#bayoulife | Reflections on the Teche

Posts Tagged ‘#bayoulife’

Poetry Friday: Hawk Sighting

Posted in Poetry Friday, Writing, tagged #bayoulife, Inklings challenge, kennings, nature poetry on September 4, 2026| 17 Comments »

Poetry Friday is being gathered today by Patricia Franz at Reverie.

Happy Poetry Friday! This is the first Friday of September, and my name came up on the spinner to offer a challenge for the Inklings. Honestly, I didn’t have an idea, so I gave it back to the group, and Molly said, “What about kennings?”

A kenning is a figurative compound word that takes the place of an ordinary noun.

I wrote a poem this week from a prompt from The Time is Now to use the line “There is always a ________ somewhere” after Marie Howe’s poem “Chainsaw”.

Hawk Sighting

There is always a hawk somewhere,
soaring low above the oaks,
hungry and hunting.

You wanted to show me.
You wanted to find the binoculars,
focus on the old oak
and show me the wild thing.

Almost every day I hear the high whistle
of a hawk echoing over the bayou.

There is grief in that piercing call-sound,
wailing for what feels like desperation.

Will you call to me like a hawk
or with a soft whisper-twitter
of a hummingbird?

However you make a call-sound,
I will answer with wonder.

Margaret Simon, draft

How other Inklings met the challenge:

Linda at Another Word Edgewise
Mary Lee at A (nother) Year of Reading

Molly at Nix the Comfort Zone

Heidi at my juicy little universe

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Slice of Life: All Day Rain

Posted in Slice of Life, Writing, tagged #bayoulife, #poemsofpresence, #smallpoems, rainy day on September 1, 2026| 5 Comments »

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

It feels like an all day rain.

The way the shower tip-taps on the bayou
like a water bug splashing.

How the drain thrums like a bass drum.

There’s a comfort to waking in the rain.
No need to go out. Slow sips of more coffee.

I will go out and breathe the humid air. Later.

Resurrection fern will open and fill the oaks with greenery, like a mantel garland at Christmas.

Birds will emerge and resume their singing.

For now, I am present to the rain, accepting its gift of cooler air, its promise of autumn.

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Slice of Life: Sitting with Nature

Posted in nature, Slice of Life, Writing, tagged #bayoulife, Bayou Teche, black bellied whistling duck, wood duck nesting box on July 28, 2026| 12 Comments »

Black belly whistling ducks gather at the nesting box.

We’ve been waiting for a clutch of black bellied whistling ducks to hatch from our wood duck house. After the hatching in June, Jeff cleaned out the house. I requested that he leave it open in case we would get another mother. You leave it, they will come. And sure enough on June 24 or so, the new mother began sitting.

On Sunday, I noticed the little bee patterned babies hatching in the house. (We use a Ring doorbell camera, so we can watch from the phone.) On Monday morning, I opened the app to watch the baby ducklings climb up and jump out. Similar to wood ducks, the whistlers also jump 24 hours after hatching.

Unfortunately, the camera stopped recording. Low battery. We have a solar panel that charges the battery and Jeff supposed that since the trees are full, the panel doesn’t get as much light. What a time for the battery to fail!

After my coffee, I perched outside to watch the Jump Day festivities.

The whistlers gather around. There were four of them whistling and carrying on. I waited.

While I waited a beautiful blue heron flew by.

Great blue heron flying over the bayou.

Finally, one of the ducklings jumped out. Let’s call him Eager. The mother soon followed and more babies jumped. I counted seven total.

Interestingly, the mother and father ducks chased off the other whistlers that had gathered. The couple alone led the ducklings.

Mother and Father whistling ducks look for safety for their brood.

Eager, the little rogue, jumped in and paddled off on his own. Father went after him.

Eager duckling swims away from his family.

I’m afraid that was my signal to go inside and let nature do as nature does. I don’t know if Eager was reunited with his family, but for the sake of a happy ending, let’s say he was.

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Slice of Life: Summer on the Bayou

Posted in being mamére, nature, Slice of Life, Writing, tagged #bayoulife, Bayou Teche, grandchildren on July 14, 2026| 10 Comments »

Today, I am featured in an interview with picture book author Joyce Uglow on her Substack series uGROnews. Please skip over to learn more about my process in writing What’s That Sound? Birds of the Bayou.

Our bayou life has slowed to the rhythm of summer. Because of the longer days, we were able to feed our hungry grandchildren, then head out for a jaunt on the bayou. Stella at age 5.5 likes to say she’s scared, but we encourage her with reminders like “Once you’re in the boat, you will have fun!” She doesn’t like the process of getting in. The canoe wobbles. Each time gets a little easier. This Sunday evening, she climbed in without crying. Her older brother Leo acts as an expert.

Loading up the canoe for a summer evening paddle.

I followed in my kayak. I am no expert at kayaking. I go slow, slow, back and forth. My arms tire out pretty quickly. Apparently Leo got worried about me. He said, “I want to go back to get Mamére.”

Kayak selfie with Leo, Stella, and Papére in the canoe.

That was sweet, but I was fine drifting about and enjoying the scenery. Later I showed Stella this photo and she said, “I didn’t see that!”

Perspectives are different. They were probably most concerned about seeing the alligator that our neighbor said was lurking about.

I’m happy we can play on God’s playground in a boat on the bayou.

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National Poetry Month 2026 Day 1: Landscape

Posted in nature, Poetry, Writing, tagged #bayoulife, #bayouteche, #KidlitProgressivePoem2026, NPM26, purple creek on April 1, 2026| 5 Comments »

Today is the first day on National Poetry Month and already the communities I am tapped into have connected with a map. For the first day of our Kidlit Progressive Poem, Tabatha Yeats has offered a map and a line to get us started on our monthlong journey.

At Ethical ELA, Sarah Donovan offered a prompt “Landscape of our Lives.”

The poetry book sitting next to me is “Map to the Stars” by Adrian Matejka. I am sensing a theme emerging.

My poem today is in response to Sarah’s prompt.

Bayou-Side

Inside me there is a sycamore,
a tall pine, a draping grandmother oak.
I can draw a map from Purple Creek
to Bayou Teche.
I’ve spent a lifetime walking near water
watching for herons, turtles, and honeysuckle.

When it’s time for me to leave this land,
place me in a boat without a motor.
Let me float for eternity.

(Margaret Simon, draft)

Louisiana blue irises and a brood of ducks near Bayou Teche.

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SOLC26: Day 11: This Photo

Posted in Gratitude, Slice of Life, This Photo Wants to be a Poem, Writing, tagged #bayoulife, #poemsofpresence, #smallpoems, cardinal, This Photo Wants to be a Poem on March 11, 2026| 11 Comments »

This photo I took of a visiting cardinal. As the day’s news gets more and more tragic, I turn to nature. Some southerners believe that when you see a red bird, you are visited by a lost loved one.

This morning in my email feed, I received the word of the day from Merriam-Webster, besotted: “Someone described as besotted is so in love that they are unable to think clearly.”

I thought Besotted would make a good title for a poem. This is a drafting post. If you are inspired by the photo, please leave your own poem in the comments and support other writers with positive comments.

Besotted

You
in your red cardinal coat
distract me
humble me
enamor me
Perched with pride,
you say,

“I am here.”

Margaret Simon, draft

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Poetry Friday: Tricube Challenge

Posted in nature, Poetry Friday, Writing, tagged #bayoulife, #poemsofpresence, #Poetrypals, Arthur Sze, kayak, tricube on January 30, 2026| 20 Comments »

Poetry Friday is hosted today by Amy at The Poem Farm.

This month the Poetry Sisters challenge was to write a tricube. The tricube form is 3 syllables, 3 lines, 3 stanzas.

Molly Hogan sent me the list of prompts from the MoSt Poetry Center. The prompt I used was this:

“Write a poem of presence, in terms of being in a particular place and time, or of having a dynamic demeanor (such as in “stage presence”) or a feeling of an unseen spirit. Here’s an example by Arthur Sze, our new U. S. Poet Laureate:

Here by Arthur Sze – Poems | Academy of American Poets”

I borrowed the line, “Be here now.”

Every year as I begin to set intentions, I get the universal message of presence. I feel presence is essential to peace of mind, but it is difficult to find.

I have a new kayak. Taking the kayak out took some initiative and help from my ~~husband~~ hero. Jeff had the grandkids in the canoe. When I wanted to try to get the kayak out of the water by myself, my grandson Leo said, “Prove it.” That was all the challenge I needed to pull the 60 pound vessel onto the dock. I did it.

Here
after Arthur Sze

Be here now
Here frog croaks
Here wren calls

Be here now
Here stalk grows
Here tea steams

Be here now
Here oar strokes
Here strength comes

Margaret Simon

I want to thank Tabatha Yeatts who offered on Poetry Friday last week to do an art piece for our 2026 words. I took her up on the offer. I’m touched and amazed at how this speaks to my intention for the year as well as the tricube I wrote.

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This Photo Wants to be a Poem: Elusive Egret

Posted in Photography, Poetry, This Photo Wants to be a Poem, Writing, tagged #bayoulife, #bayouteche, egret, zeno on November 19, 2025| 24 Comments »

Egret across the bayou, photo by Margaret Simon

Early morning is prime fishing time for egrets and herons on the bayou. It is rare that I can get a photo. I have to walk lightly and hope Albert doesn’t bark. This was a lucky shot.

I will be presenting at NCTE this week. In the roundtable presentation with Ethical ELA (3:30 on Friday, Rm. 108, 110), I will be discussing creating Zeno zines. A Zeno poem is one in which the syllable count is 8, 4, 2, 1, 4, 2, 1, 4, 2, 1. The challenge is each one syllable line rhymes.

This Photo is a place for first drafts. Please consider joining me and writing a poem draft in the comments. Support other writers with your comments.

Morning is bayou fishing time
flashy bright white
egret
shines
reminding me
how love
dines
on memory,
sacred signs.
(Margaret Simon, draft)

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Poetry Friday: My Place in the World

Posted in being mamére, Gifted Education, Poetry Friday, Writing, tagged "my place in the world" poem, #bayoulife, #beingmamére, student poetry on November 23, 2024| 11 Comments »

Poetry Friday is gathered by Ruth at There is no such thing as a God-forsaken town.

My students and I are reading Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse. In the book, there is a poem “On the Road with Arley” that begins with line “Here’s the way I figure it, my place in the world is at the piano.” It’s been fun to find music of the time period and write alongside it. My students worked hard to create poems using this beginning line. I asked them to use imagery to create a tone. I wrote a model poem about my place in the world.

In a Canoe

Here’s the way I figure it,
my place in the world is
on the bayou
lazing about in a canoe
with you.

I’m just a mamere
wanting the best time
to be outside
watching for eagles
slipping through slow current
listening for Mr. Owl
to cook-cook-for-you!

My place is in open toes
among cypress knees
sniffing catfish air
hearing cicadas buzz
when the sun goes down.

Here’s the way I figure it,
my place in the world
is in a canoe with you.

Margaret Simon, draft

Photo by Nitin Arya on Pexels.com

Here’s the way I figure it,
my place in the world is
out of it.

My place is in a different place,
far away from here.
In a mythical world,
or one that is crumbling
even more than mine is.

With my favorite characters
I venture
for escape.
Escape.
My feet will beat the ground,

in my head a pound,
and then I settle down.
In a bed or a chair,
I wind

wind

wind

down.

I read, and I am free.

Here’s the way I figure it,
my place in the world is
seeking distraction from it.

Adelyn, 6th grade

Where is your place in the world?

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Slice of Life: The Same, not the same

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.