Another short list…

Posted on June 11, 2011 by SallyJ

One day I will make the final cut…I really would like it to be this time. I have just heard that I have been short listed to become one of the BT London 2012 storytellers.  ( BTLondon2012.com )

I registered ages ago and had pretty well forgotten all about it, then this morning I found the email. I am really excited. I have registered my special interest as in paralympians, particularly those who are ex forces personnel. Not that I would mind any category, but this one would really interest me.

While I have been working on my collection of poems about the way it feels to be a close member of the family of a young soldier serving in Afghanistan  I have been amazed again and again at the strength and resolve of seriously injured people who have to pick up the threads of such a very different life.

I have read several times that many of the most severely injured have been known to joke that we will have the strongest paralympic team in the world for 2012…typical of the forces’ black humour I’m told… and I would feel privileged to be able to tell their story.

Imagine the will power, the tremendous highs and lows, the many challenges to be overcome in order to deal with dire injury then think about the immense strength of character required to set sights on the goal of becoming an Olympic athlete after such tribulation. I would feel utterly privileged to be able to tell such a story.

All I need now is to make the next step from short list to final cut.

I have every finger crossed…

Posted in Afghanistan, heroes, hope, Life writing, poet, poetry, war, writer, writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Free Form Pomegranates

Posted on June 6, 2011 by SallyJ

Pomegranates set to replace opium poppy crop in Afghanistan

The One Stop poetry.com form today is free – with a great article to introduce it, by Joy Ann Jones (aka hedgewitch). I heartily recommend a visit to the site…

I am still working on the collection of poems for Oversteps Poetry and this is the beginnings of one that is , I think, free verse.

Pomegranate

Consider the pomegranate –
the skin is the key
to its true nature
kevlar-tough, ochre –
the colour of spite
with the heft of a terrorist bomb.

Tan-patched, unlovely
in a market place
more used to poppy-scarlet
yet still it tempts
as in Eden’s garden, whispering
of better things to come.

Hack into armoured rind
piercingly, bitterly, bitingly bitter
to glimpse ruby seeds that
feign promise, fecund, innumerable,
deceitfully offer choices, simulate
confidence, hint at deliverance,
deliver only spittle sucking
dryness, nicotine stain.

Fruit of hell and heaven
embodiment of yellow –
ambivalent, perverse, an artful
fanfaronade for new futures
with a judas kiss

Posted in Afghanistan, One Stop Poetry, poet, poetry, Uncategorized, writer, writing | Tagged , , , | 14 Comments

Artisan

Posted on June 5, 2011 by SallyJ

One Stop Poetry prompt by Rob Hanson

One Stop Poetry.com – the One Shot Sunday prompt is this photograph, with it’s great detail and atmosphere taken by Rob Hanson.

Artisan

Fingers stiff now, joints that burn
as they tap, stretch, stitch, turn;
back won’t straighten, shoulders bowed;
nothing borrowed, nothing owed;
tools aligned, spotless, worn;
pocketed apron, stained and torn
from days, months, years of wear
of shaping, working, no time spare
to wonder if I ‘know myself’, if I’m
fulfilled – just time to labour, time
to perfect each shoe, each pair a work
of art – no corners cut, details shirked,
my pride weaves the simplest task
into a masterpiece and so I ask
for nothing more, nothing less
than to always do my best.

 

Posted in One Stop Poetry, poet, Uncategorized, writer, writing | Tagged , , , , | 16 Comments

Byfleet Writers scoop award again –

Posted on June 2, 2011 by SallyJ

Byfleet Writers win again

Byfleet Writers, one of the groups I write with, has amassed an amazing number of awards at this year’s Slough Arts Festival  (http://www.slough-arts-festival.co.uk/writing%20results%202011.html)
enough to take the Best Writing Group shield for the second time in a row. The only group to have won the shield three times , we owe a great deal to Adrienne Dines,(http://www.adriennedines.com/pages/home)
our tutor for her inspiration and leadership.

Two First places were awarded – Bett Hobbs for her humorous poem about an orthopaedic bed for sale – very funny – Bett at her best, and yours truly for a grim little number called End of Days, which can be read elsewhere on this blog. So we will be sharing the cup to take pride of place on our mantelpieces (!) for the next twelve months.Terry Ryan won a third place in the short story competition, only to beat himself with a second in the same category – only you could do that Terry, take a second and third place in the same competition!

The group is a gathering of talented and diverse writers and goes from strength to strength. We are now planning, thanks to Adrienne, two public performances of our work…more of this nearer to the time.

Well done to everyone in the group – thanks especially to Adrienne – long may we go on writing…

Posted in inspiration, poet, poetry, writer, writing, writing competitions, writing groups | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

Remembrance at Brookwood Military Cemetery – improved

Posted on May 30, 2011 by SallyJ

It is improved now – but still not metrically correct…at least it has 8 lines!

Beneath an almond-marbled sky,
headstones standing to attention,
and side by side veterans sigh
their pride at every comrades mention –
once close friends from days gone by,
tree limbs stretch in supplication.
The skies release a weep of rain –
an all enveloping cloak of pain.

Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments

One Stop poetry – Form Monday – Ottava Rima

Posted on May 30, 2011 by SallyJ

Brookwood - cross of sacrifice

Gay – you have iambs again – my nemesis! Here is my best effort…and after posting I realise it is not even pentameter…oh dear!

Remembrance at Brookwood Military Cemetery

Beneath and almond-marbled sky,
headstones standing to attention,
and side by side veterans sigh
their pride at every comrades mention –
once close friends from days gone by.
The skies release a weep of rain –
an enveloping cloak of pain.

Posted in heroes, One Stop Poetry, poet, poetic forms, poetry, writing | Tagged , | 9 Comments

One Stop Poetry One Shoot Challenge

Posted on May 29, 2011 by SallyJ

Scott  Wyden and his photography are featured today at One Stop Poetry.com – great prompts and interview – well worth a look.

I had decided to give today’s challenge a miss because the CFS has tightened its grip in the last few weeks, but then, it occurred to me, one of the prompts is ideal for…

Trapped, disappearing...my words for Scott Wyden's great photo 'Up'

…explaining the way  this nasty little condition makes me feel.

I’m trapped, disappearing,
your greed unsatisfied,
your grip unrelenting.
Trapped, disappearing,
I squint, not despairing
at a stripe of blue sky.
Calmed, re-appearing,
I’ll fight for my life.

 

Posted in CFS, M.E., One Stop Poetry, poet, poets, Uncategorized, writing | Tagged , , , , , | 16 Comments

Reap what is Sown

Posted on May 27, 2011 by SallyJ

Sculpture by Gary Rogers (curator Runnymede Gallery)

This is an experimental sculpture by Gary Rogers, the artist who painted the amazing portrait that became the cover of my recently published poetry collection, ‘Random’.

I have used it as a prompt for the following rant – which will eventually be fashioned into a poem. here is the first draft:-

Reap what is Sown

The truth about you,
your fine slim nose,
warm toffee eyes
fringed by soft black lashes
of impossible length,
winning smile,
persuasive, inclusive –
the truth about you is
a scream of anguish
from black-tunnelled depths.

Now I see, when I look at you,
when it can’t be avoided, now,
all I see is

Eye sockets, emptied,
blinded by arrogance;
curls of skin, hacked
loose by cuts of your lies;
razor lips drawn in
howls of jealousy;
Bone-deep holes burned
by paranoia; good
looks ruined by duplicity,
poverty of spirit.

You are uglier than terror,
brackish flesh flayed by
thoughtlessness,
faithlessness,
spite.
No
Dorian-esque
magic is strong enough
to hide the awfulness of you. 

 

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A Soldier’s Wealth

Posted on May 26, 2011 by SallyJ

Another Octain, I think. It seems as though this form is addictive. Not sure why I like it so much…possibly the internal rhyme element…

A Soldier’s Wealth

Soldiers’ wealth is not measured
by the size of their salary,
but by their cameraderie;

by close fellowship garnered;
by common gain and shared pain;
challenges met; foes conquered.

It’s by stout heart and bravery
a soldier’s wealth is measured.

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Now it’s High Octains…

Posted on May 23, 2011 by SallyJ

Having struggled with Octains last week, this week’s task for the One Stop Poetry.com ‘form Monday’ is a High Octain – twice as hard – at least.

Jingle poetry’s theme of Sketches, Images, Impressions was a starting point. Goethe’s ‘Behaviour is the mirror in which everyone shows their image’.

Combine these with a news article about a news article about the current trend for figures in the public eye to take out injunctions for privacy – or, according to those cynics amongst us, to hide the gaps between what they say and what they do – and an idea began to take shape.

This is still clunky, and not exactly literary, but it is, in essence a High Octain…possibly. Please note – I have resorted to the odd slant rhyme – in some places, very odd!

Injunction
Remember friend, image is all –
question with care every action.
If in doubt take an injunction.

Any event you can recall
maybe uncouth, back in your youth
could incite a ruinous fall.

At all times exercise caution –
remember , friend, image is all.

Never forget, image is all –
dream, construct, fashion a fiction
stainless, blameless, pure perfection.

Tell gainsayers to test, to maul-
that traitor, truth, cannot intrude,
capture your castle, scale your wall

if you’re wise, scrutinise options –
remember friend, image is all!

Posted in inspiration, Jingle Poetry, One Stop Poetry, poet, poetic forms, poetry, writer, writing | Tagged , , , | 22 Comments