Poetry

“A writer is like a bag lady going through life with a sack and a pointed stick collecting stuff.” –Tony Hillerman ||

Poems are the wool ends

Poems are the wool ends
which stuff the small crafts
the pincushions and the dolls.

They are the fabric leftovers
of jeans, taffeta dresses
Christmas aprons
and a daughter’s fluorescent play suit
pieced into a quilt.

They are the tiles of a life –
smell of breakfast cinnamon buns
notes of “Pomp and Circumstance”
the womb-wrap
of mother’s arms –
arranged in a mosaic.

They are all those accessories
one’s house doesn’t really need
but would be soul-less
without them.

Poetry Portfolio

The collection of new and previously published poems formerly posted at Violet Nesdoly / poems has recently been imported here! All those poetry posts are now included in the blog on this site.

Published Online

Some Words – Poems for Ephesians
Winter – Your Daily Poem
Ambassador – Poems for Ephesians
Fine Dining – Your Daily Poem
Rockhound – Your Daily Poem

Mrs. Beasley Packed Her Purse – Your Daily Poem

In Stitches – Your Daily Poem

October Fashion – Your Daily Poem

Six poems at Verse Wrights

Award-winning poems

How the Natal Star Was Born (Finalist, 2012 Word Awards, Poetry Category)

Sorting Photos (First Place – Alvin Ens Poetry Prize, Canadian Stories Contest, 2012)

Tomato High Priestess (First Place – Inscribe Fall Conference, September 2011

Converting to Childhood (Merit Award – Utmost Christian Poetry Contest 2007)

Wisdom of the Scarecrow (Honorable Mention – Utmost Christian Poetry Contest 2006)

Transformation (Honorable Mention – Utmost Christian Poetry Contest 2005)

Baptism (Honorable Mention – Utmost Christian Poetry Contest 2004)

Poetry Books for Sale

Borrowed Gardens

Authors: Bertoia, Jeannine; Fisher, Tracie; McNulty, Del; Nesdoly, Violet

Publisher: SparrowSong Press (printed by First Choice Books), December, 2014, Paperback, 128 pages

ISBN: 978-1-77084-501-5

About the Book:
This is a collection of poems to touch hearts. They are personal—time and circumstance snapped through the lenses of four women. In their word photos memories abound, family is honoured, love is voiced. Together they speak to a mosaic of people and places, in lands far and near, to times lived and yet to live.

About the Writers:
The pieces in this collection are the work of four Vancouver Lower Mainland women. Jeannine Bertoia and Tracie Fisher met in the Fine Arts Department of Kwantlen Polytechnic University. They began to share their poetry in 2005. They were joined in 2006 by freelance writer and poet Del McNulty and finally by author and poet Violet Nesdoly in 2007. The group meets regularly to support and further each other’s creative endeavours.

A personal note:
I’m so proud of this book—the joint effort of four of us.
The cover is a painting by Jeannine: “Spring Garden.”
Del conceived the cover design with its stylish bookmark flaps.
The title is taken from one of Tracie’s poems and reflects the theme of gardens, plants, and flowers—one of the subjects that runs through the book. (Other topics that keep recurring are home, family, nature and travel.)

If you’d like to purchase a copy, please contact me.
$12.00 + $5.50 Postage (within Canada).