When you say "it'll only take 20 minutes to knock up a survey" then realise it needs to be in #Gàidhlig as well as English...

Nice to be able to post a quick little poem for #poemsabout #spent after a bit of an enforced absence last week (bad cold). Thanks @alanparrywriter.co.uk / @thebrokenspine.co.uk for the prompt and to everyone contributing! #poems #poetry #writingcommunity #poetrycommunity #scottishpoetry

This Friday, the multi-platform event #fragmentsfriday - post your own #micropoem of 18 words or less. No AI. Just your own genius. Fridays only. #poetry #poetic

My latest blog piece, a look at how UK Government energy policy is financially penalising Scottish energy producers and consumers in order to subsidise the south of England, and contaminating Scotland with radioactive waste. weegingerdug.wordpress.com/2026/02/17/w...

An cnoc fo chòta sneachda madainn an-diugh... #isleofskye

Well, thanks Paul for a real challenge of a #PromptCombo this week, #AChangeOfUse was definitely outside my poetic comfort zone but always fun to stray! @thewombwellrainbow.bsky.social #poems #poetry #poetrycommunity.

Here's a wee poem I wrote last night for the new #fragmentsfriday from @matthewmcsmith.bsky.social @blackboughpoetry.bsky.social - the challenge: one poem 18 words or less! #poems #poetry #poetrycommunity

Here's a poem I wrote for this week's #poemsabout #undressed. Thanks @thebrokenspine.co.uk & @alanparrywriter.co.uk for the prompt and everyone for already amazing contributions! #poems #poetry #poetrycommunity

Absentee landlord of Scottish island urges community buyout https://www.scotsman.com/news/absentee-landlord-of-scottish-island-urges-community-buyout-5532074 #scothinews

Thanks to @matthewmcsmith.bsky.social and @blackboughpoetry.bsky.social for hosting an excellent #poetry open mic last night - an amazing group of poets sharing some incredible work! A privilege to be part of it!

SHARE AWAY!!! Announcing a new project - a platform each Friday. #FRAGMENTSFRIDAY’ - 18 words or less - a startling, inventive poem. Tag in #fragmentsfriday and @blackboughpoetry.bsky.social & share one startling fragment of your own poetry. No A.I. generated poetry!

Did you bookmark this month’s Poetic Voice from The Book Bag? If you did you’ll know a new poem was added today from @thepaulconnolly.bsky.social Read the article here: paulwritespoems.com/2026/02/01/t...

A great prompt word @dragonslayerma.bsky.social thank you. #promptcombo #ecstasy #poems #poetry

The work on making National Conversations about digital happen in the May elections is starting to heat up. Working on prelection hustings on Digital Society and the Private Sector and Economy as well as a post-election event on the State and Public Sector nationalconversations.org

I rather enjoyed writing this poem for #promptcombo #ecstasy between re-grouting the shower. Thanks @dragonslayerma.bsky.social, what a great start to the week! #poems #poetry

For #PromptCombo this week, it's #ecstasy. Use the hastags & tag me to get involved. ❤️ This video of me reading my poem "My Man" is from a series of poetry videos Julie & I did during Covid. @victoriaspires.bsky.social @hool415.bsky.social @thewombwellrainbow.bsky.social @rfsmith.bsky.social

Lovely to wake up to Paul’s review of my new collection! Thanks @paulwritespoems.bsky.social

Sorry to jump on the #poemsabout hashtag, but I am thinking of putting out a selection of poems on the theme of heresy on the #SixtyOdd #Poets page on Sunday Feb 15th to commemorate Galileo's 462nd Birthday. Anyone want to send me anything? (email in alt text)

This week's #poemsabout #mouths just wasn't working, I almost gave it a swerve - until this popped into my head yesterday! Kōtare (Māori) is a watchtower around a pā (fort) but, more commonly, a kingfisher! Thanks @thebrokenspine.co.uk & @alanparrywriter.co.uk #poems #poetry

Here you can order a paperback of my new collection: amzn.eu/d/0eShe3YJ

What a fabulous #promptcombo this week - #tracks! Thanks @hool415.bsky.social! I went with the train and a memory that popped into my head - that small boy is now 26! #poems #poetry #scottishpoetry

It's here!!! The return of The Book Bag: Poetic Voices series brings us a wonderful poet with an exceptional vigour and gravitas while performing their work. Meet this month's Poetic Voice #poetry #featuredpoet

Là Fhèill Brìghde…

Bluesky’s appeal for authors isn’t scale, it’s signal. Fewer ads, fewer bots, more genuine conversation. That environment rewards curiosity and consistency. #WritingCommunity

#PoemsAbout #BlackVeils is live. Write into concealment. What you guard. What you refuse to translate. What survives because it stays covered. Post from today. Tag #PoemsAbout #BlackVeils to be read and shared. Use Alt Text. Take care with each other.

Good morning everyone, happy to share this draft poem with you for #poemsabout #blackveils. Another tricky prompt from @alanparrywriter.co.uk @thebrokenspine.co.uk! Look forward to reading others later! #poems #poetry #scottishpoetry #scottishwriting

Final days. Submissions close at the end of January. Once the window shuts, that’s it. If the poem is ready, send it. #PoemsAbout #LiftToTheSky #WednesdayWIPs #SpineEdicts #PoetryCommunity #SubmissionWindow #OpenCall #Poetry

This week's #promptcombo #moment took me back to a poem I wrote in 1998 and was part of my first collection in 2006 (eek)! Thanks @rfsmith.bsky.social for reminding me, it was nice to revisit it and St Kevin's Arcade back home in Auckland! #poetry #poems #writingcommunity

This week's #promptcombo #moment took me back to a poem I wrote in 1998 and was part of my first collection in 2006 (eek)! Thanks @rfsmith.bsky.social for reminding me, it was nice to revisit it and St Kevin's Arcade back home in Auckland! #poetry #poems #writingcommunity

What does it mean to belong across cultures, distances & generations? My new poetry collection, 'Through salt-heavy seas' maps the emotional geography of love, loss and displacement: www.lulu.com/shop/andrew-... #poetry #poems #writingcommunity #BookSky #scottishpoetry

Pleased to have been able to contribute to IPSA's review of MPs salaries and funding, through their green paper, expert groups and by supporting their citizens' forum. More here... theipsa.org.uk/whats-democr...

A wee poem about what the land remembers (and we too often forget to hear) for #PromptCombo #subtext. Thanks @victoriaspires.bsky.social for a tricky prompt and apologies for not being brave enough to tackle the terza rima! #poems #poetry #writingcommunity #decolonisation

Last week bent time. This week: #FalseCrowns — borrowed authority, inherited power, praise that doesn’t fit. Who crowned you? Who benefits from you believing it? New theme opens Friday. Don’t post early. Use Alt Text. Tag #PoemsAbout to be found.

Morning #PromptCombo crew. It's me hosting this week and the theme is #Subtext. This poem is a #terzarima and very much not in my usual style (written as an exercise with @noelcowley.bsky.social some while ago). You don't have to write one, though (I know how much @hool415.bsky.social hates form) 😁

Teaghlach Canadianach nan uachdarain air Oighreachd Shlèite - www.bbc.co.uk/naidheachdan...

Exciting news guys. Our Procedure Browsable Space (TM) now comes with a legislation lookup URL. Simply plug in the legislation.gov.uk URI of an Act and you'll get taken post haste to a list of instruments currently before Parliament enabled by that Act api.parliament.uk/procedure-br...

Hey @alanparrywriter.co.uk here's an offering for #poemsabout and #timeslips What we don't realise at the time. Lovely to be back and seeing everyone here. I'll chat more later. @brokenspinearts.bsky.social

For #PoemsAbout #TimeSlips, I shared this elsewhere in Dec.* The world does as it pleases, but we're in conversation with it, & there’s agency in that. We don’t know what’s possible until we try. Go bravely, then. Try. #Compassion *[written before events in MN. Some actions are gravely final. 💔]

Here's a little offering for #PoemsAbout #Timeslips. Thanks @alanparrywriter.co.uk / @thebrokenspine.co.uk and of course all the contributors; bit busy with work today so will dip in to read others! #poems #poetry #writingcommunity

Thought I’d do a mega hread on NPR, partly because I’ve seen some London based commentary that doesn’t really get the bigger picture quite right imho

A bit of a change from my usual for this week's #promptcombo #TakingItUpStairs, but it felt timely. Thanks to Ben Okri and George Orwell for the ideas and, of course, Paul @thewombwellrainbow.bsky.social for the great prompt! #poems #poetry #PoetsAreDangerous

The Loud Poets Open Mic returns on January 26! We are delighted to return to the Scottish Storytelling Centre in 2026 with our Open Mic. You can sign up to perform here: forms.gle/qqDAjGcmf6oh... The event is FREE (no ticket required), with doors at 6.30 for a 7pm start

A starter pack of people and poets associated with #prompts Please follow them and repost the pack #promptcombo #vss365 #poemsabout #poetrycommunity #poetsonbluesky

As a New Year lift for people who have been kind to me on here, a thread featuring all my starter packs. First up, a starter pack of Writers Looking for an Agent. Please follow the writers here and repost the pack #booksky #writingcommunity

Lots of new folks, especially pols, arriving - put together a starter pack of practitioners in the digital/service design/policy/transformation sector go.bsky.app/ezrTxN

A bit of a change from my usual for this week's #promptcombo #TakingItUpStairs, but it felt timely. Thanks to Ben Okri and George Orwell for the ideas and, of course, Paul @thewombwellrainbow.bsky.social for the great prompt! #poems #poetry #PoetsAreDangerous

Here's something I wrote earlier for #poemsabout #static. Happy new year everyone and thanks as always to @alanparrywriter.co.uk @thebrokenspine.co.uk for the great prompt! #poems #poetry

#PoemsAbout #Static is live. Write into the interference. The hiss between words. Signals crossed. Messages stalled. What won’t resolve. What keeps buzzing. Post from today. Tag #PoemsAbout #Static to be read and shared. Use Alt Text. Take care with each other.

Poetry publication opportunity - call from Wed 28th January to Sun 1st Feb. Normal submis*ions are submit up to 3 poems but you can submit 5 if you bought our current anthology ❄️ 🦌 www.blackboughpoetry.com/events @paulwritespoems.bsky.social