This Photo Wants to be a Poem

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This Photo Wants to be a Poem: Triplets

Posted in Photography, Poetry, This Photo Wants to be a Poem, tagged elfchen, Maine marsh, Molly Hogan, yellowlegs on May 8, 2024| 15 Comments »

Greater Yellowlegs Triplets by Molly Hogan

Molly Hogan captured this funny photo on a recent outing into the marsh in Maine. I love how she captured the reflection as well. These shorebirds are called yellowlegs for the obvious reason that they have yellow legs, but I think watching them skitter along the shore would bring a smile to anyone’s face.

Let this photo be your muse this morning as we get closer to slower, beach-filled days of summer. I welcome the extra time, but not the heat. Our temperatures in the south are already inching up to 90 degrees. Leave a small poem in the comments.

I’m back to my daily elfchen practice. A reminder of the form: eleven words, 1, 2, 3, 4, 1. The first word introduces the topic, the second tells what it does, the third where it is, and the fourth how it makes you feel (I go for a metaphor in this line), ending with a word of transformation from the first word.

Yellowlegs
toothpick race
across sandy marsh.
No one wins a prize–
Solidarity.
Margaret Simon, draft

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This Photo Wants to be a Poem: Flower Girl

Posted in This Photo Wants to be a Poem, Writing, tagged flower girl, luc bat poetry form, This Photo Wants to be a Poem on May 1, 2024| 25 Comments »

One of my students brought a small photo album to school and shared with me this photo of her as a baby, probably between 18 months and 2 years old. She was a flower girl in a wedding. There are so many things to love about this photo. The facial expression, her rosy baby cheeks, and the celebration of love. So I took a photo of the photo, which doesn’t make for great quality, but you get the idea. May Day is a time for celebrating the warmth of spring and the blooming of flowers. (I do not have permission for the use of the photo.)

To honor the Asian tradition, I wrote a Luc Bat. The syllable count is 6, 8 (luc bat translates to six, eight) and in the 8 syllable line, the 6th syllable rhymes. There is no limit to the number of lines, but it typically ends on the 8 syllable line.

Our song begins with praise
fills temple as we raise our one
voice. Flower-scented hands
held together by bands of love.
Margaret Simon, draft

Please respond to this photo with a small poem in the comments. Encourage other writers with your comments.

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Poetry Friday: Rainbow Haiku

Posted in Gifted Education, Photography, Poetry Friday, This Photo Wants to be a Poem, Writing, tagged haiku, rainbow poems, student poems on April 26, 2024| 13 Comments »

The Poetry Friday Roundup is with Ruth at There is no such thing as a Godforsaken town.

This week is state testing week, so I did not pull my gifted students out from their regular classrooms. I’m on stand-by to help if needed. But I do get to see my youngest ones. William, first grade, was only recently placed in gifted services. His gifted brain is so full of ideas that he can barely settle on one thing. I asked him to work with me on a haiku about a rainbow. We talked about how a haiku form captures a single moment in time, usually about nature, and has 3 lines, short, long, short. We played around with word order and placement of his ideas. Then he came out with the word “surprise.” Ah yes, that’s it!

Reflex (relects) in the warter (water).
a rainbow comes out of clouds.
surprise in the sky
William’s first haiku, 1st grade

Carson in 2nd grade has been working with me all year long. He’s more independent in his writing, but still needs reassurance. I showed him a video from Mystery Science about how the rain becomes a prism to refract the white light into a colorful rainbow.

Rainbows are still a mystery to me even though I have this knowledge. When I see an actual rainbow in the sky, I often take a picture. My husband knows to stop for rainbows. If you are drawn to them, to Molly’s amazing photo, and want to add your writing to the collection, go back to this post on Wednesday.

Sunlight prism
in the water makes rainbows
arch of colors
Carson, 2nd grade

While I was checking my Fanschool post, I realized that even though Adelyn was not coming to class, she checked on our weekly “This Photo Wants to be a Poem” post and wrote. She is crazy about all things mythological. Can you tell?

The great color arc,
stretching above us.
As water vapor shimmers bright
in shining light,
Iris glows.
Adelyn, 5th grade

After a skipped day on Thursday (no worries, just busy life), Karin introduces a new character.

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This Photo Wants to be a Poem: Butterfly Garden

Posted in This Photo Wants to be a Poem, Writing, tagged butterfly garden, Ethical ELA, flower poems, Kwansaba, Praise poem, school garden on April 17, 2024| 11 Comments »

We’ve started getting the school butterfly garden ready for spring. I was a bit overwhelmed and excited to see all the plants that survived the winter. I was particularly taken by the purple salvia which last year was a small percentage of planter box space and now is practically taking over. But it’s so beautiful.

Yesterday on Ethical ELA, the prompt from Dave Wooly was a new form to me: Kwansaba, a praise poem based on #7. Seven lines, seven words, seven or fewer letters each word. The letter count stumped me because I wanted to write about the butterfly garden. Butterfly is 9 letters long, off limits. I felt like I was putting together a complicated puzzle where the pieces wouldn’t fit together. I’m sharing my effort, however, along with my garden partner Avalyn’s garden celebration.

Purple Salvia Kwansaba

In our school garden, spring rises in
purple salvia opening with violet nectar.

Beauty abounds here, left after winter’s freeze
bidding hummers, bees, moths, pollen seekers come.

I want to plant a home garden–
enrich, connect place to place where life,
a sense of hope, comes richly back to us.

by Margaret Simon

Avalyn’s Garden Kwansaba

Garden

Such a pretty flower, dancing flowers behold.
The wind cannot uproot even in storms.
You are such beauty I cannot explain.
You are the scent I want to smell.
You stand for happy, so much color!
Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet
A praise poem to all the flowers.

How are the flower gardens doing in your part of the world? Please consider writing a small poem in the comments and encouraging other writers with your comments. Happy Spring!

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This Photo Wants to be a Poem: L’Éclipse

Posted in Poetry, This Photo Wants to be a Poem, Writing, tagged eclipse, ekphrastic poetry, Melissa Bonin on April 10, 2024| 2 Comments »

This painting by my friend, artist Melissa Bonin, was exhibited at the Acadian World Congress in 2019 in Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada. When Melissa posted this photo of her art on Instagram, I was inspired to ask permission for our ekphrastic poetry this week.

Did you experience the eclipse? The experience was exciting for everyone. Although there were clouds and rain, a few times the sun peeked out and we were able to view it. My students were fascinated.

Every day we
Come closer to
Learning our lesson.
I stand in awe
Pretending to feel
Safe on our fragile
Earth.
Margaret Simon, draft

Please write a small poem in the comments. Encourage other writers with your responses.

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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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Posted in Photography, Poetry, This Photo Wants to be a Poem, tagged #poemsofpresence, #smallpoems, Amanda Potts, milkweed, Ottawa, This Photo Wants to be a Poem on March 27, 2024| 54 Comments »

Amanda Potts on Instagram is @persistenceandpedagogy. She’s become quite the photographer on her daily walks in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. She posted this one last week of an open pod of milkweed seeds. I am waiting for my milkweed to sprout, but I’m worried that the freeze killed it.

Amanda’s photo stirred an emotion in me. Look for the light. These seeds seem to be glowing from the center. They have places to go, places to land, places to nurture our most precious monarch caterpillars.

Write a small poem inspired by this photo and leave it in the comments. Please encourage other writers with your responses.

Parachute on wind
gentle flight for precious gems
whirl to wake the world.
Margaret Simon, draft

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This Photo Wants to be a Poem: Chicken

Posted in Slice of Life, This Photo Wants to be a Poem, tagged cherita, chickens, This Photo Wants to be a Poem on March 20, 2024| 37 Comments »

I wrote a book years ago about a girl who loved a chicken. Her name was Blessen. Blessen still lives in my heart. I don’t know her, but I know her because I created her. Here is a child I don’t know. She is hugging a chicken. I love the image and I borrowed it from Facebook. I don’t have permission to publish it, so please do not take it.

Can you create a character in a poem today? A child who loves chickens or all animals? Who is she? Explore her with a fictional poem. Today I am choosing the form of cherita which is a 6-lined poem broken into 3 stanzas. (stanza 1: one line; stanza 2: 2 lines; stanza 3: 3 lines.) Cherita means story, so the poem should tell a story. An example from Mary Lee is here.

Curly locks and black feathers

hold on to each other–
friend to friend

Cherishing a moment
before the parade
when black feathers will fly.
Margaret Simon, draft

There is a weird tradition here in South Louisiana at Mardi Gras when country folks chase a chicken for a gumbo. It’s a drunken, barbaric affair that I struggle with. Many believe it is harmless fun.

Leave your own poem (cherita or other small poem) in the comments. Give encouraging responses to other writers.

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This Photo Wants to be a Poem: Foggy Sunrise

Posted in This Photo Wants to be a Poem, tagged #haiku, #sunrise, Antoine de Saint-Exupery, Marshall Ramsey on March 13, 2024| 60 Comments »

Sunrise through the fog, photo by Marshall Ramsey.

When winter turns to spring, we often have fog. Fog can be dangerous, but it is also quite beautiful and intriguing. What is really there that we cannot see?

I found this photo on Instagram from Marshall Ramsey who is a cartoonist living in Mississippi. His cartoons are often published in the Clarion-Ledger of Jackson, MS.

I was also intrigued by this quote that Georgia Heard posted.

In my classroom, we collect good and thought-provoking quotes. Quotes can lead us to our own thoughts. Take some time for yourself, the poet in you, to think on all these things: the photo, the quote, what is currently happening in your life. Let’s write together. Post your small poems in the comments, and encourage other writers with your words.

I seek a portal
to new possibility
slow reveal of me
Margaret Simon, draft

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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This Photo Wants to be a Poem: Swinging High

Posted in being mamére, Photography, Slice of Life, This Photo Wants to be a Poem, tagged Bayou Teche, grandchildren, haiku, swinging on March 6, 2024| 32 Comments »

“Swing me, swing me high!” my granddaughter Stella called to me as I pushed the swing. Our next door neighbors have moved. For as long as we have lived in this house, 19 years, we have shared yard space with our neighbors. They recently moved to be closer to their grandchildren, but they left behind one of my grandchildren’s favorite things, the baby swings. They hang from a strong live oak arm. This photo looks out at Stella, 3, swinging and watching the bayou for boats. Off to the left is our ever faithful grandmother oak. She holds a rope swing that my grandchildren are not yet strong enough to hold onto. They enjoy throwing it back and forth, holding on and falling down.

If I ever need reminding to love my life, I should look upon this photo. I invite you to find where it takes you. Is it back to a past time? Do you have grandchildren or children who love to swing? I haven’t met a child yet that doesn’t love swinging. I recently saw an Instagram post about how swinging helps kids regulate their bodies.

Swinging stimulates different parts of a child’s brain simultaneously. Swinging helps the brain develop skills such as spatial awareness, balance, rhythm, and muscle control. Even a quiet moment on a swing can help a child regulate their sensory system and help them develop the ability to adapt to different sensations.
From Mosaic Health and Rehab

Besides the benefits, swinging is simple, free fun! Write a small poem in the comments. Come back to this post if you can to read other poems and offer your encouraging support. Sign up to follow my blog if you’d like to join this weekly writing prompt.