The yearly holiday poem swap is organized by Tabatha Yeatts. She graciously matches poet to poet. This year my exchange was with Sally Murphy , children’s book author living in Australia.
Imagine my surprise when shortly after Thanksgiving break, full of family and food with little time to think about poetry, I received Sally’s adorable verse novel Queen Narelle. Narelle is a queenly cat. I have one of those. Her name is Fancy which fits her well. I immediately connected with Narelle and Maddie, her girl.
Then there were cute koala sticky notes. And her card to me was a poem “My Country” by Dorothea MacKellar (1885-1968) that begins “The love of field and coppice” and ends with “My homing thoughts will fly.” Such a beautiful ode to Australia. You can read about Dorothea and see the handwritten poem here.
Sally’s poem for me:
Margaret
She notices beauty
Sally Murphy
even in the dark.
Shares it
to spread joy
or moments of peace
or a reminder
to breathe
be still
reflect.
Purposefully
nurturing herself
nurturing me
nurturing the world.
I hold this sweet poem in my hands and feel grateful for being seen in such a loving way. I wanted to respond to Sally by seeing her. I had not put together anything for her yet, so I took a look at her Instagram and found a post about how she could not close the cupboard for all the to-be-read books inside. She called it an “inevitable bookavalanche.”
For Sally
I found you
Margaret Simon
under a book avalanche
where you were happily
absorbing
word upon words
story upon stories
filling your cupboard
with timeless treasures.
Visit this link to WhisperShout magazine to read two of my students’ poems. Thanks, Heidi for selecting them for Issue #12.
Reflections on the Teche 
Thanks for sharing all this poetry goodness, Margaret. The visual of Sally under a pile of books is priceless.
I love your poetic conversation with Sally! That poetry gives us the chance to slow down and SEE each other, in the midst of busy times, is something I hold dear. 💟
Thank you for organizing it.
She notices beauty even in the dark. That is YOU, Margaret! Wha t a lovely gift from lovely Sally. xo
Such fun to peek at these exchanges, Margaret. You nailed each other 😊
Thanks for including us in your exchange, Margaret. A beautiful tradition. ❤
Thanks for sharing Sally’s poem for you, which captures you well, and yours for her so visual, and draws you in, all lovely!
I love the idea of Sally in her book avalanche! And Sally picks up on your poetic spirit. Thanks for sharing these and have a happy holiday. Congratulations to your students. They must feel proud to see their work published.
All heartfelt poems are here, Margaret. Tabatha’s poem swap fills everyone with joy for sure. Sorry I couldn’t do it this year! That book avalanche might be Sally’s phrase, but I imagine everyone else will now use it! Have a lovely weekend!
oh what fun! A poem exchange! Love this idea. I may have to spend 2024 working on poetry for poetry Fridays just to join the fun to a poetry exchange.
I love Sally’s poem for you — it captures your personality and appreciation of beauty so well. I also adore your poem for Sally. It made me smile!
Oooooooh! What a great WORD poem. And, yes…”seeing” someone with a poem is such a gift. I love how you find beauty, even in the dark. It’s such a true thing about you!
Beautiful poetic back and forth!
What a gift! And I love a cupboard with unread books inside. Mine are stacked up on the floor right now. Eep!
Nice all the way around, Margaret!
What a great poetry exchange. I love how you were paired with Sally and you found her under a pile of books. Thanks for sharing your exchange, Margaret! Happy Holidays to you.