Tessera

Haven't been managing Friday's #PoemsAbout in recent weeks but here's one for #BadHabits, look forward to reading other responses tomorrow. Thanks as ever to @thebrokenspine.co.uk @alanparrywriter.co.uk 💜

Pale pink box with black shading and the words of a poem:

Habits

I had a lot of bad habits
back then
blinded by bad boy dazzle dark light
by wolf-gleaming teeth
by tongues with words
cajoling hot and cold as northern sun
some of those bad habits
I shrugged off
some I had ripped
from me howling open wound
stemmed
by the next one –
and sometimes I was
the bad habit
I gleamed wolfish
warming cooling
on a whim
leaving flesh wounds –
until I left them behind
only a good habit now
a kind and loving and joyful compulsion
turning bad habits to ghosts
banished
to the curling edges
of before

Still buzzing from the @flashficfestuk.bsky.social weekend of creative inspiration, thought-provoking conversations and so much laughter! Thanks to @judehwriter2.bsky.social and all the team for such an amazing event. 🙏💙💋

Cream tote bag with the words Flash Fiction Festival.

Sumitra Singam@pleomorphic2.bsky.social · 4w ago

Oh I love this piece so much!! Bravo you two. 🥳🙌🏽💜

Friends, another collab with @kathrynreese.bsky.social in @icebreakerslit.bsky.social written to a Nancy Stohlman prompt, about aging and the circularity of memory 🧡🙏🏾🥰 www.icebreakerslit.com/read/memory-...

A Thousand Shades of Green@shadesofgreen.bsky.social · 2w ago

Very happy to be featured on the wonderful @shadesofgreen.bsky.social platform with a host of inspiring writers! 🙏💚❇️

I am thrilled to share our new Featured Writers Page. Just click on a photo or name and learn more about the Featured Writer! athousandshadesofgreen.com/featured-wri...

Joyce Bingham@joycebingham.bsky.social · 3w ago

Amazing story by @joycebingham.bsky.social, such great use of colour! 🤩🥰

Delighted to have my shortlisted story out in the world, thank you to Emma for judging and Ian for his hard work in the background.

Cole Beauchamp 🏳️‍🌈 📖@nomad-sw18.bsky.social · 2w ago

And a lovely one of you reading! Xxx

Last pics @flashficfestuk.bsky.social ❤️ @hilary55.bsky.social @ekmacdonald.bsky.social @williamdavidson.bsky.social @noranadj.bsky.social @eleanor-luke.bsky.social @claudiamonpere.bsky.social @dawnsteffler.bsky.social @kathrynsilverhajo.bsky.social @kateaxeford.bsky.social @jupiterjonz.bsky.social

@kawalker.bsky.social · 2w ago

Yaaay!! Good luck 🥰

Oh joy! My little story made the Joy shortlist! Thank you.

Kathy Fish@kathyfish.bsky.social · 2w ago

What a great photo! And it really was a joyful weekend. 💜

Arrived home yesterday from the Flash Fiction Festival, my 8th in a row, at Trinity College in Bristol, UK. Love the pure joy on the faces in this photo (credit David Swann). I’m waaaay in the back with my arms raised. If you write flash, I highly recommend this annual weekend gathering! ❤️

Photo of the 100 or so attendees of the Flash Fiction Festival. They are seated in three rows, smiling, clapping, raising their hands.

A Thousand Shades of Green @shadesofgreen.bsky.social · 3w ago

For today's Sunday Poetry Series poem, I am delighted to share this beautiful piece, this perfect moment in time, from the Incredible @pmosbornewriter.bsky.social You can also hear more of Patricia's work on the podcast bhrater.podbean.com/e/patricia-m...

Kathy Fish @kathyfish.bsky.social · 3w ago

Creative Magic: Twenty-Three Fun & HUMAN Ways to Transform Your Lackluster Draft open.substack.com/pub/artoffla...

Creative Magic: Twenty-Three Fun & HUMAN Ways to Transform Your Lackluster Draft

Or create a whole new story out of thin air!

open.substack.com

Philippa Bowe @philippabowe.bsky.social · 3w ago

A must-read, there's something for everyone! 🎆🤩

European Writers Salon@saloneurope.bsky.social · 3w ago

Our latest newsletter is out! Find out about: Madrid Paris Online courses Online salon Book Club And more...

It may be coming up to midnight but it IS still Friday which is #PoemsAbout day and here's my response to the #PowerCut prompt - possibley influenced by @johnchmura.bsky.social's ferocious poems. 💜 Thanks @thebrokenspine.co.uk and @alanparrywriter.co.uk as ever. 🙏

Red box with black shading and the words of a poem:

from under their feet

pull the rug till their feet are scoured their balance thrown their foundations dissolved

smash the exposed flesh of their toes like Greek fishermen tenderising octopuses

pick the bones of their nastiness certainties breath-taking indifference until the flesh is gone

and when you’re done

carefully slice black hearts from their puffed-out chests and cut their power to shreds

European Writers Salon@saloneurope.bsky.social · 4w ago

The first @saloneurope.bsky.social in Brussels last year was bloody amazing - and it looks like Madrid this year is going to be even better! 🤩💜

Our full weekend tickets for Madrid nearly sold out now. Want to come? Book soon. Bursaries still available.

Eunoia Review@eunoiareview.bsky.social · 4w ago

What a stunning piece in @eunoiareview.bsky.social! 💫🤩🌟

They Say All Girls Are the Same I am pretty, no I am not as half as pretty as you. To me, you are a traffic light humming in time and your hair is pounding against the green, and everytime I blink, the sky turns into tin foil and reflects your version of pretty: your cheeks are always caught…

@kawalker.bsky.social · 4w ago

Excellent - congrats!! ✨🥳🥰

Delighted to be on the list!

Paul Brookes@thewombwellrainbow.bsky.social · last mo.

Delighted to have three poems featured as part of the amazing poetry and art feast created by @thewombwellrainbow.bsky.social, thank you Paul! 🙏💙

Welcome To The Starbeck Orion Summer Feast Fifty Days Of Poetry And Artwork. Day Five featuring the work of @philippabowe.bsky.social the880.substack.com/p/welcome-to...

A Thousand Shades of Green@shadesofgreen.bsky.social · last mo.

So happy to have a poem showcased by the very lovely @shadesofgreen.bsky.social - especially with an artwork illustrating it by my sister! Thanks Susan for your commitment to shining a light on poets and poetry! 🙏💙

I am super excited about today's incredible Sunday Poetry Series poem from @philippabowe.bsky.social and the perfect accompanying artwork from Phlippa's sister, Kate Bowe.

This week's #PoemsAbout prompt, #TheLook, took me straight to ABC's 1982 hit, the Look of Love. Look forward to reading the other responses over the rest of the weekend. Thanks as ever to @thebrokenspine.co.uk and @alanparrywriter.co.uk 🙏🩵

Dark blue box with the words of a poem in white:

The Look of Love
– letter to Martin Fry from David, age 16, Croyden

Dear Martin Fry, I really want your gold suit, I want your perfect helmet of hair, the glint in your eye, on your wry-smile mouth, but I don’t know if I want the look of love, I don’t know what it is, is it in the dimples of the boy at the supermarket checkout, the dip between the shoulders of another boy showing off on playground monkey bars, the slender curling fingers of yet another boy on the top deck of the no. 27 bus to Camden, because that’s all I can see, those boys, those jewels as shimmery as your suit, as the strings and bass and sax of your song – I look and look and look – is it love, is it? – don’t know how to stop, and I want to ask you, Martin, what if it isn’t love, what if my eye offends, what if I need to pluck it out and cast it away?

Midnight - just time for a #fragmentsFriday. Thanks to @blackboughpoetry.bsky.social and @matthewmcsmith.bsky.social 🙏🩵

Orange box with black shading and words of a micropoem:

hearted

you / fiery-lipped / frozen-hearted /
now I flame / now I shiver /
ice-sharded / but magneted

Cole Beauchamp 🏳️‍🌈 📖@nomad-sw18.bsky.social · last mo.

Congrats - what a stunner of a story! 🙌🏽💜

Really excited to make it into @fictivedream.bsky.social with this jazz-inspired piece, born in @smokelong.bsky.social Fitness. And a note to any disheartened writers - I have been subbing to this mag for 5 years. Keep going! You never know which story is going to do it so keep the faith 🙏🏽

Cole Beauchamp 🏳️‍🌈 📖@nomad-sw18.bsky.social · last mo.

Excellent - but also pretty shameful it's taken so long. One love!! 💜🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍🌈

Some brilliant news amongst the heatwave 🥵 that's cheered me tremendously. The UK govt has moved forward (at last!) on its plans to #BanConversionTherapy. LGBTQ+ people don't need to be "cured." You can't "make" us straight. Love is love. Thanks Stonewall 🙏🏽 www.stonewall.org.uk/news/governm...

European Writers Salon @saloneurope.bsky.social · last mo.

Good morning! In Madrid? Join us tomorrow evening for some informal drinks and chats and readings @desperatelit.bsky.social Please repost 🙏

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

Tomorrow: #PoemsAbout #TheLook. Don't explain the moment. Show it. A raised eyebrow. A lingering stare. A look that lands like a bruise. Theme opens tomorrow. Use Alt Text.

Soft-focus portrait of a person wearing a pearl necklace, with rainbow-coloured glitter streaked across one side of their face. Overlay text reads: “#PoemsAbout #TheLook”.

European Writers Salon @saloneurope.bsky.social · last mo.

Maybe this week I'll get back to posting for #Poemsabout on Friday 🤞but for now here's a late response to #OutAfterMidnight. Thanks as ever to @thebrokenspine.co.uk and @alanparrywriter.co.uk 🙏🩵

Photo of a nightclub with lights and people and a bar, overlaid with a grey box containing a poem:

Le Queen

Of course the Elysian fields of Paris / are where the Queen was to be found / of a weekend / every weekend / us faithful clubber bees buzzing inside her / the Queen and her hive / making honey with as many as we could / mostly boys with boys with boys / freedom for us girls / from the usual shark bother / ‘cos the Queen was a dark neon-lit ocean too / sharks circling and sharking each other / girls swimming free / and all of us / in at midnight out a dawn / tout le monde y trouvait son compte

Still some spots left for our quarterly online open mic salon. Join us!

European Writers Salon@saloneurope.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Can’t make it in person? Our Online Open Mic Salon is quarterly, free, and just as warm and welcoming as our in-person events💛 As usual, it will feature excellent readings, and a highly competitive quiz, and our illustrious host @kiklodge.bsky.social