This Photo Wants to be a Poem | Reflections on the Teche

Archive for the ‘This Photo Wants to be a Poem’ Category

This Photo Wants to be a Poem: Moss

Posted in Photography, This Photo Wants to be a Poem, Writing, tagged Henry Cancienne, Nature poems, small poems, Spanish moss on January 4, 2023| 37 Comments »

Happy New Year and Welcome to This Photo Wants to be a Poem. Let the muse take you away for a few minutes to the swamp of Louisiana where Spanish Moss drapes from trees. This week I am using a photo from photographer Henry Cancienne who head out to shoot photos on New Year’s Day when the weather was misty and warm (balmy). Henry’s photographs are featured in my book Bayou Song: Explorations of the South Louisiana Landscape.

Henry takes pictures of both flora and fauna of South Louisiana. Let this photo help you create a small new year poem (perhaps your first of 2023; it is mine). Share your poem in the comments and write encouraging responses to other writers.

Swamp fairies
sprinkled dewdrops
to wake up the forest.
The new year was yawning.
Margaret Simon, draft

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This Photo Wants to be a Poem: Papère’s Hand

Posted in being mamére, Gratitude, Photography, Poetry, This Photo Wants to be a Poem on December 28, 2022| 5 Comments »

Welcome back to This Photo Wants to be a Poem, a weekly writing prompt that I borrowed from Laura Purdie Salas’s Fifteen Words or Less. I was not here last week, so Linda Mitchell took the reins with a beautiful photo from Amanda Watts. I was busy last week with the arrival of my 4th grandchild, June Margaret. You can read about that experience here.

On Christmas Day, my husband and I were separated for the first Christmas in 40 years. He traveled to New Orleans on Christmas Day to meet his new grandchild and have a bowl of gumbo. Baby June is a big baby, and her fingers are long. I marveled at them as Jeff (Papère) held her tiny hand. This is a more personal image than I usually post. Forgive me, I’m smitten.

Papère’s Hand

Christmas package
wrapped in tiny fingers
perfectly peaceful
Margaret Simon, draft

Take a peaceful moment for yourself to write, remember, marvel and share. If you are able, write an encouraging comment for other writers.

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This Photo Wants to be a Poem: Early Sunset

Posted in Photography, Poetry, This Photo Wants to be a Poem, tagged #poemsofpresence, #smallpoems, This Photo Wants to be a Poem on December 14, 2022| 31 Comments »

I read somewhere that the earliest sunset is on December 13th. Did you think, like me, that it would be on Winter Solstice Dec. 21st? After carpool duty, I was walking to my car and saw this beautiful ray of sunlight peeking through the clouds. I noticed the sun was lower in the sky. My school is situated out in the country among sugarcane fields. This single horse only recently appeared in the field next door. At the end of a long day, this scene brought me peace.

Winter sun slyly slips
lower in the sky
beckoning me to slow down
and be still.
Margaret Simon, draft

Write a small poem in the comments and support other writers with encouraging words. Thanks for stopping by.

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This Photo Wants to be a Poem: Fountain at the Zoo

Posted in Photography, Poetry, This Photo Wants to be a Poem, Travel, Writing, tagged New Orleans Audubon Zoo on December 7, 2022| 4 Comments »

A few weeks ago our family celebrated Stella’s second birthday by going to the Audubon Zoo in New Orleans. After a full day of rain on Saturday, Sunday dawned clear and mild. A perfect day for the zoo. The Audubon Zoo has a signature fountain as you walk in. Some of the sprays create an arch over the walkway. It is a place where families meet to take a photo.

I’ll be writing later with my students and will add my poem here. Please consider writing today and supporting other writers with encouragement.

Avalyn and I wrote together using Rose’s poem as a model. Thanks, Rose.

Meet Me at the Waterfall

Meet me
at the waterfall
where elephants
play,
where penguins wiggle
toes
in a cold, icy sleigh.

Meet me
at the waterfall
where my dreams
come true,
and if you make a wish,
yours
will come true, too.
Mrs. Simon and Avalyn (3rd grade)

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This Photo Wants to be a Poem: Start with a Dream

Posted in Photography, Poetry, This Photo Wants to be a Poem, Travel, tagged #gratitude, #poemsofpresence, #smallpoems, Barry Lane, Paul Hankins on November 30, 2022| 28 Comments »

Welcome back. I’m sorry I missed posting last week, but my flight left Los Angeles at 5:50 AM. I had a wonderful trip to NCTE and lovely visit with my friend Julieanne. Then it was home for Thanksgiving and to New Orleans for a birthday weekend with my grandchildren. Life has been full and busy lately. ‘Tis the season.

The photo today was posted by Barry Lane, author, musician, and educator. It was tagged for This Photo by Paul Hankins on Facebook. Not only does the photo speak to travel, it seemed to travel itself to get to me. Even if you haven’t been traveling lately, you can relate to the image through the inscription on the building (which I totally missed the first time I saw the photo, so I’m pointing it out.).

Add your small poem in the comments and respond to other writers with encouragement.

Dream your dream.
Carry on.
Take me with you.
Margaret Simon, draft

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This Photo Wants to be a Poem: Cardinal in the Cold

Posted in Gratitude, This Photo Wants to be a Poem, Writing, tagged #poemsofpresence, #smallpoems, cardinal on November 16, 2022| 20 Comments »

We had a cold front pass through the night. The air became damp and cold. As I arrived home from a rather blustery carpool line, I stopped short of the carport because something bright red caught my eye. Was it because of the cold that the cardinal, fluffed up and still, stayed at the feeder? I quickly rolled the window down and shot a picture. Some people believe the red bird is the sign of a loved one who has passed. Monday was the 18th anniversary of my father-in-law’s death. My mother-in-law reminded me. I’m sad to think I forgot. Maybe the cardinal was his way of saying it was OK.

Cardinal at the Feeder, photo by Margaret Simon

The red bird waits,
wonders how to be light
on a dark afternoon–

I whisper,
just stay.
Margaret Simon, draft

I will be traveling today to Los Angeles for the NCTE conference. Will I see you there? Please leave a small poem in the comments and support others with encouraging words.

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This Photo Wants to be a Poem: Cajun Prairie

Posted in Photography, Poetry, This Photo Wants to be a Poem, Writing, tagged Cajun Prairie Habitat Preservation, haiku, James Edmunds on November 9, 2022| 27 Comments »

In most parts of the northern hemisphere, fall is a time when leaves change hue and fall getting ready for the dormancy of winter. But here in the deep south of Cajun country, the prairie goes to seed. My friend and neighbor James Edmunds recently photographed fields of prairie grasses. I was attracted to the starlike seed pods of this one.

On Instagram, James wrote, “The Cajun Prairie project in Eunice right now is in a beautiful post-flowering, going-to-seed stage. The perimeter can be walked on nice sidewalks and gives views into a wide variety of native grasses!” To see more, I found a website for Cajun Prairie Habitat Preservation. It does my nature-loving heart good to see there are organizations dedicated to preservation and restoration of natural land.

Prairie grass sashays
replanting, replenishing
starlike seedlings soar

Margaret Simon, haiku draft

Write your own small poem in the comments and support other writers with comments. Thanks!

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This Photo Wants to be a Poem: Cane-field Sunrise

Posted in This Photo Wants to be a Poem, Writing, tagged #poemsofpresence, fall poems, Lory Landry, photography, sunrise on November 1, 2022| 16 Comments »

November is here and it’s dark. The sun is slanting in the sky, the weather is cooling, and the days are shorter. Therefore, my friend, teacher, photographer Lory Landry was able to capture this sunrise on the way to school. Around here, the sugarcane is either standing tall or freshly cut. It’s harvesting season. That also means that when the wind is just right, you get a whiff of burning cane-fields. They still do this despite its harmfulness to the environment. If truth be told, I like the scent. I also like that it means fall and Christmas.

Please take a moment in your busy day to muse about this photo. Leave a small poem in the comments and write some encouraging words for others.

November 1st

A scent of wood burning
A splatter of candy on concrete
Jack-o-lanterns gone to seed
A sprinkle of egrets perch like twin moons in the trees
A church bell chimes

Embrace the red sunrise
And praise the morning light.
Margaret Simon, draft

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This Photo Wants to be a Poem: Halloween

Posted in This Photo Wants to be a Poem, Writing, tagged Halloween poems, morning walk on October 26, 2022| 27 Comments »

Morning walks are getting darker and darker as the time changes, as the days shorten. Recently I have been sharing the dark with a few ghouls and goblins. There seem to be more Halloween decorations this year, and the bigger the better. Usually I post a photo of nature, so today is a bit of a digression. See where this photo may take you: an imaginary Halloween tale or a memory of one Halloween night. Post your own musings in the comments and encourage other writers with your responses. And always, thanks for being here.

Spiders the size of a child,
Jack-o-lanterns glow like the moon,
Dress up like a bumblebee,
Come join in the glee.
It’ll be Halloween soon!
Margaret Simon, draft

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This Photo wants to be a Poem: Sunflower Farm at Dawn

Posted in This Photo Wants to be a Poem, Writing, tagged #poemsofpresence, #smallpoems, autumn, Jennifer Graycheck, Nature poems, Petite Anse Farms on October 19, 2022| 23 Comments »

As Autumn arrives, the arc of the sun shifts. The sky can show us the seasons if we learn to watch. One of my former students, a young mother, lives on a farm where they grow seasonal sunflowers. There’s a crop in the spring and this year, another in the fall. They open up on weekends for “you pick” days. I follow her on Instagram and have a totally romantic view of life on a farm. It must be hard work, especially with the hot, dry days we’ve had this fall. Nevertheless, this image popped up on my feed and I thought it wanted to be a poem.