Poetry Friday | Reflections on the Teche

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Idiom Poems

Posted in Poetry Friday, tagged Chris Van Allsburg, Harris Burdick, idioms on February 1, 2013| 9 Comments »

April at Teaching Authors is hosting today.

This week I introduced the new book, The Chronicles of Harris Burdick, to my students. The Mysteries of Harris Burdick was first published in 1984 by Chris Van Allsburg. The book included black and white illustrations with only a title and a caption. The story was up to your own imagination. The illustrations have been used as writing prompts for years. The new book features stories written by well-known middle grade writers. Or, as Lemony Snicket would like us to believe, they were all written secretly by Harris Burdick himself. Whatever you believe, the book is a magical collection of model stories.

We read together a story written by Jon Scieszka, “Under the Rug.” In this story, the narrator’s grandmother speaks in idioms. We all laughed together at Grandma, “All that glitters is not gold. Beware the calm before the storm. Those pants make you look fat.” After our discussion, I asked the students to select their favorite idiom and write about it. I wish you could hear the playful sibling rivalry in Brooklyn’s voice when she read her poem, “Back Seat Driver.”

Bossy, bossy
Coach, coach
Telling me what to do
Move over here,
Go over there
He might just get hit with a shoe.

Such a backseat driver,
If I do say so myself,
Only a big brother thing
I wonder if his head goes ding
Whenever something falls from above
like a 2×4 shelf.

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Fair Play

Posted in Poetry Friday, Teaching, tagged fairy tales, Poetry prompts, The Time is Now on January 25, 2013| 7 Comments »

Tabatha at The Opposite of Indifference is hosting today.

I subscribe to Poets and Writers The Time is Now writing prompts. This week the poetry prompt intrigued me.

“Choose any word from the dictionary and read its definitions. Write a poem using only the language of these definitions. Try repeating them in different combinations and using line break to create unexpected phrases. Experiment with how far you can push the limits of the language you’re working with. Use the word you’ve chosen as the title of the poem.”

I tried the exercise myself with varied results. I tried it with my elementary gifted students. At first I was worried. It took a while for them to even choose a word. My favorite came from a third grader. I’m not sure how much of the original definition became a part of her poem, but I loved her play with language.

Fair

People say you’re the fairest of them all.
Of course they say that in fairy tales,
you know,
when a fairy comes to help the fair lady.
She’s not that fair.
She is wicked. She is cruel.
The real fairest of them all
comes to help, to defeat
that so-called fair queen.
That’s why they say
you’re only fair
in fairy tales.

–Vannisa

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The Star Still Leads

Posted in Poetry, Poetry Friday, tagged ekphrasis, Epiphany, John Gibson on January 18, 2013| 12 Comments »

Artwork by John Gibson

I attend the Episcopal Church of the Epiphany, so Sunday, Jan. 6th was our feast day. For the occassion, Bishop Jake Owensby visited and preached at the service. He talked about how the wise men were not searching for a certain geographical location, but for a person. His whole sermon can be found on his blog, Pelican Anglican.

I was inspired by Bishop Jake’s words when I picked up this card from my collection. I tried to capture the idea of our continual search in this poem.

The Star Still Leads
The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.

Wise men traveled a great distance
with a will
strong enough to carry them
over hills and dunes,
through nights of wind,
storms, and cold.
All in search of a person.

Life is a destination
recorded in scrapbooks
dated photographs,
no east, south,
west, or north,
but names, people we love,
people who sustain us in hope.

We are revealed to God,
our calloused hands curled
in prayer,
we reach up,
fervently asking
for relationship, for health, for understanding.
Asking for a star.

all rights reserved, Margaret Simon

Violet is hosting the round-up today. Check it out!

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Mr. Al

Posted in Poetry Friday, tagged found poem, Mr. Al oak tree on January 10, 2013| 5 Comments »

Renee is hosting Poetry Friday today.

A found poem is a form of poetry using existing text and fashioning it into a poem. My students enjoy this kind of poetry because it seems easy; Just find some golden lines, put them together, and voilà, a poem!
“Poems hide in things you and others say and write. They lie buried in places where language isn’t so self-conscious as ‘real poetry’ often is. [Writing found poems] is about keeping your ears and eyes alert to the possibilities in ordinary language” (Dunning and Stafford, Getting the Knack: 20 Poetry Exercises.) For a complete lesson on Found Poetry, go to Read, Write, Think.

Watercolor painting of Mr. Al by Jerome Weber

In May of 2011, an old oak tree was saved by a group of community members. At the time, I involved my students in writing letters to save the tree. It was moved with much effort and at a high cost. I pass this tree every day as I drive to school. A friend of mine is the arborist hired to care for Mr. Al. On Tuesday, the newspaper had an update on Mr. Al’s health. The title of the article was “Looking a Little Thin but OK, Mr. Al weathering it all.”

Weather forecasters predict severe storms.
One resident is not concerned.
Mr. Al, 120 years old,
is setting down roots
in his new home.

Weighing 800,000 pounds,
such a move can put significant
strain on his magnitude,
a pretty mean way to treat an old tree.

The stately oak looks thin
but this is normal for his type.
He’s catching up.

Come and sit by my roots,
invites Mr. Al,
and think the things that
an old guy thinks.
–Margaret Simon, all rights reserved

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Dance of the Trees

Posted in Poetry Friday, tagged blues, Christmas cards, John Gibson, poetry on January 4, 2013| 10 Comments »

Artwork by John Gibson, 2011

When I was growing up, I would watch my father draw. He loves to draw trees. And somehow, he sees more about trees than I see. I think an artist must see more than we see. He makes the trees come alive on the page.

As I work on my poetry project about my father’s art, I remember growing up in Mississippi on the banks of Purple Creek, playing in the woods, building forts and pretending to live in the wild frontier like Laura Ingalls Wilder. I remember hiking with a friend and choosing “our” own tree.

So I was thinking all these things, trees in art, growing up in Mississippi, and working on the craft of poetry when I came across a blues poem by Etheridge Knight that inspired a rhythm in me.

A Poem for Myself
I was born in Mississippi;
I walked barefooted thru the mud.
Born black in Mississippi,
walked barefoot through the mud…

This is my favorite poem that I have written so far. Sometimes you work on a poem over and over, and sometimes they just come. This one came, and I am grateful to my Creator for giving it to me.

Dance of the Trees
—Look at trees, think of God who comes to bring love.
I watch you watching trees.
I watch you watching those trees
outside your window in the loft.
If you could walk on the roof,
If you could walk out on that roof and touch them,
You could feel their hearts beating,
their hearts beating out the rhythm of the wind.
I watch you drawing the trees.
I watch you drawing those trees
in perfect chiaroscuro, shading just so
Just so they come alive and dance.
The trees dance in the moonlight
when you draw them.
When you draw them, God’s hand moves.
God’s hand is moving.

Matt is hosting Poetry Friday today.

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Listen

Posted in Poetry Friday, tagged Christmas cards, John Gibson, poetry on December 28, 2012| 4 Comments »

Carol is hosting Poetry Friday today. Check it out.

Art work by John Gibson, 2006

Last week on Poetry Friday, Laura Purdi Salas wrote a triolet about icicles. Her poem inspired me to try the triolet form. I am working on writing poems to my father’s Christmas cards. Here is a triolet for his 2006 card. The epigraph is his greeting inside the card.

Listen

Listen for the music of angels

Songs of heaven come to you
in mourning tunes of doves.
An angel plays her trumpet; true
Songs of heaven come to you.
From towers, hear a cathedral tune
echo like a hymn one loves.
Songs of heaven come to you
in mourning tunes of doves.

—Margaret Simon, all rights reserved

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A Light in the Darkness

Posted in Poetry, Poetry Friday, tagged Christmas, John Gibson, Mary, poetry on December 21, 2012| 4 Comments »

Heidi is hosting today.

Artwork by John Gibson, 2012

“Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart.”

The light
circles
like a ripple in calm water.

Brighter
than morning sun,
this evening star beams

Illuminating
dust particles to dance
around his little head.

He nurses,
content and strong,
pulling my heart.

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Preposition Parade

Posted in Poetry, Poetry Friday, Teaching, tagged grammar, preposition poetry on December 7, 2012| 6 Comments »

Thanks to Robyn Hood Black for hosting Poetry Friday today.

Prepositions were on parade in my class this week. We brainstormed a list of prepositions. The list grew to 50 words. Wow! Who knew there were so many?

Students wrote poems in which each line began with a preposition. To help our readers along, we decided the title should give a clue to the theme. Students experienced through practice how to use prepositions, and it was fun.

Mother Nature

From the high branch
of that cypress tree
beyond the flowing bayou
near a wading heron
through the slightest breeze
toward my longing heart
upon this lonely landscape
for eternity.
—Margaret Simon, all rights reserved.

My Rainbow

under the setting sun
across the ocean
with rays of light
through the oak trees
over the valleys
to the depths of the bayou
through my heart.
—Emily, 2nd grade

Louisiana

Through the tallest sugarcane
on the fastest feet
over the wettest mud
with the newest creatures
until I am at home
—Brooklyn, 5th grade

The Innocent Mouse

in the classroom
nearby kids on top of their desks
inside the cabinet, scratching
out he comes
across the room
beyond the bathroom
under the desks
as the kids try to escape
from the tragedy
except he only wanted paper
—Keana, 6th grade

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Pointillist

Posted in Poetry, Poetry Friday, tagged ekphrasis, pointillism on November 30, 2012| 6 Comments »

Poetry Friday is hosted today by Amy at The Poem Farm.

My father, John Gibson, created this drawing using pointillism. He creates a different image each Christmas for my parents’ Holiday greeting card.

The Pointillist

Patiently sitting at the drawing table,
he taps the paper as if strumming an instrument.
The music he creates comes forth
not in lines and shapes, but in shades
of dark and light.

This artist does not draw or paint.
He plays the dots, drumming them out
point by point.
What emerges is nothing short of miraculous,
like the first moving pixel on the television screen.

I marvel at the realism.
I could reach out and touch the cow.
The bed of straw even smells like a barn.
He places me there, at the birth scene,
waiting with Mary.

–Margaret Simon