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Sarah O

@palimpsest22.bsky.social

1.8K followers 1.6K following 1.2K posts

Mainly poetry (Butcher's Dog,The Madrigal, Broken Spine, BlackBough, W Moon & counting), art, glass & (theatre) people playing. Allotment life. York with Glasgow links. UK. Not every act of kindness is part of a plan. Website :www.sarahowriter.com

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Sarah O @palimpsest22.bsky.social · 8h

#PoemsAbout #ImperfectMe
Thanks @thebrokenspine.co.uk @alanparrywriter.co.uk for nudging me into discomfort writing. Started life in @wendypratt.bsky.social workshop,been festering.

Poem called Face Cream by Sarah O'Grady.

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Sarah O @palimpsest22.bsky.social · 37m

Wasn't it just incredible?!

Red and green colour above trees. The Aurora in York. October 2024.

Reposted by Sarah O

Merril D. Smith @merrildsmith.bsky.social · 2h

Good morning! I wasn't going to do this prompt for #PoemsAbout #imperfectMe but started writing it yesterday @paulwritespoems.bsky.social writing group. It's still rough. Thanks as always to @alanparrywriter.co.uk and @thebrokenspine.co.uk

Poem:

Still Standing

The scar on my right breast
a faint tracing,
the charcoal under the artist’s paint,

tattooed dots,
ellipsis signaling the story continues—

always a before
and an after--

so far, always an after--

the sagging of flesh, the greying of hair,
points for endurance, if not for style,

as vain as anyone, I suppose,
but embracing the imperfect,
me.

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Sarah O @palimpsest22.bsky.social · 44m

I love the fusion of ellipsis and the surgeon's dotted line... also that it is morning where you are.

Sarah O @palimpsest22.bsky.social · 54m

Blimey. All thanks to those people who are critical friends.. thank you for a close reading, much appreciated.

Sarah O @palimpsest22.bsky.social · 56m

Thanks Karen. 😊

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Sarah O @palimpsest22.bsky.social · 1h

Oh.. Thank you!

Sarah O @palimpsest22.bsky.social · 6h

Thanks!

Sarah O @palimpsest22.bsky.social · 6h

That's me. 😉

Sarah O @palimpsest22.bsky.social · 7h

Ah..thanks Paul. I might muck about more with the spacing and POV and ruminate..

Sarah O @palimpsest22.bsky.social · 8h

Ah. Thanks. I've mangled this one about so much.. still feels like a WIP..

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Reposted by Sarah O

Fiftywords @fiftywords.bsky.social · 13h

Here’s to the imperfect, the mislabeled, the beautifully unfitting. This piece is for all of us who will not be named by other people’s judgment. #PoemsAbout #ImperfectMe Thanks to @alanparrywriter.co.uk and this wonderful community @thebrokenspine.co.uk

The Name You Gave Me
You gave me a name I never asked for,
a word carved from your slant of sight,
what you call incomplete. But 1 know no lack, my world hums with fullness, my life lived in a key
you refuse to hear. You measure in steps, in movements that conform, while I am content in the spaces
where stillness grows its own rhythm. I carry no burden, but your gaze is heavy,
my being
a question left unanswered. Yet I move through my days
whole, free of the silence
you called a name.

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Reposted by Sarah O

Mike O’Brien @zoomburst.substack.com · 8h

#PoemsAbout #imperfectme

Consultation

We looked just like a cartoon cliche
from the pages of Punch or the New Yorker
Me, laid out on the leather couch, emptying my soul
Him, in the winged armchair, taking notes
Whoever said that you had to be perfect? he asked.

Rather than reply at once
I considered the implications of his words
Staring up at the plaster ceiling rose
the paint flaking from its surface
The greasy dust sticking to the twisted cable
from which the dim bulb was suspended

As always, my nose and the frames of my spectacles
occupied a good portion of my peripheral vision

Breathing in…

Breathing out…

I let the idea sink in all the way
to the tiny, perfect ember of God’s creation
The divine spark
The willing spirit
Surrounded by my weak, corrupted flesh

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Reposted by Sarah O

The Broken Spine @thebrokenspine.co.uk · 13h

It begins: #PoemsAbout #ImperfectMe. Share from today ‘til Thursday. Tag your work or it’s lost. Use Alt Text if there’s an image. #TakeRisks #EndOnAnImage #AvoidCliché. Read/repost/reply to 3+. No ghosting. For weekly prompts: shorturl.at/0Xm7A

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Sarah O @palimpsest22.bsky.social · 8h

#PoemsAbout #ImperfectMe
Thanks @thebrokenspine.co.uk @alanparrywriter.co.uk for nudging me into discomfort writing. Started life in @wendypratt.bsky.social workshop,been festering.

9 6 22

Sarah O @palimpsest22.bsky.social · 9h

😂.. Ah, the parents'drink cabinet cocktails..

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Sarah O @palimpsest22.bsky.social · 10h

This... try reading it out loud to yourself. Fantastic work @leiabutler.bsky.social 👏

Atrium @atriumpoetry.bsky.social · 11h

All you need to know is – Leia Butler @leiabutler.bsky.social

atriumpoetry.com/2025/10/10/a...

All you need to know is – Leia Butler

All you need to know is . . Leia is a tea-lover, procrastinator, and creator. Her most recent poetry can be found in Streetcake Magazine, Acropolis Journal and Roi Fainéant Press. She has poetry co…

atriumpoetry.com

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Sarah O @palimpsest22.bsky.social · 11h

This arrived first via email. Such interesting work. Saved.

Reposted by Sarah O

Carolyn Thomas @carolynthomas.bsky.social · 18h

For #PoemsAbout #ImperfectMe Posting my effort now but madly busy so will try to catch up with everyone’s work later - the ones I have seen are great 😊
@alanparrywriter.co.uk
@thebrokenspine.co.uk

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Sarah O @palimpsest22.bsky.social · 11h

Really clever, also, love the Party Seven..

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Sarah O @palimpsest22.bsky.social · 11h

I love those clinching opening lines... saving for rereading!

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Reposted by Sarah O

John Chmura @johnchmura.bsky.social · 11h

#PoemsAbout #ImperfectMe
@thebrokenspine.co.uk
I will put a reel in the comments.

IMPERFECT ME

On days my son was measured
in length rather than height
I held him shirtless in one arm
while I lathered my face to shave.
Leaned on my chest, warm,
he plunged an explorer’s hands, decisive,
into my foamy cheeks, gaining agency,
the intimation of form, and play
affirmed in his corporeal birthright.

And me, significant, generative,
like the god of the psalmist,
I could do no wrong.

Whiskey it wasn’t that imperfected me
in his eyes. I may never know
which particular betrayal
inspired that loss of grace.
But it did boost his swagger to say
for the first time fuck you, Dad,
and I absorbed the preordained assertion,
concussive, cracked like a plastic bucket
abandoned on the back porch
when water expands into ice.

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Sarah O @palimpsest22.bsky.social · 21h

73 Alfie. Night Hookland.

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Sarah O @palimpsest22.bsky.social · 1d

@northseapoets.bsky.social Another interesting and moving workshop with Lesley Harrison this time. 'Poethical practice', working with archives, inherited stories & found histories. So much food for thought.

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Reposted by Sarah O

Mslexia @mslexia.bsky.social · 15d

Our 2025 Poetry Competition is ✨ OPEN FOR ENTRIES ✨

Prizes: 1st: £2,000; 2nd: £500; 3rd: £250; Unpublished Poet Prize: £250
Judge: Liz Berry
Entry Fee: £10
Closes: 8 December 2025

#AmWriting #WritingCommunity #Poetry #PoetryCommunity

Women's Poetry Competition 2025 - Poetry (Single Poem) - Competitions : Mslexia, a magazine for women's writing and women who write.

mslexia.co.uk

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Sarah O @palimpsest22.bsky.social · 1d

Ok. Just made my Christmas request...

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