{"id":2526,"date":"2021-04-19T13:02:58","date_gmt":"2021-04-19T13:02:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/avadawebsites.wpengine.com\/author\/?page_id=2526"},"modified":"2026-09-02T21:27:00","modified_gmt":"2026-09-02T21:27:00","slug":"author-home","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/18.171.141.90\/","title":{"rendered":"Author Home"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/div>
<\/a><\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div>

Latest Book Release<\/h2><\/div>

SALLY WARRELL COLLECTED POEMS<\/h3><\/div>

A collection of one hundred poems that draw from Sally’s wealth of life experiences from 1983 to 2022. <\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

<\/i>Buy On Amazon<\/span><\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

More About Sally Warrell<\/h2><\/div>

Sally Warrell is a Suffolk poet whose work explores memory, relationships, loss and life through rich imagery, nature and humour. She is the author of Cherry Pie and Other Poems and Collected Poems 1983\u20132022, and winner of the Suffolk Poetry Society Crabbe Memorial Poetry Competition 2026.<\/p>\n<\/div>

<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>
\"Audible<\/a><\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div>
\"Kindle<\/a><\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n

Poems<\/h2><\/div>

MUSINGS BY SALLY WARRELL<\/h3><\/div>
<\/div><\/div><\/div>

<\/i><\/i><\/span>Blackbird Divo <\/span><\/a><\/h4><\/div>
\n

Feet planted on the apex of the shed roof,<\/a><\/p>\n

the blackbird fills the green cathedral<\/p>\n

with the sound of its song, floating<\/p>\n

upward to the overarching trees<\/p>\n

where it is answered by another call<\/p>\n

further off.  The blackbird is oblivious<\/p>\n

to all else, but the song and its answering<\/p>\n

song, the tak, tak, tak of its alarm call<\/p>\n

filling the late afternoon, calling me down<\/p>\n

the garden to draw back the branches<\/p>\n

of the cherry tree and find it there,<\/p>\n

shaking out its feathers like shards<\/p>\n

of jet, resplendent and territorial,<\/p>\n

the aria flowing from its bent yellow beak.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Copyright Sally Warrell 24 October 2015<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>

<\/i><\/i><\/span>The Man with Liquid Eyes<\/span><\/a><\/h4><\/div>
\n

I sat down facing his table and as I put down my coffee and cake.
I wondered if our eyes would meet or shy away from each other.<\/p>\n

Would we smile a greeting and quickly return to our own worlds? I soon realised that his gaze was directed inwards towards some great sadness or loss. His hands
were clasped under the table and still he stared inward. After a while he would take a sup of the tea from his mug
and then return to his original pose hands held in supplication.<\/p>\n

Sometime later he poured some tea from the pot soundlessly,
making no impression on anyone else in the caf\u00e9 and again, the hands were grasped and he returned to looking inwards,
never seeing me in front of him or registering my existence.<\/p>\n

After some time of this the tea was finished.<\/p>\n

He stood quietly and tidied away his tray.<\/p>\n

Sally Warrell June 2025<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>

<\/i><\/i><\/span>Plongeuse<\/span><\/a><\/h4><\/div>
\n

(<\/span>Plong<\/span>euse is a French word used to describe a person washing up in a restaurant, but it can also mean an underwater diver.)<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It\u2019s the early <\/span>eighties<\/span><\/p>\n

and I\u2019m washing up<\/span><\/p>\n

in a hotel in France<\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

There\u2019s a bus strike on<\/span><\/p>\n

and I\u2019ve borrowed a bicycle<\/span><\/p>\n

to get to work<\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It\u2019s only a temporary job<\/span><\/p>\n

to cover for sick leave,<\/span><\/p>\n

but I can dream.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I pull on the yellow<\/span><\/p>\n

rubber gloves<\/span>, turn on the tap<\/span><\/p>\n

and squeeze in the detergent.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I grab a stack of plates<\/span><\/p>\n

and get <\/span>started<\/span>, my hands<\/span><\/p>\n

sinking into the suds,<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

getting a rhythm going<\/span>,<\/span><\/p>\n

leaning forward a bit too much<\/span>,<\/span><\/p>\n

my feet leave the floor<\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I\u2019m plunging<\/span> head over heels<\/span><\/p>\n

into the bowl and down<\/span> and out<\/span><\/p>\n

the other side<\/span> into the ocean. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The rubber gloves have <\/span>gone<\/span><\/p>\n

and my body is now<\/span> encased<\/span><\/p>\n

in a sleek black<\/span> wet<\/span>suit<\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

T<\/span>here is a<\/span>n aqualung<\/span><\/p>\n

on my back<\/span>, a <\/span>light on my head.<\/span><\/p>\n

I see all the wonders of marine<\/span> life<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

go by<\/span>: <\/span>a <\/span>walrus, <\/span>dolphins, turtles,<\/span><\/p>\n

tuna<\/span>, <\/span>a <\/span>manatee<\/span> and ray<\/span>s<\/span><\/p>\n

as I <\/span>go deeper and deeper.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Great white sharks circle me<\/span>,<\/span><\/p>\n

sea horses hang suspended<\/span><\/p>\n

below me with bony perfection.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

All sense of time has gone.<\/span><\/p>\n

So too has the hotel,<\/span><\/p>\n

the restaurant, the customers<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

waiting for clean plates,<\/span><\/p>\n

the kind friend waiting for her<\/span><\/p>\n

bicycle<\/span>,<\/span> and I am here<\/span>,<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

an astronaut whirling<\/span><\/p>\n

in space<\/span>,<\/span> going deeper<\/span>,<\/span><\/p>\n

finally touching down<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

and walking on the ocean<\/span><\/p>\n

floor.  <\/span>Now I have something<\/span><\/p>\n

to write home about.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Copyright Sally Warrell<\/span> 7 January<\/span> 202<\/span>2<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

Books<\/h2><\/div>

MUSINGS BY SALLY WARRELL<\/h3><\/div>
<\/div><\/div><\/div>
<\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div>

Sally Warrell’s collected poems from 1983 to 2022. A collection of one hundred poems that draw from Sally’s wealth of life experiences, that cover and explore a range of topics, such as memory, relationships, loss and life at large among many others. Sally’s poems utilise influences from the natural world and Greek mythology to entice the reader. Her writing style is also rich with colour and other powerful imagery to convey her thoughts and feelings.<\/p>\n<\/div>

<\/i>Buy on Amazon<\/span><\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>
<\/div><\/div>

A collection of 32 poems written in the past twenty eight years, but mostly over the last seven years. This is a story told in poetry. There is sadness and there is humour. Subjects range from love and marriage to grief and loss, grandparents meeting, insomnia, childhood and the past.<\/p>\n<\/div>

<\/i>Buy on Amazon<\/span><\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>
<\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

Books<\/h2><\/div>

MUSINGS BY SALLY WARRELL<\/h3><\/div>
<\/div><\/div><\/div>
<\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div>

Sally Warrell’s collected poems from 1983 to 2022. A collection of one hundred poems that draw from Sally’s wealth of life experiences, that cover and explore a range of topics, such as memory, relationships, loss and life at large among many others. Sally’s poems utilise influences from the natural world and Greek mythology to entice the reader. Her writing style is also rich with colour and other powerful imagery to convey her thoughts and feelings.<\/p>\n<\/div>

<\/i>Buy on Amazon<\/span><\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>
<\/div><\/div>

A collection of 32 poems written in the past twenty eight years, but mostly over the last seven years. This is a story told in poetry. There is sadness and there is humour. Subjects range from love and marriage to grief and loss, grandparents meeting, insomnia, childhood and the past.<\/p>\n<\/div>

<\/i>Buy on Amazon<\/span><\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>
<\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

What Others Say<\/h2><\/div>

TESTIMONIALS FROM AROUND THE WORLD<\/h3><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>
<\/span><\/span><\/span>

\u2b50\ufe0f\u2b50\ufe0f\u2b50\ufe0f\u2b50\ufe0f\u2b50\ufe0f<\/h2><\/div>
<\/div><\/div>

Sally’s careful use of language and mastery of short, effective poems makes it a joy to read<\/p>\n<\/div>

I was introduced to Sally Warrell’s poems at a live Poetry and Prose evening earlier this year, and I was excited to read more of her work. The collection covers forty years of writing, and ranges from poignant treatments of depression, mental health, and relationships, to delightfully insightful observations of the everyday, and poems with a lovely sense of humour.<\/p>\n

Standout poems for me include ‘Ativan Sane’, a short, stinging reflection on the use of anti-anxiety medication; ‘The Life Laundry’, which resonated strongly with me as I search for my new, post-lockdown identity; ‘When My Father Died’, which beautifully communicates a deep sense of loss and grief in a few breathtaking lines; and ‘Tragedy’ and ‘The Grey Lady of Bury St Edmunds’, in which the poet captures the sense of despair and loss of identity, expressed through the idea of disappearing from your own life.<\/p>\n

I loved the everyday observations of ‘Gloves’, ‘Sea Stones’ and ‘Sacrifice’, as well as the more personal ‘Copenhagen’, ‘Just Married, 1987’, ‘The Film of Arriving Home’, ‘Felixstowe Reprised’ and ‘Coffee and Radio’. The conjuring of nature in ‘Blackbird Divo’ and ‘The Owl’ is beautiful and haunting. My favourite poem, and the one I enjoyed most when Sally read it on stage, is ‘Plongeuse’, which combines a tangible memory with gentle humour and a gorgeous creative vision.<\/p>\n

There’s a lot to take away from this collection, and Sally’s careful use of language and mastery of short, effective poems makes it a joy to read.<\/p>\n<\/div>

<\/div>

Rachel Churcher<\/b><\/p>\n

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 25 August 2023<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>

\n

Truly Introspective<\/h2>\n

As a voracious reader, few authors surprise me, yet Sally’s words catapulted me back to my childhood, reading an old musty book of poems that belonged to my grandfather. Her commentary on everyday life leaves you wanting more, and also makes you feel seen, less alone, in a world of social media zombies.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/span><\/blockquote>

DM<\/span><\/span>D\u00e9sir\u00e9 Mirelux<\/strong><\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>
<\/div>
\n

A Unique View On The World<\/h2>\n

Donec sollicitudin molestie malesuada. Curabitur arcu erat, accumsan id imperdiet et, porttitor at sem. Vestibulum ac diam sit amet quam vehicula elementum sed sit amet dui. Nulla quis lorem ut libero malesuada feugiat. Vestibulum ac diam sit amet.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/span><\/blockquote>

MM<\/span><\/span>Mary Maxey<\/strong><\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>
<\/div><\/div>

Subscribe To My Newsletter<\/h2><\/div>
<\/div>
<\/div><\/div><\/div>