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Shaun Jex

@shaunjexauthor.bsky.social

300 followers 440 following 860 posts

Writer. Book Goblin. Given to Meandering. he/him

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Shaun Jex @shaunjexauthor.bsky.social · 3d

This week's poetry blog is a tour of mythical creatures!
shaunmjex.wordpress.com/2025/10/05/a...

A Mythical Menagerie: Poems about Imaginary Beasts

Discover poems about mythical creatures from around the world,

shaunmjex.wordpress.com

Shaun Jex @shaunjexauthor.bsky.social · 3d

This week's poetry blog is a tour of mythical creatures!
shaunmjex.wordpress.com/2025/10/05/a...

A Mythical Menagerie: Poems about Imaginary Beasts

Discover poems about mythical creatures from around the world,

shaunmjex.wordpress.com

Shaun Jex @shaunjexauthor.bsky.social · 6d

I've read this folktale before, but read it again this evening. It's the tale of Momotaro, the boy born from a peach to a childless, elderly couple.

When he grew older, he set out to fight the Oni (or ogres) troubling the land, fighting them on Demon Island with the help of his animal friends.

Reposted by Shaun Jex

Brian Bilston @brianbilston.bsky.social · 6d

Here’s another poem for National Poetry Day. This one is called ‘A Brief History of Modern Art in Poetry’.

A Brief History of Modern Art in Poetry

1. Impressionism
Roses sway in softened reds,
Violets swim in murky blues,
Sugar sparkles in the light,
Blurring into golden you.

2. Surrealism
Roses are melting,
Violets are too.
Ceci n’est pas le sucre.
Keith is a giant crab

3. Social Realism
Roses are dead,
Violence is rife.
Don’t sugar coat
This bitter life.

4. Abstract Expressionism
Are and.
Violets roses so.
You sweet blue.
Are are red is sugar

5. Pop Art
Roses go BLAM!
Violets go POW!
Sugar is COOL!
You are so WOW!

6. Conceptual Art
Roses are red,
Coated in blood:
A deer’s severed head
Drips from above

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Shaun Jex @shaunjexauthor.bsky.social · 6d

Last night, I finished my read through of Dante's Inferno (Robert Pinsky translation). I don't want to jump to conclusions based on one book, but I think this Alighieri fella has a lot of promise as a writer.

Shaun Jex @shaunjexauthor.bsky.social · 7d

A profound inspiration whose work genuinely made the world a better place. Thank you for everything, Dr. Goodall.
www.nbcnews.com/news/obituar...

Jane Goodall, renowned chimpanzee researcher and animal advocate, dies at 91

"Dr. Goodall's discoveries as an ethologist revolutionized science, and she was a tireless advocate for the protection and restoration of our natural world," the Jane Goodall Institute said in a Wedne...

www.nbcnews.com

Shaun Jex @shaunjexauthor.bsky.social · 7d

I've been studying a lot of ancient mythology and history, which paired up perfectly with the newest #wordoftheweek from @thetoypress.bsky.social

#poetry #poetrycommunity #kidlit

Akephaloi

They are curious creatures
These nomadic, headless men
With faces set in their chests –
Mouths stretched across the belly
Eyes blinking below the neck –
As though the gods jumbled
Their parts like puzzle pieces
Before setting them to bake
In the great kiln of creation

Poem © Shaun Jex

Shaun Jex @shaunjexauthor.bsky.social · 7d

This morning's work soundtrack is Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet by The Cleveland Orchestra, conducted by Lorin Maazel.

Shaun Jex @shaunjexauthor.bsky.social · 7d

Reading up on mythical creatures, and I'm not sure there's a name that's more fun to say than Catoblepas. It's written about historians like Pliny the Elder and Claudius Aelianus. Depending on the source, either its gaze or its breath was considered deadly.

Image of the catoblepas from the Der Naturen Bloeme manuscript.

Shaun Jex @shaunjexauthor.bsky.social · 8d

I'm endlessly amused by how petty Dante Alighieri is throughout The Inferno, peopling Hell with his political enemies. Also by the fact that he repeatedly mentions his own talent. It's not that he's wrong. He was obviously brilliant. It's just amusing to see that he clearly thought so too.

Shaun Jex @shaunjexauthor.bsky.social · 9d

This is great, Kay! Thanks so much for sharing.

Reposted by Shaun Jex

Kay Medway @kaymedway.bsky.social · 9d

#poem #poetry #repetition #poetrycommunity

I hear my cousin tell me
her children’s teacher’s school report of their work.

I hear of a drawing of buildings one did.
"That's great use of point perspective," we say.

I hear her son at the table
ask to remove the little eye patch he sometimes wears,
with an affecting,
"I want two eyes, Mummy, now."

I used to hear praise
for how well behaved my cousin was as a child
when we were children.

I hear how my cousin overcame the trauma
after her accident when she was three.

How much she loved and loves her family
our family, now her little family too.

How she found out at bingo
how Uncle Ben watched the news
with subtitles on repeat,
hearing stories from around the world.

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Shaun Jex @shaunjexauthor.bsky.social · 9d

What a fun poem! Helped me start my workweek with a smile :)

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Shaun Jex @shaunjexauthor.bsky.social · 9d

A day later than usual, but this week's poetry blog post is now live! It's all about the use of repetition in poetry.
#poetry #poetrycommunity #kidlit
shaunmjex.wordpress.com/2025/09/29/s...

Say It Again: Repetition in Poetry

A blog post exploring how to use repetition when writing poetry, including several examples.

shaunmjex.wordpress.com

Shaun Jex @shaunjexauthor.bsky.social · 12d

Thanks! It was a wonderful prompt. Glad to know the poem lived up to the prompt's promise :)

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Reposted by Shaun Jex

Sue Hardy-Dawson @suehardy-dawson.bsky.social · 13d

Today's #NationalPoetryDay poem, what could be more playful than a shape poem. This one from my 1st collection Where Zebras Go Otter-Barry Books @domconlon.bsky.social @piecorbett.bsky.social @brianbilston.bsky.social @brianmosespoet.bsky.social

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Shaun Jex @shaunjexauthor.bsky.social · 12d

Thanks so much!

Shaun Jex @shaunjexauthor.bsky.social · 13d

On the off chance I ever see you walking a trail in the evening, I'll proudly declare, "Oh, it's lovely roamin' in the gloamin'."

Shaun Jex @shaunjexauthor.bsky.social · 13d

I really loved this post on Brian's blog. Here's his original prompt, "Think of a favourite place, mind map ideas and then write the poem featuring repetition of one or two words to bring rhythm to non-rhyming poems." And the attached image is my poem in response.

#poetry #poetrycommunity #kidlit

Galveston

Waves crash on the riprap
The riprap beneath the pier
Kissed by thick sea foam
That you say resembles the head
On a cold mug of root beer

You smile in the salt spray
Salt spray that you embrace
With arms spread wide open
As though the restless ocean
Was welcoming you home

In the distance, there are lights
Lights that glitter like stars –
Constellations on the boardwalk
And the sound of rock and roll
That carries on the wind

You say, “Tonight, we’ll be pirates
Pirates in search of diamonds
See them glistening on the waves?”
I look where you are pointing
And see an ocean full of treasure

© Shaun Jex

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Reposted by Shaun Jex

Kay Medway @kaymedway.bsky.social · 13d

#poem #poetry #prompt

I remember berries, berries maybe of blue,
nettles, and maybe antlers of deer in the distance
in woodlands and forests seen on walks.

I remember deceptively deep swimming pools at camping sites,
lifeguards alert,
me mistaking the waters as shallow,
Nan watching by the side.

I remember puppetry art in Prague,
maybe witches, jesters and queens as marionette puppets,
me playing with them as presents, tangling their strings.

I remember bookshops,
folk tales translated from Czech to English,
illustrated with gold hardback covers.

I remember Austria,
a dachshund on a lead held by me
at the foot of the mountains.

I remember learning to say dobrý noc, goodnight,
at the end of the holiday.

I remember the top deck of the ferry,
there and back with Nan.

I remember the summer cabins,
relatives and relations, board games with no lost pieces,
and bikes.
I remember asking if they had good bicycle brakes.

Dobrou noc, děkuji.
Good night, thank you.

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Shaun Jex @shaunjexauthor.bsky.social · 13d

Congratulations and well deserved :)

Shaun Jex @shaunjexauthor.bsky.social · 13d

Thanks to @thetoypress.bsky.social for another wonderful #wordoftheweek !

Here's my poem.

#kidlit #writingforchildren #poetrycommunity #writingcommunity

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Reposted by Shaun Jex

Brian Moses @brianmosespoet.bsky.social · 14d

New blog post: Five of my favourite children’s poems plus where to fine them/listen to them. Hopefully good for @PoetryDayUK and for schools tackling poetry units of study throughout the year. brian-moses.blogspot.com

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Shaun Jex @shaunjexauthor.bsky.social · 14d

I love her! And her adorable passenger

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Shaun Jex @shaunjexauthor.bsky.social · 14d

Maybe the big boss just looked around and said, "Nope!"

Shaun Jex @shaunjexauthor.bsky.social · 14d

Sorry, I can't today. Me and Huck, Tom, and Joe are running away to be pirates.

Illustration of Huckleberry Finn, Tom Sawyer, and Joe Harper on a log raft, drawn by artist John Dyess