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Friday, January 5, 2024

Holiday Poem Swap 2023

Holidays are a special time of year. There's Christmas, New Year's Eve, and New Year's Day. They bring joy and the spirit of "just being" with family. There's another holiday event that connects me to dear friends in the Poetry Friday community. It is the Holiday Poem Swap designed by Tabatha Yeatts. Each year, Tabatha creates a sparkling logo for chosen partners who exchange poems and a present. 

This year, I am delighted to partner with a hometown poet friend of mine, Janice Scully. Janice has a broad career background. Not only is she a writer and poet but followed in her mother's footsteps and chose nursing as her initial career. Then, she moved on to medical school and became a doctor. 

Janice's Holiday Poem Swap arrived with a lovely assortment of items to make me "most happy". The Christmas card was an artist's rendering of Christmas in the city that reminded me of holiday time in New York City. Her lovely poem, I'm Most Happy, is filled with imagery, rhyme, and a beautiful ending. Please see the poem below. Inside the card was a note about the handmade journal that Janice found in New Orleans. The journal is unique and has two envelope pockets on the first and last pages. It appears too pretty to write on but it will share many a thought and poem. I did not know that Janice sewed until recently. From different pieces of pink material, Janice stitched a lovely bookmark. This reminder of my own sewing days with my mother will be a keepsake and assistant while I read and write.

This swap present is a gift from the heart. After much thought, I decided to concentrate on my hometown of Syracuse where Janice resides in one of the suburbs. I did research about Salt City, read some of Janice's poems, found a news article about her family when she was young, and then created a slide show. Where did I start? I borrowed a line from Janice's poem, Begining, that became my strike line. "At the beginning is where everyone in the world begins." Her poem gave me the incentive to write a golden shovel memoir poem about my beginnings in Syracuse. With an enjambment, I ended my poem with "Life/Begins with trust and faith. I learned this in Syracuse". I moved on to historical photos of places that were memorable to me during my pre-teen years. The next slide showcased Janice's card to me with a poem I wrote for her about Christmas. Then, of course, I needed to write about Syracuse's snowy winters that can start in November and end at Easter. On the thank you slide, I shared a small poem in appreciation for Janice's lovely Holiday Poem Swap. I wrapped my thoughts around a memorable line from Janice's I 'm Most Happy poem. 

To Janice from Carol, Holiday 2023

🌲🌲🌲
swaps
personalized, artful
rich in content
hold dear to recipients
gifts
To Poetry Friday Friends from Carol, Holiday 2023

My one word for 2024 was unveiled on 1/4/24 for January's Spiritual Journey that Margaret Simon hosted. Click here.
🌲🌲🌲

I am eager to join the Poetry Friday community at our host's Marcie Flinchum Atkin blog here. Marcie dazzles readers with her beautiful nature photography and accompanying haikus.

12 comments:

  1. Such beautifully matched gifts exchanged - in art and in words, Carol. Blessings for a year of continued poetry friendship.

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  2. Such a unique, handmade journal! I am sure you will fill it up with your rich, poetic thoughts!

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  3. Wow! What a swap made in heaven. Everything fits beautifully...the gifts, the response and the prompt for memoir. I spy, that word world in your strike line too! A great post. Happy New Year, Carol.

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    1. Linda, certain prompts bring memories into the open. I do enjoy working with partners and there have been so many over the years.

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  4. I love seeing how swap partners so carefully choose their gifts!

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    1. Mayr Lee, it is wonderful to have a swap partner. I still have the stack of thought cards you made me from my poems on my desk. I was thinking that maybe I would continue to add cards.

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  5. The gifts are beautiful! I love the word PAUSE. It looks like a couple of Poetry Friday people are using that word this year. And it's a gem. I think about it often when I talk about my book WAIT, REST, PAUSE. :)

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  6. Thank you for such kind words, Carol! There is gratitude in everything you write and share. I look forward to sharing your swap next week. I loved how it celebrated Syracuse.

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  7. Such a beautiful swap, Carol! I hope you find lots of opportunities to pause in 2024!

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  8. A lovely swap and a gift that keeps on giving with your PF friends now inspired by your post.

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  9. A beautiful exchange of poetry, gifts, and hearts. :)

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  10. What a lovely bevy of a swap from Janice—the moving poem to hand-stitched journal and bookmark, enjoy all Carol and thanks for sharing!

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