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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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NPM24: Spiritual Journey Miracles

Posted in Poetry, Spiritual Growth, Writing, tagged , , , , on April 4, 2024| 1 Comment »

Spiritual Journey Posts are gathered by Robert.

Robert selected the topic of everyday miracles for this month’s Spiritual Journey posts. Jennifer Jowett led us at Ethical ELA to explore a letter of the alphabet. Combining both prompts, I wrote about the letter M, my first initial that carries the legacy of my grandmother as well as the letter of my grandmother name, Mamère.

M is for miracle,
mountain of twin peaks,
how mothers are made, become Mamères
watching a boy learning to write his name-
“up, down, up, down”
ride the pen roller-coaster
how calligraphic M wears a fancy dress
to the letter party.
Maybe M moves mountains,
makes miracles, but most of all
M glows in the heart when your child mutters,
“Mom, I missed you.”

Margaret Simon, draft

I continue to find fascinating words to write about. Today’s word lulu means an outstanding example of a particular type of person or thing. Years ago we rescued a greyhound who came with the name Lulu. I had no idea that the name had this meaning. This poem is sometimes called taking a word for a walk.

Lulu is a luxurious word
we say with a lulling lilt
calling the lazy dog-
a lulu of a greyhound-
blond furry wind a blur
when she ran. She loved
lulu weather. We love our
Lulu memory. 

Margaret Simon, draft
Leigh Anne Eck has the Progressive Poem today.

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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: The Age Thing

Posted in Writing on March 30, 2024| 11 Comments »

I wasn’t going to bring it up. But she did. In our long conversation in the Lowe’s Garden Center, we reminisced the days when our girls were young and going to a “sweet school” that will close its doors this year.

I didn’t want to talk about it. She said, “I’m feeling afraid. I’ve lost three friends in the last week. I just came from another funeral.”

I tried to hold back the tears. “I know,” I said.

She brought up her own ailments, a torn up shoulder, an aching back. I said, “Oh, no. You are younger than me.”

“I’m 62,” she said.

“Me, too.”

The age thing… I wanted to switch the topic quickly, but wasn’t sure how.

Then Suzy walked up and hefted a huge bag of dirt. “Can we help you with that?”

“No. I got it.”

Then Suzy talked about her upcoming birthday. On Easter Sunday, she will be 83.

I want to be hefting bags of dirt and building a fountain and taking care of great grandchildren. Suzie gave us hope in this aging thing.

Aging Elfchen

Age
ticks by
before you realize
a lifetime has flown–
Dance-on!

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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Poetry Friday: Elephant Pantoum

Posted in Photography, Poetry, Poetry Friday, Travel, Writing, tagged , , , on March 29, 2024| 13 Comments »

Poetry Friday is hosted this week by Tricia Stohr-Hunt at The Miss Rumphius Effect
Elephant family, July 2016 Tanzania, Africa

I was inspired by Michelle Kogan who wrote a pantoum for a hippo. I recalled the hippos of my Africa tour in 2016. I’ve been reading Margarita Engle’s verse novel Singing with Elephants. I collected lines from the verse and went to work on the pantoum form. This form is like a puzzle. Michelle fit hers together with rhyme. I didn’t use rhyme. When I googled pantoum, there doesn’t seem to be a rule about rhyme or line length. The rules show that each stanza is four lines with this pattern: (1,2,3,4) (2,5,4,6) (5,7,6,8) (7,3,8,1)

The Poetry Sisters respond to a challenge on the last Friday of the month. This month they are writing animal pantoums. Our host Tricia has more about the form and links to other Poetry Sisters posts.

The beauty of an elephant’s hum-hug,
a language as common as buzzing bees,
simple as spending time with kindness.
Elephants embrace us with their music.

With a language as common as buzzing bees,
I can catch good luck as it passes.
Simple as spending time with kindness,
these animals move like magical mountains.

I catch good luck as it passes:
Photo from Africa is a touchstone of memory.
These animals move like magical mountains
with a touch of heavy gentleness.

My photo from Africa is a touchstone of memory,
as simple as spending time with kindness–
A touch of heavy gentleness–
the beauty of an elephant’s hum-hug. 

Margaret Simon, with thanks to Margarita Engle and PÁDRAIG Ó TUAMA.
Only a few open dates!

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Slice of Life: Blue Dog Grammar

Posted in Gifted Education, Poetry, Writing, tagged , , on March 28, 2024| 9 Comments »

George Rodrigue was born in New Iberia, LA and is famous for the Blue Dog. I never met him, but our town celebrates him with a pocket park on Main Street. The Bayou Teche Museum acquired a display of his studio.

Our students will be touring an exhibit of George Rodrigue’s work today at the Hilliard Museum in Lafayette, LA. To prepare my students for this field trip, I shared the story of the Blue Dog and let them choose a work of his art to write about.

John-Robert chose a painting with a gravestone for Tiffany. We googled the words “Tiffany + George Rodrigue” and found out that Tiffany was Rodrigue’s pet whom he based the Blue Dog on.

Page from a Blue Dog calendar

Oh Tiffany
where have you gone 
after all you’re right here

under That Lovely Cyprus tree
Why are you still hiding from me
I’m just A Blue dog

I go to the village 
THEY SHUN ME AWAY
“Leave evil spirit!”

They see me and run
why 
even when I adore the limbs of humans they run

So I have left to roam near only friend
to protect her in the stone box from them
all I want is to see her again no matter when

Oh Tiffany 
where have you gone 
after all I’m back from the hunt
so when is when

John-Robert, 6th grade

As a teacher of this bard, I hesitate to criticize at all. This is JR’s first and only year in my class. He has been writing poems every day in his notebook. None of them have capital letters or punctuation. When it comes to essays, I talk to him about the grammar choices he makes (or doesn’t make), but I still leave his poems alone.

I wish you could hear him recite them. He sounds like he’s reading from his very soul. I’m often left speechless. In my opinion, and I’m hoping it’s the right one, his creativity is a delicate thing. I want him to keep writing long after he’s been with me.

JR is my Emily Dickinson, writing far above my level of understanding. I think I will continue to leave him alone with his poems. He tells me he “knows” the grammar rules. He doesn’t know why he doesn’t use them. It’s as though his thoughts won’t allow for the crowding of periods and commas, capital letters, etc.

What’s an ELA teacher to do with that?

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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Slice of Life: “Whatever You Are…

Posted in Writing on March 26, 2024| 10 Comments »

be a good one.” Abraham Lincoln

If you are a biscuit,
melt in my mouth
like butter
leave behind a hint
of blueberry.

If you are a cup of coffee,
stay warm
steep a dash of vanilla cream
leave behind
a feeling of home.

If you are a poet,
write upon my heart,
give me stars to wish upon
leave behind
a question of who I am.

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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Slice Of Life: Holy Week

Posted in Spiritual Growth, Writing, tagged , , on March 25, 2024| 7 Comments »

I didn’t notice at first.
I made my morning coffee,
sat down at the table to write.
Then the cat mewed and scratched at the screen 
and I saw it.

Pots over, crashed, spilled out,
a mess on the back porch.
The screen door ripped open.

I went out to right the pot and scoop
dirt back into it
and touched the scat. 

This disaster was not cat
It was raccoon.  Obviously, the hellion got in,
but couldn’t get out,
until he did.

I took a walk
in the cool morning breeze,
saw the blooming pollinators,
listened to the birds, and
collected 14 species on the Merlin app
while I watched the sun rise in the east, pink and yellow. 

Screenshot

My morning prayer included Gaza and Kate,
all those in any grief or trouble,
then turns to gratitude for my abundance. 

Life ain’t no crystal stair. 
There is darkness,
a full moon,
and the valley of the shadow of death.
The darkest dark brings out the brightest light. 

We gathered outside the church
to sing Hallelujah to begin
the march to the cross. 
We find a way to physically see more clearly
that this path of life can
help us see the darkness, feel the anger, the threat
to our happiness, and just as swiftly,
lead us to sacred light. 

I’m wishing you a most holy week.

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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Slice of Life: Happy Birthday

Posted in Slice of Life, Teaching, Writing, tagged , , on March 23, 2024| 7 Comments »

Francisco from Argentina is spending some time in our little town. I invited him to teach some of our students about the instrument he plays, violin. He visited the school on Thursday for Multi-Cultural Day. To get the students engaged in the understanding of how music words, he used a most basic and familiar tune “Happy Birthday.” He asked them questions that led them to understand you first have a note, a sound, then a beat, a melody, but he also talked about how that song is so much a part of our culture that we all know it.

We all sang along. Everyone knew the words.

In her weekly newsletter, Maggie Smith wrote about how art can be synchronistic, that the universe crisscrosses and shows us something new. “Art begets art begets art.”

On Friday, Amy Ludwig VanDerwater posted a lesson and video on her blog “The Poem Farm”. She called the method for finding a meter to use in poetry “Tapping it Out.” For my students, this essence of how song influences poetry was inspiring. I was inspired, too.

Find your beat,

and find your sound,

sooner or later,

to your heart, be (it) bound.

Adelyn, 5th grade

James used the beats of the song “Happy Birthday” to create a sweet poem about friendship. Sing it with me.

If excitement cheers you

Everybody likes you

If nobody is like you

You still have friends too.

James, 3rd grade

My poem came from the beat of “I’m a Little Teapot”.

Looking at the raindrops falling down,
One on the windshield
One on the ground.
When I find my jacket, cozy warm,
I thank the clouds for their swift storm.

Margaret Simon, draft

Thanks, Amy and Francisco, for inspiring us to see the magic of a simple tune, how music is in our hearts everyday.

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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