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,
Margaret Simon, draft
write upon my heart,
give me stars to wish upon
leave behind
a question of who I am.
Posted in Spiritual Growth, Writing, tagged dark and light, Palm Sunday, spiritual reflection 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.
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.
Posted in Slice of Life, Teaching, Writing, tagged Amy Ludwig Vanderwater, music poems, The Poem Farm 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,
Margaret Simon, draft
One on the windshield
One on the ground.
When I find my jacket, cozy warm,
I thank the clouds for their swift storm.
Thanks, Amy and Francisco, for inspiring us to see the magic of a simple tune, how music is in our hearts everyday.
Posted in Poetry Friday, Writing, tagged ekphrasis, student poem, writing group on March 22, 2024| 21 Comments »
On Wednesday, I met with “The Three Pecans” after school writing club. We walked from the coffee shop to a gallery to see a student art show. I introduced ekphrasis to them, writing to art. I prompted with instructions to either write from observation with description or to enter the art and write from that perspective. All three of us were surprised at how the art drew poetic lines from us. Our poems were deep. We enjoyed reading them to each other and discussing where the emotions came from.
Each time I write with others I am surprised and fulfilled by how quickly we become close and confessional, sharing some of our most vulnerable parts. Poetry is magical in this way, bringing hearts together.
I asked my former student Kaia if I could share her poem today. I was struck by her conversation with her own heart.
this heart i see
the heart that beats
right in front of me
speaking in tongues, that only i understand
i feel it with my hand
i hear it with my ears
but why are you aching, my heart?
who hurt you?
the questions i ask go in one thump
and out the other.
she doesn’t know why
her heart is aching.
i don’t know why
my heart is aching.
Kaia, age 14
Posted in Writing on March 21, 2024| 6 Comments »
The Open Write for Ethical ELA is happening this week and Tuesday was the first day I had time to attend. The prompt came from Rex. He asked us to write about our junk drawers. I opened the response box and typed, skipping the notebook and revision. A quick write, just.do.it response. This is what I got.
Junk Drawer
I forgot another password
so I turned to the all knowing
drawer of junk to locate
the secret notebook.My hand got stuck on
the safety scissors, not so safe,
and ruffled a roll of tape,
plastic container of paper clips.Where did all this stuff come from?
We’ve stuffed it full and fuller
until whole hours are lost
in Emory boards, stapler, and hole punch.The password itself brought a tear
of grief for my sweet Charlie.
(I’ve heard you shouldn’t use pet names.)
Buried in the junk is the purest love.
Posted in Poetry, Slice of Life, Writing, tagged definito, Heidi Mordhorst, Nikki Grimes, Pi-ku, wandering word poem, Word play poetry forms on March 19, 2024| 7 Comments »
Leigh Anne Eck has invited Slicers to come to a blog party about words. Where would poets be without words? I am not a word nerd, but I am a word collector. I love to play with sounds in poetry, especially alliteration. I subscribe to two word-of-the-day emails, and work with gifted students on how words are created and carry different meanings. Words are fun for me.
Here are some suggestions for activities to do with students around word play.
2. Wandering Word Poem: I first learned about this word exploration form from Nikki Grimes in this Today’s Little Ditty post. Take a word for a walk, exploring all the ways it can be used, literally and figuratively.
3. Pi-ku: On Pi Day each year (3/14) we write pi-ku which is a poem with the syllable count of pi: 3.14159…
I played with the sounds of p-words.
P-popping
Margaret Simon, pi-ku
words
popularly
drop
perpetuity
How do you “play” with words in your writing? If you work with students, I hope you can use the forms I’ve shared here and just let them play with poetry.
Posted in Gratitude, Slice of Life, Writing, tagged dinner party on March 17, 2024| 7 Comments »
Who doesn’t love a party?
Actually…me.
I’m an introvert and some parties (mostly the idea of a party) overwhelm me.
Last night we hosted a dinner party for 10 people.
My husband Jeff did the cooking. Weeks ago he tried a new crepe recipe with mushrooms, leeks, and asparagus. When we tried them, he said, “We could serve this to our friends.” We looked at the calendar and found an open Saturday. I texted our friends. His instructions were “fill our table.”
Each one asked what they could bring, so I doled out the appetizers, wine, and dessert. All I had to do was the salad and cleaning. In honesty, both of us worked hard on getting everything just right.
At some point in the afternoon, Janita left a gorgeous bougainvillea on our front porch. I hung it out on the back deck. The weather was a perfect 70 something, no rain. We decided to have the meal outside. I texted the group that dinner would be casual and outside.
After we ate, the mosquitoes forced us inside. Our friends from different slices of our life gathered and started telling stories. The party continued.
Maya Angelou wisely said, “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”
I will forget what we served. I’ll forget the stories told. But I will never forget the feeling of comfort and joy with people I care about.
I think we may do this again…next year.
Posted in Poetry Friday, Progressive poem, Writing, tagged Cane River Pecan Company, Mahmoud Darwish, ode, Poetry Foundation on March 15, 2024| 16 Comments »
This week I met with two local poets, one a former student who is nearing 14, and the other a visiting musician from Argentina who is 26 (I think). We met at a local coffee shop to write poetry together. I brought a poem I received from the Poetry Foundation, To Our Land by Mahmoud Darwish.
To our land,
and it is the one near the word of god,
a ceiling of cloudsTo our land,
and it is the one far from the adjectives of nouns,
the map of absenceTo our land,
Mahmoud Darwish, read the rest of the poem here.
and it is the one tiny as a sesame seed,
a heavenly horizon … and a hidden chasm
We talked about what we noticed. The anaphora of To our Land became our prompt for writing “To Our _______”.
Our discussion was surprisingly sophisticated, so truly engaged in the words, the feelings, and how each of us responded differently. Fran said, “We must do this again next week.” A writing group was formed.
I said, “We need to have a name.”
Kaia looked up at the pecans surrounding us (we were in the Pie Bar of a pecan company.) “What about three pecans?”
To Our Poets
after Mahmoud DarwishTo our poets
speaking with their pens
pencils tearing the page.To our poets,
and he is the one grieving his land
a prize of war,
a jewel that glimmers for the far upon the far.To our poets,
and she praises the birds, the imagination
calling to us announcing our place
in a family of things.To our poets,
the ones who gives themselves permission
to be poets, folding pages of a notebook
that unfold their untold secrets.And for us
Margaret Simon, draft
who listen
and find fresh air to breathe.
Click here to sign up for a day to add a line to April’s Progressive Poem.
Posted in Photography, Slice of Life, Writing, tagged #bayoulife, #nature, Kim Douillard on March 14, 2024| 6 Comments »
I love it when I read something someone else writes and begin to contemplate the same thing in my own life. Do we walk parallel lines? Kim Douillard lives on the west coast. I live on the southern Gulf coast. She wrote, “The experience of taking the same photo over and over echoes what it means to be a teacher. Each day is filled with sameness.”
When I read her blog post, I was sitting on my back deck on the same day we shut down schools 4 years ago, listening to the same birdsong, the same train whistle, and watching the same sun slowly disappear. I took a picture of the same view I had then and still have today, but I am different. We all are. We drew a line in the sand of before and after. Who would have predicted that day (March 13, 2020) the trials we would experience? The illness that would take so many lives and send us into a tailspin of doubt and despair.
But in many ways, I remember that time fondly. My oldest daughter called me while I was sitting on the deck avoiding people to tell me she was pregnant. She didn’t know then if the baby would survive. It was the early scary days of new pregnancy. And now we have an adorable, smart, and hilarious 3 year old.
I spent that spring writing poetry, making what I could out of the strangeness of the world. Today I looked back into my media file and found two other pictures of this place in my world. Same but different.
Our students still grapple with the change of things. The educational system hasn’t figured out how to move forward. Have any of us?
Buddhist wisdom says that change is the only constant. My view comforts me. To see this old cypress sprout its bright green needles year by year holds hope. Nature shows us that things can change and be alive and well again. We can’t always see the movement, but it’s there, letting us know that God is here.
“We are what we think. All that we are arises with our thoughts. With our thoughts, we make the world.” –Buddha
Thoughts
Margaret Simon, elfchen of the day
climb out
on a branch
spilling a seed droplet
Budding
Posted in Slice of Life, Writing, tagged #poet, #sunset, John Warner Smith on March 12, 2024| 14 Comments »
I was bold.
I introduced myself as a poet.
I said my name…twice.
Then he took out his phone to type me in.
A former poet laureate of the state.
He’s offered to come to workshop with my students, even though he’s never taught elementary before. Can I make this happen? Yes, I will.
Last night I was at a dinner party for artists who are visiting our town for The Shadows on the Teche Plein Air Competition. We are hosting an artist in our home. The evening was beautiful, violinist, food, wine, and a sun setting over the bayou. The director of the Shadows is John Warner Smith. He served as state poet laureate from 2019-2021, so he talked about how “Covid hit” and all workshops moved to Zoom. He gave me his card and said, “Get in touch. We can do something.”
My students already have a heightened admiration of me because I often introduce them to poets I’ve met, but wait until they meet Mr. Smith, a living poet laureate. I’ll have to teach them what poet laureate means. I hope he’s as good a teacher as he is a dinner party conversationalist.
I was bold.
I said I am a poet.
Do you tell others that you are a writer?
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 