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Poetry Friday: Haiku with Inklings

Posted in Creativity, Poetry Friday, Progressive poem, Writing, tagged haiku series, Irene Latham, NPM24, poetry on April 5, 2024| 15 Comments »

Poetry Friday is with Irene at Live Your Poem

This first Friday of National Poetry Month, we have an Inklings challenge brought to us by Mary Lee Hahn. Mary Lee asked us to write a haiku sequence about poetry without using the word poetry.

I’ve been on an Emily Dickinson kick watching the surreal series “Dickinson” on Apple TV and reading through a dog-eared collection of her poems. When I read Mary Lee’s challenge, I decided to write individual haiku on slips of paper from the pile on the kitchen counter. That way I could arrange them in a logical/ illogical/ artistic/creative way.

I played with the order and this is what I have, for now. One of the best parts of writing poetry is revising, so I am open to rearranging and rewording or throwing it all into the flame.

Envelope opens
words release into hands
timeless treasure

2. Flame rises too high
under the white carnation
searing joy to ash

3. Whispers of wishes
within earshot of your eyes
written by my hand

4. Slips of paper
feathers folded in hope
message delivered

5. Metaphoric
company of lacewings
urging me to fly
Margaret Simon, draft

To see how other Inklings met this challenge:
Catherine @Reading to the Core
Heidi @my juicy little universe
Linda @A Word Edgewise
Molly @Nix the Comfort Zone
Mary Lee @A(nother) Year of Reading

Today’s line is being added by Irene at Live Your Poem.

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This Photo Wants to be a Poem: Spider Lily

Posted in Photography, Poetry, Progressive poem, This Photo Wants to be a Poem, Writing, tagged Bayou Teche, Ethical ELA, Golden Shovel, Louisiana, Mary Oliver, NPM24, spider lily, word poems on April 3, 2024| 8 Comments »

Spider Lily among cypress knees on Bayou Teche, Louisiana

I wanted this swamp lily to be a star lily, but research is telling me it’s a variety of spider lily. On Ethical ELA, the prompt by Wendy Everard asks us to explore the place of a favorite poet. I chose Mary Oliver and a striking line from her poem Fall: “what is spring all that tender/ green stuff”

I’m not sure what
heaven is
but amazement like spring
when all
green that
was hiding in tender
seed fills green
bridal bouquets blossoming beautiful stuff.
Margaret Simon, draft

I’m also writing a word poem each day. Today’s word is vernal which means of, in, or appropriate to spring. Today’s form is an acrostic.

Variety of colors
eagerly popping-
resurrection-
nature’s recital.
April, I
Love you.
Margaret Simon, word poem NPM24

Progressive Poem is with Janice Scully at Salt City Verse

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National Poetry Month 24: Here We Go!

Posted in Progressive poem, Writing, tagged #Margaret, definito, Ethical ELA, NPM2024, Progressive poem 2024 on April 1, 2024| 1 Comment »

To begin our National Poetry Month adventure, start here with the Kidlit Progressive Poem. Today’s first line is with Patricia Franz at Reverie.

At Ethical ELA, Kim Johnson invites us to introduce ourselves using a hashtag acrostic. I was challenged by the repeated letters of my name. Like the spelling of Mississippi, I’ve always enjoyed the way my name repeats when spelled out: M-a-r-g-a-r-e-t.

#Margaret

#Mother of three strong women
#Ask me to dance
#Romantic hopelessly
#Grandmother of four potential difference-makers
#Artist of poetry
#Reserved until I trust you
#Early riser
#Teacher of gifted children

I love a good form for poetry and one I’ve played with often is Heidi Mordhorst’s definito. It is a poem of 8-12 lines appealing to children that defines a word. The defined word ends the poem.

Feline flexibility,
a natural mystery.
That deliciously pink belly
bouncing when she runs
can’t hide a surplus of fat
designed to save her,
but try as you might
to touch this soft spot,
Watch out! She will bite.
Don’t touch a cat’s tum-tum…
primordial pouch.
Margaret Simon, draft

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Poetry Friday: Elephant Pantoum

Posted in Photography, Poetry, Poetry Friday, Travel, Writing, tagged #Poetrypals, African elephant, elephant pantoum, Michelle Kogan on March 29, 2024| 13 Comments »

Poetry Friday is hosted this week by Tricia Stohr-Hunt at The Miss Rumphius Effect

Elephant family, July 2016 Tanzania, Africa

I was inspired by Michelle Kogan who wrote a pantoum for a hippo. I recalled the hippos of my Africa tour in 2016. I’ve been reading Margarita Engle’s verse novel Singing with Elephants. I collected lines from the verse and went to work on the pantoum form. This form is like a puzzle. Michelle fit hers together with rhyme. I didn’t use rhyme. When I googled pantoum, there doesn’t seem to be a rule about rhyme or line length. The rules show that each stanza is four lines with this pattern: (1,2,3,4) (2,5,4,6) (5,7,6,8) (7,3,8,1)

The Poetry Sisters respond to a challenge on the last Friday of the month. This month they are writing animal pantoums. Our host Tricia has more about the form and links to other Poetry Sisters posts.

The beauty of an elephant’s hum-hug,
a language as common as buzzing bees,
simple as spending time with kindness.
Elephants embrace us with their music.

With a language as common as buzzing bees,
I can catch good luck as it passes.
Simple as spending time with kindness,
these animals move like magical mountains.

I catch good luck as it passes:
Photo from Africa is a touchstone of memory.
These animals move like magical mountains
with a touch of heavy gentleness.

My photo from Africa is a touchstone of memory,
as simple as spending time with kindness–
A touch of heavy gentleness–
the beauty of an elephant’s hum-hug.
Margaret Simon, with thanks to Margarita Engle and PÁDRAIG Ó TUAMA.

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Poetry Friday: Her Heart

Posted in Poetry Friday, Writing, tagged ekphrasis, student poem, writing group on March 22, 2024| 21 Comments »

Rose Cappelli is gathering posts today at Imagine the Possibilities.

On Wednesday, I met with “The Three Pecans” after school writing club. We walked from the coffee shop to a gallery to see a student art show. I introduced ekphrasis to them, writing to art. I prompted with instructions to either write from observation with description or to enter the art and write from that perspective. All three of us were surprised at how the art drew poetic lines from us. Our poems were deep. We enjoyed reading them to each other and discussing where the emotions came from.

Each time I write with others I am surprised and fulfilled by how quickly we become close and confessional, sharing some of our most vulnerable parts. Poetry is magical in this way, bringing hearts together.

I asked my former student Kaia if I could share her poem today. I was struck by her conversation with her own heart.

this heart i see

the heart that beats

right in front of me

speaking in tongues, that only i understand

i feel it with my hand

i hear it with my ears

but why are you aching, my heart?

who hurt you?

the questions i ask go in one thump

and out the other.

she doesn’t know why

her heart is aching.

i don’t know why

my heart is aching.
Kaia, age 14

Click here to sign up to host the Kidlit Progressive Poem, only a few days left to fill.

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

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Slice of Life/Poetry Friday: Three Pecans

Posted in Poetry Friday, Progressive poem, Writing, tagged Cane River Pecan Company, Mahmoud Darwish, ode, Poetry Foundation on March 15, 2024| 16 Comments »

Poetry Friday is hosted today by Tanita at (fiction instead of lies)

This week I met with two local poets, one a former student who is nearing 14, and the other a visiting musician from Argentina who is 26 (I think). We met at a local coffee shop to write poetry together. I brought a poem I received from the Poetry Foundation, To Our Land by Mahmoud Darwish.

To our land,
and it is the one near the word of god,
a ceiling of clouds

To our land,
and it is the one far from the adjectives of nouns,
the map of absence

To our land,
and it is the one tiny as a sesame seed,
a heavenly horizon … and a hidden chasm
Mahmoud Darwish, read the rest of the poem here.

We talked about what we noticed. The anaphora of To our Land became our prompt for writing “To Our _______”.

Our discussion was surprisingly sophisticated, so truly engaged in the words, the feelings, and how each of us responded differently. Fran said, “We must do this again next week.” A writing group was formed.

I said, “We need to have a name.”

Kaia looked up at the pecans surrounding us (we were in the Pie Bar of a pecan company.) “What about three pecans?”

To Our Poets
after Mahmoud Darwish

To our poets
speaking with their pens
pencils tearing the page.

To our poets,
and he is the one grieving his land
a prize of war,
a jewel that glimmers for the far upon the far.

To our poets,
and she praises the birds, the imagination
calling to us announcing our place
in a family of things.

To our poets,
the ones who gives themselves permission
to be poets, folding pages of a notebook
that unfold their untold secrets.

And for us
who listen
and find fresh air to breathe.
Margaret Simon, draft

Click here to sign up for a day to add a line to April’s Progressive Poem.

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Poetry Friday: Curious

Posted in Poetry Friday, Slice of Life, Writing, tagged acrostic poetry, school counselor, torn paper collage art on March 8, 2024| 21 Comments »

Poetry Friday is hosted today by Laura Purdie Salas

Ignorance is not saying, I don’t know. Ignorance is saying, I don’t care.
Unknown, from 365 Days of Wonder

Last week the counselor at our school hosted a teacher group after school. I attended along with my next door neighbor, our speech therapist. We share a space. We usually visit daily, so over the last few years, we’ve gotten to be close friends. In this teacher support group meeting, we were the only ones there along with the counselor.

After some chatting, the counselor showed us a visual of a rose and asked us to share our blossoms, our buds, and our thorns. It was the first time I had experienced the tool, and it really worked. In the safety of her calming space, we talked about good things, hopeful things, and our challenges. Did I mention she had aroma steam and hot herbal tea?

I felt so moved by the experience I wanted to share my appreciation. I worked all week on a collage of roses and wrote an acrostic poem to give her; the least I could do for a totally free group therapy session.

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Poetry Friday: Persona Poem (Slice of Life)

Posted in Poetry Friday, Slice of Life, Writing, tagged Inklings, persona poem on March 1, 2024| 20 Comments »

Poetry Friday is hosted today by Linda at Teacher Dance.

Hello, March! If I’ve counted right, this is my eleventh year to participate in the Slice of Life Challenge hosted by Two Writing Teachers. I’ve challenged myself to write a post every day in March. I will also write every day in April because that’s National Poetry Month. I’ve learned that a daily writing practice enriches my life, connects me with others, and makes me a better writer. Thanks to all my readers. You inspire and encourage me.

Today I’m the challenger of my writing group, the Inklings. We each take a turn at creating a prompt for the first Friday of each month. I asked my friends Molly Hogan, Mary Lee Hahn, Catherine Flynn, Linda Mitchell, and Heidi Mordhorst to write persona poems. Persona poems are written in a different voice. The author can speak through an object, another person, an emotion, etc.

I attended a workshop led by Babalwa Tetyana (link is to the YouTube recording) sponsored by Narrative 4. She guided us to write persona poems. I chose to write from the perspective of a portrait of myself at age 12. I sent my draft to the Inklings. They were confused about who the speaker was. Me or me? Yes, it was me. Tricky.

I decided maybe a form could contain the poem and make the emotions clearer. A nod to Irene Latham’s Poetry Friday’s post last week; she wrote a double tricube. Here’s my rewrite.

Portrait of Margaret Simon by Elizabeth Wolfe

My Portrait Speaks

I look out
behind glass,
12 year old

intense eyes
watch you
avoid my glance.

Your child-self
grieves with you–
penciled lines

trace my face.
Dear innocent
insecure soul,

look my way.
I hold love
in my eyes.

I’m your source
a savior sent
behind glass.
Margaret Simon, draft

Sign up for the April Kidlit Progressive Poem.

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Poetry Friday: Persona Poems

Posted in Poetry Friday, Writing, tagged Kate Coombs, persona poem on February 23, 2024| 19 Comments »

Poetry Friday is hosted by Tabatha at The Opposite of Indifference.

Have you seen the beautiful poetry collection by Kate Coombs Today I am a River? In each poem, the author takes on the “mask” or “persona” of something in nature.

Wind
I am the wind.
Sometimes I rage!
I slash through forests,
stamp over mountains.
I am a giant, an ogre, a troll–
I kick the treetops,
yell, bellow, and roar!
1st stanza of “Wind” from Kate Coombs book “Today I am a River”

This is a book students can access easily. It taps into pretend play. What if I were the wind today?

On Tuesday afternoon, I attended a workshop at the Acadiana Center for the Arts. We wrote poems to art, ekphrasis. One of the areas held two stained glass pieces of the same tree image. One tree was surrounded by clear glass, the other in dark blue. I took on the persona of night speaking to dawn.

Next week is my turn to challenge our Inklings for the first Friday of the month. I challenged them and now you to write a persona poem. Here are a few links to persona poems: Mother to Son by Langston Hughes, The Piano Speaks by Sandra Beasly, and an essay from The Poetry Foundation by Rebecca Hazelton.

I am Night
I am night
I feel ordinary light
listening to noisy killdeers
chattering in my mind.
I seek dawn–
open the shades, hopeful a new day will come.
I twitch at the backdoor,
mew like hungry cats
waiting to be fed.
Will you come walk with me?
Turn toward the east.
Watch sun rise
in pink and purple
above the trees.
Will you seek my shadow
for comfort
or rise?
Margaret Simon, draft

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Poetry Friday is Here!

Posted in Poetry Friday, tagged #beingmamére, grief poems, haiku, Leigh Anne Eck, ReadWriteThink, winter on February 15, 2024| 47 Comments »

Welcome to Poetry Friday. I am happy to be hosting this week. I chose this week because I am out of school for the week for Mardi Gras break. I’m sorry you do not all get this break. It has been so much fun. And today the fun continues with all of your poetry goodness. Find the link up at the end of this post.

Leigh Anne Eck is naming skies. On Thursday, I read her post on Facebook alongside a photo of a sunrise. She wrote “Today’s sky is “step.” I hope you “step into a new day” and “rise up from the dust and walk away.” Following the madness of Mardi Gras, coming home to the solemn Ash Wednesday, I felt surreal, a mixture of fantasy and fact. Her message grounded me as did my morning walk through my familiar neighborhood. Home.

I thought I might get a poem from all of this, yet that poem is still brewing. Today I am sharing a sweet haiku I wrote about my 4 year old grandson picking a wildflower for me. Here is a photo of the tiny blossom in a Mardi Gras cup. I wrote the haiku using Read, Write, Think Haiku interactive, a prompt from Donna Smith.

Winter in Louisiana is mostly wet and humid. On an early morning walk while walking through the foggy air, a grief poem came to me. Maybe reading these two poems side by side will put you into that surreal mood I’m in, where there is joy and grief and everything in between.