My last Summer 2017 Poetry Swap parcel arrived this week and I was quite bowled over by it. Linda Baie sure knows how to pack a lot of goodies into a little bubble mailer!
She sent me—a pocket! How perfect for a habitual walker who is always grabbing for a tissue or a notebook or a camera out of her pocket!
This pocket was packed with: a personal note, a notebook, a Pilot pen (even the brand name seems perfect), mints, a (real cloth embroidered) hankie, a couple of pine cones along with a legend about them (perfect to entertain my grands!), a piece of petrified wood, a poem bookmark, and the most darling little black feather you ever saw!

Pocket treasures from Linda B. – Summer 2017 Poetry Swap (Photo by V. Nesdoly)
And this poem… (Linda, you are amazing! – Thank you!!)
Linda, you’ve tied it up perfectly with those last five lines: “doing art … gathering bouquets of images … a crystal vase of ideas.” I’m totally inspired!
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This post is linked to Poetry Friday, hosted today by poet and photographer Jone at Check It Out.
There, Jone challenges us to an Acrostic. Well, I just happen to have one in my Summer Shorts (poem-a-day photo-challenge project). It’s all about the PRODUCE (the August 3rd #CY365 prompt)

Photo for “Produce – #CY365 for August 3, 2017 (© 2017 by V. Nesdoly)
PRODUCE
Parsnip, turnip, bok choy
Rutabaga, beet
Orange carrots in a row
Daikon long and white
Under produce mirror-bin
Cabbage doubles round and green–those
Egos swell as veggies preen
© 2017 by Violet Nesdoly (All rights reserved)
Robyn Hood Black
August 25, 2017 at 7:25 am
Oh my goodness, could there be a better set of treasures or vehicle for them to arrive in?
That Linda is something else. I love “I’m set to thread among the trees” and “an afterthought of a crow…”. Delightful, all around, and your acrostic makes me hungry….
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Violet Nesdoly
August 25, 2017 at 3:04 pm
Thank you, Robyn! I so agree; Linda’s gift was perfect. I also love the lines you picked from Linda’s poem.
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Brenda Davis Harsham
August 25, 2017 at 7:29 am
Wow, I love that pocket and its treasures. Delicious acrostic, too.
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Violet Nesdoly
August 25, 2017 at 3:05 pm
Thank you, Brenda! 🙂
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Acey Frelinger
August 25, 2017 at 8:52 am
I’m calling those three phrases you puled out :
Doing art…gathering
Bouquets of imagess
Crystal vase of ideas
A found haiku, lovely.
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Violet Nesdoly
August 25, 2017 at 3:22 pm
Thank you Acey! You are sharp, to find a haiku in those lines.
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Tabatha
August 25, 2017 at 1:02 pm
Preening veggies — so cute! I’m in awe of Linda’s gift to you. She really went all out! Pockets do make it easy, don’t they? I look forward to hearing what you come up with after you collect all those ideas!
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Violet Nesdoly
August 25, 2017 at 3:25 pm
Yes, she did go all out, in a very attentive and non-commercial way. Yes, I must use her treasures as writing ideas. Thanks for giving me that challenge.
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lindabaie
August 25, 2017 at 3:19 pm
Thanks for the kind words, Violet. I enjoyed writing and “collecting” things in my own pockets for you!
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Violet Nesdoly
August 25, 2017 at 4:00 pm
Thanks, Linda! I sensed your joy in putting this together… which made it even more special.
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Linda Mitchell
August 25, 2017 at 5:28 pm
You lucky, lucky poet….what a treasure collection all neatly delivered with a poem. I’m in awe of the creativity shared in the summer poem swap (and a bit intimidated). Believe me, I’m collecting ideas and will be borrowing some for sure. This is a winner.
Violet, your acrostic is wonderful. I just threw out the first few words that came to me … and yeah, it’s an acrostic. But, this one makes me want to make a run to the store for some veggies 😉
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Violet Nesdoly
August 25, 2017 at 7:02 pm
Thanks, Linda! Don’t be intimidated. The poem swap is fun, whether one goes (and gets) all-out or not. The produce departments in our local shops always make me feel like reaching for my camera. They are so gorgeous and colourful.
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Buffy Silverman
August 25, 2017 at 7:18 pm
What a pocketful of treasures you got! (My pockets store various finds on walks, and always hold dog treats.)
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Violet Nesdoly
August 25, 2017 at 8:23 pm
Thanks, Buffy! I’m sure mine would hold dog treats too if I had a dog along for company. As a substitute I greet the pooches along my route, if they show an interest (just with a pat, though, not treats—don’t want to start any family feuds ;))
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Jane the Raincity Librarian
August 25, 2017 at 9:36 pm
Oh, what a treasure – from a treasure!
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Violet Nesdoly
August 26, 2017 at 5:31 am
Well said, Jane!
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Donna Smith
August 26, 2017 at 4:15 am
Well, there’s a good way to keep a poem, or poem pickings, in your pocket!
Gorgeous array of produce!
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Violet Nesdoly
August 26, 2017 at 5:47 am
Thank you, Donna. And I say thank you, as well, for the compliment from the produce 😉
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maryleehahn
August 26, 2017 at 4:44 am
Ha! I love the idea of the produce looking up into the mirror and preening their veggie egos!
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Violet Nesdoly
August 26, 2017 at 5:35 am
Thanks, Mary Lee. As you probably realize, the necessary “E” as first letter of the last line limited me as to where this went. Mirrors and egos… well, it worked. 😉
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Kay McGriff (@kaymcgriff)
August 26, 2017 at 1:29 pm
Who knew that a pocket could hold so much! What a lovely poetry swap to find in your mailbox.
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Violet Nesdoly
August 26, 2017 at 8:39 pm
Thanks, Kay. Did you join in the swap this year? I know I haven’t for several years but did once some time ago. You come away feeling rich and filled up both from the giving and the getting. 🙂
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haitiruth
August 26, 2017 at 2:12 pm
What a perfect poetry swap! Ruth, thereisnosuchthingasagodforsakentown.blogspot.com
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Violet Nesdoly
August 26, 2017 at 8:53 pm
Thank you, Ruth. I agree!
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Michelle Heidenrich Barnes
August 26, 2017 at 8:08 pm
Linda’s gift reminds me of a good, old-fashioned “care package”—the kind I remember from college. A little bit of everything, though nothing too extravagant. Just a bunch of tokens from the heart wrapped in a poem. 🙂 Knowing you, Violet, those treasures will go to good use. LOVE the last line of your vegie acrostic!
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Violet Nesdoly
August 26, 2017 at 8:37 pm
Thank you, Michelle, you’ve summed up Linda’s pocket treasures so well! And thanks for the acrostic love. (Those veggies did develop a script of heir own in my imagination!)
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katswhiskers
August 26, 2017 at 9:30 pm
Haha! Those vain vegies!! Good fun! And a pocketful of potential in that poetry haul. Loving that the black feather has a black quill, too. I don’t know that I’ve seen that before…?
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Violet Nesdoly
August 28, 2017 at 3:45 pm
Thanks, Kat! Isn’t that black feather lovely!
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macrush53
August 27, 2017 at 8:13 pm
The veggie poem is making me hungry for them. And I love the pocket of goodies you received from Linda.
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Violet Nesdoly
August 28, 2017 at 3:43 pm
Thanks, Jone!
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macrush53
September 6, 2017 at 8:20 pm
Violet,
You won a copy of Pet Crazy. Please email me your address.
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