Sometimes poetry has no interest in being enjoyable. Sometimes it sets out to capture rage or despair. This gut-wrenching poem by Gwen Harwood is one such example...
Matthew Stewart
@roguestrands.bsky.social
Weaving ways through poetry. Second full collection, ‘Whatever You Do, Just Don’t’, a Poetry Society Book of the Year 2023, available from HappenStance Press.
I'm the Guest Poetry Editor for the October issue of The Madrid Review. Subs are now open and I look forward to reading your poems...! themadridreview.substack.com/p/submission...
Submissions for the October edition are open!
Please spread the message far and wide and we'd love to read your work from wherever you are in the world!
themadridreview.substack.com
It's odd, when we are overwhelmed with AI slop on all sides, how recognising excellence became so denigrated as a concept. To the point that spinning a random pointer and shouting ‘Numberwang!’ is apparently the approved way of disbursing taxpayers’ money. Do the taxpayers know?
I’m not myself eligible for this, as despite being Scottish I am not resident in Scotland, but I couldn’t in all conscience apply for it even if I was.
Maria Taylor is an ace poet from the U.K. who's just joined Bluesky. She'll be well worth a follow... mariadtaylor.bsky.social
mariadtaylor.bsky.social
mariadtaylor.bsky.social
As parents, we're supposed to remember the first time we did stuff with our kids, but the last time is equally as significant, if not more. This poem is from Whatever You Do, Just Don't (HappenStance Press, 2023), my second full collection...
Maria Taylor is an ace poet from the U.K. who's just joined Bluesky. She'll be well worth a follow... mariadtaylor.bsky.social
mariadtaylor.bsky.social
mariadtaylor.bsky.social
I've hated nearly every single poem anyone has ever posted on here (that I've seen). This took my breath away.
Matthew Stewart@roguestrands.bsky.social · 2d agoSometimes poetry has no interest in being enjoyable. Sometimes it sets out to capture rage or despair. This gut-wrenching poem by Gwen Harwood is one such example...
Sometimes poetry has no interest in being enjoyable. Sometimes it sets out to capture rage or despair. This gut-wrenching poem by Gwen Harwood is one such example...
Poem a day - Day 10 Driving lesson from Whatever You Do, Just Don’t Makes me wonder about everything becoming “automatic” and losing the spaces in between.
If we don't use our small poetry presses, we'll lose them. This is why I refuse to flinch or shy from asking you to purchase a copy of Whatever You Do, Just Don't, my second full collection. Here's a sample poem from the book. Just drop me a DM and I'll sort out a signed copy for you...
6433 and 1356 - the numbers of two combination locks that were used by my family to lock our bikes in the 1970s. DOBs of my mother, father and brother but almost no one else. Numbers of the houses I lived in during university. My National Insurance number. My banking PIN, now 43 years old!
Douf! This one really hits. Two perfectly balanced stanzas to capture the Before & After, the retrospective gaze of loss. That silhouette in nightgown. The halo of hair. Wonderful poem, very affecting. 👏
My mums co op number, my dad's ford zypher and our home phone number
The reg for my mum's old Austin Allegro, the number for the first phone we had and the first 3 house numbers I lived at.
This is a poem of loss, taken from Whatever You Do, Just Don't (HappenStance Press, 2023)...
Certain numbers accompany us through our lives, connected to our memories of people and places, of significant events. What numbers remain with you decades later? And why? This poem is taken from Whatever You Do, Just Don't (HappenStance Press, 2023), my second full collection...
Our Submissions are open! Theme: 'Into the night'. Guest editors @annabeerauthor.bsky.social and @roguestrands.bsky.social All the details: open.substack.com/pub/themadri... Please send us your work and repost! #subsopen #submissions #poetry #prose #writing #writers #author #poet
Submissions for the October edition are open!
Please spread the message far and wide and we'd love to read your work from wherever you are in the world!
open.substack.com
My mother worked in the library just next to my primary school, which accounts for my vision being about ten dioptres away from being able to read an optician's chart*. But I also have thousands of books (a few ex-that-very-library). *Until I got new lenses put in, science is wonderful.
The emotional significance of objects sends ripples through our lives, which is why this is often my final poem when I give a reading. It's taken from my second full collection, Whatever You Don't, Just Don't. If you fancy a signed copy, drop me a DM and I'll sort one out for you...
Libraries are transformative. In fact, Farnham Library saved me. Kept me afloat when I was being bullied at South Farnham Middle School in the 1980s. This poem from Whatever You Do, Just Don't is my homage to it...
Matthew Stewart@roguestrands.bsky.social · last yr.The emotional significance of objects sends ripples through our lives, which is why this is often my final poem when I give a reading. It's taken from my second full collection, Whatever You Don't, Just Don't. If you fancy a signed copy, drop me a DM and I'll sort one out for you...
Poem a Day - Day 8 La Vendimia from Whatever You Do, Just Don’t The feeling of time, place, activity and senses but with so few words…
I'm the Guest Poetry Editor for the October issue of The Madrid Review. Subs are now open and I look forward to reading your poems...! themadridreview.substack.com/p/submission...
Submissions for the October edition are open!
Please spread the message far and wide and we'd love to read your work from wherever you are in the world!
themadridreview.substack.com
Following an exchange about "Other Poetry" with @roguestrands.bsky.social I dug out my first published poem (from 1984). Have now just done a lot of chucking (other)stuff out! @thebrokenspine.co.uk #PromptCombo #Typewriter .
Poem a day - Day 7 Calor from Whatever You Do, Just Don’t My scalp tingles just reading this
Steven Blyth was a significant name on the U.K. poetry scene back in the 1990s. These days, his star seems to have faded, maybe due to trends and fashions having changed, but I still enjoy his poems. Here's an example of his writing...
I note that Poetry Wales hit their cap of 550 submissions (i.e. about 1750 poems) in the first 24 hours after opening their window. Yet sales of poetry collections and print-based mags have plummeted over the past few years....