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.

paradox

below the M6
above the penny ferry
a sea-bound ship

words & photo © 2008, Gerald England.

Posted in response to the paradox theme at One Single Impression

The ferry referred to now costs 11p apparently, and the M6 bridge is now rather wider.

Serendipity

autumn pleasures
the rusting roller-coaster
remains behind

© 2008, gerald england

Posted in response to the "serendipity" prompt at One Single Impression.

Through a Window

I've given up
researching Latin names
now watch the birdies

text & photograph © 2008, gerald england

In response to the "through a window" prompt at One Single Impression.

Doorway (Hyde Theatre Royal)

Hyde Theatre Royal
the rescue plan is onward
to the last exit

text & photograph © 2008, gerald england

In response to the "doorway" prompt at One Single Impression.

For more information, view my photos from the Heritage Open Days at Hyde Theatre Royal or visit the Theatre Royal Onward website. Other relevant photographs can be found on Hyde Daily Photo

Transience or Permanence

the transient tulip
may come again next year
the permanent stone
grows a covering of moss
or is hidden under leaves

photo & tanka © 2008, gerald england

posted in response to the "transcience or permanence" prompt at One Single Impression


The photograph was taken in the grounds of Pole Bank Hall.

I took a few photos of the little tulip. One close-up focused on the wall and another focused on the tulip. I posted the wall and a portion of the out-of-focus flower as a quiz picture on Hyde Daily Photo. Today I posted there the in-focus picture of the tulip.

Penny (Midnight Melody)

Penny was born on the 14th March 1989, the last of a litter of 5 pups.

A Manchester Terrier, her Pedigree included a number of breed champions.

She was some twelve weeks or so old when we acquired her. She was raised outside the Yorkshire seaside spa of Scarborough. As the journey to collect her took us across the Pennines, we decided to call her Penny. For her kennel name we chose Melody as that name linked her to her mother and Midnight on account of her dark coat.


She was a very nervous dog, prone to snapping at strangers and yapping at the slightest noise. At first she did not like car travel and was frequently sick. For Easter 1991, we went up to Stranraer for a holiday, staying at a farmhouse B&B. We took her with us. Penny had to live for the whole week in the back of our Ford Sierra Estate. It transformed her into a car-loving dog.


After that she began to accompany me most days on my rounds as an insurance agent in Oldham. She was given the nickname "my alternative car alarm"


We made three attempts to breed from Penny. The first was with a dog from Penistone, West Yorkshire, but she failed to take. We then tried her with a dog from Belper, Derbyshire. After the second mating with this dog she appeared to take. She made herself a little nest in one corner and on the night the pups were due I slept downstairs with her. It turned out, when we took her to the vets, that she'd had an ectopic pregnancy. After that we didn't try again.


She developed an abscess when she was about eight or nine years old and had to have fourteen teeth taken out. After that, a lot of her hair gradually began to go grey. Early in 2002 she developed a tumour on her belly. Although still quite active and alert, she began to sleep longer in her bed at night. When our son, Craig, came home from college for his Easter break, we explained things to him and he said goodbye to her for the last time. On 18th April 2002 the vet put her to sleep.

walking to the vets
she stops at every tree and bush
there is no walk home

GERALD ENGLAND

Andrei Dorian Gheorghe wrote from Romania

Your photo-story about Penny impressed me very much.

(in memory of Penny)

poor terrier going
to create a new constellation:
The Middle Dog

This account of Penny is reproduced here today as a response to the pet theme at One Single Impression.

I may not be responding to comments over the next few days as tomorrow (Monday) I shall be attending my sister's funeral.

Freedom

The theme this week at One Single Impression is FREEDOM.

Normally I'd create and post a haiga, but nothing's compulsory so I used my freedom to dig out an old poem.

FREEDOM

She kept a bird in a gilded cage
He sang so lovely a joy to hear
And she loved her bird in the gilded cage
until people told her it was cruel
to keep a bird in a gilded cage
— Birds like yours need their freedom — they said
— Set it free, let it roam, let it scavenge for food —
So she opened the door of the gilded cage
but the bird stayed inside, sang louder
— See — she said to her taunters — he wants to stay —
— You feed him too well, you are cruel —
When the bird grew hungry he left the cage
found food and then returned to the gilded cage
The bird sang louder, happy inside
She was happy too
since the bird returned always to the gilded cage
It was free to roam and free to return
But the bird will one day not return,
find food in another's cage,
sing for the new provider of his food,
sing louder still though the door be shut.

GERALD ENGLAND

Although composed in 1973 it was first published in Z Miscellaneous (USA) 1987 and subsequently in Lo Straniero (Italy) 1991 and Ultimate Ceasefire (Australia) 1998.

It is also included in my collection Stealing Kisses now available to readers of this blog for the cost of postage only.

blooming

simply waiting
among greens and yellows
a blooming blackbird

text & photograph © 2008, gerald england

In response to the "flowering" prompt at One Single Impression.

The original photograph is from our recent holiday in Paignton, Devon.

West Window

West Window
the whole spectrum
filters through

text & photograph © 2008, gerald england

posted in response to the "colors" prompt at One Single Impression.

The photograph was taken on a recent visit to Leeds Parish Church. We can well recommend lunch in their coffee shop. Note that wheelchair access is via the west side.

cold Saturday

cold Saturday
when it is time to go home
ah the joy!

words & photograph © 2008, gerald england

posted in response to the laughter prompt at One Single Impression.

Easter Sunday

Easter Sunday
second week of spring
two inches of snow

This was the view at around 6.30 am this morning.

I thought it was unseasonable enough at 5pm on Friday.

See what it was like by 2pm on Spring Haiku 2008.

For more images of spring see One Single Impression.

loose change

loose change
it all adds up to a lot
of heavy metal

words & photo © 2008 gerald england


See more responses to the change prompt at One Single Impression