Wednesday, November 26, 2008

ABC Wednesday: S is for Sally Walsh's Dam


Sally Walsh's Dam
down Dicky Sykes Lane
near the turkey farm;
Dad told us not to walk there
for dead dogs are drowned therein


© 2008, Gerald England
This photograph and tanka are in response to the childhood memories prompt at One Single Impression.

I don't know who Sally Walsh was and on the maps it is named Hoyle Mill Dam.

I don't know who Dicky Sykes was.

And to the next question - I don't know.

My Dad is dead and it is too late to ask him now.

More S posts can be seen on the ABC Wednesday Anthology blog.

Others can be found via the ABC Wednesday with Mister Linky which carries a registry of participants.

20 comments:

  1. Great post! I like everything you did with this - the poem and the accompanying brief questions & answers are so lively. Nice photo too. It all works!!

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  2. This is short but crammed with vivid detail and there's a whole story hidden within the questions prompted by the last line. It gets right to the heart of childhood.

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  3. Thanks Gerald,
    what an awsome post I like to see/read about this Sally Wals Dam, very welldone,

    Here is my S for Abc:
    www.joannwalraven@hotmail.com

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  4. The poem is a bit spooky. But it's an excellent post!

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  5. This is great and would work well for a Monochrome Monday post, too.

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  6. Funny how some memories from childhood really stick especially the more disturbing ones..
    ABC Post

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  7. Safely say this will be one of the most original and haunting S posts this week. I like this as it leaves us questions- me will just have to investigate.

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  8. This poem resonates for me. My father, soon to be 97, has been allowing memories to surface that never surfaced before, or at least were never told to anyone before. Sometimes disturbing memories. One he told me had to do with killing puppies for one of his employers when he was a teenager.

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  9. I think Sally and Dicky must have had a romance there and they pledged their troth by throwing dead dogs into the water! Funny lot, the British! (I'm one)

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  10. B & W seems fitting for a somewhat scary poem

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  11. Enjoyed that. By the way, I think we're old colleagues, Gerald. I used to edit Rattler's Tale in 1990s. I remember New Hope International well.

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  12. For some strange reason the name Dicky Sykes sounds familiar to me.

    Bear((( )))

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  13. eerie. Strange how details stay in our memories.

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  14. Isn't it sad when there's no longer anyone to ask about these things?
    I'm sorry about the Linky this week, but I'm managing through the comments. Thanks for participating.

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  15. Very interesting. Sometimes we wait too long to ask the questions, or even more important, to really listen to the old stories. So much is lost. For something a little more modern, I invite you to come see my contribution for S - solar powered Christmas lights. -- Margy

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  16. All I know is that you have captured the beauty and ambience in this image!

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  17. Atmospheric photo to go with the tale of a dark secret!

    Definitely the essence of childhood fantasies!

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  18. Don't we all have those memories of our parents telling us some horrific story just to keep us away from a place of danger. Very unique take on the prompt.

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  19. Sally Walsh was a local girl who drowned herself in the lake. Its supposed to be haunted by her, that's why you don't walk there. My family owned the turkey farm for years.

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