The rain In Spain Falls mainly On the plain The pants In France Require A Gallic stance The pails In Wales Are full Of foaming ales The light In Wight Fades clean away At night

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I’ll tape my snoring Make a live double album Called Sonic Midnight

I try to be

Such a brilliant bookshop @thebookvault.bsky.social !

Ha!

Looking forward to Red River Valley from @imcmillan.bsky.social, stay tuned for more information from your friendly, local* bookshop. Or beat the rush and pre-order now! *If you live near tarn

Excellent!

Pleased to announce that my new collection of poems, Red River Valley, is coming out from Carcanet Press in October. You can pre-order it from your local independent bookshop, ask your library to stock it, or take advantage of Waterstones giving a discount if you pre-order in the next 3 days.

Half dead intellectual

Rent? Spent! As they used to say down North Street!

Isla took a picture of me trying (and failing) to look poetic!

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Isla took my photo!

Isla’s sugar glider

Now dawn's light first breaks, Thoughtful, racing baby steps Through bejewelled grass.

Isla’s coming over today so we’re off to town to make some art at the brilliant and vital Barnsley Civic!

First cup of tea: and then I woke up and it wasn’t all a tea dream.

www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/.... Early stroll soundtrack: mind-expanding music by Joy Guidry and Alice Coltrane @bbcsounds.bsky.social

At the shop I open the box and get the papers out. The shopkeeper arrives. The Bloke With The Dog arrives. The Bloke With Two Dogs arrives. A workman arrives. It’s like the first scene of a contemporary opera. I might write it one day.

Early stroll. Light’s grip seems to tighten. A pigeon shows off by flying away. A faint wafting scent of bacon. Two buses pass, going to NOT IN SERVICE; I’ve been there. Ripe blackberries punctuate a hedge.

Self-portrait with Rothko at the Palazzo Strozzi in Florence

@imcmillan.bsky.social @jodenn.bsky.social @iansheffield50.bsky.social @ian64.bsky.social
@alqleeds.bsky.social @allanjenkins21.bsky.social
@jaketilson.bsky.social @austenpaulh.bsky.social Two day delivery from China took a month and missed our anniversary but our joint present looks good

Don’t think so

Peak District An insomniac sheep shrieks beyond the low stone wall alongside which I lie, attempting sleep. This is fine. @imcmillan.bsky.social

Sleep scuttled out the bedroom door. Sad, I search for. Upstairs. Downstairs. Maybe, back in bed?

My bedside clock stopped; It was forever midnight. Until it wasn’t.

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www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/.... Evening stroll soundtrack: more brilliant Black Dyke Band at the BBC Proms @bbcsounds.bsky.social

Afraid not; I’ll be there the week before and on the 1st

Each equinox noon around the equator's girth denies shadow's birth

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I wake at half-six. My body's inner workings Force me from my bed.

The restless small hours, a poem unfolds, perfect -- I wake, and it's gone.

www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/.... Afternoon stroll soundtrack: this brilliant BBC Prom with the Black Dyke Band. @bbcsounds.bsky.social

Looking forward to meeting up with ace artist Iain Nicholls today to spout some arty/poety talk!

@imcmillan.bsky.social Lines, Nuneaton

I wake about eight, Nothing upstairs this morning, There could be later.

Ah, this one was for Pauline

Aye

They keep saying they’re going to get some new ones. Apparently the boss asked who the bloke was he saw on CCTV getting the papers out of the box, so maybe I am on the team!

First cup of tea: from Old Kent Road to Mayfair.

www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/.... Early stroll soundtrack: a splendid selection of music curated by Emily Pilbeam. Brilliant live tracks by Walt Disco! @bbcsounds.bsky.social @bbc6music.bsky.social

Morning Dave

Off for a slow run Looking at colours and shapes Rehearsing paintings

The shop is open when I arrive. I carry the papers in and the shopkeeper closes the metal lid of the box. I snip the bands with the blunt scissors. The Bloke With The Dog comes in and buys apples and oranges.

Early stroll. I am carrying an apple and a birthday card. The faintest whisper of drizzle. A white van reversing like a time machine. That dropped ice cream could be a photorealist painting. A rainbow’s hopeful bridge.

Vintage 'Verb' @imcmillan.bsky.social! @bradleytaylorpoet.bsky.social defies gods. @profangiehobbs.bsky.social is a spell-binding reader of Horace-Latin & English. @betarish.bsky.social lights a poem with celandines:'it's a joy to exist'.Samantha Wynne-Rhydderch moves beautifully from place to myth.

I wake at half-four, Words dancing around my head; I’ll make poems from them.

www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/.... Evening listening: great to hear the Spanish National Orchestra at the Proms! @bbcsounds.bsky.social