Author Archives: SallyJ

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About SallyJ

I am a writer and a poet.

One Stop Poetry’s Sunday Photo Challenge

Today’s Onestoppoetry.com challenge is to write about this photo taken by Walter Parada. As usual it  is a beautifully evocative image. On first sight of the photo one word popped into my head – nobility. Nobility See me, see my … Continue reading

Posted in inspiration, One Stop Poetry, poet, poetry, Uncategorized | Tagged , , | 6 Comments

At last – a short story!

I have been concerned recently that my ideas for writing fiction had completely abandoned me. It has been so long since an idea tapped me of the shoulder and said ‘write me.’ Poems have come calling – some more easily … Continue reading

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Close shave

Exquisite, bold squirrel, cheeks full of acorns, Evades watchful dog I’m no haiku writer, but this begged to be written.

Posted in dogs, natural world, poet, poetry, Uncategorized, writing | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Improved ‘Warrior’ octain and one more

Thank you Caudia for helping me to sort the octain I wrote for One Stop Poetry’s Monday Form. I have added a syllable to the first/last lines and changed the 5th line to put the internal rhyme in the correct … Continue reading

Posted in natural world, One Stop Poetry, poet, poetry, Uncategorized, writer, writing | Tagged , , , , | 7 Comments

One Stop Poetry – Monday form – Octains

This has every element that I struggle with – meter, rhyme, the works. I really like the form when I read other people’s poems. I take on board Luke Prater’s, (the inventor of the Octain), words that it is challenging and … Continue reading

Posted in Afghanistan, One Stop Poetry, poet, poetry, war, writer | 6 Comments

More poetic prose than poetry!

This is not a poem really – much more like prose, but this is the way it came to me when I looked at this picture. Thank you Fee for the great prompts, and One Stop Poetry.com for giving me … Continue reading

Posted in One Stop Poetry, poet, sea, writer, writing | Tagged , , , | 15 Comments

Rhyming, double dactyls and now pantoums.

This week has seen me chopping and changing between different forms of poetry. On Monday at One Stop Poetry Gay Cannon had us looking at and trying rhyme schemes. I posted English Seaside (https://sallyjblackmore.co.uk/2011/05/09/playing-with-rhyme/). I had some great feedback, as … Continue reading

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Now I understand!

The book signing on Saturday went really well. I sold seven copies in store and also there was an enormous amount of support for Help for Heroes with wristbands and badges ‘selling’ well. ‘Army Bear’, a delightful teddy was the … Continue reading

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Playing with rhyme

The One Stop Poetry task for today is to explore the use of rhyme and so I have a villanelle (ish) to offer… English Seaside Ceaseless, surging, the ebb and the flow Of icy water assaulting the sand – Salty, … Continue reading

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Soldier – the short listed poem

This is the poem that was short listed for the Fish competition. I wrote it after I realised that when I saw D in his uniform, amongst a load of others similarly dressed, I couldn’t pick him out from the … Continue reading

Posted in poet, poetry, Uncategorized, war, writer | Tagged , , | 21 Comments