Posted in Photography, Poetry, This Photo Wants to be a Poem, Writing, tagged #naturepoems, #smallpoems #poemsofpresence, elfchen on October 1, 2025| 5 Comments »
Last week this lily appeared at my back door. I vaguely remember a neighbor giving me some bulbs, but I planted them ages ago. When I placed my Google lens on this flower, surprise lily came up as one of many names. It’s also known as spider lily and naked lady. Today in my poem I am focused on the surprise.
Surprise!
a ribbon
burst from soil
on a stemmed gift
lily
Margaret Simon, draft
Please leave a small poem in the comments and encourage other writers with your response.
Posted in Photography, Poetry, This Photo Wants to be a Poem, Travel, Writing, tagged elfchen, Scotland, small poems on September 17, 2025| 10 Comments »
I’m still dreaming of Scotland. This photo was taken from the bus window, so it’s not super clear, but I like how the sun beams down on the modern bridge. Imagine up ahead is the old town of Edinburgh. Scotland was a study in the modern and the ancient alongside each other.
On our return home, I went back to my genealogy to find that I have ancestors from Scotland.
Today I’m turning to the elfchen (or elevenie) form.
Bridge
carries across
Firth of Forth
Travelers of time to
Ancestors
Margaret Simon, draft
Please write a small poem in the comments and respond to other writers.
Posted in nature, Photography, Poetry, This Photo Wants to be a Poem, Writing, tagged #poemsofpresence, #smallpoems, advent, elfchen, live oak trees, Nature poems, This Photo Wants to be a Poem on December 4, 2024| 16 Comments »
Here in the deep south, live oak trees are iconic. This root is old and has emerged over time from the ground. I took notice of its unique design. As no two humans are exactly the same, I imagine trees have their own personalities, too.
I started the year 2024 with writing daily elfchen. For this Advent season, I’ve picked up the form again. Here are the rules:
Grounded
Roots revealed
Begging us hear
The true language of
Connection
Margaret Simon, draft
Join me today in writing to this photo prompt. Come back to offer encouragement to other writers.
Posted in Photography, Poetry, This Photo Wants to be a Poem, tagged elfchen, Maine marsh, Molly Hogan, yellowlegs on May 8, 2024| 15 Comments »
Molly Hogan captured this funny photo on a recent outing into the marsh in Maine. I love how she captured the reflection as well. These shorebirds are called yellowlegs for the obvious reason that they have yellow legs, but I think watching them skitter along the shore would bring a smile to anyone’s face.
Let this photo be your muse this morning as we get closer to slower, beach-filled days of summer. I welcome the extra time, but not the heat. Our temperatures in the south are already inching up to 90 degrees. Leave a small poem in the comments.
I’m back to my daily elfchen practice. A reminder of the form: eleven words, 1, 2, 3, 4, 1. The first word introduces the topic, the second tells what it does, the third where it is, and the fourth how it makes you feel (I go for a metaphor in this line), ending with a word of transformation from the first word.
Yellowlegs
Margaret Simon, draft
toothpick race
across sandy marsh.
No one wins a prize–
Solidarity.
Posted in being mamére, Poetry, tagged elfchen, Ethical ELA, Magic Box poem, NPM2024 on April 2, 2024| 3 Comments »
This National Poetry Month, I am writing word poems using random words that come into my life.
I’m taking care of my 4 year old grandson while his mother is on a work trip. Today’s elfchen is playing with the word shambles.
Shambles Elfchen
Shambles
Margaret Simon, draft NPM 24
of toys
on Mamere’s floor
a kingdom of pretend
Lightstep
I’m also following Ethical ELA prompts. Today’s prompt “The Magic Box” was an interesting practice in synectics, combining words together that normally would not be connected. The intent was to release some of the insecurity in writing, loosen our muscles so to speak.
Whistle While you Walk
Wisteria hangs like lavender bubbles
marching across the dog-ditch.
Like a child, blossoms whisper,
“I exist to please you.”We are all monster trucks traveling
through construction, a long and dusty road.Take me on a spring walk,
Margaret Simon Magic Box
blow a dandelion–a train whistle
to the wild world.
Posted in Poetry Friday, Writing, tagged #Peace, cat poem, daily writing, elfchen, OLW, The Stafford Challenge on January 26, 2024| 20 Comments »
This week the weather has turned to rain, rain, rain. The fog is hovering. Humidity high. Winter blues making me down. But then there is poetry.
Poetry saves me. I am empowered and energized by having written something. Every day, no matter the weather, I can write a poem.
Elfchen has been my go-to form. I’m writing a few everyday. It’s such a nice compact form that can contain all of my emotions and balance my mood. Here’s one from my notebook.
January 25, 2024
Margaret Simon, 1/25/24 draft
Truth
comes in
times of silence
contemplating the thrumming rain
Presence.
I’ve signed up for The Stafford Challenge which is basically a commitment to write daily as William Stafford did. Here’s a poem about wanting to sleep in. It makes me smile.
You Do Not Have to be Good*
(*Mary Oliver “Wild Geese”)You do not have to wake at 4 AM
to feed the cats
mewing at the back door.
Cats are survivors.Turn over, go back to sleep–
the most delicious sleep comes
in the wee hours of the morning
in the whisper of the heater
under the warm blanket
his breathing, slow and steady.Stretch your cramping foot.
Discuss with yourself how the day will go
if you just sleep a little more.Dream, perhaps,
Margaret Simon, draft
in this liminal space
of sacred meditation.
Lie with yourself;
Tell her to calm down.
The cats can wait.
How is your January going? Doesn’t it feel like such a long month? I hope you are writing yourself through it. And staying warm.
Posted in being mamére, Gifted Education, Poetry Friday, Teaching, Writing, tagged #100DaysofNotebooking, elfchen, Stafford Challenge on January 19, 2024| 22 Comments »
In the new year, I’ve returned to a daily notebook practice with my students. Little did I know the Stafford Challenge would appear and reaffirm my commitment. I adopted this practice years ago after an NCTE panel I coordinated which included Naomi Shihab Nye. We talked about William Stafford’s daily writing, and I adapted the steps to fit with my young students. For whatever reason (maybe Covid) I haven’t been leading my students to write daily in their notebooks. Now I’m reminded of the importance of a daily writing practice. These first few days of the Stafford Challenge, I have opened up more and more on the blank page and worried less about perfection.
Our notebook steps:
Pretend Play Elfchen
Pretend
Margaret Simon, draft
no script
Play echoes life.
Their light, my delight
–Shine!
Posted in Poetry Friday, Writing, tagged elevenie, elfchen, Maria Popova, The Marginalian on January 12, 2024| 15 Comments »
Have you ever had a form attach itself to you and beg you for a daily poem? I’ve hoped for a daily haiku to come to me for years now. I’ve tried it on, and some days it fits just fine, but I’ve recently felt a tug toward elfchen which is a similar form to a cinquain. Five lines. However, in an elfchen (elevenie, in English) there are more specific directions that stretch the form to a higher problem-solving level, a level of Flow for me, not too hard, not too easy.
On Tuesday, I wrote about beginning this new year with a practice of notebooking with my students. I shared an elfchen there.
Do you read The Marginalian? I highly recommend it as a weekly practice. Maria Popova sends a newsletter each Sunday, and it never fails to inspire me. This is a found elfchen from Jan. 7, 2024.
Attention
Margaret Simon, found in The Marginalian
high degree
be as prayer
gravity in acts of
Love
“Perhaps this spiritual dimension of love stems from a simple equivalence: At its core, love is the quality of attention we confer upon another; and as Simone Weil observed in her timeless meditation on the nature of grace, “attention, taken to its highest degree, is the same thing as prayer.” All of love’s gravity and all of its grace are found in our acts of attention.” Love and the Sacred–The Marginalian.
Have you started a new poetry practice? What commitment to writing have you made?
Posted in Teaching, This Photo Wants to be a Poem, tagged #worddaily, elfchen, pencils, surfeit on January 10, 2024| 17 Comments »
Back to school after winter break I noticed my student’s backpack and his surfeit supply of pencils and clean, pointy eraser heads. He was prepared! I’m not sure this arrangement with his initials on each pencil and eraser was done by him, his mother, or his grandmother, but it made me chuckle and think back to the days of raising my children. They were lucky to find clean clothes to wear.
I admire anyone who can be this organized. I struggle with being organized. It’s a goal for every year, and every year I fail. What does this photo recall for you? Please leave a small poem in the comments and encourage other writers with your responses.
Pencils
Margaret Simon, draft
stand ready
for another year
of thinking, writing, erasing
Surfeit*
Posted in Photography, Poetry, This Photo Wants to be a Poem, Travel, Writing, tagged Dahlonega Georgia, elfchen, family vacation, fire pit, This Photo Wants to be a Poem on January 3, 2024| 29 Comments »
Instead of Christmas presents, we gave our children and their families a house in the Appalachian mountains of North Georgia. This is a view of the house from the lake below. I don’t think I could have picked a more perfect spot. Today it becomes an image for inspiration. You may focus on the green moss on the log, the act of looking up, or the idea of a perfect place to rest. Happy New Year! I hope it brings you joy and renewal.
I am still ruminating on my One Little Word for 2024. It may or may not be the word at the end of this poem. I’ve been having fun playing with the elfchen (elevenie) form. The basis is 1 word, 2 words, 3 words, 4 words, 1 word. The magic of the form seems to happen when writing about the first word leads to a conclusion in the last word.
Tomorrow I will host Spiritual Thursday. We are writing about our One Little Word choices. Please join us.
Mountain House
Wood
Margaret Simon, draft
chopped, stacked
the fire pit
where secrets are shared–
Connection
Our address on the Bayou Teche
Order on Amazon.
April 1 Linda Mitchell at A Word Edgewise
April 2 Tricia at The Miss Rumphius Effect
April 3 Robyn at Life on the Deckle Edge
April 4 Donna Smith at Mainely Write
April 5 Denise at https://mrsdkrebs.edublogs.org/
April 6 Buffy at http://www.buffysilverman.com/blog
April 7 Jone at https://www.jonerushmacculloch.com/
April 8 Janice Scully at Salt City Verse
April 9 Tabatha at https://tabathayeatts.blogspot.com/
April 10 Marcie at Marcie Flinchum Atkins
April 11 Rose at Imagine the Possibilities | Rose's Blog
April 12 Fran Haley at Lit Bits and Pieces
April 13 Cathy Stenquist
April 14 Janet Fagel at Mainly Write
April 15 Carol Varsalona at Beyond LiteracyLink
April 16 Amy Ludwig VanDerwater at The Poem Farm
April 17 Kim Johnson at Common Threads
April 18 Margaret at Reflections on the Teche
April 19 Ramona at Pleasures from the Page
April 20 Mary Lee at A(nother) Year of Reading
April 21 Tanita at TanitasDavis.com
April 22 Patricia Franz
April 23 Ruth at There's No Such Thing as a Godforsaken Town
April 24 Linda Kulp Trout at http://lindakulptrout.blogspot.com
April 25 Heidi Mordhorst at My Juicy Little Universe
April 26 Michelle Kogan at: https://moreart4all.wordpress.com/
April 27 Linda Baie at Teacher Dance
April 28 Pamela Ross at Words in Flight
April 29 Diane Davis at Starting Again in Poetry
April 30 April Halprin Wayland at Teaching Authors
Reflections on the Teche 