Reflections on the Teche

#SOL21: Spiritual Thursday Silent Wind

March 4, 2021 by margaretsmn

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

2021 Grab this image for your blog post.

Today is day 4 of the Slice of Life Story Challenge and Spiritual Journey (first) Thursday.

A group of bloggers commit to writing a post on the first Thursday of the month around a topic. I am rounding up the posts today. (Place your link in the InLinkz at the end of this page.) The topic I chose was March Spirit Wind. The lioness of March winds roared through here on Monday bringing a new cold front. March weather is fickle. One day may be sunny and 70’s and the next rainy and 40’s. In this topsy turvy weather, I long to find quiet time.

Learn to get in touch with the silence within yourself
and know that everything in this life has a purpose.
Elisabeth Kubler-Ross

Lately I have been using magazine collage to explore creativity. I am finding that it leads to inspiration for writing. The process of design, finding images I love, cutting, placing, gluing bring my mind to a place of rest where creativity can flow.

Linda Mitchell sent me some poem seeds that I carry with me in a ziplock bag along with pens, scissors, glue. I tossed out some seeds and this poem fell out.

Craft of Life, seed poem, notebook page 3/3/21

Perhaps the most important thing we bring to another person is the silence in us, not the sort of silence that is filled with unspoken criticism or hard withdrawal. The sort of silence that is a place of refuge, of rest, of acceptance of someone as they are. We are all hungry for this other silence.
Rachel Naomi Remen, gratefulness.org

I hope you can take some time to be quiet and let the Spirit Wind wash over you. Sacred moments can be found when we take time to rest and be open.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!Click here to enter

Posted in Slice of Life, Spiritual Growth, Writing | Tagged magazine collage, notebooks, spiritual journey | 11 Comments »

#SOL21: #3 This Photo wants to be a Poem

March 3, 2021 by margaretsmn

Each week I invite writers to join me in a quick write about a photograph. This is the first week of the Slice of Life Challenge, so if you are a slicer, I want to extend this inspiration/invitation to you, too. If this is something you’d like to do weekly, subscribe to my blog.

Here’s how it works. Use the image to inspire a small poem. Leave your poem in the comments. Respond to other writers with positive feedback. That’s it. Easy peasy. No pressure. We are just exercising our writing muscle. When I write this post, I participate in the same way. I never write a poem ahead of time. My poem is quick and drafty.

I took this week’s photo Saturday night as we were leaving a lovely outdoor dinner with friends. It was close to 10 PM, and I was struck by how much light the moon gave off.

On a clear night
you can see all the way
to the moon,
God’s streetlight.
Margaret Simon, draft

Posted in Photography, Poetry, Slice of Life | 56 Comments »

#SOL21: #2 In the Natural Rhythm

March 2, 2021 by margaretsmn

I teach multiple grade levels, so in one given day I’ll read a social justice poem, an article about invertebrates, a picture book about water protectors, and student slices. But all reading roads lead to writing in one way, shape, or form. We write every day.

Today’s notebook collage is a sea of invertebrates, including a thesaurus page with the heading word specimen. But it was the words that led to my thoughts. We all have a story to tell. I may not have a story about significant environmental issues or roots in injustice, but it is a story, a history worth noting in a poem.

In the Natural Rhythm of Memory
While she may speak of rivers,
and he speaks for the trees, the poet
speaks for mollusks, snails, and anemones.
Who do I represent?
Neither drums of nature, nor blood
of brothers tell my story.
Not poor or tortured;
My river runs from Mississippi
to Texas, through veins of magnolias
and spray of Gulf waves–
my history is a southern drawl
spoken over the telephone,
sweet as maple syrup,
white as cornbread,
and golden as the morning sun.
Margaret Simon, draft

Posted in Poetry, Slice of Life, Teaching, Writing | Tagged #sol21, southerner, torn paper collage art | 14 Comments »

SOLC21: #1 It won’t be Perfect

March 1, 2021 by margaretsmn

A friend sent me an article suggestion from The Atlantic. “Ode to Low Expectations” by James Parker. Here’s a quote to start off my Slice of Life March Madness:

We’re half-finished down here, always building and collapsing, rigging up this and that, dropped hammers and flapping tarps everywhere. Revise your expectations downward. Extend forgiveness to your idiot self. Make it a practice. Come to rest in actuality.
James Parker, The Atlantic March 2021

I needed to read this before committing to a month long writing challenge. I need to lower my expectations and be myself on this page. Who else is any better or worse? Who else could I even try to be?

I’m testing my creativity every day. If I place my hands on the keys and get something written, then I’m ahead of the game. I’m just warning you, if you are a reader of my blog. Every day is a risk. Every day is scary. But I am here. Will you join me?

Posted in #sosmagic, Slice of Life, Writing | Tagged #100DaysofNotebooking, #SOLC2021, #sosmagic | 19 Comments »

Poetry Friday: LamiPoFri

February 26, 2021 by margaretsmn

As I peer through bleary eyes at the end of a long week after a week off, I am remiss to find a proper poem to post, but Alas! Kat Apel has saved the day. She created a form just right for this occasion.

What is a lamipofri? It’s a poetry snapshot that’s quickly scribed, to give people an insight into the world around you at a given point in time – that point being the last minute as you’re scrambling for a Poetry Friday poem to post! Hence the name: LAst MInute of a POetry FRIday!
Kat Apel

A single moment
sky beckons
softness of a peach
A day begins
click,
capture,
send.

Margaret Simon, draft

Posted in Poetry Friday, Writing | Tagged Kat Apel, Lamipofri | 9 Comments »

This Photo Wants to be a Poem

February 25, 2021 by margaretsmn

Buffy Silverman is a children’s author-poet and a new friend because of an Artist’s Way group that meets each week. She lives near a lake in Michigan and finds her sacred space in the nature and quietude there. I reviewed her latest book On a Snow-Melting Day here. She’s currently offering a giveaway on Twitter.

It's a drip-droppy, slip-sloppy, snow-melting day! In honor of the season, I'm giving away a copy of ON A SNOW-MELTING DAY. Please follow and RT to enter – I’ll pick a winner on March 1st. #kidlit #STEMeducation #BookGiveaway @LernerBooks pic.twitter.com/yeMxvdxpwp
— Buffy Silverman (@BuffySilverman) February 23, 2021

I found Buffy’s image on Facebook. I was drawn to the composition within the bare tree branches. Please join me today by posting your own small poem in the comments. Encourage other writers in the comments.

Tufted titmouse,
snowball fluff,
twitter me a song.
My day’s been rough.
Margaret Simon, draft

Posted in Photography, Poetry | Tagged This Photo Wants to be a Poem | 24 Comments »

Poetry Friday: Arctic Dreaming

February 19, 2021 by margaretsmn

Poetry Friday posts are being gathered by Ruth in Haiti: There’s No Such Thing as a Godforsaken Town.

It’s Friday, and I had a week off, the first few days as part of an expected Mardi Gras break (no Mardi Gras activities, though) and the last few due to the winter storm that blew through the south (It’s still only 28 degrees.) Our plumbing system is not prepared to handle freezes. Nevertheless, these days of lazing in PJs next to a warm fire without much to do have been luxurious and allowed me some writing time.

On Wednesday evening, I joined Laura Purdie Salas’s first Write Alone, Together session. She started us off with an image and a roll of metaphor dice. The image came from a National Geographic article here. (Fair warning, it’s a rabbit hole you may fall into.) The metaphors were 1. Home is a well-worn zoo, and 2. Your body is a bootleg blessing. Rather than use these metaphors as complete thoughts, I split them up to create a poem. The photo prompt made me think of a piano that we gave away to a local school. Here is the draft I wrote in my journal:

Arctic Dreaming
This home–
well-worn,
frosted with shards
of stains, a zoo
of strays–
holds a corner space
where the piano once was,
now empty,
inviting something new
or old (an antique desk chair, perhaps).
You choose the thing
to fill the space,
with a blessing
and a dream.
Margaret Simon, draft

Photo by **Plato Terentev** from **Pexels**

Posted in Poetry Friday | Tagged home poem, Laura Purdie Salas, piano, Write Alone Together | 6 Comments »

SOSMagic: Write Fast

February 18, 2021 by margaretsmn

Ruth invites bloggers to Share Our Stories. Today’s prompt is to write fast.

Capture a shadow, dance with the wind, stand in a rainbow, begin at the end.

Mary Anne Radmacher

Leo is learning the difference between his reflection and his shadow. He sees himself in a mirror, says, “Cute Shadow!” I am finding myself fascinated by how his little brain makes connections. How does language develop? What I am learning is that it is not at all linear. We start by repeating things a big person says. Leo parrots often. I was writing a card to a friend and said, “Dear Ellen.” He took the paper using the pen to draw right over my words and said, “Dear Ellen.” But then he kept scribbling hard and said, “Words!” And then some gibberish I didn’t understand. I took a video on my phone and sent it to Ellen.

I don’t have much video from my own children growing up. I’m sure I was as fascinated, but I was also busy being their mom. Being grandmother allows me time to reflect. I am writing things in a notebook for him. I’ve decided not to worry whether or not he will care about this when he gets older. That is not the point. I think that so many times as someone who wants to write, I worry too much about audience.

I read this morning on the Writer’s Almanac that Toni Morrison felt free when she wrote. She didn’t worry about her audience. She just marveled in the way writing consumed her. “But the writing was the real freedom, because nobody told me what to do there. That was my world and my imagination. And all my life it’s been that way.”

I don’t expect to be Toni Morrison, but I can take a bit of freedom from her. Let go and just write what comes. Ruth’s invitation today was to write fast. This was a quick write, about 20 minutes or so. Just enough time to bake a brownie or write a post. Both are sweet in their own way.

Posted in #sosmagic, Writing | Tagged being grandmother, two year old language | 12 Comments »

This Photo Wants to be a Poem

February 18, 2021 by margaretsmn

Join this weekly photo poetry prompt community by leaving a poem in the comments.

This has been a frigid week in the deep south. The ice storm has caused widespread power outage and water loss. Our home was without power for 12 hours. Our house plumbing is fine, but my husband’s office had a burst pipe. Southerners just aren’t equipped to handle this extreme cold for an extended period of time. The temperature rose to 36 degrees yesterday, but we are staying home from school due to low water pressure.

But ice can be beautiful. My friend and poetry writing group partner Molly Hogan lives in Maine, so she is well-versed in cold. She is also an amazing photographer. She recently posted photos of ice on plants and this one she claimed as her favorite. I can see why. There’s a poem waiting there. Leave your own small poem in the comments and respond to others with kindness and encouragement.

There is beauty in a single moment,
tresures in a whisper,
A world waiting
in an ice-encased atom.
Margaret Simon, draft

Posted in Photography, Poetry | Tagged ice poems, Molly Hogan, This Photo Wants to be a Poem | 28 Comments »

Poetry Friday: A Poem a Day

February 12, 2021 by margaretsmn

Poetry Friday gathering is at Molly’s place in Maine, Nix the Comfort Zone.

I am taking a creative-inducing drug called A-Poem-a-Day. It’s good for me. But it doesn’t always make me happy. Poetry is a place where emotions become raw. This week I heard of another community member’s death from Covid. He was 75 and battled for months. His family was dedicated, by his side, and hopeful until they couldn’t be. I don’t know this kind of loss. I’m a lucky one, and sometimes that makes me feel guilty.

Laura Shovan does a poetry writing project every February. This year the theme is body. If you are interested in seeing the week’s prompts, go to her site here.

Heather Meloche posted the prompt “lungs” with a profound graffiti art piece “I can’t breathe”. Not only do I wish I could breathe for those who can’t, I also wish I could take away the pain of loss. This empathy came out in my poem.

Misty morning
fills my lungs
with living.

On this day
I pray
for air,
a way to not care
people are drowning.
They can’t breathe.
A machine breathes for them.
I wish for a way
like roots of trees
breathe together underground,
a way
to pass
hand to hand
lung to lung
Health
Healing
Hearty
life.
Margaret Simon, draft