Reflections on the Teche

SOS Magic: The Kind of Writer Who…

February 17, 2022 by margaretsmn

This post is an invitation to write from Sharing our Stories Magic.

I’m the kind of writer who…

plays in the sandbox of words,

invites others in,

builds a sand castle masterpiece,

doesn’t fear ocean waves,

is willing to build it again.

Posted in #sosmagic, Gratitude, Writing | Tagged #sosmagic, about writing | 7 Comments »

This Photo Wants to be a Poem: Beach Bubble

February 16, 2022 by margaretsmn

I follow teacher/writer/photographer Kim Douillard who lives in California. I envy her beach photos. Images of the beach take me away. They have the power to relax me. This photo brought me joy. One of my grandsons is particularly attracted to bubbles. If he is having a tough time, a single session of bubble time will soothe him. What is it about bubbles that is both fascinating and calming?

Bubble on the beach by Kim Douillard
on Instagram as @kd0602

You reach out to touch
knowing your touch will destroy
beauty in thin air.
Margaret Simon, haiku draft 2022

Posted in Photography, Poetry, Writing | Tagged #haiku, #poemsofpresence, #smallpoems, beach, Kim Douillard, This Photo Wants to be a Poem | 20 Comments »

Slice of Life: Hearts and Monarchs

February 15, 2022 by margaretsmn

Thank you to Two Writing Teachers for creating an amazing community of writers and a safe, welcoming space to write and share.

My mind has been on hearts and monarchs. For Valentine’s Day, I gave each of my students a small canvas to create a heart-inspired art piece. We looked at Pinterest images and got inspired. They enjoyed spending time focused on design and playing with paint.

In my email inbox, the Poetry Foundation Poem-of-the-Day was a concrete poem in the shape of half of a heart. I used the idea to create a poem for Laura Shovan’s poetry challenge. It was a challenge. I managed to make the shape, but I’m not sure if I managed a cohesive poem.

I came home to find four monarchs hanging out in my butterfly enclosure. Such beautiful creatures. I am worried, though, because we are still having cold temperatures. I released two of them in the afternoon 60 degrees. Today the temps will climb to 70, so I’ll release the other two.

Posted in Poetry, Slice of Life, Teaching, Writing | Tagged concrete poem, heart painting, monarchs | 6 Comments »

Poetry Friday: Fog bow

February 11, 2022 by margaretsmn

Poetry Friday is with Linda at TeacherDance.

I am participating in Laura Shovan’s February Poetry Project over on Facebook. The prompts around Time are varied and interesting. Buffy Silverman posted photos of animal prints in snow. But my attention went somewhere else as soon as I drove to school and witnessed the phenomenon of a fog bow. I googled “White rainbow” to find out that a fog bow is similar to a rainbow, but the sun is shining through fog rather than rain. A cemetery is across the street from my morning school. I took some pictures of the fog bow over the cemetery and actually pointed it out to a parent in the parking lot. She obviously had somewhere else to be.

Fog Bow

Making excuses
for being late,
this morning a white rainbow
rising above white tombs.
Science tells me it’s the fog–
diffraction of small water droplets.
I shout to another driver
probably running late like me.
See! Look!
Amazement lost in the rev of an engine.
Nature’s marker of time doesn’t need
a watch or digital reminder
of what to do when.
This gift.
This sign.
I’ll take it as Mine.
Margaret Simon, draft 2/10/22

Posted in Photography, Poetry Friday, Writing | Tagged #poemsofpresence, Fog bow, Laura Shoven, Time | 11 Comments »

This Photo Wants to be a Poem: Balancing Stones

February 9, 2022 by margaretsmn

Welcome to Wednesday again. Time to take a minute to observe, breathe, and write. This week’s photo is one I took of balancing stones I’ve placed in a front flower bed. I gathered the stones from a labyrinth at Solomon House, our church’s outreach mission. The labyrinth was not being used and there were some maintenance issues, so the board decided to dismantle it. I feel the stones still have spiritual significance, so I stacked them. The literal term is cairn.

For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. Romans 12:4-5

What are your gifts?
How do you balance gifts
and beauty
and time?
Will you ever find peace of mind?
Look to the stones.
Together they form
one
balanced structure.
It’s possible.
Margaret Simon

Please share a snippet of a poem/ thoughts in the comments. Encourage other writers with comments.

Posted in Photography, Poetry, Spiritual Growth, Writing | Tagged #poemsofpresence, #smallpoems, cairn, labyrinth, This Photo Wants to be a Poem | 12 Comments »

Slice of Life: Dancers

February 8, 2022 by margaretsmn

This month I am participating in Laura Shovan’s February poetry project on Facebook. The theme this year is Time. This beautiful collage made by Linda Mitchell was our prompt on Monday. So much to write about, but I focused on the couple dancing. This weekend my husband and I were dancing to one of our favorite bands, Steve Riley and the Mamou Playboys at an event at the Acadiana Center for the Arts. Opportunities to dance have been few during the pandemic. We were a little rusty, but so happy to be out there again. A nearby friend captured a photo of us on the dance floor.

Time in a Picture Frame
The photographer shutters the moment
mid-glide of a waltz.
You were smiling at him
in the way a person whose known someone for a long time-
familiarity mixed with joy.
In your mind’s eye, the planets spin an orbit of protection.
No matter what,
the photo
will always show joy.
You do not know when loss
will reveal something else hidden there-
a child looking on
or the tail of an astronaut’s lifeline.
Today it is enough
to smile.
(c) Margaret Simon draft

Posted in Photography, Poetry, Slice of Life, Writing | Tagged Acadiana Center for the Arts, art collage, dancing, Linda Mitchell | 6 Comments »

Poetry Friday: Winter Chrysalis

February 4, 2022 by margaretsmn

Poetry Friday is with Elisabeth at Unexpected Intersections

Inklings Challenge from Catherine this month: “Write a mathematical poem, such as a fib, pi poem, nonet, etc.” I forgot all about it, so this poem is a bit of a LaMiPoFri* poem. I wanted to try a nonet. I remembered Janet and Sylvia’s advice to write about what you know. I’ve been tending monarch caterpillars in my kitchen for weeks. There have been some losses, but today I am happy to report 9 healthy looking chrysalises and another caterpillar in J formation. I still have 4 free roaming caterpillars on very little milkweed and butternut squash.

Our country once again is in the midst of severe cold storms that bring ice and snow. Here in South Louisiana we are expecting freezing temperatures in the wee hours of the morning. We will not get snow or ice, the meteorologist predicts. All of that came together in this draft of a nonet. I used Canva to make it look all pretty. Thanks for reading.

For other Inkling responses to the challenge:

Linda Mitchell
Molly Hogan
Catherine Flynn
Heidi Mordhorst
MaryLee Hahn

Posted in Poetry Friday, Writing | Tagged Inklings, monarchs, nonet | 17 Comments »

Spiritual Thursday: Heart

February 3, 2022 by margaretsmn

Today’s Round-up for Spiritual Thursday posts is at Linda Mitchell’s site, A Word Edgewise.

I like to buy flowers. When I go to the grocery store, I often put a bouquet of flowers in my basket. I consider it rescuing them from certain death. Sometimes I find someone to give them to and other times, I cut them and place them in a vase for my husband and me to enjoy. Flowers just make life better.

The other day my neighbor shouted from her doorway, “Don’t go! I want to show you something.”

She brought out the amaryllis bulb I had place on her doorstep around Christmas time. It was blooming, a beautiful white double blossom.

“Isn’t it beautiful?” she cried. “Do you want it back?”

“Of course not. It’s meant for you to enjoy.”

“I do love flowers, you know.”

What is in your heart today? Love, gratitude, grief? It’s all there. Take time today to hold your own heart with compassion. Buy yourself flowers.

To end this post, I want to share Avalyn’s heart poem. This was not my doing. She saw it in a book (Sharon Creech’s Love That Dog) that you can make a poem into a shape, so she wanted to try it. I showed her a quick YouTube video, and she created her own.

Posted in Creativity, Gratitude, Spiritual Growth, Writing | Tagged collage, concrete poem, flowers, spiritual journey | 17 Comments »

This Photo Wants to be a Poem: Adventurers

February 2, 2022 by margaretsmn

This week’s photo comes from Janet Fagel’s daughter-in-law who captured a special moment when her children, Janet’s grandchildren, were walking at Washington Crossing Park in New Jersey.

Out for a brisk walk with their wonderful mom, the kids ask: Can we be adventurers today? Her answer? Absolutely!!!
Janet Fagel

On Facebook, a friend responded “The first photo reminds me of this photo by W. Eugene Smith. It is on the last page of the book The Family of Man.”

I’m loving this line as a striking line for a poem.

We walk a
step & another into a magical world
side by side, brother to
sister we’ll always be.
We were born born
for this adventure under
a canopy of trees, your
refuge the sound of our footsteps.
Margaret Simon, draft

Please write your own small poem in the comments or on your blog. Leave encouraging comments for other writers. Most of all, have fun!

Posted in Photography, Poetry, Writing | Tagged #smallpoems, grandchildren, Janet Fagel, This Photo Wants to be a Poem | 23 Comments »

Slice Of Life: Art Journal

February 1, 2022 by margaretsmn

I filled the last page of my notebook, the one I use every day as I write alongside my students. We use marbleized composition books. With decorative paper, magazines, and other things, we collage covers for our notebooks. The last few days I have been stealing a few minutes here or there to work on my new notebook. Here are my completed covers. I tend to be pretty critical of my own collage work, but I like these.

One of the elements on the front cover came from an ArtSpark postcard exchange with Jone MacCulloch and Amy Souza. I cut the quotes on the back from a 2021 calendar.

May the space between where I am and where I want to be inspire me.
Tracee Ellis Ross

This week I am sharing videos from Margaret Alvarez about gratitude art journaling that I discovered in an email from The Network for Grateful Living. We’ve enjoying playing with these easy, yet creative ideas in my classroom. Day one was “Life is a gift” using watercolor shapes and sharpie designs. Day two we did string art. My students have been highly motivated by art journaling. These ideas are simple enough for my second graders while creative enough for my 6th graders. And it’s fun!