Inklings challenge | Reflections on the Teche

Posts Tagged ‘Inklings challenge’

Slice of Life Challenge/ Poetry Friday

Posted in being mamére, Creativity, Poetry Friday, Progressive poem, Writing, tagged anaphora, being mamére, Inklings challenge on March 3, 2023| 11 Comments »

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

I love to go for a walk in the morning. Getting out of the house is my problem. First, I have coffee. Then I check email and these days, write a Slice and read some Slices. Comment. I get sucked in. Even with this problem of getting out of the door, once I’m out, I’m never sorry. Most days when I get back home, there’s a mad rush to get ready for school. Somewhere in this morning routine, I try to get in some writing. Sometimes the writing happens while I am walking. Notes app, microphone on.

My grandson Leo visited this past weekend. He is highly creative. He draws with amazing design, unlike most scribblings of a 4-year old. Last week we ran into my cousin Andrew, the architect, during Mardi Gras. I showed Andrew Leo’s drawings. My daughter started a shared album about a year ago, so I have them on my phone.

Andrew told me a story about his second grade teacher. He loved to build things, and his mother, my aunt, would throw out things like paper towel tubes, boxes, and magazines, etc.. But not Andrew’s teacher. She had a box of trash just for him. An Andrew box full of scraps to build with. He has never forgotten this and may be the artist he is today because of it.

Being Mamere I collected toilet paper tubes, gumballs, and a box. Early on Saturday morning (Leo woke up at 5:30 AM), I showed him the stuff. “You can make whatever you want.” I gave him a plastic container with glue and a paintbrush and left him alone. He created something. When his mother saw it, she noticed that he had even found a wad of cat hair to add to the top of one of the towers. I placed the sculpture in my new butterfly garden to hopefully attract insects and caterpillars.

Happy Poetry Friday! Be sure to visit Tanita at {fiction, instead of lies} for Roundup.

For Poetry Friday, it is the first Friday, so the Inklings (my writing group) have a new challenge. And it came from me. I asked my friends to toy with the use of anaphora (repetition) in a poem using the mentor text from Jericho Brown, Crossing. I wrote one last week that I ended up putting in the trash, so I didn’t have anything to share. Remember the walk I took? I spoke a poem into my Notes app that is my poem offering today.

To see other Inklings poems:

Linda @A Word Edgewise
Heidi @my juicy little universe
Molly @Nix the Comfort Zone
Catherine @Reading to the Core
Mary Lee Hahn @Another Year of Reading

Click here to sign up for the National Poetry Month Progressive Poem

Read Full Post »

Poetry Friday: Blocks to Flow

Posted in Creativity, Poetry Friday, tagged Creative Flow, Flash draft, Inklings challenge on February 3, 2023| 23 Comments »

Catherine Flynn of our writing group, the Inkings, put forth this challenge for our first of the month poetry challenge: “Somewhere, someone recommended the book How to Love the World: Poems of Gratitude and Hope. It includes “reflective pauses” and invitations for “writing and reflection.” After the poem “Work,” by Sally Bliumis-Dunn, (https://sallybliumisdunn.com/) the invitation reads: “Can you remember a time when you felt so consumed with the act of making something that you lost all sense of time and your mind seemed to clear? What allowed you to enter this mindful creative space?”

Mindful creative space is also known as Flow as defined by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. I studied his theory way back in the early 90’s when I was getting my masters in gifted education. It can be such a euphoric feeling that many creatives crave it. Like time doesn’t exist or matter. It hasn’t been happening to me lately, and this prompt challenge made me start thinking about what my blocks to flow have been.

You can read this list as a list of excuses (because they are) or as a sad list of losses. But the more I read about grief and writing and mental health, I realize that this is normal. Frustrating. Yes. But normal and as my Nikki McClure calendar reminds me, I will get through.

Flow, not Flowing

I lost my journal,
the one notebook with the instructions on how to do this thing
called writing. Hiding
between the books in the school backpack,
and then there’s the time it takes to pack a lunch
and get out the door. Not to mention
the dog threw up again this morning.

I lost my godchild,
the one I’d hadn’t seen in years. She was growing up,
going to graduate school, doing all the things
a twenty-something does without a care,
yet now I care because she’s gone

and I can’t sleep or write or do anything
to make all those absent years present again.

I lost my happiness, buried deep
in the rains of winter, drowning out
the words I want to write, need to write.

“Are you writing?” they ask. I say I am
because that is what I do. Say it until it is true.
This is my confession and to tell the truth,
it flowed right out of me.
Margaret Simon, on-the-spot-I-need-to-post-something draft

Here are links to my Inkling friends’ posts:

Heidi
Molly
Mary Lee
Catherine
Linda

A bonus blossom:
I’ve had this orchid for a year, at least and these blossoms popped out this week.

Read Full Post »

Poetry Friday and Spiritual Thursday: What’s the Question?

Posted in Poetry, Poetry Friday, Spiritual Growth, Writing, tagged Amy Ludwig Vanderwater, enough, Faith Broussard, Inklings challenge, One Little Word, spiritual journey, unasked question poem on December 2, 2022| 13 Comments »

Poetry Friday is with Catherine Flynn at Reading to the Core.

Today is the first Friday of the month. Time for the Inklings challenge. Molly challenged us to write a poem that answers an unasked question in the spirit of Amy Ludwig VanDerwater’s poem Answer. I was intrigued by the way that Mary Lee responded to this prompt by writing after Joe Cottonwood’s Because a Redwood Grove. I wanted to borrow the form and use a repeated because.

Because a Poem

Because upon entering
your breath is taken away
into aha,
yes-and,
me, too.

Because breath has power
to stop your heart
and fill it up again.

Because words seem to know what they are doing.

Because alongside stars,
rivers flow capturing refracted light.

Because something holy
happens here.

Because a poem
is enough.
Margaret Simon, draft

Other Inklings Responses to the Challenge:

Heidi
Molly
Mary Lee
Catherine
Linda

If you would like to join the host round-up for Spiritual Thursday 2023, fill out this form.

The first week of the month also brings Spiritual Thursday. This is a roundup of bloggers writing about their Spiritual Journey. Bob Hamera has the gathering at his blog. He selected the topic of Acceptance and Change.

I follow Faith Broussard on Instagram. Faith was a classmate of my daughter’s and she currently lives in Atlanta. On Instagram, she’s become an influencer known as Fleur-de-lis Speaks. I loved her message today, and she used my 2022 One Little Word, Enough.

My family has changed in the last year. We lost my Dad, and this month we will meet our newest granddaughter. I once had a mentor who told me that God is Change. I actually believe that God is the constant in change. God does not leave us where we are, ever. There are changes that are hard, and changes that are good. Whatever the change, our acceptance, our open arms, our breath is enough. I am enough.

Read Full Post »

Poetry Friday: Folktale Week Poems

Posted in Poetry Friday, Writing, tagged #folktaleweek, Inklings challenge, Jone MacCulloch, Spark! on November 3, 2022| 16 Comments »

Poetry Friday is hosted by Heidi at my juicy little universe

Happy November! Wow, did that ever sneak up on me. The month of gratitude. The month of NCTE! (Yes, in California and I am presenting) The month before Christmas. Ah, 2022 is quickly slipping away.

Here we are with another Inkling challenge, and I, once again, put it off. Linda Mitchell challenged us to write a poem to one of the prompt words for Folktale Week. I didn’t even know there was such a thing. You can find it on Instagram: #folktaleweek, #folktaleweek2022.

I selected the word star.

Have you found the star in you?

The one that shines brightest in the dark.
Your star may feel far away
yet even dandelions have hidden wings.
Open your wings to the wind.

Believe you can fly.

Margaret Simon, draft

I signed up for a postcard exchange through Spark: art from writing, writing from art. I received a card from our own Jone MacCulloch. It’s an illustration that wants to be a poem. Perhaps a Folktale poem? Will you take the challenge?

“Pumpkin Moon” by Jone
Moon: copy of great grandfather’s Civil War letter
Pumpkin inspired by Yayoi Kusama

Check out what the other Inklings have written for this challenge:

Linda Mitchell
Molly Hogan
Catherine Flynn
Mary Lee Hahn
Heidi Mordhorst

Read Full Post »

Poetry Friday: Wordy Thirty

Posted in Poetry Friday, tagged image poems, Inklings challenge, Wordy 30 poems on October 6, 2022| 14 Comments »

Poetry Friday round up is with Sarah Grace Tuttle.

This first week of October, Mary Lee challenged our Inkling writing group to write Wordy 30 poems, based on the Wordle game in which you have 6 chances to guess a 5 letter word. The game is quite addictive, but stacking 5 letter words into a poetic verse is another level all together. Inklings were excited to give it a try, but we were unsure how strict the rule of “Only one word per line” is. I veered off on one of my drafts by writing a 3 x 10 poem using 10 letters.

For more Wordy 30 fun, check out how other Inklings met the challenge.

Linda Mitchell
Molly Hogan
Catherine Flynn
Heidi Mordhorst
MaryLee Hahn

I shared this activity with my students. Here is one Avalyn and I wrote together about our classroom monarch caterpillar who is getting fatter by the day.

Read Full Post »

Poetry Friday: Finding Deeper Wisdom

Posted in Poetry Friday, This Photo Wants to be a Poem, Writing, tagged #smallpoems, Inklings challenge, Nature poems, poems of wisdom on September 2, 2022| 13 Comments »

Poetry Friday is hosted today by Linda at Teacher Dance.

This month’s Inkling challenge was mine to create. I invited my writing group to share any poem that they may have written to This Photo Wants to be a Poem prompt. I post a photo prompt once a week on Wednesdays. My photos come from my own iPhone photos or from Instagram friend’s photos, by permission.

I enjoy the craft of writing a small poem. Many of the ones I write bring about some deeper wisdom. Often I surprise myself with these, wondering where they come from. Today I am featuring bird wisdom poems. Nature offers itself to us with its revelation of truth.

Peek in on my Inkling buddies and see what they are doing with this challenge:

Linda Mitchell
Molly Hogan
Catherine Flynn
Heidi Mordhorst
MaryLee Hahn

Read Full Post »

Poetry Friday: The Sport of Mindfulness

Posted in Poetry Friday, Writing, tagged Inklings challenge, sports poems, Susan Grain, yoga on August 5, 2022| 14 Comments »

Poetry Friday is hosted today by Inkling Molly Hogan at Nix the Comfort Zone.

Today is the first Friday in August and my first day of school, but it’s also time for an Inkling challenge. This month Catherine wanted to give us something easy to write. She thought about sports. I am not all that sporty, but I do have a poem in the anthology Rhyme & Rhythm: poems for student-athletes (Archer Books. 2021). It’s a duplex poem about swimming.

As I contemplated this challenge, I turned to my weekly yoga class. I am going to miss this class during the school year. I love the instructor and the way she speaks to us. I’ve always thought it was like poetry. So on Wednesday, I recorded the class. This poem is a transcription with poetic license. I decided to play with having no punctuation and using space and line breaks to pause. Does this work?

The Sport of Mindfulness

Breathing is healing
relaxation
brings the body together
all cells communicate together
Breathe and communicate
into one focus. breath

Notice if your thoughts move
into a pattern bring yourself back
to your anchor
your breath

Back and forth a tennis match with yourself
building a new skill purposeful
intentional thinking

Lean into the stretch spread your fingers
press into the palm open your muscles

Stay with the breath
Challenge yourself
Focus ride the waves
of discomfort Then it starts to feel good

Exhale pose
thank you colon
thank you liver
thank you spleen
gallbladder pancreas
Thank you for all your hard work
Toxins moving out release

Come back to the breath
The sound of the wind sound of the music
Sensation of being in the room among friends
No responsibilities

Nature is abundant
Bring awareness to your abundance
You are abundant thriving We are all thriving

We all meet at the center
Namaste.
For Susan Grain
Margaret Simon, draft

See how other Inklings met this challenge:
Linda Mitchell
Molly Hogan
Catherine Flynn
Heidi Mordhorst
MaryLee Hahn

Read Full Post »

Poetry Friday: Joy

Posted in Poetry Friday, Writing, tagged Covid, George Bilgere, Inklings challenge, joy, The Writer's Almanac on June 3, 2022| 15 Comments »

Image by Linda Mitchell
Round up this week is with Karen Edmisten.

Today is the first Friday of June, so that means Inkling Challenge! My writing group rotates a challenge for each month, and we post on the first Friday of the month as a group, The Inklings! This month Molly Hogan challenged us to write about a domestic task.

Truth be told, I did not read the mentor poem or write about spring cleaning because the truth is I’ve been very ill. I got Covid on a family trip to Seattle and had to stay alone in a hotel room for five days. My husband’s brother, who is a doctor, was nearby and on call for me, but there wasn’t much he could do. I just had to get through it, so I could fly home. I made it home on Saturday night. I’m still recovering, but I no longer have the virus. On Sunday morning, I read The Writer’s Almanac and used the poem “Joy” by George Bilgere as a mentor text. His poem was about recovering from the flu. I borrowed a few lines. The form helped me write again which brought me Joy.

Joy
after George Bilgere
Today I sit in the kitchen
with a glass of Gatorade, on ice,
my daily cocktail.
The door is open
to let in cool morning air.
I sit with my body, just the two of us
for a change. Covid has left us
and moved on to someone else,
with its knife well-sharpened
to gut and leave behind
loose limp skin.
I am sitting in amazement
that I am able to be here breathing.
Amazed at a body’s will to survive
even in the deepest dark cave of fear.
For a while I thought I would never get better.
That I would dissolve into dust in a hotel room alone,
not discovered for days.
But every day there are miracles.
We wake up. We taste and smell the air.
Tiny eggs in a nest hatch into finches that will fly.
Today I sit watching a prothonotary flutter at the window,
make a mental note to refill the feeders.
The desert rose at my front door
welcomes me home with a fireworks show.
The tomb is empty.
Margaret Simon, 2022

National Poetry Month #1: The Thing Is…

Posted in Poetry Friday, Writing, tagged 2022 Kidlit Progressive Poem, Ellen Bass, Inklings challenge, National Poetry Month on April 1, 2022| 20 Comments »

Official Poster from Academy of American Poets

Today is Poetry Friday and April 1st and the first day of National Poetry Month. My Sunday writing critique group, the Inklings, take on a challenge each first Friday of the month. This month’s challenge comes from Mary Lee Hahn. She suggested that we write a poem like Ellen Bass The Thing Is. Another Inkling, Heidi has the round up this week.

My One Little Word 2022 is Enough. It surprises me how often enough appears in the poems I write. It’s happened again.

The Thing Is
after Ellen Bass
to become yourself, become you more fully
even if you don’t like what you see.
Even as the river dries, revealing cracks
in the surface, displaying a dump
of glass bottles as the only thing
binding you to this place.
You are who you are.
You have this one wild life
to live, no matter the manifest;
That face in the mirror is yours,
hold it with affection,
send it a kiss like the dew
on the womb of the morning*,
praising This is Good.
This self is enough.
You will love her more
and more every day.
* Psalm 110:3
Margaret Simon, draft