nature poem | Reflections on the Teche

Posts Tagged ‘nature poem’

Spiritual Thursday: Summering

Posted in Gratitude, Poetry, Spiritual Growth, tagged #poemsofpresence, Georgia Heard, Mary Oliver, nature poem, spiritual journey, stillness on June 5, 2025| 9 Comments »

Ramona is gathering Spiritual Journey: First Thursday posts at Pleasures from the Page.

“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid” John 14:27

When Ramona suggested that we write about “summering” for our Spiritual Journey posts this month, I turned to two passages that bring me peace. Too often, I have a long “to do” list for summer that usually includes cleaning out closets and such dreaded chores. These kinds of chores are good for me but are not what I want to do. I’d rather have lunch with friends, go on long walks, and binge watch a show or two.

The poem “Wild Geese” from Mary Oliver reminds me that all I should do is love what I love and let the wild geese call to me. On these early June days, it’s not wild geese, but buzzing cicadas that call to me. The heat of midday sends me inside for a glass of La Croix with ice. I am settling into a routine and trying hard not to pressure myself to do more.

In May, I was inspired by Georgia Heard’s calendar of prompts for small poems. In June, her newsletter held an invitation to porch poems. You can sign up to receive Heart Beats on her website. Porch poem #3 asked “What happens in stillness?” Here is my poem response.

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National Poetry Month Day 7: Purple Passion Vine Villanelle

Posted in Poetry, Writing, tagged #verselove, National Poetry Month, nature poem, villanelle on April 7, 2025| Leave a Comment »

Today’s Ethical ELA prompt was from Erica Johnson, to write a spring villanelle. Rhyme is always a challenge for me. I knew I wanted to write about the passion vine because it’s popping up like magic in my butterfly garden and even out in the yard. Every day it gets a little taller. What I learned in research was the connection to Christ.

“The plants were given the name Passionflower or Passion Vine because the floral parts were once said to represent aspects of the Christian crucifixion story, sometimes referred to as the Passion. The 10 petal-like parts represents the disciples of Jesus, excluding Peter and Judas; the 5 stamens the wounds Jesus received; the knob-like stigmas the nails; the fringe the crown of thorns.” wildflower.org

Purple Passion Vine

Open the door to sweet passion vine,
climbing, perky maypop
alluring fritillaries by design.

Your lavender petals a sure sign
while mysterious tendrils won’t stop.
Open the door to sweet passion vine.

Five stamens like wounds align
frilly fringe like a thorny crown top
alluring fritillaries by design.

Remind us that all life is divine,
beyond the garden you hop.
Open the door to sweet passion vine
climbing, perky maypop.

The Kidlit Progressive Poem is with Jone today.

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This Photo Wants to be a Poem: Winter Drive

Posted in nature, Photography, Poetry, This Photo Wants to be a Poem, tagged #poemsofpresence, #smallpoems, nature poem, nonet, sunset, This Photo Wants to be a Poem, winter on January 8, 2025| 19 Comments »

I took this photo from my car window last Saturday as I drove home from Mississippi, from visiting my mom. As I drove farther west, the sun played peek-a-boo in and out of the clouds. I have so many mixed feelings while driving these flat Louisiana country roads. Longing for home while my mother tugs at my heart strings. I have this difficult feeling that I may not see her again mixed with the joy of being with her. She still knows me as someone she loves. Her face brightens when I walk in the room. While I was there, she ate her whole lunch.

Often I find solace in nature, that somehow the natural world knows how I feel and gives me something to hold onto. On this day, it was the setting sun sending rays out from behind the gray clouds.

For our time together writing about a photo, I like to turn to form. Form can give me comfort, too. A safe space to hold my emotions. Today I chose the nonet, nine lines in which each line reduces by one word, beginning with nine. I like how the form looks like a setting sun.

As the sun melts slowly on the horizon, remember
your heart is a safe place for love,
where even on the coldest winter days,
you know you are a child
playing peek-a-boo with the sun.
Memories of happy smiles
fade and lift
an inevitable
horizon.
Margaret Simon, draft

I hope your winter days are giving you some time and space for writing. Please leave a small poem, form or free verse, in the comments. Encourage other writers with your responses.

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Slice of Life: In the Midst of Butterflies

Posted in Slice of Life, Writing, tagged black swallowtail, butterfly garden, free verse poem, nature poem on May 21, 2024| 8 Comments »

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

When something bad happens,
something that brings you harshly back to reality,
letting you know one day
you will lose the life you have now,
look for butterflies.

Two weeks before,
when all was blooming
and life was full of daily walks
among wildflowers,
we took into our classroom
black swallowtail larvae.

This is a dependable cycle,
metamorphosis, changing,
eating itself into a chrysalis,
camouflaged, unrecognizable.

Then like a miracle,
beauty breaks free
out of nature’s cage
reminding us
we long for flight.

Black Swallowtail Butterfly released into our school garden. photo by Margaret Simon

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Poetry Friday: Red

Posted in Poetry Friday, Writing, tagged Eileen Spinelli, flowers, Inklings challenge, June, nature poem on June 2, 2023| 21 Comments »

Poetry Friday is hosted today by Tricia at The Miss Rumphius Effect

This first Friday of June, the Inklings are being challenged by Molly Hogan who wrote, “I’m always startled by the dazzle of color that arrives in spring after months and months of blues and whites and greys. This month I’m inviting you to write a color poem.” Little did I know that I would be having cataract surgeries on May 23rd and 30th, so the attention to color would be all the more brilliant. I can see such vivid yellows, greens, and reds I feel I have been looking through a clouded glass bottle for a long time.

I found inspiration in this poem by Eileen Spinelli :

I have a collection of red flowers all around my house, hibiscus, bougainvillea, lily, and desert rose. I shared my first draft with the Inklings. Linda suggested that I turn my red poem upside down. It worked. Sometimes others can see more clearly what the poem needs to be.

See how other Inklings approached this challenge:

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

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Poetry Friday: #Change

Posted in Poetry Friday, Writing, tagged #change, exquisite corpse, Inklings, nature poem on January 6, 2023| 16 Comments »

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

It’s a new year for Poetry Friday, so I created a logo using a photo from Henry Cancienne. Henry was the photographer for my book of poems, Bayou Song, and he recently emailed me a slew of photographs with permission to use them on Reflections on the Teche. Thanks, Henry.

Today is the first Friday, so the Inklings have a challenge. Heidi Mordhorst challenged us this month to write about #change. When we met on Sunday, everyone had had a full holiday with little time to write, so rather than critique, we created an exquisite corpse poem together. Each person wrote a line and sent it to the next person on a private chat message. After we had each had a chance to respond with a line, we shared the whole thread. Mary Lee was the experienced one at this process, so she placed the results in a Google doc with the instructions that we could manipulate the lines to create our own poem.

I drew bubbles in my notebook and placed each line inside a bubble to give myself the freedom to move around and play with the words and phrases. I like what I have for now. It was a fun exercise. I can’t wait to see what my other Inklings did with the original poem. Here is mine:

#Change (like the wind)

The wind unwinds us day by day
shifting clouds,
shining light,
casting shadows.

When we choose to wander,
submit like leaves on the forest floor
and understand
without challenging the direction
of the wind, we can walk
where steps and stones
still lie.
Margaret Simon (with Mary Lee Hahn, Molly Hogan, Heidi Mordhorst, Catherine Flynn, and Linda Mitchell)

Follow these links to read how my writing friends #changed the poem.

Mary Lee at A(nother) Year of Reading

Molly at Nix the Comfort Zone

Heidi at my juicy little universe

Linda at A Word Edgewise

Catherine at Reading to the Core

Book Announcement: Along with many of my Poetry Friday friends, I have poems in the just released “Two Truths and a Fib” anthology from Bridget Magee. I wrote about bubbles. I’m excited to be a part of such a fun collection. Check it out!

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Poetry Friday: The Beauty of One

Posted in Poetry Friday, tagged Ethical ELA, nature poem, wood ducks on February 25, 2022| 12 Comments »

Poetry Friday is with Tricia at The Miss Rumphius Effect

Britt Decker wrote a prompt for Ethical ELA’s Open Write this week inspiring us to use a picture book quote to write a poem. At the school book fair, I bought “I am One” by Susan Verde and Peter Reynolds. It made me think about our one wood duck hen who is nesting. We have a wood duck house with a Ring doorbell camera inside so we can watch the progress of our tenants. Each day the Ring goes off around 7 AM, and we look at the video to see her poking around the shavings and settling in to lay an egg. She will do this for a week or so, then she will sit on the clutch. After 28-30 days, the ducklings will hatch. That’s the most exciting part. Within 24 hours they jump from the box into the bayou.

“Beautiful things start with just one.”
One wood duck hen
flies in the house each day
to lay a single egg
one by one
until her clutch becomes a dozen
twittering,
chittering,
jumping
chicks.
Margaret Simon, (c) 2022

If you haven’t signed up to add a line to the KidLit Progressive Poem in April, go to this post.

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This Photo Wants to be a Poem

Posted in Photography, Poetry, tagged camellia, nature poem, This Photo Wants to be a Poem on February 11, 2021| 31 Comments »

If you are a reader of my blog, you know that I love spending time with my grandchildren. A few weeks ago I took Leo to visit his great grandmother. We wandered around her backyard. Minga picked a camellia, a common winter flower here in the South. She handed the beautiful pink blossom to Leo. He held it out to me and pointed up, “Tree!” So, of course, I placed the flower into the tree. Off went Leo, satisfied and ready to romp across the yard.

Camellia blossom in an oak tree. Photo by Margaret Simon

With a line borrowed from Ellen Bass, I offer this small poem. Leave your own poem in the comments. Please encourage other writers with response to their poem-gifts.

The thing is
to love life,
to hold a flower
in your hands,
and then give it
away.
Margaret Simon, draft

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This Photo Wants to be a Poem

Posted in Photography, Poetry, Writing, tagged marsh, nature poem, This Photo Wants to be a Poem on August 13, 2020| 41 Comments »

Welcome to This Photo Wants to be a Poem, a weekly poetry prompt modeled after Laura Purdie Salas’s 15 Words or Less. We invite you to write a small poem in the comments and write encouraging comments to other writers. No judgements here. Just playing with words.

Today’s photo comes from teacher/poet/photographer Molly Hogan. She lives in Maine and recently photographed the marsh. This photo with its sepia tones attracted me. The soothing sway of nature keeps me sane these days, and I am grateful for Molly and others who post such wonderful natural landscapes.

In this yellow light,
an elegant ballet
of marsh grasses
shine.
Margaret Simon, draft

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This Photo Wants to be a Poem

Posted in Photography, Poetry, tagged #poeticdiversion, #smallpoems, James Edmunds, nature poem, resurrection fern, This Photo Wants to be a Poem on July 30, 2020| 20 Comments »

Welcome to my weekly photo writing prompt. Take a peaceful moment to lose yourself in words. Write a poem of 16 words or so and place it in the comments. Write encouraging words to others by commenting on their poems. This week we are writing with the hashtag poeticdiversion that Molly Hogan started on Twitter.

This week’s image comes from my friend and neighbor James Edmunds. James does a lot of creative work including photography. I once took a class from him about iPhone photography and learned some cool tricks. I don’t know if he took this picture with his phone, but I doubt it. James, if you stop by, let us know.

Way down south here we’ve been getting a great deal of rain lately. The resurrection fern loves rain, and it pops up in beautiful green carpets on our trees. In nature, there are small miracles like this every day.