Last week I read Rose Cappelli’s post. She decided to write a poem each month using her One Little Word. I have actually picked two words: Still and Believe. I’ve been determined to train my puppy Albert “Al-Bear”. He is an 11 month old miniature golden doodle with a lot of energy. He’s been developing some bad habits. One of them is barking at us when he wants to play. I bought a collar with a vibrator on it, so I can give him a little buzz (remote control) every time he barks at us. It’s working…slowly.
I receive a prompt each week from Kelly Bennet called News from the Fishbowl. Last week she introduced me to a form I hadn’t heard of, Shadorma. It’s from Spain. There are 6 lines with a syllable count of 3, 5, 3, 3, 7, 5. The topic can be anything, but usually the poem is all one sentence.
Puppy Training
I believe this puppy can learn to be still to cuddle warming my cold morning lap– blending our perfume.
The annual Summer Poetry Swap is coordinated by Tabatha Yeatts.
This week I received my first poetry swap poem from Rose Cappelli. Rose sent a dreamy note tablet, a Mary Oliver poem, and a cascade poem about peonies. As Rose explained, in a cascade poem, each line from the first stanza repeats as the final line of each subsequent stanza. Rose does this seamlessly.
Thank you, Rose, for the lovely cascade poem.
My mind has been on the flowers, prompted by Mary Oliver, Rose, and Maggie Smith. I subscribe to Maggie Smith’s Substack newsletter. This week she wrote about naming things.
“I love when I can accurately identify things when I see (or hear) them: a bird, a tree, a flower, a constellation, a kind of nest. (As the poet Pattiann Rogers once said in an interview, ‘naming is a form of honoring something.’)”
Maggie also writes about not knowing the name of something and how that can lead to wonder and discovery. I found a flower in my mother-in-law’s collection of pots that she nor I could identify. We could tell it was a type of hibiscus. I began by writing a list of metaphors. I am still playing with how to insert the not knowing, but wanted to share the small poem that I wrote in my notebook.
Hibiscus Moment
You are Love’s red lace, blooming beet-red bow on a woman’s flowing gown.
You open only for a day flirting like a spool of yarn to a kitten, taunting us
to feel unhinged with marvel. So much bravery in your fleeting face. (Margaret Simon, draft)
Margaret Simon lives on the Bayou Teche in New Iberia, Louisiana. She teaches gifted elementary students, writes poetry and children's books. Welcome to a space of peace, poetry, and personal reflection. Walk in kindness.
Reflections on the Teche 