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Archive for the ‘Progressive poem’ Category

Poetry Friday: Star

Posted in Poetry Friday, Progressive poem, Writing, tagged , , , on May 3, 2024| 17 Comments »

Poetry Friday is hosted today by Buffy Silverman.

Happy May! In many ways, I’m sad that it’s May. I looked over the school calendars, and I have fewer than 10 days left with my students. May’s calendars are worse than December. They are full of “Fun Days”, field trips, and “Awards Day”… Where are the time-with-my-students days?

Of course, there are some wonderful days on the same calendar: Teacher Appreciation Week, Mother’s Day, Memorial Day, Sleep-in-it’s-summer days.

Today is Inklings Challenge of the Month Day. Linda Mitchell hit us with an interesting challenge to exchange poems and “Fiddle with, play with, tinker, tear-apart, be inspired or stumped by” the poem you were given. I chose to find a nestling ( à la Irene Latham). On this Canva design, you can see the poem Linda sent and my nestling.

Full poem “Star Says” by Linda Mitchell
Nestling “Star” by Margaret Simon

Links to other Inklings. Molly had my poem to fiddle with. I can’t wait to see what she did with it.

Molly Hogan
Heidi Mordhorst
Catherine Flynn
Mary Lee Hahn
Linda Mitchell

If you followed the Progressive Poem, you can find the poem as a whole at this link: 2024 Kidlit Progressive Poem: Border Crossing This year felt different, a higher stakes dramatic story evolved. Thanks to everyone who participated.

I will be participating in a poetry reading event on Saturday night. It’s been a while since I have read for an audience. Wish me luck.

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NPM24: Poem in Your Pocket Day

Posted in Poetry, Progressive poem, Writing, tagged , , , , on April 18, 2024| 2 Comments »

What is National Poem in Your Pocket Day?

What poem will you carry?

I am taking along a bit of kindness from Danusha Laméris Small Kindnesses.

Kidlit Progressive Poem is moving along with apprehension and worry for our two refugees.
See the latest line at Opposite of Indifference with Tabatha Yeats.

Taste a Bite of Poetry
after Mark Strand

I have been dining on poetry
that tastes like cookies.

Someone pressed in a dash
of salty tears, balancing the sweet.

Someone topped them with chocolate.
The brown ink stains my fingers,

So I carry this verse with me,
eating bit by bit,
filling my wistful soul.
@Margaret Simon, draft

Photo by Suzy Hazelwood on Pexels.com

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Poetry Friday: Fay B. Kaigler Children’s Book Festival and an Ode to the Hurricane

Posted in Poetry Friday, Progressive poem, Writing, tagged , , on April 13, 2024| 14 Comments »

Poetry Friday gathering this week is with Jone MacCulloch.

Being a part of the Poetry Friday community has given me much to be grateful for. We are writing together a wonderful Progressive Poem. Today’s line is with Denise Krebs and yesterday was Linda Mitchell. I’ve met these poets along with many others through our weekly postings. These posts have led to collaboration on other projects. Linda is a writing group partner and Denise and I are a part of Ethical ELA and a book we are collaborating on. (More on that later.) I would never have met them in real life. The gathering of a like-minded community of writers has all occurred right here with my blog.

Linda’s Line
Denise’s Line

This week I attended the Fay B. Kaigler Children’s Book Festival and had the privilege of presenting with Irene Latham. Irene and I met through Poetry Friday and in person years ago at the Louisiana Book Festival. We’ve presented together before at NCTE.

Irene is such a humble leader. She turns every eye away from herself toward you. She makes everyone in the room feel like confident poets. What joy! You can see our slideshow here.

Margaret and Irene presenting at Fay B Kaigler Children’s Book Festival: “Poetry as a Time Machine”

Next year, you should consider attending the festival in person. They invite the most inspiring speakers. This year I heard keynotes from Lesa Cline-Ransome as well as her talented husband, James Ransome, Cynthia Leitich Smith (Southern Miss Medallion), and Juana Martinez-Neal who won the Coleen Salley Storytelling Award. Jason Chin, deGrummond Children’s Literature Lecturer, impressed me with his curiosity about the world and how that curiosity has led him to illustrating. He won a Caledecott Medal for Watercress. The book that impressed me the most was The Universe in You: A Microscopic Journey (Caldecott and Sibert Honoree). As you can see, the Fay B Kaigler invites some of the best authors and illustrators in the children’s literature realm.

And now for a poem. Following Ethical ELA VerseLove has kept me writing a poem each day. Yesterday’s prompt was an ode to the unworthy. I’ve lived in Louisiana and Mississippi all my life, so I’ve had many hurricane experiences. I wrote an Ode to the Hurricane.

Ode to the Hurricane

As the wild winds swirl
together above the Gulf,
you become a massive creation
threatening a nation.

No matter how we prepare–
buy bread, water, flashlights,
charge up Sparky, the generator,
your fierce presence is feared.

They give you gentle names:
Katrina, Ida, Andrew, Camille.
Names that will live in history.
Names that define an era.

After you pass through, an eerie
calm descends upon a community.
We band together to feed each other,
to clean up destruction you left behind.

Oh, hurricane, you are the hint of end times.
Behold your survivors–we tell your story.

Margaret Simon, draft

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Poetry Friday: Haiku with Inklings

Posted in Creativity, Poetry Friday, Progressive poem, Writing, tagged , , , 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.

random collection of haiku

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.

  1. 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 , , , , , , , 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 , , , , 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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Slice of Life/Poetry Friday: Three Pecans

Posted in Poetry Friday, Progressive poem, Writing, tagged , , , on March 15, 2024| 16 Comments »

Thank you to Two Writing Teachers for creating an amazing community of writers and a safe, welcoming space to write and share.
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
Photo by Lisa Fotios on Pexels.com

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

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Poetry Friday and Progressive Poem are Here!

Posted in Poetry Friday, Progressive poem, Writing, tagged , , on April 6, 2023| 41 Comments »

Today I am juggling many hats. First, I am hosting the blog roundup for Poetry Friday. If you participate, the link up will be at the end of this post. 2. I have the next line for the annual Kidlit Progressive Poem (gentle hand-off from Donna who is wearing many hats of her own lately). 3. It’s the first Friday of the month which means a challenge from an Inkling (our writing group’s cute nickname).

The Kidlit Progressive Poem is the dream-child of Irene Latham. I am carrying the torch these days which means I round up all the volunteer writers and send them a reminder if they forget. Not a terrible job, really. So far, it all seems to come together in an amazing poem by the end of the month. You can follow the progression by clicking on the links on the side bar. Six days of April means six lines. I feel like I’m cheating because the line came to me immediately. Repetition is good in a poem and so are similes. Here is the poem with my line added in italics.

Suddenly everything fell into place
like raindrops hitting soil and sinking in.

When morning first poked me, I’d wished it away
my mind in the mist, muddled, confused.

Was this a dream, or reality, rousing my response?
The sun surged, urging me to join in its rising, 

Rising like a crystal ball reflecting on morning dew.

The Inkling challenge this month comes from Mary Lee Hahn. She decided to choose random words as a prompt for a poem. The words were knuckle, denial, turn, cautious.

Molly Hogan, fellow Inkling, and I are using a calendar grid for National Poetry Month. Here’s a copy of our calendar which you are welcome to use if you need ideas. I chose to write a Fib poem, a form that uses the Fibonacci Series for syllable counts: 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8. (I just realized I didn’t repeat the one syllable line. Fudge it. Too late to revise now.)

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!Click here to enter

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NPM 2023: Morning Blogger

Posted in Poetry, Progressive poem, Writing, tagged , , , on April 2, 2023| 11 Comments »

The Kidlit Progressive Poem is with Heidi Mordhorst today. Watch as the magic unfolds with each line. Yesterday Mary Lee landed us solid on the end of a story and Heidi has added a bit of rain. Tomorrow Tabatha will take us a step further. but not too far because we have many miles to go before we sleep.

Molly Hogan and I are working through our self-created challenge to write a poem each day. We thought a calendar without dates, more like a Bingo card, would give our writing some kind of structure with freedom. I am a morning blogger. Last night I went to a Cajun Fais Do Do put on by The Books Along the Teche Literary Festival. I danced, and danced, and danced. Feet tired and head spinning, there was no way I could have produced a post, let alone a poem last night. So I left it alone, this space blank until this morning.

Lately I’ve been listening again to Joni Mitchell. Her songs defined my college days (my husband and I saw her in an intimate concert more than 40 years ago) and when I listen now, I hear the pure poetry and smooth soprano of her voice. I am skipping down the grid a few “weeks” and writing from a song.

The lyrics for A Case of You led me to write about my 91 year-old mother-in-law. She’s an incredible woman whom I admire beyond the stars.

In the Light

for Anne Lennan Simon

I’m a lonely writer.
I live on a clean white page.
I’m frightened by my own grief.
And I’m drawn to those who age.

I remember when you told me,
you said, “You are a deep griever.”
Surely you know grief like mine
‘Cause a part of you is a part of me
in these words I try to find.

You’re in my soul like dandelions.
You’re my longed for wish.
You’re so pretty and so wise,
beauty and wisdom are yours.
I want to be like you, and
Still be in the light.
And still be in the light.

Margaret Simon, after Joni Mitchell “A Case of You”
Anne Simon with artist-poet Melissa Bonin at a recent party for LEH (Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities).
Her son, my husband Jeff is in the background.

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National Poetry Month 2023:

Posted in Poetry, Progressive poem, Writing, tagged , , , , on April 1, 2023| 2 Comments »

A collaborative calendar for NPM with Molly Hogan.

Happy National Poetry Month! I’m excited (and a little anxious) to start a new blog journey today. Last month I wrote a post every day in March for the annual Two Writing Teachers Slice of Life Challenge. You’d think after 31 straight days, I’d be ready to stop. But the practice of writing gets better and in many ways easier the more you do it. I am joining a community of teachers, poets, and bloggers who commit to National Poetry Month.

For starters, take a look at the first line of this year’s Kidlit Progressive Poem with Mary Lee today. She is setting us off on a long road to an amazing collaborative feat, 30 days, 30 poets, 30 lines.

Suleika Jaouad has an email newsletter, The Isolation Journals, in which she prompted “The Open Palm.”

Your prompt for the week:

  1. Close your eyes, and slowly trace the outline of your non-dominant hand on a blank page. Take your time. Pay attention to the physical sensations. The sound of pen on page. The feel of paper against palm, pen between fingers. Surrender any illusions of control. Any attempt at getting it “right” or “perfect.”
  2. Write a creative intention inside your palm. Around it, begin writing things that will invite you back to your practice—encouraging words, activities that inspire you, different ways of approaching your intention, small steps to get you closer to your goal.
  3. Outside the hand: Allow yourself to daydream about what lies ahead. Write about where your intention could bring you. What it could help you discover. Record any new revelations and realizations, dreams or ideas that you want to carry forward.
  4. Reflect on what happened in your mind and in your body at each step of the process, and how that awareness can guide your creative path.
Suleika Jaouad
My Open Palm by Margaret Simon

This open palm feels like my opening up to this new month of writing daily, the practice of being open to what flows, without judgement, discovering the creativity that already lives in me. Thanks for being here. This haibun is from a prompt at VerseLove at Ethical ELA. I decided to abandon grammar rules and Flow.

Write, Just Write

Write fast she says without judgement keep the pen moving
across the page you can do this with one hand tied behind
your back standing on one leg let the flamingo in you blush
with delight until the timer stops ticking then rest breathe in
the feeling of success of soulsearching of secrets revealed
in your own abandon you are in charge here Be Be Be who
you want to be embrace her for she is yours forever.

Find a soft place
to land your soft body
sing yourself home.

Margaret Simon, draft

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