playing With Poetry. I am joining Jone MacCulloch and Mary Lee Hahn. We will be playing with Haikubes, Magnetic Poetry, Metaphor Dice, and Paint Chip Poetry. Join in if you’d like! We can use the Twitter hashtag #playwithpoetryNPM to find and support each other.

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SOLC2019: #27: Keep Us Here

Posted in Poetry, Slice of Life, Spiritual Growth, Writing, tagged Robert Frost, The Writer's Almanac on March 27, 2019| 10 Comments »

See more posts at Two Writing Teachers Slice of Life

I take inspiration wherever it comes from. My friend and I recently discussed the book Big Magic. He said, “It really works. I send the wish out into the universe and inspiration comes.”

I’ve subscribed to Garrison Keillor’s The Writer’s Almanac .

Every day there is a poem to read and other short articles about famous birthdays and historical events.

Yesterday was Robert Frost’s birthday. I love this quote from Robert Frost about poetry.

Using a line from Robert Frost’s poem A Prayer in Spring, and keeping this quote in mind, I wrote a poem.

Keep Us Here

With this spring day
while pollen dances on the wind
while blossoms open to the sun,
keep us here.

With our true love
gathering flowers in a vase
digging deep in the earth
keep us here.

With our eyes on death,
holy is the dirt.
Holy is your face.
Keep us here.

–Margaret Simon

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SOLC2019: #24 Silent Super Moon

Posted in Bayou Song, Photography, Poetry, Slice of Life, Writing, tagged I am poem, Supermoon on March 24, 2019| 13 Comments »

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March Super Moon
Photo by Margaret Simon

I am your silent super moon
I light the equinox sky
I touch the tips of trees
I hear nocturnal owls
I whisper secrets to your soul.

I am your silent super moon
I tell the myths of constellations
I cry tears for fading Earth
I pretend to keep my eyes on you.
I pull tides of ocean waves.

I am your silent super moon.
I wonder if I’m magical
I play hide-n-seek with stars
I carry your wishes in my moondust
Sprinkle heaven with hope.
I am your silent super moon.

This poem came to me in stages beginning with my morning walk with the super moon earlier this week. I was reminded of this form when Elisabeth Ellington used it to write a response poem to the first poem in my book Bayou Song, I am a Beckoning Brown Bayou. I’ve used the form with students and adults in writing workshops. Here is a template for the form. If you use it to create your own poem or have students respond, let me know. I love to share how Bayou Song inspires on my book Facebook page.

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SOLC2019: #22 Air Lifted

Posted in Poetry, Slice of Life, Writing, tagged air lifted, Daily Wonder, Writing to quotes on March 21, 2019| 18 Comments »

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Poetry Friday round-up is with Rebecca at Sloth Reads.

On Thursday morning, I got some shocking and scary news. My good friend who is battling cancer was air lifted to a larger, more equipped hospital. A message went out asking for prayers.

I recalled being air lifted almost 34 years ago when my then 4 month old daughter went into heart tachycardia. The medics placed me on the gurney and then laid her on top of me. As the helicopter beat through the air, my attention went to prayer. As I ~~prayed~~ begged, I remember feeling a physical presence with me, an actual laying on of hands, and my daughter’s heartbeat slowed. When we arrived at Oschner Hospital in New Orleans, the doctors there explained that her heart was responding to an infection in her body; it was not her heart. She had pneumonia. Now, she is the mother of a near 4 month old herself, so this memory is close.

Laura Purdie Salas posts an image and prompt ever Thursday for “15 words or less.” Her image Thursday was a rescue helicopter from the Coast Guard Monument in DC. This was my poem:

First Flight

Steady drumming beat
of my heart against hers
matching the rhythm
to helicopter rotors–
Life!

When we write together in my classroom, we often use quotes. Thursday morning I looked on my Wonder app and found this quote.

The Daily Wonder App

In my notebook I wrote a prayer poem:

Oh clouds!
You are so necessary for life, but
if you don’t mind, please
move aside.
Let sun’s light
shine on Amy.
Bring her out of darkness
into hope.

Oh clouds!
We are helpless to move
you out of the way.
We send smoke signals,
wave wands, dance in a circle,
all to overcome your gloom.
Show us the sun today.
Show us the way to hope.

–Margaret Simon

Amy is getting the care she needs, but if you are the praying type, it wouldn’t hurt to add her name to your list. Thanks!

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SOLC2019: #21 What’s in a Name?

Posted in Photography, Poetry, Slice of Life, Travel, Writing, tagged Bayou Teche legend, TECHE Project on March 21, 2019| 12 Comments »

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Vernal Equinox on the Bayou Teche.

Begin with the source,
Lore told again and again,
ancient words from native people–
Teche,
Tesh,
Snake

Water runs through it
brown bayou mud
bound by an ever-eroding shore
Teche,
Tesh,
Snake.

Sun sets on vernal equinox
sends rays of light across
cypress trees reflected in still water
Teche,
Tesh,
Snake.

–Margaret Simon

Reflections

The name of my blog originates with the bayou that runs behind my house. Bayou Teche was so named for an ancient Native American legend that the warriors battled a huge snake for days, and in finally killing it, the giant serpent created a waterway through where it lay. The Bayou Teche meanders back and forth for 125 miles.

We recently joined the T.E.C.H.E. Project, Teche Ecology, Culture and History Education, a nonprofit with a mission to improve the Bayou Teche for recreation as well as for ecosystem health. One of the perks of membership is the gift of a mile marker. Our house is at mile 69.4. We plan to mount the marker on our wood duck house, but we will wait until Eve, our resident mother, finishes her nesting.

The name of my blog has significance to me. It reflects the place where I live along with my own internal reflections about teaching and writing. Literal and figurative reflections on the Teche.

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SOLC2019: #20 I’m in Love Found Poem

Posted in Poetry, Slice of Life, Writing, tagged Elisabeth Ellington, found poem, nature, Slice of Life Challenge on March 20, 2019| 9 Comments »

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I’ve been following Elisabeth Ellington’s blog for at least 4, maybe 5 years. We’ve actually met in person a few times at NCTE, and when we’ve had occasion to sit next to each other, we talk incessantly like two introverts in the sea. Elisabeth lives in South Dakota, far north from Louisiana. Nevertheless, we connect over our love of nature. Yesterday on her blog the dirigible plum, she wrote a post with the title, “What did you Fall in Love with Today?”

As I read her post, a poem began to write itself in my head. I could connect emotionally to all that she wrote. I didn’t know anything about pronghorn, so I did a Google search (something else that Elisabeth mentions loving) and found this information on the National Wildlife Federation site.

Pronghorn are one of North America’s most impressive mammals. Not only do pronghorn have the longest land migration in the continental United States, they also are the fastest land animal in North America. Pronghorn can run at speeds close to 60 miles an hour. Even more amazing than its speed is the pronghorn’s migration. Herds of pronghorn migrate 150 miles each way between Wyoming’s Upper Green River Basin and Grand Teton National Park. The only other land animal to travel farther in North America is the caribou.

I’m in Love
found poem from Elisabeth Ellington’s Slice of Life

I’m in love
with the moon
over snow-covered hills
white,
then yellow.

I’m in love
with clouds
before sunrise
Venus bright
in the East.

I’m in love
with a field of pronghorn
lying in the snow
legs curled beneath
for warmth.

I’m even in love
with this open parking spot
right in front
of my favorite coffee shop.

I’m in love
with warm fires,
curled up cats,
and always,
every day
with my mug
of coffee.

What do you love today?

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SOLC2019: #16 Mother’s Milk

Posted in Poetry, Slice of Life, Writing, tagged morning coffee on March 16, 2019| 15 Comments »

See more posts at Two Writing Teachers Slice of Life

Photo by rawpixel.com from Pexels

Mother’s Milk

I woke up on the Earth today
planted my two feet
in the soil
of warm slippers
dragged them forward
again
to the kitchen
opened a new carton of milk
poured forth into the mug,
not my favorite today;
that one is dirty
because it’s Saturday
and the rain is still falling,
the dog wants to play ball
again.
Milk in the green mug–
a gift from a student–
heated and frothed,
sweetened with raw sugar,
still and waiting
for the coffee to brew,
the sound of steam pumping
through grains of sand,
like time
again.
Time slows
on Saturday morning,
and milk burns my tongue
again.
I am mindful
of each movement,
my feet, my hands,
my tongue, my voice
silent
on Saturday morning
again.

(draft) Margaret Simon

Process notes: I sat down to write with my cup of coffee beside me and the idea of “mother’s milk” from Laura Shovan’s daily prompt on Facebook. This prompt came from Ann Haman. I read Amy Ludwig Vanderwater’s Poetry Friday title “A Poem for the Earth.” So the words milk and earth were sitting with me and my cup of coffee. The rest flowed out of me. That’s how poetry happens sometimes. I usually write them and let them sit and go back later to see if any of it makes sense. This time I just copied and pasted.

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SOLC2019: #15 Pi Day Poetry

Posted in Poetry, Poetry Friday, Slice of Life, Teaching, Writing, tagged Pi Day, Pi-ku on March 15, 2019| 19 Comments »

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Poetry Friday round-up is with Heidi at My Juicy Little Universe

“Today is Pi Day,” My husband greeted me Thursday morning.

“Oh, no! I forgot. I always like to do something for Pi Day.”

“I know that. That’s why I’m telling you.”

So once again, flying by the seat of my 31 years of experience, I opened up our class time together with “Guess what today is?”

Some kids knew, but didn’t know why. I wrote on the board, “Pie Day or Pi Day?”

We discussed the meaning of Pi, the irrational number 3.14 and so on, and the relationship between diameter and circumference of a circle.

Then we got to the fun part. Each student chose a piece of colored paper, and we brainstormed ways to make a perfect circle. Then the hunt for possible patterns- the pencil cup, my coffee cup, the lid of a game. Kaia suggested using a paper clip. If I had once known how to draw a circle with a paper clip, I had forgotten.

Place a pencil inside one end of a large paper clip. Hold the pencil point in place on this sheet of paper. Place another pencil inside the other end of the paper clip. Ask your helper to hold your paper still while you draw a circle by moving the second pencil.

I asked the students to use their imagination to create something with the circle and use it as the topic for their Pi-Ku. A Pi-ku takes on the syllable count of Pi, 3.14159….

While we didn’t produce great poetry, we did have a good time playing with circles, wacky drawings, and syllable counts.

I combined this activity with the daily poetry prompt in Laura Shovan’s poetry project. The prompt for Thursday was honey.

Bumblebee
You’re
My honey sweet
Tea
Pouring all you have
Into joy-light for my morning cup.
3.14159

Karson’s elephant Pi-Ku:

Elephant
eats
cabbage and trees.

Karson, 4th grade

Jump! You feel
light.
You hear music,
a
bird. You think nothing lives
here
Tweet, a moon bird singing is soothing.
by Landon, 5th grade

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SOLC2019: #12 In the Middle of the Night

Posted in Poetry, Slice of Life, Teaching, Writing, tagged Laura Purdie Salas, mask poems on March 12, 2019| 9 Comments »

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Happy Book Birthday to In the Middle of the Night by Laura Purdie Salas!

I met Laura a few years ago at NCTE and have followed her ever since. She is gentle, kind, and generous, everything a children’s poet should be. I am inspired by her every week on her blog. On Thursdays she posts an image with an invitation to write a 15 words or less poem. It’s a great space to show up in each week to read other poems and interact with the children’s poetry online community.

Laura is also a pretty awesome presenter. In November, 2018, we presented together on a panel at NCTE, Writing Poetry in the Wild. Here’s a link to the slides.

In her presentation, Laura encouraged us to look around and write about what we see. Well, that’s not exactly what she did to write this latest book. In the Middle of the Night requires more than just observation; it requires an imagination. The poems are all written in the point of view of some object doing something during the night.

Twenty-six poems share the wild adventures that toys, food, and other household objects have at night while you sleep. Everything from stuffed animals to clothing to writing utensils comes to life under the cover of night. An overdue library book searches for the perfect place to hide. A paper clip skydives with a tissue parachute. A fruit snack unrolls to create a tricky racetrack for toy cars. Come sneak away for some moonlit adventures!

In my class, I wanted my students to experience this fun idea and Laura’s poetry. From the Table of Contents, my students selected a few poems they wanted to hear. I always start with “What do you notice?” They noticed that the poems were written in first person (Cha-Ching! for that concept), and I reminded them that they are called mask poems. They noticed rhyming and rhythm patterns. With a little more prodding, they found alliteration and imagery.

In addition to working on close reading skills with poetry, we stretched our writing muscles. We used this activity sheet from Laura to write our own poems.

Laura has a Padlet for contributors’ poems here. We placed links on the Padlet to our Kidblog site. If you have a minute, stop by and place comments for my kids.