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)
I was introduced to Jessica Whipple by my friend Irene Latham. What a delight to read her new picture book “Enough is” illustrated by Nicole Wong. Enough was my One Little Word for 2022. When I need to remind myself that I am enough and I have enough, I wear the bracelet that bears the word. Jessica took this idea and stretched it into love in a picture book. “Somewhere between a little and a lot, there is Enough.”
The child character is learning about enough. “Enough isn’t a number,” so she wonders, what is enough? She comes to the profound conclusion that when you have enough, it’s easy to share.
I asked Jessica to answer some questions about her author’s journey to publication. Her book Enough Is published this week.
How would you describe your journey as a writer?
My journey as a writer began as an experiment! I’m a “try it and see what happens” kind of person. In short, I had an idea (out of which came my first book, ENOUGH IS…), and then the question “I wonder if I can write a picture book?” And soon after, “What does it take to publish a picture book?” I was a young-ish mom, so picture books were starting to fill my consciousness! And I have a degree in communications, and so writing has been part of my make-up for some time. Four, maybe five years later, here I am and I never expected to answer my first two questions in such a delightfully surprising and satisfying way.
How does writing poetry help when writing a picture book? How are they different?
There are similarities in form between a free verse poem and a picture book, and of course a rhyming PB and a rhyming poem. There tend to be short lines in both forms, economical language, a set “flow,” lyricism, introspection, toying with reader expectations…I could go on! In fact, I am working on a virtual or in-person presentation for poetry-loving highschoolers about this topic. Shameless plug: I would love to speak to your student literary magazine or English class!
Is Enough a concept you feel young children have a hard time with? What is your experience with this concept?
Very much, yes! And my own experience is that I have a hard time with it as an adult, even! As a child, I remember the sadness that came after, say, a back-to-school shopping trip and how conflicted I was with the realization it was all just “stuff,” yet somehow I wanted more of it. And now, without limits, I’ll simply keep eating chocolate chips out of the bag if I don’t remind myself that I wrote a book about this very thing! “Enough” is hard because it’s uncomfortable. We want…things, friends, happiness, you name it…so the more we help each other learn contentment, the easier it is to feel comfortable with having enough.
What part of the publishing journey is your favorite? Your least favorite?
Oh man I love querying! And now that I have an agent, Emily Keyes of Keyes Agency, I don’t get to do that anymore! I love the process of doing the same thing over and over again trying for a good result. But I suppose I can keep doing that as I work to promote my books… In terms of my least favorite part of the publishing journey, definitely the waiting!
Do you have any writing rituals that others may find helpful in their own writing?
I wouldn’t say this is a ritual, more of a mindset, perhaps: It doesn’t hurt to ask! For anything! As long as you are respectful, polite, and grateful, by all means, ASK. THE. QUESTION! Maybe it’s, “Is my manuscript still being considered?” Great one! As long as you’ve minded submission guidelines, send a brief email and ASK! Or are you seeking a blurb from an author you love? Say why you admire that author and ASK! I can’t tell you the many times putting myself out there and advocating for myself–not aggressively, but confidently–has led to positive results.
Welcome Jessica to Poetry Friday with your comments. Don’t forget to follow the Kidlit Progressive Poem to Sarah Grace Tuttle’s site today.
And because it’s National Poetry Month and I am writing a poem each day, I have a Zeno about the word Enough. J. Patrick Lewis invented the form using a mathematical pattern of 8,4,2,1,4,2,1,4,2,1 in which the one syllables rhyme. I’ve been watching ruby-throated hummingbirds fighting over the feeder.
Enough
When I am down, worried about having enough, God sends me hummingbirds flit- flapping free, messengers of “Enough, See!”
See more posts at Two Writing Teachers Slice of Life .
Bayou Song is on the wall of books!
The rains had ended, the cool front came through, adding an element of celebration (like Christmas) to the Louisiana Book Festival. This year was the 15th annual book festival and the 15th awards ceremony for LA Writes, our state youth writing contest. I have been involved since the first contest and the first book festival. I always marvel at the young authors as they arrive dressed up with their whole extended families with them. It is an event for celebrating good writing and for families celebrating their authors.
My student Chloe reads her winning poem, Cool Words.
Following the wonderful awards ceremony, I offered a student writing workshop. You never really know what kind of audience to expect. I was delighted to have 3 writers join me. One was a 6-year-old who wrote and drew, then buzzed around. Her mother said, “She’s doing a lap.” Then she was back to writing and drawing. The other two girls were a sister pair. The older sister is a student at LSU. I am not accustomed to teaching college kids, but I was pleasantly surprised at how she responded to my prompts. She wrote an I am poem about the river. (Baton Rouge is located on the Mississippi River.) When I taught them about the zeno poem, she transformed her I am poem into a zeno. This was an unexpected transfer that worked well for her poem. She gave me permission to publish it here.
I am a rusted red river.
My mouth echoes
rising
flood.
I touch cities
with their
blood.
Reminder they
come from
mud.
–Jami Kleinpeter
Thanks, Jami, for enriching our lives with your poem and for showing me how a simple (meant for elementary kids) prompt can be transformed into a sophisticated and profound poem.
See more posts at Two Writing Teachers Slice of Life .
International Dot Day is one of my favorite days of the year. For years, I’ve celebrated with my students. This year I tried out a new activity for Dot Day, a Zeno Zine. We started by reading The Dot and playing the Emily Arrow Dot Day Song. Then each student decorated a dot on white art paper using markers. Rainbow dots seemed to be the choice of the day.
After drawing a dot, I asked my students to collect words and phrases about their artwork to use in a zeno poem. We wrote a zeno together using ideas from the book. Then they wrote their own zeno about their own dot. We folded their art work into a zine and copied their poems into their zine.
Zeno form: syllable count 8, 4, 2, 1, 4, 2, 1, 4, 2, 1 (Each one syllable line rhymes. )
Our Group Dot Zeno
I can’t draw a straight line, can you?
May I please see
you draw
dot?
I don’t think so
maybe
not
I bet you can
draw a
lot!
Dot Day Zeno Zine by Chloe
After the rainstorm has happened Colors appear rainbow light a beautiful hopeful sight flower petals amazing bright
by Breighlynn
Zine by Breighlynn
I draw and write alongside my students, so I made three zeno zines throughout the day. My student Madison suggested that I post this one because, as she said, “The solar system is full of dots!”
Solar System Dot Zeno Zine
Gravitational central sun
spiral orbit
spinning
round
Solar system
planets
bound
Constant spinning
without
sound.
Margaret Simon, (c) 2018
Bayou Song Interview on KRVS:
If you are interested in hearing an interview with me on our local public radio station, click this link and go to “Interview.”
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 