Reflections on the Teche

Thoughtful Promise Haiku #26

December 26, 2016 by margaretsmn

Inspiration for writing can come from unexpected places. My brother-in-law’s family lives in Seattle, WA. His wife sent snacks for all of us. Sahale Snacks. Today’s haiku is a found haiku from the bag of pomegranate vanilla flavored cashews. Not only do they inspire poetry, they are yummy, too.

Happy Boxing Day!

Posted in Photography, Poetry | Tagged #haikuforhealing, haiku-a-day, Sahale snacks | 2 Comments »

Christmas Day Haiku

December 25, 2016 by margaretsmn

Once we know the manger
we recognize everyone
as someone to love.
Margaret Simon
#haikuforhealing

Today’s haiku is inspired by Bishop Jake Owensby’s post, Imagining Jesus, in which he writes: “The challenge for us, now that we have been to the manger, is to live the truth we’ve found there. Everyone we meet is the person God loves. In all their breathtaking otherness and bewildering uniqueness.”

My wish for you and for this nation on this Christmas Day is to remember every day that everyone you meet is a child of God who deserves respect and dignity and love. Last night as I sang in the loft above the crowded sanctuary, I prayed that my voice would be blessed. “May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be always with you, my Lord and My God.” Place the gift of Christmas in your heart. Find love. Express love. Be love. Every day. To every one.

Posted in Poetry, Spiritual Growth, Writing | Tagged #haikuforhealing, Christmas, haiku-a-day | 8 Comments »

Celebration Saturday: Christmas Eve

December 24, 2016 by margaretsmn

Find more celebration posts at Ruth’s blog.

Taking a walk in my neighborhood this season, one sees all kinds of silly yard decorations. In fact, we have a frog with a Santa hat in ours. This Santa in an airboat with a duck driver caught my eye. The propellor actually turns. Here’s another haiku. Number 24 for haiku-a-day in December.

In the early fall, flood waters claimed many homes here in South Louisiana. My third grade student Jacob’s was one of them. He wrote a story about the flood. I contacted Peter Reynolds about Jacob’s story, and he published it in his magazine for kid authors and illustrators, Hutch. Jacob’s sister, Emily (6th grade), drew the illustrations. An exciting collaboration! I celebrate Jacob and Emily’s first publication!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all!

Posted in Celebration Saturday, Gifted Education, Poetry | Tagged Christmas decorations, Hutch magazine, Peter Reynolds | Leave a Comment »

Poetry Friday: More Haiku

December 23, 2016 by margaretsmn

Poetry Friday is with Buffy at Buffy’s Blog.

I am an early riser. So most of my haiku writing happens early in the morning. Yesterday I wrote on Laura Purdie Salas’s Thursday 15 Words or Less post in response to an image of a gorilla statue.

#22
I could be a bear
dreaming of spring’s abundance
safely hiding now.

Charlie sits in my lap while I write. Do you know that a sleeping dog has a certain scent?

Today I read Jane Yolen’s poem for the day. I stole her line, “I know you by what you hold.” This one is for my husband of 34+ years.

#23

Peanut, the dog’s ball–
I know you by what you hold–
Lightbulb, fruit, my heart.

–Margaret Simon

The haiku-a-day challenge started by Mary Lee Hahn connects a community of writers:

Heidi Mordhorst at My Juicy Little Universe
Mary Lee Hahn at Poetrepository
Linda Mitchell at A Word Edgewise
Buffy Silverman at Buffy’s Blog
Jone Rush MacCulloch at DeoWriter
Diane Mayr, posted on Thursdays at Random Noodling
Julie Johnson at Raising Readers and Writers
Catherine Flynn at Reading to the Core
Carol Varsalona at Beyond LiteracyLink
Carol Wilcox at Carol’s Corner
Julianne Harmatz tweeting @jarhartz
Linda Baie at Teacher Dance
Michelle Heidenrich Barnes at Today’s Little Ditty

Posted in Poetry, Poetry Friday, Writing | Tagged #haikuforhealing, haiku-a-day | 8 Comments »

Haiku Saves

December 22, 2016 by margaretsmn

This angel statue was tucked in a small family cemetery on the Natchez Trace in Mississippi. I was hoping she would inspire a haiku (or two).

My poetry writing friend Marion didn’t see this picture, but she was inspired to write an angel haiku rather than getting angry at the holiday traffic. When she arrived at our lunch spot, she handed me her poem.

angel choristers
made of Mississippi mud
little bits of love

Marion Rosser

Another writer-teacher-friend, Tara Smith, told me about how she lost her gingerbread man cookie cutter, so she made gingerbread angels. This haiku is in honor of Tara.

gingerbread angels
baked bits of heavenly love
savors of Christmas

Margaret Simon

Posted in Photography, Poetry | Tagged #haikuforhealing, haiku-a-day | 1 Comment »

The Season for Giving

December 20, 2016 by margaretsmn

Join the Two Writing Teachers blog for the Slice of Life Challenge.

Click to purchase on Amazon

If you haven’t already heard about this wonderful little book of poems, I am here to offer another shameless promotion. I was one of the readers who selected poems to be included; I have 2 poems included; and I wrote a blurb for the back cover. Michelle Heidenrich Barnes is a person I know I love even though I’ve never met her face to face. She is incredibly generous. Each month she features a wonderful poet and asks us out in the Poetry Friday cyberspace to write ditties. When we do, we understand that the fame is short lived on a blog post gallery at the end of the month. However, now we have an anthology! So many great challenges from cinquain to zeno, from haiku and beyond. This collection is a must for any classroom poetry library.

Also in this sphere of poets, I’ve virtually met Tabatha Yeatts who mixes us up and organizes a Winter Poem Swap. This week I received my poem gift from Matt Forest Esenwine. Matt managed to find time to read my Christmas blog posts and create a found poem from them. He printed his poem on one of my Christmas tree images. So thoughtful. So meaningful. So special. Thanks, Matt.

We are in our last few days before winter break. I invited our art teacher to lead the students in an activity during their party on Monday. She taught them about shading in a snowman image. It’s funny when we talk about snowmen because few of my students have ever seen snow, much less made a snowman. But all kids love drawing them. We ended up with a rainbow of snowmen, grey, blue, teal, and even purple.

I hope you are finding gifts everywhere, under your tree, in your mailbox, and in the smiles of children. Happy Holidays!

Haiku-a-day #20
#haikuforhealing

Posted in Poetry, Poetry Friday, Slice of Life | Tagged #haikuforhealing, Matt Forest Esenwine, Today's Little Ditty, winter poem swap | 12 Comments »

Haiku-a-day #19

December 20, 2016 by margaretsmn

Posted in Writing | 1 Comment »

Haiku-a-day #18

December 18, 2016 by margaretsmn

Through your example
kindness echoes through the trees
on wings of love

–Margaret Simon

#haikuforhealing

Posted in Poetry, Writing | Tagged #haikuforhealing, Enneagram, haiku-a-day | 1 Comment »

DigiLitSunday: Celebrate

December 18, 2016 by margaretsmn

Find more celebration posts at Ruth’s blog.

Please use this button on your site for DigiLit Sunday posts

Celebration time is just around the corner. It’s moving in quickly with the cold front. My dining table is full of gifts and wrapping paper. Soon the gifts will be under the tree and my dining table will be clean and ready for family to gather. How will I ever get it all done? I ask myself this question every year, and every year, I manage to be ready for the celebration.

In our classrooms, the students are anxious and antsy. They have more difficultly focusing. When my colleagues and I began planning a field trip for December 16th, I thought we were nuts to do it so close to Christmas break when the weather (literally and figuratively) changes daily. It turned out to be the perfect time.

On Friday, the weather was cool but not cold, cloudy but not raining as we set out at 6:30 AM on a charter bus heading to St. Francisville, Louisiana to the Myrtles Plantation, one of the top haunted mansions in the US. The stories of the “little spirits” both intrigued and frightened my students. I have to admit I was a little unsettled when I heard ticking coming from the old desk I was standing next to.

Our next stop was the cemetery of Grace Episcopal Church. This cemetery is a beautiful place with draping oaks and old graves. Our students made gravestone rubbings that we will later use for a research/writing project.

Gravestone rubbings at Grace Episcopal Cemetery, St. Francisville, LA.

Grace Episcopal Cemetery

Taking students outside the classroom is an effort in planning, making reservations, arranging payment, yet every time we do it, I realize how important it is to get us outside and into the world. We traveled northeast to Natchez, MS. to visit the Grand Village of the Natchez Indians, run the mounds, and learn about the ways of the original Americans. We walked the old Natchez Trace and visited an old inn.

Indian mounds at the Grand Village, Natchez, MS.

Walking the old Natchez Trace.

When we return from our winter break, we will revisit this field trip and turn our learning experience into digital posts and presentations. But, for now, I celebrate the opportunity to take students out of the classroom and into an earlier time and place to learn and play together.

I will be taking a holiday break from DigiLitSunday. Come back on January 8th.

Please add your own DigiLit posts with the link button below.