Poetry Friday | Reflections on the Teche

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A Poem a Minute

Posted in Poetry Friday, tagged Joy Acey, minute poem, summer poem swap on August 7, 2015| 12 Comments »

Poetry Friday round up with Tabatha at The Opposite of Indifference.

I received another poem swap gift. Poets are incredibly creative people, so it’s always exciting to see what arrives. Joy Acey sent me a hawk feather, along with an artistic background and original poem. Her poem is a minute poem, 60 syllables. This was a new form for me, so I decided to capture a moment with a student today in my own minute poem, a sort of call and response with Joy’s poem.

Hawk Feather

The hawk soars in sky-high circles
floating on air
around the sun
riding jet streams.

Its rust and black feathers flutter
lifting to glide.
A feather drops.
Grab the treasure.

Pull the feather across your skin;
caress softness.
It feels so smooth.
Hear the hawk’s dreams.

–Joy Acey, 2015, all rights reserved

Joy Comes Back to You

Such joy returned
when I saw your face
upturned to me
from a warm embrace.

Summer sun kisses
on your pink cheeks
reflecting light
from your blonde hair streaks.

Like a new butterfly
on a wisp of wind,
you lift my spirit
once again,
my student,
my friend.

–Margaret Simon

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Kitchen Window

Posted in Digital Learning, Poetry Friday, Writing, tagged Ava Leavell Haymon, PicMonkey, steal a line on July 31, 2015| 7 Comments »

Poetry Friday round up at Keri’s farm.

Poetry Friday is here. I always feel a sense of excitement and anxiety working on a post for PF. Today’s poem has been through a morphing of sorts. I started it in my notebook writing with my young writers camp. We stopped into our local independent bookstore, Books Along the Teche. My prompt was to steal a line from a favorite book to write from.

Ava Leavell Haymon is(was) the Louisiana poet laureate. Her latest poetry book, Eldest Daugther, was sitting near the front of our bookstore watching me and my students. I opened her up and found a line. “I am the light, standing in the kitchen window.”

I love to watch the light change from my kitchen window. This morning it illuminated a blue bottle on my outdoor bottle tree. Using PicMonkey, I altered the image and typed in my poem.

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Summer Poem Swap

Posted in Poetry Friday, tagged Irene Latham, poem swap, Tabatha Yeatts on July 24, 2015| 20 Comments »

Poetry Friday round up is here!

One of the joys of summer is the Summer Poem Swap, the brainchild of Tabatha Yeatts at The Opposite of Indifference. I sent a summer sonnet to Tabatha and she is featuring it on her site today. Thanks, Tabatha, for encouraging the sharing of poetry, making connections among us, and for keeping us writing.

Last week, I received a beautiful collage from Irene Latham. There are so many things I love about her poems. She chose two of my favorite subjects, herons and the bayou. She used a picture of a canoe. My husband and I have a canoe and don’t use it as much as we should, but when we do, it’s magical. Irene has obviously read my middle grade novel, Blessen, because there’s Blessen smiling next to the bayou. Thanks, Irene, for such a personal and special gift.

Link up your Poetry Friday posts with Inlinkz:

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Write Your Way

Posted in Poetry, Poetry Friday, Teaching, Writing, tagged student writing, write your way on July 17, 2015| 9 Comments »

Poetry Friday round up is hosted by Kimberley.

This week I have had the privilege to host a writing camp for kids. I have a small group ranging in age from 10 to 17. I have taught many writing camps over the years, but this is the first time that everyone there is truly a writer. I feel like my job this week has been to open up a faucet and watch the water flow. They just know how to do it.

Since I am holding the camp at a school within my church on Main Street, I decided that each day we would venture out to places close by to write. We have written in a bakery/gelato shop, an art gallery, a museum,a church, a bookstore, and a cafe.

One activity I enjoy doing with young writers is ekphrasis, writing to art. We are holding our meetings in the fine arts building. The art teacher is a folk art collector. She has left parts of her collection in the building for art inspiration. We used it for writing inspiration. Emery wrote this piece to a painting of a woman holding paint brushes fanned out over her face. The insight of this 13 year old is amazing.

George said that he could paint anything. He said that he could even paint me. I protested, but he insisted. I put my dirty blonde hair into a messy ponytail, my bangs fell to the left side of my face. I asked if there was any way to hide my face. He said,”Hold these paintbrushes in front of your face.” He handed me his extra brushes and I fanned them out. I put my hand to my cheek, for I could feel myself blushing. When he told me he was done, I took a look. I found a beautiful girl in black and white. She had two sides of her face, one light and one dark. The darker side showed where I hid my blush. The lighter side showed my blemish free skin. I saw a beautiful girl with insecurities, hiding behind paintbrushes. George had shown me the way that I see myself, and the way other people see me. He told me to take it home and hang it on a wall. I hung it in my living room. Every time I saw it, I remembered my insecurities and the man who painted me. He showed me how beautiful I really am.
–Emery

In the gallery, Kaylie focused not on the art but the building itself. She found an old door to write about.

Tall wooden door.
Antique. Riddled with
cracks. Green vine,
hello, creeping up
the wall. Brick
covered by thin
layer of paint, chipping,
like the floor,
patterns of red and
gray. Ancient hinges
on door, probably
can’t even open.
Doesn’t matter–blocked
by drying racks, a
hat stand and a
dusty flowerpot. Not
to be opened, nailed
shut by a rusty bar.
Why? What are you
keeping out? Or
what are you locking in?
–Kaylie

I hope you will come back over the next few days as I publish more of their work. This has been a pure pleasure to be with such wonderful writers.

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Playing with Words

Posted in clmooc, Poetry Friday, Writing, tagged #clmooc, Apples to Apples, Word play on July 10, 2015| 12 Comments »

Poetry Friday round up is at The Logonauts.

Have you ever played Apples to Apples? It’s a game my gifted students enjoy, especially the highly verbal ones. There are two sets of cards, green and red. The green cards are adjectives. The red ones, nouns. The players each hold 5 red cards. The judge for the round (rotates from player to player) places a green card in the middle. Everyone plays a red card. The judge chooses the best noun that fits with the adjective. Simple, right?

I like simple. I have been reading posts by the intelligent group of teachers participating in the CLMOOC, a collaborative learning community sponsored by the National Writing Project. I have associated with NWP for 20 years now, and I am constantly challenged to think beyond the borders. But with this make cycle, game design, much of the process and thinking has traveled well above my head. I’m hanging in, though. I decided to take what I know and just remake it to something I love.

I know Apples to Apples and I love poetry. There you go…a new game. I chose 3 sets of cards to play around with myself and then took pictures of 3 more sets for others to play with. I have added a few sets and invite you to play a little bit today. Follow the link to Google slides. Have fun!

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1MkeeS6tn1XSnBGSrWB8MHZzWmw0a4NllG74aOb1ayiw/edit?usp=sharing

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Poetry and CLmooc

Posted in clmooc, Digital Learning, Photography, Poetry Friday, Writing, tagged #clmooc, #untro, name poem, poetry on June 26, 2015| 14 Comments »

Poetry Friday round up is hosted by Carol.

I have joined the summer PD of CLMooc. Feeling my way through, I have found that poetry inspires many. Poetry is a way we can express our identity. The first make cycle prompted us to “unintroduce” ourselves. Some have taken the prompt to unidentify yourself and made poetry. One participant made a black out poem of the initial email. Another instigated a poem in response to Charleston. This community is responsive, reflective, and real.

Michelle Stein posted this prompt:
“Please follow this link and add your verse if you feel so inclined. My unmake follows these steps. Please do the same when adding your verse.
1. Randomly choose a word for each letter in your name.
2. Add a verse to this narrative poem, using each word you have chosen as the focus of a sentence.
3. Revel in the awesomesauce that is CLMOOC.”

Being one who is attracted to poetic prompts, I gave this one a try. I made a private deal with myself that I would use the first word that came to mind. This created a random word list.

Margaret

Mystic
Appetite (I must be hungry, as usual.)
Reservoir
Give
Astrology
Ring
Even
Trial

In the mystical distance,
an appetite for goodness makes
the reservoir of kindness grow.
Give your heart to life.

Astrology tells us that stars are wise.
Those rings of Saturn resonate light.
Even the universe proclaims pure joy.
No matter the trial, I show up. Ready.

Image made on LunaPic with pixabay free graphic of Saturn.

Image made on LunaPic with free graphic of Saturn.

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I am a Watcher

Posted in Poetry, Poetry Friday, tagged deer, nature poem, watching, wisdom on June 19, 2015| 9 Comments »

Poetry Friday round up is hosted by Mary Lee.

June Sunset on the lake

The slow down days of June give me the gift of time. Time to watch and be present. I am visiting my parents at the lake. There are always things to watch at the lake. Now as I sit on the back porch, I see a turtle on the small island sticking his little head out to taste the breeze. I see a mallard floating on the waves the breeze has mustered up.

Observation is the seed to creativity. Earlier I took a walk and ran into a deer on the road. Here is a draft of the poem I wrote upon returning. I didn’t have a camera with me. But I don’t think I could have captured this moment with a lens. I capture it now in words.

The Doe

Walking
Dover Lane,
She stands near my path
like a statue someone placed there.

Still,
quiet,
looking,
our eyes greet,
speak of love.

She’s the first to move,
scurries into the brush.
I pause as I pass
to watch
the shadows of three deer–
her family.

We are mothers
eye to eye
holding in a moment
nature’s promise.

–Margaret Simon

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Sparking Haiku

Posted in Poetry Friday, Teaching, Writing, tagged haiku, Linda Baie, writing camp on June 12, 2015| 19 Comments »

Poetry Friday round up is hosted by Jama.

In this wacky wonderful world of the Kidlitosphere, I have met so many awesome writers and teachers and teacher/writers. It becomes an even richer experience when we work together to teach and inspire students. When Leigh Anne Eck tweeted me about Skyping with her summer writing camp, I agreed, of course. I was actually flattered. As the day got closer, I worried that I didn’t have what I needed to adequately teach this workshop. We had a quick email exchange and decided to do haiku. All my books are packed away at school, so I turned to another online friend, Linda Baie. She had written a haiku every day in April and made a catalog of them all on her site. How perfect and convenient! Thanks, Linda!

These were the poems I selected and a few things we talked about.

snow shadows again
blossoms tighten their hold
no open window

(Note the use of the word shadows. Why do blossoms tighten? What does the last line tell you?)

That little boy
digs into warm earth –
wiggle in his hand

(What is in his hand? How do you know? Poets can tell you that it’s a worm without using the word.)

from snow to puddles
mother nature’s pasttime –
trees drink deeply

(What is happening? How do you know? Note the personification of trees. What is a pasttime?)

Following our discussion, we looked at this image from National Geographic. First we collected words and phrases that the students shared. Together we wrote this haiku.

Three pairs of flip-flops.
Shadows of three kids playing.
Puddle reflection.

We pulled up a Google image search of “summer days.” Each student chose their own image to write from. Sacred writing time for about 7 minutes. Then some wonderful sharing time. I had such a good time teaching from my living room, even if it was early in the morning. (two time zones)

I wrote a haiku to an image of daisies. Teachers write, too, during workshop. I borrowed a line from Linda, “no open window,” and made it “open your window.” I talked about how poets get ideas from other poets.

Open your window
Summer daisies are here.
Golden sunshine smiles.
–Margaret Simon

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Words from the Healer

Posted in Poetry Friday, Writing, tagged creole healing, Rebecca Henry, traiteurs, Vermilionville on June 5, 2015| 8 Comments »

Poetry Friday round up is hosted by Buffy today.

Elderberry growing in the healer’s garden.

Last weekend I attended a presentation at Vermilionville, a historic Cajun/Creole Village. The speaker was a Creole traiteur or healer, Rebecca Henry. I created this poem from my notes.

Advice from a healer:

Always think positive.
Eat an odd number of pumpkin seeds, 3, 5, 7 for back ache.
Don’t search for roots if you don’t know them.

We had our own names for stuff.
We were never poor.
We had a momma, a daddy, our brothers, our sisters.
We had everything we needed.

Every leaf, every plant, every flower is for food.
For croup, wear the flannel collar soaked in goose grease until Easter.
Use mud from the mud dauber nest for diaper rash.
Those mud daubers know the best dirt.

We never measure.
Treat the whole person.
Clean out in August.
Grease your machine real good.

Say why not me instead of why me.
If you believe, you will be healed.

Lizard’s Tail: “You put some lizard’s tail to soak in water, and you make the little baby drink it.”

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Ideas Grow

Posted in Poetry Friday, tagged #DigiPoetry, Facebook poetry on May 29, 2015| 30 Comments »

Round up is here today!

Don’t you love how small ideas can grow into big ideas with the strength of social media? Some ideas you can hardly trace back to the original owner. Take Poetry Friday, for example. How did it get started? Does anyone know?

On Facebook this week, I was tagged in a post, “For the love of poetry, let’s scatter poems all over Facebook.” I jumped in and tagged a few more people and now they are posting and tagging. How long will this go on? Ideas grow.

Last Sunday, I didn’t know what to write about for DigiLit Sunday, a round up of digital literacy posts that I started. I was about to give up. The last week of school was over, and I was bone dry. On a whim, I posted a digital challenge. Check it out here. I feel it was a huge success because there were a few people who joined in that I didn’t know. I’ll be posting another challenge this Sunday. Tune in. Here’s the Pinterest board full of digital images and poems.

Amy Ludwig VanDerwater was given a push by Kimberley Moran to have a Try This section on Sharing our Notebooks. Amy invited bloggers to send her ideas and her page is now full of 40+ Try This ideas. Wow!

Today Michelle Hendrick Barnes is posting her gallery of free verse word poems inspired by Nikki Grimes. I don’t always take part, but I did this month. There is something so satisfying about participating in a community. And sharing poetry.

In this digital world, poetry is available and accessible to anyone. Welcome to the Poetry Friday Parade. Jump in line anytime or just stand on the side and wave. It’s all good.

Leave the link to your post with inLinkZ. The button sends you to another page to post or read. Thanks for joining in!

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