Poetry | Reflections on the Teche

Archive for the ‘Poetry’ Category

Celebrate Religions and Traditions

Posted in Celebration Saturday, Digital Learning, Poetry, tagged #DigiPoetry, haiku, Laotian New Year, Palm Sunday, Travel, video poem on April 4, 2015| 6 Comments »

Ruth Ayres invites us the celebrate each week. Click over to her site Discover. Play. Build. to read more celebrations.

Use this button created by Leigh Anne Eck to post your Digital Poetry this month.

Please use this button on your site for DigiLit Sunday posts

Since this is Easter weekend, and I will be celebrating with my family, I am combining my weekend posts into one. Continuing my April commitment to digital poetry, a weekly celebration link up, and DigiLit Sunday all in one.

I think I am getting the hang of Nutshell now. You have to take the pictures on the spot because that’s how the app knows to take video. You have to keep in mind that after you take the picture, the phone is still capturing video.

I did not go on an exotic trip to Laos, but very close to my own town, there is a Laotian village complete with a Buddhist temple, Wat Thammarattanaram. This weekend they celebrate Songkran, the Laotian New Year. Yesterday we attended the opening prayer service.

For us in the Christian tradition, it is Holy Week. I began the week with Palm Sunday and a procession led by bagpipes to celebrate Jesus’ ride into Jerusalem. This video I took while participating in the procession of the palms at my parents’ church, St. James Episcopal Church in Jackson, MS. I uploaded it into iMovie and wrote a simple haiku using the title slides in iMovie.

There is stark contrast here in these two traditions. We felt uncomfortable seated on the floor in the Buddhist Temple; however, Bea, a Laotian woman with good English, welcomed us to sit with her and turned to tell us the story of what was happening throughout the service. This kindness made us feel more comfortable.

Today I celebrate the many religions of the world.
I celebrate that traditions are passed on generation to generation.
I celebrate resurrection and renewal.
I celebrate celebrations.

Link up your Digital Literacy posts. Happy Easter!

Read Full Post »

Honey Bee #DigiPoetry

Posted in Digital Learning, Poetry, Poetry Friday, Writing, tagged #DigiPoetry, Bees, iMovie, nature poetry, poem movie on April 3, 2015| 16 Comments »

Use this button created by Leigh Anne Eck to post your Digital Poetry this month.

Join the roundup with Amy at The Poem Farm.

An invitation: Many bloggers in the kidlitosphere are celebrating National Poetry Month with all sorts of special projects. Jama has a roundup of them here. I invite you to post on Twitter with #digipoetry. What is digipoetry? Well, anything poetry. If you write your poems on a blog, that’s digital. If you use an app, digital. If you post on FB, digital. So anyone is welcome to join. The hashtag came about because of a tweet from Leigh Anne (@Teachr4) who simply asked me and a few other Slice of Life bloggers, “What are your plans for April?” We didn’t want to be any more specific with this invitation. No challenge involved. You don’t even have to write a poem every day. You can post student work, your work, or somebody’s inspiration. All passionate poets welcome.

Thistle bee

I have been playing around with taking video and writing a poem. Yesterday I posted a serious poem. Today, it’s lighter with a little bee dance.

Pollinate
Propagate
Cultivate
Bees buzz in
Carry dust into the wind
So Life goes on…

-Margaret Simon

Read Full Post »

Maundy Footwashing

Posted in Digital Learning, Poetry, Spiritual Growth, tagged #DigiPoetry, Episcopal, foot washing, Maundy Thursday on April 2, 2015| 8 Comments »

Use this button created by Leigh Anne Eck to post your Digital Poetry this month.

Join the Spiritual Thursday round up at Reading, Teaching, Learning.

The maundy in Maundy Thursday means foot washing. Our choir works on anthems that speak of Jesus’ death. It is a somber service. The attendance is low. I think many are uncomfortable with the idea of baring your feet for the priest to wash. Many are uncomfortable with the thought of death, death by torture. I am uncomfortable.

My daughter had a pedicure this week in preparation for a wedding she will be in this weekend. The small Asian woman gently removed embedded nails, shaved off calloused skin, and massaged her legs and feet. The woman was low. We were sitting high. She was performing a service. She looked up again and again checking Maggie’s pain level and asking with her eyes for reassurance that she was doing the right thing, offering peace and comfort through her service. I imagined the woman who washed Jesus’ feet with her hair. Humbled and low, looking up to Jesus for approval.

I understand the theory behind foot washing as a way to humble ourselves by washing each other’s feet. Years ago when I was teaching in an Episcopal school, my headmaster asked me to do the foot washing. I thought he meant that I would be the example, the one having my feet washed. But no, I was doing the washing. Students lined up with their feet bared. As I washed child by child, I began to feel an extreme weariness. Afterward, I was physically exhausted. I cried. The experience was profound.

For Digital Poetry, I offer a video from a recent walk in the park. A small poem accompanies the video. The only sound is the running of water.

Read Full Post »

Dig Deep for Poetry

Posted in Digital Learning, Poetry, Writing, tagged #DigiPoetry, animal poems, dolphins, National Poetry Month, Nikki Grimes, tanka, Wonderopolis on April 1, 2015| 10 Comments »

My friend who doesn’t write sent me the joke poem above. My response was “You understand me. I dig deep.” I have committed myself to write everyday this month about poetry. I am not promising an original poem each day (but who knows?). To share our poetry activities this month, we are using #digipoetry. Leigh Anne (@teachr4) made this button for our blog posts. Feel free to use it, too.

Wednesday is a good day to wonder. I wandered over to Wonderopolis and found a wonderful article about dolphins and echo-location. To think about writing a poem, I collected words and phrases from the article. After many false starts (rough drafts), I read about Nikki Grimes’ tanka contest. Nikki Grimes’ contest for kids in grades 3-6: Tanka writing

Sometimes when writing doesn’t come easily, a form gives you the structure you need to create. A tanka is similar to a haiku. There is no rhyme and a syllable count of 5, 7, 5, 7, 7. Nikki Grimes has a book coming out in May, Poems in the Attic, which includes tanka. (Click the link for more information.)

I used PicMonkey to create this image poem.

Read Full Post »

Let’s Keep Writing!

Posted in Digital Learning, Poetry, Slice of Life, Teaching, Writing, tagged #DigiPoetry, Irene Latham, Laura Shovan on March 31, 2015| 15 Comments »

SOL #31

Here I am on the last day of March! I wrote 31 slices of life and joined a community of teacher writers at Two Writing Teachers. What a wonderful month of writing!

My students wrote daily, too. Together we learned:

Writing daily connects you to your life. You see things differently.
Writing daily can be fun!
Writing daily can be hard!
Writing daily leads to new understandings.
Writing daily means taking a deep breath and diving into the deep water.
Writing daily is a practice that will last your lifetime.
Writing daily gives life new meaning.
Writing daily makes a difference.

Some of us in the TWT community are not ready to stop writing daily. We are committing (but not promising) to contribute in some way to National Poetry Month through digital poetry, personal poems, student poems, writing activities, reflections on poetry, etc. We will use the hashtag #DigiPoetry on Twitter. Please join us for more fun and fabulous poetry.

I will be posting on Laura Shovan’s site, Author Amok, on April 6th for her series “What are you Wearing?” I will also add a line to Irene Latham’s Progressive Poem on April 12th. Lots going on in the Kidlitosphere in April.

Read Full Post »

Take a Walk with Me

Posted in Gratitude, Poetry, Slice of Life, tagged Louisiana wildflowers, nature poem, spring on March 30, 2015| 17 Comments »

SOL #30

Inspired by Michelle at Literacy Learning Zone.

Take a walk with me

across the grass buried in oak pollen, where spring winds have sprinkled twirly birds.

Take a walk with me

past the grancy graybeard dressed in fuzzy blossoms that light up the sky.

Take a walk with me

to the bank of the bayou where spiderwort pops out purple.

Take a walk with me

under the canopy of red buckeye raising fiery red sparklers.

Take a walk with me

when dog’s meet with nose kisses and neighbors chat about fresh air and good grace, then walk on

Take a walk with me

with a friend, our dogs (Lucy and Charlie), full of laughter and joy.

Take a walk with me.

Read Full Post »

Exercise Faith

Posted in Poetry, Spiritual Growth, Writing, tagged Anne Frank, spiritual journey, Spiritual poetry on March 26, 2015| 8 Comments »

SOL #26

Join the Spiritual Thursday round up at Reading, Teaching, Learning.

I want to go on living even after my death! And therefore I am grateful to God for giving me this gift, this possibility of developing myself and of writing, of expressing all that is in me. I can shake off everything if I write; my sorrows disappear, my courage is reborn.– ANNE FRANK

Exercise Faith, a poem reflection using words of Anne Frank

A grandiose idea
life after death
your own life continuing on
and on, like the cycle of nature,
seed, seedling, sprout, grow, die, rebirth.

This gift of words
life after death
your own life continuing on
and on, with words on paper
floating in clouds like rain
coming down, going up, coming down again.

Developing my most inner self
reflecting on events, ideas,
life after death
continuing on and on,
like monks in meditation, singing Om
breathing in, breathing out, breath of life.

Expressing all that is me
honors God in me
knowing life after death
continues on and on,
like a rainbow rising over the storm
shining its promise, eternally.

I shake it all off,
dust from the shelves,
throw compost on earth,
spread life after death
on and on, shaking off sorrows,
leaving only good soil, good growth,
good courage…reborn.

–Margaret Simon

Read Full Post »

Spring Found Poem

Posted in Poetry, Slice of Life, Writing, tagged found poetry, spring poems on March 17, 2015| 17 Comments »

SOL #17

The azaleas are blooming. Spring is finally here.
For this slice, I collected lines from other bloggers to create a SOL Spring found poem. At first I thought this would be an easy way of getting out of writing; however, I had to read quite a few blogs (never a bad idea) to get these lines. Then to decide how to put them together. In the end I enjoyed the exercise, but it was not easier than writing.

Because these words
have to tell the truth.

Each time I step outside,
I feel hope.
Something is different.
The silence gone.
I hear the snow crackling.
The ground breaking.

The clouds seem to have made a window.
I look out to a beautiful blue sky
Springing forward.

The pitter-pattering is punctuated
with swooshing and swishing of cars.
For already they have forgotten the dark.

Lines from Tara Smith, Catherine Flynn, Cathy Mere, Kim Doele, Meandering Maya, and Write Kim Write, and Julie Johnson.

Read Full Post »

Dueling Poems

Posted in Poetry, Poetry Friday, Slice of Life, tagged Dash the book, duel poems, skinny odes on March 13, 2015| 16 Comments »

SOL #13

Join the roundup with Laura Shovan at Author Amok.

Bayou morning photo by Margaret Simon

I love touring the slicing community and finding ideas. Greg Armamentos has inspired me once again. He posted about writing dueling poems with opposite words. He and his student teacher wrote about old and young here.

I spoke with Tyler, a 6th grader, about his slice for the day. He didn’t know what to write. I challenged him to a duel. He suggested sun and moon. He took moon, and I took sun (which, btw, we have not seen in days.)

I’ve been missing you lately
hidden behind sheets
of stratonimbus clouds.
Where have you gone?
When I wake up each morning,
you wave to me
along the bayou waters
touching tree limbs
with gentle, warm kisses.

I look for you
send your glowing rays
out from the clouds
to light up a rainbow.

I find you
in the wild flowers blooming
golden in the grass
sending scents
of glory and love
like honeysuckle– the taste
of sweetness on my tongue.

My pale peach skin
longs for your tanning rays,
bringing health back to my cheeks
and energy to my walk.

Won’t you come home, bright star?
I miss you.

–Margaret Simon

Tyler’s response: The Moon (Click here to leave comments for Tyler)

On the ocean
your light shines.
Lighting the way
during the night.
Controlling tides
as you please.
You are a guardian, the
Man on the Moon.
I see you in the day,
but better at night.
You watch us
sleep and protect
us as you do so.
Stay the same
no matter what
they say.

–Tyler

From Creative Commons

Read Full Post »

Discover

Posted in Poetry, Slice of Life, Spiritual Growth, tagged Chere' Coen, Eknath Easwaran, haiku, spiritual journey on March 12, 2015| 11 Comments »

SOL #12

On Thursdays I join Holly Mueller’s round up of Spiritual Journey posts. We are all writing around a theme. This week we explore Jaana’s one little word, Discover.

I have an offering of a beautiful photograph taken by my friend, journalist, Chere’ Coen and a small poem based on these words of wisdom from Eknath Easwaran:

This prayer (Seek ye first the kingdom of God) is not addressed to someone outside us, but to our deepest Self, the Lord of Love, who dwells in the hearts of us all. When we repeat it, we are not asking for anything in particular, like good health or solutions to our problems or richer personal relationships. We are simply asking to get closer to the source of all strength and all joy and all love. Eknath Easwaran