Posted in Slice of Life, Writing on March 29, 2016| 10 Comments »
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Porch sitting
Porch sitting
alone or with family
refreshes a tired mind.Listen to the trickle of water
from the fountain,
the calls of fishermen in the distance.Turtles on the bank
sunbathe, while Pop
tells us they are gathering oxygen.I gather oxygen here, too,
and find the questions of
life easier to bear.
–Margaret Simon
Spring on the lake.
Posted in Celebration Saturday, Slice of Life, Writing, tagged home, New Castle Lake on March 26, 2016| 12 Comments »
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I came to the lake
weary, ready for rest.
The sun made its final
bow below the horizon
while Mom served bean soup,
warm bread, red wine.
Home finds me
and wraps me in its welcoming embrace.
In the morning, fresh coffee,
mallard couple in the front yard.
“Are they lost?” Dad asks.
Mom recalls they cleared the wooded space
where they must’ve nested last year.
“Pancakes?” Mom asks
with a grin in her voice.
She knows how I love them.
I am a mother of grown daughters,
well in my 50’s and yet,
I am still a daughter,
nurtured and loved.
I am home.
Ruth Ayres invites us the celebrate each week. Click over to her site Discover. Play. Build. to read more celebrations.
Posted in Photography, Slice of Life, Spiritual Growth, Writing on March 24, 2016| 17 Comments »
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Join the Spiritual Thursday round up at Reading, Teaching, Learning.
Today the Spiritual Thursday group is writing about Doraine’s word, Shine. Dori is a poet and blogs at Dori Reads. In the spirit of Dori’s poetry, I wrote two haiku inspired by images of light.
Sunrise field created in Painteresque
The sun
never fails to shine
like my heart that opens to
shine for you.
Lake Martin sunset by Sandra Sarr.
Shine
The echo of light
calling amidst the darkness
See me.
–Margaret Simon
Posted in Slice of Life, Writing, tagged writing on March 22, 2016| 10 Comments »
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The day has come that I don’t know what to write about. It happens to all of us who are committed to this SOL challenge. In my classroom, students are writing posts about why they hate the SOL challenge. Among the top reasons is not knowing what to write about. Vannisa wrote, “When I’m thinking about what to write, I’m always thinking about if I should really write about it or if it’s sol-worthy.”
I totally understand this dilemma. Not only am I committed to writing a blog post every day, I have that little bird on my shoulder tweeting about the worthiness unworthiness of my writing. Why can’t he just leave me alone? I assure my students that we all go through this. I actually love watching them struggle through because they can be very creative while doing it.
Did I just write that? If my students become creative when they struggle through the dreaded writer’s blog, then shouldn’t I, too?
I could be writing about my sweet blogging-slice-of-life-best friend Julianne and how she traveled all the way from L.A. to see me and visit my class, and how my kids already knew her name from our class connections. Oh, and how we talked and laughed and the time was sooo short.
Me on the left with Charlie and Julianne enjoying the bayou breeze.
You can meet a little slice of Julianne on her blog here. She’s traveling to help her daughter select a college for next year. This is a difficult time. We all want what is best for our kids, but they themselves ultimately need to make the decision. Julianne wisely knows from having two older children that no decision is forever. Still, I hope I provided a safe haven for them on their travels.
When I first connected with the Two Writing Teachers and their March SOL Challenge, I had no idea that it would lead me to such good and lasting friendships. Julianne is a prize. I don’t care about any of the other prizes from the challenge. I have already won.
Posted in Poetry, Poetry Friday, Slice of Life, Spiritual Growth, Writing, tagged broken, nature, Sister Helen Prejean on March 18, 2016| 22 Comments »
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Poetry Friday round-up with Robyn Hood Black.
Writing is like praying, because you stop all other activities, descend into silence, and listen patiently to the depths of your soul, waiting for true words to come. When they do, you thank God because you know the words are a gift, and you write them down as honestly and cleanly as you can.
– Helen Prejean C.S.J.
Broken Pottery by Sweet Tea
Broken
shards of unwanted
clay, rock, soil
litter the ground.There, unharmed, her hidden heart–
once protected by
earth mother, soft and dark,
now bravelyopen like the flowers
in an abandoned field,
reaching for light.–Margaret Simon
Posted in Slice of Life, Spiritual Growth, Writing, tagged bridal wreath flowers, OLW, simplify on March 17, 2016| 8 Comments »
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I’ve been thinking a lot about Jesus Christ lately. In the past two weeks, I saw “Jesus Christ Superstar” at a local performance theater twice. Even though I continually had to tell myself that the man on stage was really Billy (I’ve known him since he was in elementary school), I couldn’t help but feel the presence of Jesus. Not Jesus a savior, but Jesus as a man. A person who had very complicated feelings. A person who had a calling to do something that was out of the ordinary.
Today, for Spiritual Thursday, we are writing about Linda Kulp’s OLW, Simplify. I look to this image of Jesus as a man. I look at the flowers blooming in my yard. Nothing is simple. God’s call is simply “Love.” Yet there is nothing simple about it.
The bridal wreath is so beautiful, white and simple, yet close-up you can see the complicated pattern of tiny blossoms in a cluster. Even nature isn’t simple.
Bridal wreath flowers
What can I do to Simplify?
I can let go of senseless worry. I can look for ways to show love every day. I can pray “Abba” with my breath.
I can also realize that beauty and love are not always simple. I can accept that answering God’s call isn’t an easy task, and I can look to Jesus to show me how.
Join the Spiritual Thursday round up at Reading, Teaching, Learning.
Posted in Poetry, Writing, tagged God's presence, Spiritual poetry, wait on March 10, 2016| 17 Comments »
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Wait!
He said, “Wait here!”
Then he took a walk
just a short walk
into the garden
to talk
with the one who sent him,
the one with him always.
They didn’t wait.
They slept.
They couldn’t even stay awake for a moment.
When has he asked you to wait?
When did you need time to sort things out?
When did you sleep? Forget?
And yet, every time, he comes back to you,
holds out his hand to you,
Forgives,
Loves,
Waits
for you.
–Margaret Simon
Reflection: This Spiritual Thursday post is reflecting on Holly Mueller’s One Little Word, Wait. I didn’t want to write about wait. I’ve recently had to wait through an injury, wait for healing to come. The healing has come but slowly. In the meantime, I had to be patient and understand that I could not be who I wanted to be while I was healing. Some days, many days, I had to stop and rest. I needed to wait. But I was frustrated; I didn’t want to stay here. In the moment I wrote the word wait, I imagined Jesus’s request of his disciples in the garden of Gethsemane to wait while he prayed. I realize that I can wait. And, like Mary Oliver, I will be blessed even if all I do is stand right here.
Join the Spiritual Thursday round up at Reading, Teaching, Learning.
Posted in Slice of Life, Writing, tagged azaleas, weather, wind on March 9, 2016| 8 Comments »
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The wind picked up. The clouds became a sea of waves moving rapidly across the sky. As I drove down the country highway, my small Prius jerked in the strength of this weather. I made it to school. Then the gusts blew across the parking lot sending my hair into my freshly lipsticked lips, stuck. Bleh!
Once in the classroom, the windows didn’t rattle, but the roof rumbled like a drumroll. When Madison came in after recess, her hair was wispy around her face, escaping from her pony tail. “The wind is so wild,” she exclaimed, “We had to run in the direction of the wind, so we wouldn’t be blown away.”
A storm is coming. The train whistle echoes across the air like a far off warning. I can’t believe it, the ice cream truck is singing down the street, as if it’s a normal sunny day and children are playing in the streets.
Azaleas that just popped out pink blossoms yesterday will litter the ground by morning. The spooky moss (as some child once called it) is spookier as it wanders in the shadows of the oaks.
I want to laugh about the wind. I want to run in its wake like a child. But there’s this adult person sitting here who has seen the damage wind can do. Who knows what the weather predictions are. So I am guarded and irritable and worried.
Dolly Parton said (according to BrainyQuotes) that storms make trees take deeper roots. This tree that is me wants the storm to go away, yet I’ll put down my roots, stay strong, sway a little more, and take what comes.
Posted in Blogging, Slice of Life, Teaching, Writing, tagged object writing, treasure box, writing prompts on March 8, 2016| 13 Comments »
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Julianne gave me an idea. She told me about an idea she heard from Cornelius Minor about making a box of items to prompt writing. She posted about her treasure box yesterday. Click here.
I started with a box from Tiny Prints (Our Christmas cards came in this box.)
I gathered Mod Podge, scissors, a sponge brush, and some papers that I had already gel printed. You could use any kind of decorated paper. I’ve been wanting to find some way to use my gel printed paper.
Step one: Cover the box with decorated paper. I like the way Mod Podge paints on so you have fewer wrinkles.
I continued to layer until the design pleased me. I found a postcard from Irene Latham that said “Live your Poem” and put that on the top. I labeled the box “Writing Treasures.”
Completed box. I thread a colorful ribbon through a hole to make a decorative pull.
Here is a collection of items I found around my house.
Inside the box, I placed found items. These items could be anything that fits. A rock, a peacock feather, a poem, a wooden whistle, a ceramic turtle, a message in a bottle, pretty cards, magnifying glass, a shell, etc.
My students were able to dig around and find an item to prompt their writing. I told them it could lead you to a memory, a poem, or a wonder.
I am really working hard this year to keep our writing momentum going. Last week it was the badges. This week a treasure box. Do you have any more ideas to inspire writing?
Posted in Photography, Poetry, Writing, tagged cypress tree, tree poem on March 7, 2016| 22 Comments »
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In February I took Kim Douillard’s photo challenge “One Tree.” I photographed and wrote a poem about our grandmother oak. Today I took pictures of another old tree. This one is a century-old cypress. It sits in the back surrounded by our deck. I can see it from my living room windows.
Cypress 1
Late winter sky
branches bare
reaching upward
in arabesque.
Cypress 2
Beauty builds in bold lines.
The cat climbs
crouches on a wide branch,
waiting.
Cypress 3
Whispers of wind
move wind chimes
watch the weather
and sense the day’s calm breath.
Cypress 4
This old tree cradles my bones,
my health, my heart.
Soon fresh citrus green will appear.
Showing me that life returns
again and again.
–Margaret Simon
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
