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Rother Writes

@rotherwrites.bsky.social

Best of the Net and Pushcart Prize nominated poet. Black Bough Poetry 'Silver Branch' featured poet.

2173 Posts987 Follower 920 Folgt

Black Bough Poetry @blackboughpoetry.bsky.social · 2w ago

The Silver Branch series - 'Best of the Net' #poetry nominations: @jakkybankong-obi.bsky.social @rhonagreene.bsky.social @helenlaycock.bsky.social @rotherwrites.bsky.social Kate Vanhinsbergh @victoriaspires.bsky.social 🍾🥂🍾🎉

Victoria Spires @victoriaspires.bsky.social · 2w ago

Lovely and surprising news from @blackboughpoetry.bsky.social , thank you! And congratulations to @jakkybankong-obi.bsky.social @rhonagreene.bsky.social @helenlaycock.bsky.social @rotherwrites.bsky.social and Kate ☺️

Black Bough Poetry@blackboughpoetry.bsky.social · 2w ago

Rother Writes @rotherwrites.bsky.social · 2w ago

This week I'm reading '35 Up' following the recent and final episode '70 Up', having watched most of the series through the decades. I bought it some time in the 90s from a library clearout. It now lives in our home library. A rarity with value perhaps (or not).

Mike O’Brien @zoomburst.substack.com · 2w ago

#poemsabout #deadletters I'm a little out of practice...

The usual guff about life after death - I reckon that I must have enough for a small pamphlet by now.

The Broken Spine (SUBS OPEN)@thebrokenspine.co.uk · 3w ago

Next up: #DeadLetters. Wrong addresses. Returned envelopes. Last words. Love letters that outlived the love. Things written for people who will never read them. New theme begins Friday. Don’t post early. Use Alt Text. Tag #PoemsAbout. Read. Repost. Reply.

Beth Brooke @bethbpoet.bsky.social · last mo.

It’s Friday again so…#PoemsAbout. #Faultlines. Thanks @thebrokenspine.co.uk and Alan Parry

On the beach

They have drawn a line in the sand;
a deep incision wide as the stick one
of them used to make it. It is a line of
principles of stances taken.
You may approach to consider
its certainties: thus far
no further they will not countenance
any stepping beyond it is after all
a line in the sand.
Ask a question while they stand there
resplendent in an angry black
stand there backs to the
ocean indifferent to the fact of
an incoming tide

Beth Brooke @bethbpoet.bsky.social · last mo.

#PoemsAbout #SheddingSkins @thebrokenspine.co.uk Here we go

A poem written in lieu of a letter of resignation.

Change, like a hand pressed hard
against my chest,
restricting the flow of air.
Like the mayfly at the water’s edge,
I cannot breathe; ecdysis squeezes
before it blesses us with wings.
There is an itch; it claws for my attention,
makes me restless in my own skin;
my clothes feel tight, feel wrong,
don’t fit the thing I am becoming.
There is urgency, wanting this moment
when everything splits
and something stranger, stronger
steps out, wings unfurled.

Karen Pierce Gonzalez @karenpgonzalez.bsky.social · last mo.

Some #Prompts are like stage curtains. In this case, when pulled back, they can reveal #poetic plots worthy (I hope) of applause! #PoemsAbout #EndOfSummer #Poetry #PoetsOfBlueSky @thebrokenspine.co.uk #StayCreative

Season’s End

Someone left a rowboat
tied to the dry dock
of late summer

Was that you?

Did you row with driftwood oars
to the sleepy shore of me
sandy
sun-warmed

waiting
always waiting
for the promise of you

to ripen on my tongue?

And why did you
surf the salt waves of my want
then dissolve
without even swimming

the sea in my heart?

Karen Pierce Gonzalez

The Broken Spine (SUBS OPEN)@thebrokenspine.co.uk · last mo.

If you like our #PoemsAbout prompts, you should be reading the poets we publish. AFTER HOURS: BEAT CULTURE MADE NEW is full of the territory we keep returning to: outsiders, restless lives, rebellion, memory and the world beyond respectable hours. shorturl.at/ETO6h

The Broken Spine (SUBS OPEN)@thebrokenspine.co.uk · last mo.

Last week’s poets brought it. Next up: #SheddingSkins. Leave something behind. An old name. An old life. The version of yourself that no longer fits. Growth isn’t always pretty. New theme begins Friday. Don’t post early. Use Alt Text. Tag #PoemsAbout so we can find you. Read. Repost. Reply.

The Broken Spine (SUBS OPEN)@thebrokenspine.co.uk · last mo.

This isn't Gatsby fan fiction. It isn't a centenary tribute with champagne coupes and tasteful Art Deco borders. BEAUTIFUL LITTLE FOOLS treats The Great Gatsby as a cultural artefact worth interrogating. Edited by @alanparrywriter.co.uk & @karenpgonzalez.bsky.social shorturl.at/126Ks

Beth Brooke @bethbpoet.bsky.social · last mo.

Happy Friday @thebrokenspine.co.uk and @alanparrywriter.co.uk here’s a #PoemsAbout #TheEndOfSummer

Sometimes

Sometimes I think,
this is all I wanted:
this view from the ridge,
this summer blue,
this ripening harvest;
this light,
filtered through
beech leaves;
the sound of the breeze .

Other times,
there can only be
the rumble of the sea
on shingle,
the salt smell of morning;
the long climb down
from Golden Cap
to Seatown, and me
thinking, yes, this is
everything, this is
everything I wanted.

Then there is now,
when I look up into
the sapphire morning sky
and see the swifts;
their boomerang wings slice
my heart, and I stand here
thinking, yes, they are taking
the summer with them.

Lin Hart @poetry-with-hart.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Reminiscing about a singer friend from years ago, a dark time for me. He guided me out of it, though I'm not sure he ever consciously meant to. Now I've started to become a bit disillusioned to who I thought he was, and what it all meant. Regardless, enjoy 🤗 #poemsabout #deepcuts #poetry #tanka

Deep timbre, safety
his voice lifting me, broken
creature from a cave,
cavern of my own making
the recesses of my mind.

I was seventeen
he was a decade older,
the first time he sang
for me, garage band wonder
his voice carried me aloft.

When pain came later
I tethered thoughts to his sound,
he held me, shattered
I wouldn't have made it out
alive if it weren't for him.

As time has passed since
I find myself with questions,
was it grooming if…
did he really save me, and
did he ever love me back?

The Broken Spine (SUBS OPEN)@thebrokenspine.co.uk · 2mo ago

Last week's poets brought it. This week: #PoemsAbout #DeepCuts. Hidden favourites. Old wounds. The things that stay with us long after the hit single fades. Theme opens Friday. Use Alt Text.

Rother Writes @rotherwrites.bsky.social · 2mo ago

This week I'm reading...The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath, published two months before her death. This version is from 1989, where it has waited patiently in our home library to be tackled.

John Chmura @johnchmura.bsky.social · 2mo ago

We can learn a lot from @stacebot.bsky.social in the formatting of this poem for #PoemsAbout #ThriftStore. Those of us who write a lot of short form poetry and even those who don’t, might have been inclined to use all two line stanzas once it looked like a pattern had been established,

stace.bot@stacebot.bsky.social · 2mo ago

For this week's #PoemsAbout #ThriftStore, I'm thinking about the exhaustion of adaptation. Thanks to @alanparrywriter.co.uk, @thebrokenspine.co.uk, and to all of the other writers and readers. #poetry #poem #writing #PoetryCommunity #BlueSkyPoets #writingcommunity #CharityShop

Paul Connolly @thepaulconnolly.bsky.social · 2mo ago

I posted a #poemsaloud thread yesterday👇trying to illustrate a few changes in English verse orthography &, where relevant, implied pronunciation across time & geography. I realised that I’d never recorded one of my favourite Shakespeare sonnets, 143. So here it is #ShakespeareSunday #poetrycommunity

Paul Connolly@thepaulconnolly.bsky.social · 2mo ago

It was a lot of fun trying to approximate the sounds this 14th Century piece…and many thanks to @hanrahanistan.bsky.social for inspiring me The manuscript for the poem suggests that it may have been composed in Herefordshire. How different it sounds from other things…👇🧵

DrNaturegirl @drnaturegirl.debbiemross.co.uk · 3mo ago

For today’s #LiftToTheSky check out Mike O Brien of Sixty Odd Poets fame. He shares his own work on Substack as well as this fabulous showcase and a selection of poets he’s published too. substack.com/@mike0brien?... #blueskypoetry #poets #poems

Mike O’Brien | Substack

substack.com

Jenevieve Carlyn @coastalpoet.bsky.social · 3mo ago

#PoemsAbout #PowerCut The recent earthquake reminded me of a poem I wrote after a 2023 quake. It actually highlights two events (7 weeks apart) in Feb & April that year. From my journalism-in-verse era, it was in River Heron's 2023 'Poems For Now' issue. CW: suffering (but also hope) #PoemsAloud

"Dust and Ashes"

YouTube video by Jenevieve Carlyn

youtu.be

Mike O’Brien @zoomburst.substack.com · 3mo ago

For all who post #poemsabout, or #poetry of any kind on Bluesky or other social Media. Good for you!

Share Your Poetry on Social Media

Why not? At least people will have the chance to read it!

substack.com

The Broken Spine (SUBS OPEN)@thebrokenspine.co.uk · 3mo ago

Last week's poets brought it. This week: #PoemsAbout #ExitWounds. Every departure leaves evidence. Theme opens Friday. Use Alt Text.

Dark interior facing glass exit doors, with bare trees visible outside and a glowing EXIT sign above. Overlay text reads: “#PoemsAbout #ExitWounds”.

Rother Writes @rotherwrites.bsky.social · 3mo ago

For this week's #PromptCombo on the theme of #monument, I have dug out an old one from last July. Welcome host @jenthorne.bsky.social 💚

Jane Dougherty @janedougherty47.bsky.social · 4mo ago

Not so much #ThatLook as 'the look (your eyes had once). A #PoemsAbout for @thebrokenspine.co.uk

DrNaturegirl @drnaturegirl.debbiemross.co.uk · 4mo ago

#LifttoTheSky I’m thankful for real connections @alanparrywriter.co.uk @matthewmcsmith.bsky.social @rotherwrites.bsky.social @hool415.bsky.social @sueimnw.bsky.social @coastalpoet.bsky.social @thewombwellrainbow.bsky.social @janedougherty47.bsky.social @markanthonyneal.bsky.social

Rother Writes @rotherwrites.bsky.social · 4mo ago

A rare contribution from me for #PoemsAbout #TheLook. I'm still not feeling it.

Night-Scented Stock

But what are you saying
what are you trying to tell me
what do you want me to believe
what are you asking me to accept.

Is it really you the real you or
an impression from your paintbox
and dressing up trunk, a disguise
hiding your new-found edges.

Your blaze of midnight glamour
is only a brittle exoskeleton
hiding an impulse that bleeds
every time it reaches your tongue.

You want to tell me something
about passing through the sticky veil
of your tender moral maze
to emerge transformed and true.

Are you mining a deeper truth
from your night-scented stock
a heady perfume of persuasion
saying this is really who you are.

© Glenn Barker June 2026

𝒊𝒂𝒎𝒃 ~ 𝒑𝒐𝒆𝒕𝒓𝒚 𝒔𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒅 @iamb.uk · 4mo ago

Congrats to the 15 poets of wave twenty-six: Alex Smith, Anna Maughan, Caroline Stancer, Clare Best, Deborah Gaudin, Elizabeth Osmond, Frances Klein, Francesca Leader, Jonathon Medeiros, Kate Vanhinsbergh, Lauren Parker, Rachel Burrows, Robin Ince, Victoria Moul and Zain Rishi.

Promotional poster for wave twenty-six of online poetry journal iamb. It shows black and white author photos of all 15 poets who feature, and announces the publication date as June 15th 2026.

John North @johnnorthwrites.bsky.social · 5mo ago

A new poem. I wanted to try it out aloud #PoemsAloud

Gary Holpin Photography @garyholpinphoto.bsky.social · 5mo ago

Morning :-) Back to some more ICM today (Yay I hear you say!) - with my favourite tree in a bluebell field high above Okehampton on a cloudy day. I had hoped that it would be covered in blossom as it was last year when the bluebells were out, but it wasn't to be.... #icm

The Broken Spine (SUBS OPEN)@thebrokenspine.co.uk · 5mo ago

To witness is to carry. #PoemsAbout #BearingWitness — write what you cannot unsee.

Rother Writes @rotherwrites.bsky.social · 5mo ago

Mixing reportage, quotes and poetic rendering, an article from The Times by Marc Bennetts; a first-hand account from Druzhkivka, Ukraine for this week's #PoemsAbout. Sharing it here, with his permission, for both #NamesNotNumbers and #WhatRemains. @thebrokenspine.co.uk @poetsonbluesky.bsky.social

Will I Wake Up Tomorrow?
Druzhkivka, Ukraine

Marc Bennetts, The Times, 9th May 2026

“A man I knew went out yesterday to get cigarettes
and a drone tore off his leg at the knee”

A rain of blunt eyeless executioners,
drone and missile, punches the blood
and last air out of a town once 60,000
in a brutal amputation and evisceration,
its people a mortuary slab of shards,
Druzkivka’s pulse expendable,
left to rot road-kill, house-kill.

The registry office is a stark ruin,
the blessing of union pulverised, the ruin
of hope on a bloody and burning pyre.

The population, now 6,000 and mostly elderly
scrape an existence, too old to leave,
a numb and shattered remnant
of a community, where you can count
the children on one hand, if you have fingers.

© Glenn Barker May 2026