On Sunday morning we paddled on Mother Earth’s church, the Bayou Teche. The day was near perfect with a little cloud cover and moderate temperatures. We invited friends to join us. We actually saw an alligator. He was a juvenile about 3 feet long sunning himself on some concrete rip-rap. I got a good picture of him. He was totally still, not spooked at all by our moving closer to him. He smiled for me.
Gator juvenile, downtown New Iberia, LA. photo by Margaret Simon
Bayou Cinquain
Notice how light dances on bayou’s belly rolls washing us with soothing hopeful Nurture
Margaret Simon
Bayou Teche, New Iberia, LA (photo by Margaret Simon)
I was introduced to Jessica Whipple by my friend Irene Latham. What a delight to read her new picture book “Enough is” illustrated by Nicole Wong. Enough was my One Little Word for 2022. When I need to remind myself that I am enough and I have enough, I wear the bracelet that bears the word. Jessica took this idea and stretched it into love in a picture book. “Somewhere between a little and a lot, there is Enough.”
The child character is learning about enough. “Enough isn’t a number,” so she wonders, what is enough? She comes to the profound conclusion that when you have enough, it’s easy to share.
I asked Jessica to answer some questions about her author’s journey to publication. Her book Enough Is published this week.
How would you describe your journey as a writer?
My journey as a writer began as an experiment! I’m a “try it and see what happens” kind of person. In short, I had an idea (out of which came my first book, ENOUGH IS…), and then the question “I wonder if I can write a picture book?” And soon after, “What does it take to publish a picture book?” I was a young-ish mom, so picture books were starting to fill my consciousness! And I have a degree in communications, and so writing has been part of my make-up for some time. Four, maybe five years later, here I am and I never expected to answer my first two questions in such a delightfully surprising and satisfying way.
How does writing poetry help when writing a picture book? How are they different?
There are similarities in form between a free verse poem and a picture book, and of course a rhyming PB and a rhyming poem. There tend to be short lines in both forms, economical language, a set “flow,” lyricism, introspection, toying with reader expectations…I could go on! In fact, I am working on a virtual or in-person presentation for poetry-loving highschoolers about this topic. Shameless plug: I would love to speak to your student literary magazine or English class!
Is Enough a concept you feel young children have a hard time with? What is your experience with this concept?
Very much, yes! And my own experience is that I have a hard time with it as an adult, even! As a child, I remember the sadness that came after, say, a back-to-school shopping trip and how conflicted I was with the realization it was all just “stuff,” yet somehow I wanted more of it. And now, without limits, I’ll simply keep eating chocolate chips out of the bag if I don’t remind myself that I wrote a book about this very thing! “Enough” is hard because it’s uncomfortable. We want…things, friends, happiness, you name it…so the more we help each other learn contentment, the easier it is to feel comfortable with having enough.
What part of the publishing journey is your favorite? Your least favorite?
Oh man I love querying! And now that I have an agent, Emily Keyes of Keyes Agency, I don’t get to do that anymore! I love the process of doing the same thing over and over again trying for a good result. But I suppose I can keep doing that as I work to promote my books… In terms of my least favorite part of the publishing journey, definitely the waiting!
Do you have any writing rituals that others may find helpful in their own writing?
I wouldn’t say this is a ritual, more of a mindset, perhaps: It doesn’t hurt to ask! For anything! As long as you are respectful, polite, and grateful, by all means, ASK. THE. QUESTION! Maybe it’s, “Is my manuscript still being considered?” Great one! As long as you’ve minded submission guidelines, send a brief email and ASK! Or are you seeking a blurb from an author you love? Say why you admire that author and ASK! I can’t tell you the many times putting myself out there and advocating for myself–not aggressively, but confidently–has led to positive results.
Welcome Jessica to Poetry Friday with your comments. Don’t forget to follow the Kidlit Progressive Poem to Sarah Grace Tuttle’s site today.
And because it’s National Poetry Month and I am writing a poem each day, I have a Zeno about the word Enough. J. Patrick Lewis invented the form using a mathematical pattern of 8,4,2,1,4,2,1,4,2,1 in which the one syllables rhyme. I’ve been watching ruby-throated hummingbirds fighting over the feeder.
Enough
When I am down, worried about having enough, God sends me hummingbirds flit- flapping free, messengers of “Enough, See!”
My birthday is in August. August is the first month of school when everything is getting put into place, so when the birthday buddy list was circulated, my birthday had passed. I never gave it a thought.
Until Monday when a special gift was delivered to me from a third grade teacher. On the note, she wrote “Happy Birthday from your Birthday Buddy! Since your birthday had passed when I received your name, I got to choose today to celebrate you!”
Not only was the thought of a nonbirthday-birthday fun for me, the gift was just right, a bird seed wreath to hang near a window to watch the birds come to eat. Thoughtful, kind, and all about me!
On Monday, I shared Allan Wolf’s poem “Living the Poet’s Life.” Each line begins with “A poem can be…” Allan is sharing videos each day of this month on his Instagram as well as YouTube.
Allan Wolf reciting “Living the Poet’s Life”
My students and I borrowed the form to write our own poems repeating the line “A poem can be…” I made my poem into a zine thank you note for my birthday buddy.
The Kidlit Progressive Poem is with Cathy Hutter, Poeturescapes.
My classroom neighbor is connected with a door between our rooms. Often she or I will knock and visit. One of those visits I talked about my weekly blog post of a photo, and she showed me photographs from her dance troupe. I was moved by the seeming still life of a dancer in flight. Kim got permission from both the photographer, Jon Rabalais, and the dancer, Lacey LeBlanc, for me to post this photo as a poem prompt. I hope you are inspired as I was to write about this amazing photo. Thanks to Jon and Lacey for sharing it with us.
My poem is a bit of word play, changing nouns to verbs. I enjoyed creating my poem. Please leave a small poem in the comments and encourage other writers with your comments. Honor the artistry of dance and photography with words.
I’ve been participating in VerseLove over at Ethical ELA. Today, Fran Haley invited us to write a triolet. This is a form I find challenging because the repeated lines, while they should be easy, make it hard to create an original poem in which the flow doesn’t seemed forced.
I love nature and observing the intimacy of birds. Recently I witnessed a cardinal couple feeding. Such a sweet moment to see the male feeding the female. In case you are wondering, I intentionally changed the last line to play with metaphor.
Looking at the calendar-chart plan for this month, I realize I haven’t written a cinquain yet. This form is a five-lined verse with a syllable count 2, 4, 6, 8, 2. Yesterday was the most perfect spring day after a raging storm the night before. The air was breezy with a touch of cool. Perfect canoeing weather, so Jeff and I seized the day and paddled for a couple hours. One of our goals for each paddle is to clean up crap junk from the bayou. Yesterday we retrieved a basketball, a soccer ball, and a few cans and water bottles, one large piece of styrofoam. A small part, but we had a good time finding and trying to retrieve it.
Notice how light dances on bayou’s belly rolls washing us with soothing hopeful Nurture
I got sidetracked from using the daily calendar that Molly and I created for our National Poetry Month Project. Even though we decided it was flexible and not a commitment, I wanted to check off another form with today’s poem.
One of my favorite forms for playing around with words is Heidi Mordhorst’s Definito. What a clever form! It’s a poem for children of 8-12 lines that uses word play to define a word. I had a draft started about the word Shenanigans. Isn’t that a fun word to say? After spending a night with grandson #2, I was taken back to it.
This week was hard but good. I’ve been busy. That helps. One year ago my father died. It’s been a whole year of missing him. I’m getting better at dealing with grief. But somehow it bubbles up when I write. The Ethical ELA #VerseLove prompt today was from Allison Berryhill was to write a poem about what you missed. Check the prompt here. I recall a Ted Kooser poem about what a loved one who passed was missing on a fine spring day. I can’t find it, but if you know it, please let me know.
What you Missed the Year You’ve been Gone
Since you’ve been gone, spring sprang again with bright cypress green and pops of buttercups along the roadway.
Baby June was born on winter’s solstice. She’s blooming, too. You’d want to make raspberries on her strawberry cheeks.
Since you’ve been gone, we’ve moved Mom twice finding better and better care for her. We think you’d approve
because I walked beside a woman with a dog who told me about her mother. We talked and talked
then she said her name was Beverly like your favorite niece whose southern drawl comforted like a soft pillow.
I miss you on days like this, when the birds sing opera, the sun hides behind the clouds. I kiss your great grandson.
He’s forgotten you died and says, “Where’s Pop?” I haven’t forgotten, but I think I see you in his smile.
Today’s Poetry Friday Round up is with Jone, a gentle creative who always holds others up on her strong shoulders. Today she is gathering classic found poems. I forgot to do one. I have a good excuse. I’m presenting today at the Fay B. Kaigler Book Festival in Hattiesburg, MS with my friend and fellow children’s book author Leslie Helakoski. But I don’t like missing out, so I may try to get to it sometime this weekend. At Mary Lee’s post, I found a link to a poem video done by Jone’s student, Kimberly Taylor. It’s an amazingly powerful interpretation of Mary Lee’s poem Dandelions.
Leslie wrote a book entitled “Are Your Stars Like My Stars?” It’s a beautiful book about diversity in perspective using a patterned phrase i.e.”Is your blue like my blue?” I read the book to my students and had them write their own poem based on the pattern. Using blank books, they turned their poems into books. I’ll be sharing these with our session participants today. I wanted to feature Adelyn’s poem today. When she wrote it, it brought tears to my eyes because at such a young age of 10, she sees with more wisdom than many adults. And this gives me hope. Poetry gives me hope. Children’s book authors give me hope. You give me hope.
Do You Like What I Like?
Staring at the stars in cozy blankets, porch bound. Are your stars like mine? A fluff in my arms, a fuzz in my head. Do you sleep like me?
Hugging them tight, don’t want to let go. Do you love like I do?
When you’re sitting down, about to eat your food, whether it’s makizushi, chimichurri or gumbo. Think, do I do what you do?
I have trouble counting by eights but love doing equations. Do you do math like I do?
I read some advanced books and read lots of chapter books. Do you read like I do?
Sometimes when I get yelled at or I try to tell someone something and they don’t listen, I get overwhelmed and sometimes cry. Are your feelings like my feelings?
I have dirty blonde hair and blue eyes and freckles. Are your features like my features?
I like the winter but summer not that much. Do you like seasons like I do?
When you lay down in bed, getting ready to sleep, do you ever think of these things like I do?
Do you ever think about how different other people could be and think about how different you are from others?
We are all different and that’s okay. As long as you are, YOURSELF
Do you believe in signs? Rainbows, red birds, messages from our loved ones? I’ve been looking for a sign from my father. Some people say I’m trying too hard. On Tuesday, my brother, his wife, and I were touring assisted living facilities for my mother. She has Alzheimer’s and is living in an independent living facility. It’s getting harder to find good caretakers who understand the disease. Kara, my sister-in-law, told me when we pulled into one of the places we were touring, there was a red bird above the parking lot sign that read, “For future residents.” Whether it was a sign or a coincidence, we don’t know. But humans will human, and we believe Dad was letting us know we were doing the right thing.
Margaret Simon lives on the Bayou Teche in New Iberia, Louisiana. She is a retired elementary gifted teacher who writes poetry and children's books. Welcome to a space of peace, poetry, and personal reflection. Walk in kindness.
Reflections on the Teche 