Posted in nature, Photography, Poetry, This Photo Wants to be a Poem, Writing, tagged #poemsofpresence, #smallpoems, haiku, This Photo Wants to be a Poem on August 20, 2025| 15 Comments »
Summer is winding down. Although, the temperatures remain high. Once again, I turned to teacher-writer-photographer Molly Hogan for a photo prompt. Molly captured this water strider in perfect stride to open up a world. The photo itself is a poem.
It’s a just right day for a haiku. Please consider writing a response poem. Leave encouraging comments for other writers.
Glass pebbles glide
below water strider toes
tapping into green.
Margaret Simon, draft
Posted in nature, Photography, Poetry, This Photo Wants to be a Poem, Writing, tagged #poemsofpresence, Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer, Timothy Liu on August 13, 2025| 16 Comments »
I wish I was a better photographer of birds. This one was taken with my phone out of my kitchen window. I wish you could see the red crown, but I do like the profile and how you see that sharp beak.
This tree is a satsuma tree that succumbed to the freeze this past January. I’m grateful we haven’t taken it down, though, so this beauty could come visit.
I’ve been taking an online poetry workshop with Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer. One of her mentor texts was a poem titled “Romance” by Timothy Liu. I borrowed the opening line for this poem.
Renew
There is nothing renewable
about the frozen satsuma tree,
unwieldy branches outside the kitchen window, grey with age, dead from winter’s storm.
Yet I see a small downy woodpecker tapping
the old tree’s skin, jump-tap,
jump-tap, searching for insects to eat.
How I search my fractured memory
for signs of my mother, holding comfort
of a long life lived,
given over at the right time
for renewal.
Margaret Simon, draft
Please consider writing your own small poem inspired by this photo. Respond to other writers with encouragement.
Posted in Photography, Poetry, This Photo Wants to be a Poem, Writing, tagged Mary Lee Hahn, metaphor poem, shadows, This Photo Wants to be a Poem, triptych on August 6, 2025| 11 Comments »
On Poetry Friday, Mary Lee used this photo she took of herself with her brother and her nephew to inspire a triptych poem. I am reposting here with permission.
A triptych poem follows the guidelines similar to a triptych painting with three distinct panels tied together by color and theme. Here is a copy of Mary Lee’s poem about the photo.
I’ve been taking a course with Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer. Last week she shared a poem by Matthew Rohrer, “There is Absolutely Nothing Lonelier”. I borrowed his first line to write my photo poem today.
There is nothing more hopeful
than summer shadows
following a path—
reaching long, like stilts
on festival clowns.
I wonder if my shadow
would fit in; it’s certainly tall enough.
Shadows still to welcome all.
Margaret Simon, draft
Please join me in writing today to this photo. Leave a small poem in the comments and offer encouragement to each other.
Posted in Photography, Poetry, This Photo Wants to be a Poem, Writing, tagged #poemsofpresence, #smallpoems, Inklings, Mary Lee Hahn, Molly Hogan, sympathy cards on July 30, 2025| 7 Comments »
I am feeling uninspired, tired, and sad. Yesterday a dear friend died. Just last week she sent me a sweet card giving me sage advice about the death of my mother.
“I’m sure your emotions must rotate from one to another. I don’t need to remind you to take care of yourself. Sending you positive energy and caring thoughts.” Betty LeBlanc
I’m trying, Betty.
This card featured today came from my Inkling friend Molly Hogan. I’d also like to share a poem that another Inkling, Mary Lee Hahn wrote for me:
And if the darkness is not
a hallway, perhaps it’s
a bridge
a reflection
an eye into your soul
or into the mystery
that comes at the end of a day
or a life.
Mary Lee
If you are so moved, write a poem in the comments and encourage other writers with your comments. Thanks for walking by.
Posted in nature, Photography, This Photo Wants to be a Poem, Writing, tagged #poemsofpresence, This Photo Wants to be a Poem, triolet on July 23, 2025| 5 Comments »
The flowers I planted for the pollinators are loving all the rain we’ve been having. This one is called Red Hot Poker. Unfortunately, the stem weakened and it is now flopped over, but before that happened, I took this “portrait mode” photo.
I hope this invitation to write finds you in a place of peace. Please write a small poem in the comments and encourage others with your responses.
For each photo poem, I give myself a challenge. Today, I am trying a triolet. It is a poem of eight lines in which line one repeats in lines 4 and 7, line two repeats in 8. The rhyme scheme is abaaabab.
Red Hot Poker Triolet
Torch lily towers and shines
for the day will be hot and wet.
Butterflies float to its wine.
Torch lily towers and shines.
Summer firecracker’s a sign:
sweet nectar steams like a jet.
Torch lily towers and shines
for the day will be hot and wet.
Margaret Simon, draft
Posted in being mamére, Photography, Poetry, This Photo Wants to be a Poem, Writing, tagged #beingmamére, #poemsofpresence, #smallpoems, newborn, This Photo Wants to be a Poem on July 16, 2025| 3 Comments »
This week’s photos may be a bit selfish on my part. I hope you can find a way into writing from your own life. Leave a poem in the comments and respond to other writers.
Two weeks ago my youngest daughter gave birth to my youngest grandchild, Sam. He is absolutely perfect. I marveled at him for days. All his tiny parts, especially his long fingers and his tiny toes. Two of his toes are webbed.
I can’t really write anything that isn’t sappy, but never mind, just dig right in to it. Grandmothers are made to be sappy.
Perfection Is
Ten fingers
ten toes
that treasure your gentle touch.
Fingernails
tiny and sharp—
His simple signature.
Two hands
two feet
fill a heart with love.
Margaret Simon, draft
Posted in Photography, Poetry, This Photo Wants to be a Poem, Writing, tagged #poemsofpresence, #smallpoems, epistolary poetry, Georgia Heard, letter poems on July 2, 2025| 9 Comments »
I subscribe to Georgia Heard’s newsletter. For the month of July, she invites us to write tiny letters. For July 2nd, the prompt is “Write a letter to the wind.” For the complete calendar, try this link.
I asked Molly Hogan, fellow Inkling who blogs at Nix the Comfort Zone, for a photo for this week. Molly is an amazing nature photographer who lives in Maine. She sent me a few to choose from, and I felt this one lended itself well to a letter to the wind.
Please share your small poems in the comments and support other writers with encouraging comments.
Here is my “quick write” letter to the wind:
Dear Wind,
Whatever the season,
you show up
soothe our suffering,
cuddle tree branches,
wrapping us up in your dreams.
Be kind to us, wind, we are struggling
through climate change,
through terrific
thunder storms. You give us breath,
breath of life,
breath of death.
Tend our tender hearts,
breath of daisy,
breath of desire.
Dear wind.
Margaret Simon, draft
Posted in Photography, This Photo Wants to be a Poem, Writing, tagged shadorma on June 25, 2025| 8 Comments »
This summer we have had lots of quick forming storms that dump rain. If you think about it, they’re nice because they water the flowers. They also help with high temperatures. The other side of the coin is you can get caught without an umbrella and get totally soaked. They also create violent lightning that may take out a smoke detector. (That happened in our house.)
Poetically speaking, however, the summer sun peeking out from a storm cloud is inspiring. Today, write a small poem that ponders summer storms. Please write in the comments and encourage other writers with your responses.
Summer Storm Shadorma
Like sea waves
cool my burning toes,
you pour out
suddenly
soaking me, summer shower,
holy water veil.
Margaret Simon, draft
Posted in Photography, Poetry, This Photo Wants to be a Poem, Travel, Writing, tagged #poemsofpresence, #smallpoems, Madison Farmers Market, nonet on June 18, 2025| 9 Comments »
My brother lives in Madison, MS, north of Jackson. My sister and I have been visiting. Yesterday he performed at the weekly farmers market. The theme was New Orleans, so he had a sax player join him, and they played New Orleans jazz tunes along with some favorites.
The afternoon had been the setting of a pop-up storm, but as soon as Hunter sang “When the Saints Go Marching In”, the sky opened up and “the sun began to shine.” My sister bought a box of fresh blueberries for us to enjoy for breakfast today.
What does a summer farmers market conjure for you? Please write a small poem in the comments and come back to support other writers with encouragement.
I am writing a nonet today, a form in which the syllable count goes up from 1-9.
Come
enjoy
Jazz and juice,
plump blueberries,
tomatoes, peaches,
kids jumping for bubbles,
ice cream pops and cookie cake.
Fill your shopping bag with sunlight.
Take home golden garden groceries.
Margaret Simon, draft
Posted in Photography, This Photo Wants to be a Poem, Writing, tagged Audubon Aquarium, This Photo Wants to be a Poem, zeno poem on June 11, 2025| 2 Comments »
On Saturday, I toured the Audubon Aquarium at the fast pace of a 5-year old. This penguin was right up against the glass as if it was posing.
I invite you to write a penguin poem. Join us in the comments and support other writers with your comments.
Today I decided to write a Zeno poem. It’s a mathematical form created by J. Patrick Lewis using the sequence 8, 4, 2, 1, 4, 2, 1, 4, 2, 1. Each one syllable line rhymes. When I decide to use this form, I start with the rhyming word. For this poem I wanted it to land on the word fly. I made a list of words that rhyme with fly (cry, spy, by, guy, high,…) Then I wrote the numbers down the left side of the page.
Next, compose a first sentence. You’d be surprised how many sentences are between 8-10 syllables.
Zenos are fun to write. Mine came out quite silly, but I feel like that’s the point.
Mr. Penguin invites you in—
the water is
fresh as
pie.
That fishy scent
by and
by.
Secret power
makes him
fly.
Our address on the Bayou Teche
Order on Amazon.
April 1 Linda Mitchell at A Word Edgewise
April 2 Tricia at The Miss Rumphius Effect
April 3 Robyn at Life on the Deckle Edge
April 4 Donna Smith at Mainely Write
April 5 Denise at https://mrsdkrebs.edublogs.org/
April 6 Buffy at http://www.buffysilverman.com/blog
April 7 Jone at https://www.jonerushmacculloch.com/
April 8 Janice Scully at Salt City Verse
April 9 Tabatha at https://tabathayeatts.blogspot.com/
April 10 Marcie at Marcie Flinchum Atkins
April 11 Rose at Imagine the Possibilities | Rose's Blog
April 12 Fran Haley at Lit Bits and Pieces
April 13 Cathy Stenquist
April 14 Janet Fagel at Mainly Write
April 15 Carol Varsalona at Beyond LiteracyLink
April 16 Amy Ludwig VanDerwater at The Poem Farm
April 17 Kim Johnson at Common Threads
April 18 Margaret at Reflections on the Teche
April 19 Ramona at Pleasures from the Page
April 20 Mary Lee at A(nother) Year of Reading
April 21 Tanita at TanitasDavis.com
April 22 Patricia Franz
April 23 Ruth at There's No Such Thing as a Godforsaken Town
April 24 Linda Kulp Trout at http://lindakulptrout.blogspot.com
April 25 Heidi Mordhorst at My Juicy Little Universe
April 26 Michelle Kogan at: https://moreart4all.wordpress.com/
April 27 Linda Baie at Teacher Dance
April 28 Pamela Ross at Words in Flight
April 29 Diane Davis at Starting Again in Poetry
April 30 April Halprin Wayland at Teaching Authors
Reflections on the Teche 