Reading Manchan Magan's ’99 words for rain’, this poem came to mind, considering the elegy not as a single act of mourning but cyclical process. What matters is not which season is “worst,” but each refracts grief differently, changing its texture rather than its presence #poetry #poemoftheday

In the car today with my son, age 20!, & he punched me on the shoulder & shouted ‘yellow car no return’, a game we hadn’t played in years Got thinking about all the other stuff we used to notice & exclaim when they kids were younger Reminded me of this. Don't stop noticing x #poetry #poemoftheday

As we start a new year Brendan Kennelly gives us a poem of hope, of finding joy in small things, of promises & choices & dreams There is resilience & determination ‘that we will forever begin’. Start from where you are, with what you have, & trust that this is enough #poetry #poemoftheday #NewYear

Thank you all for liking, engaging with, & sharing my posts. My final poetic gift of 2025 is the 1st poem from Jo Bell’s brilliant book ‘52- Write a Poem a Week’ Imagine finishing 2026 with 52 brand new poems, enough for a collection! Have a great 2026 #poetry #poemoftheday #amwriting #amreading

Here we have the need for comfort & solace when faith loosens but longing endures, prayer not confined to religion but a human experience ‘a woman will lift her head from the sieve of her hands’ A quiet incantation, perfectly captured in the final couplet #poetry #poemoftheday #sonnet

I have spent the most heartbreaking of mornings with the hauntingly beautiful poems of Mosab Abu Toha from his collection Forest of Noise. Poems gathered from the chaos and rubble of war #poetry #poemoftheday

This translation of Brecht's poem, from Tom Paulin's Namanlagh, sits ambiguously between both themes of the collection. It could address the notion questioning if a poet has stopped writing are they still a poet? Or is it a metaphor for partition? #poetry #poemoftheday

It looks like my letter to Santa got to the North Pole after all. This should keep me busy for a while #books #poetry #AmReading

One of the joys of this time of year is the later mornings, sitting at my desk or driving to work and watching the sunrise. Seeing light reclaim what was lost in the night. The healing, restorative power of the new day (and coffee!) #poetry #poemoftheday

“The poet does not use poetry, but is at the service of poetry. To use it is to misuse it.” - Denise Levertov I love the images in this poem. Also something clever about the repetition and effect of the line breaks in the final stanza #poetry #poemoftheday

Waking up to not a white Christmas but a frosty one - so cold a day. This poem by Emily Dickinson is personal as well as philosophical I love the second stanza and its various interpretations - how the road the Bethlehem has changed again in the last 150 years #poetry #poemoftheday #christmas

This is inspired by the Irish tradition of putting a candle in the window on Christmas Eve, a sign to the needy of an open door & food on the table. Then exploring in the 2nd stanza how a once hospitable nation has become less welcoming to strangers #poetry #poemoftheday #IrelandisNOTFull

Today's poem by Jennifer Horgan, from her collection 'Care', takes the Christmas ritual of assembling the Nativity scene and softly turns it into an act of moral attention, the quiet labour of caring for others #poetry #poemoftheday #Christmas #nativity #care

Sticking with the astronomy theme with this poem by Maggie Smith from her collection Goldenrod What I love about this poem is the child like interpretation of the science and that the poem is about something else entirely, but this is only mentioned in the title #poetry #poemoftheday #astronomy

I love summer but the winter solstice is my favourite day The lowest point of the year, but knowing tomorrow the days will be on the turn This quote from Camus is not necessarily optimism or denial. But rather joy as an act of resistance in a world that seems dark & cold #quoteoftheday #solstice

Reflecting on my recent posts by London & Millay considering the urgency of life. In this we see love is brief, fragile, and fiercely present. Williams reminds us that tenderness matters because time doesn’t wait. We must speak gently, hold carefully, and love now. #poetry #poemoftheday

Today's poem is for everyone who finished work for the holidays That holiday feeling after a few days off and too much to eat & drink and you can't remember what day or what time it is. You have lost the ability to count how many chocolates you have eaten #poetry #poemoftheday #Christmas

Continuing with the celestial theme. This from Michael Longley does what he does best He takes the 'every day' and weaves in the classics and creates something new, unexpected, emotionally powerful #poetry #poemoftheday #Astronomy

Confession - I googled to see if the claims of the poem were true (I won't spoil it for you) This, from Helen Mort's Division Street, is a moment of light balancing out the darker poems in the collection She has a post on her substack about how the poem was written #poetry #poemoftheday #spider

This poem is from Christmas 2020, the first Covid Christmas - it was a strange one. Each year it gets brought back out with the decorations. Reminding us to still be grateful to be here and remembering those who aren't ❤️ Art work by Lucas Atkinson #poetry #poemoftheday #covid #Christmas

I referenced this recently but it's worth sharing in full I first saw this on a plaque on The Sydney Writers Walk. It was one of those 'stopped in your tracks' moments True to his word London packed more into his forty short years than most of us will achieve in ten lifetimes #quoteoftheday

From my fav Duffy collection ‘The World’s Wife’, the story of great wives behind great men This turns a footnote in Will’s will into a love letter, of sorts. A marriage imagined as the inspiration & the object of his writing But then the implied disregard in the final line? #poetry #poemoftheday

As we move into the season of excess, I love Millay’s quiet and smiling refusal at restraint. At first glance, the poem seems almost flippant but beneath the surface is provocative tone. Much like Jack London’s thought ‘I would rather be ashes than dust…’ #poetry #poemoftheday

Here we have another winter poem of contrasts. The acts of love & generosity of the father & an undertone of violence. There's tension in the relationship Then the adult reflection of love unnoticed and perhaps understanding, but not condoning, the behaviour of the father #poetry #poemoftheday

No better time of year to contemplate the world’s incorrigible plurality, than Christmas. The haves & have nots, the spiritual & secular Under this sits MacNeice’s agnosticism & his father’s profound faith 'more than glass between the snow & the huge roses' #poetry #poemoftheday #christmas

Sometimes I read poems too quickly. This one deserves to be read slowly, to be read more than once, with attention paid to every word... and 'we should be careful of each other, we should be kind while there is still time' #poetry #poemoftheday

#poetry #poem #proverb #thoughtoftheday

From one of my favourite books of this year -Luke Kennard – Notes on the Sonnets A reimagining of Shakespeare’s sonnets set in a joyless house party. It is sharp, witty, and at times unsettling We have all been to parties like these, and sometimes wish we hadn’t #poety #poemoftheday #Shakespeare

It’s hard to put into words how proud I am to be part of this group as we celebrate 30 years together, I have been there for 29! This book has been months in the making and delighted to release it into the wild tonight. #poetry #poemoftheday #MentalHealthMatters #ItsOkayNotToBeOkay

A quote from Mary Shelley #quoteoftheday

I love the intersection between poetry and science. Here we have the physics of the heart balancing between knowing and unknowing, love and loss, presence and disappearance. Every line hums with quiet wonder and the ache of trying to hold what won’t stay still. #poetry #poemoftheday

We are who we are, & our people are always our people. There is much between the lines & words of this poem. There is unflinching honesty. There are strong women throughout the poem, culminating in that brilliant final line. ‘My People’ by Kim Moore, from The Art of Falling #poetry #poemoftheday

I was going to post something else today but this popped up on my Facebook memories from 10 years ago. My daughter did the illustration. She is now studying animation and is probably a better artist than her father is a poet ❤️ #poetry #poemoftheday #advent

Following the teaching theme. Recently, I heard Mike Garry perform ‘Signify’ with the Cassia String Quartet. I had tears in my eyes and a lump in my throat. Don’t just read the words, click on the link and listen. Buy the album open.spotify.com/track/2nSn3V... #poetry #poemoftheday

We all had teacher like Mrs Nelson. This is a gentle reminder of the life lessons grown into There is a great irony in the title, the wisdom being shared on the one day the poet was absent The line ‘The English lesson was that I am is a complete sentence’ is a poem in itself #poetry #poemoftheday

I love the comparison between the image of the baby's heart & St Kevin's story, 2 different prayers. But this holds an extra poignancy for me. Our eldest had a heart transplant at just 13 months. Each scan after that we prayed another's heart was beating strong #poetry #poemoftheday #giftoflife

This can be seen as a metaphor for violence or harm done out of prejudice towards ‘the other’ who is seen (wrongly) as evoking fear because they appear threatening, because they are different Note the use of ‘she’ in the final lines & the short lines that slow the poem down #poetry #poemoftheday

Spike Milligan is a great poet as well as a ground breaking comedian. His poetry is often funny & frivolous, but can be deep, poignant, and moving too. In this poem he has caught both, reflecting on the quiet heartbreak watching a child step out into their own life. #poetry #poemoftheday

My high school teacher asked us to share a favourite poem. She said my choice by Roland Bottrall was a poor example of a poem. I said nothing. 40 years later I am certain she was wrong. It has many poetic credentials, but most of all it has heart, and truth, and soul. #poetry #poemoftheday

I love a sonnet. The octave, general in terms, listing the necessities love fails to provide. Then in the sestet, more personal, and challenging the idea that ‘Love is All’. But even with that, at the end, the poet does not think she would trade or sell it for solace. #poetry #poemoftheday

Back home. This is for the young lady I spoke with in Krakow station, asking if we were on the right platform for the airport. She was going there too, at 7.00 on a Sunday, to meet her father (flying for the first time) & help him through security. #poetry #poemoftheday #poland #kindness

My last day in #poland Take notice of the world; broken & scarred. Yet, amid this there is still wine and wild strawberries and gentle sunlight. There is a quiet lyrical invitation to gratitude in this poem, to seeing ordinary miracles that persist in a wounded world. #poetry #poemoftheday

Continuing with the #Poland theme Różewicz presents a haunting testament to survival amplified by the juxtaposition of opposites. That these can co-exist in a person. What sometimes needs to be done to survive. Life continues, but every breath carries memory. #poetry #poemoftheday

Continuing with the #Poland theme We have all been here in this poetry reading. Nights when there were more readers than people in the audience. 'half are here because it’s raining, the rest are relatives’. The ‘Poetry Reading’ by Wisława Szymborska #poetry #poemoftheday

I am on holiday in #Krakow #poland The world doesn’t always end with thunder. Often it ends quietly, like when someone waters their flowers, or a child chases a butterfly. Milosz asks us to pay attention to the small, ordinary moments that keep our humanity intact. #poetry #poemoftheday

In Irish mythology ravens are omens of death or battle. They are bearers of both warning and wisdom. The sense of injustice in this poem is palpable. The third stanza is just brilliant ‘and you can’t pin water to a page’. According to the Ravens by Annemarie Ní Churreáin #poetry #poemoftheday

In response to Horses Graze by Gwendolyn Brooks @deborahrosereeves.bsky.social remarked on its similarity to The Piece of Wild Things by Wendell Berry Thank you 🙏 'I feel above me the day blind stars waiting with their light' #poetry #poemoftheday

Continuing (almost) with the horse theme This, from Layli Long Soldier's 'Whereas', is stark, brutal, and sobering in its narrative. The searing collection addresses the wholly inadequate 2009 Apology to Native Americans, considers the definition of nativity #poetry #poemoftheday

Continuing with my reflection of horses, in Horses Graze by Gwendolyn Brooks there is a fierce contentment, an invitation into a moment of stillness, a longing for simplicity and peace. ‘that creature feet may press only on a few inches of earth at a time’ #poetry #poemoftheday

This was immense Been a long time since I have seen a crowd reaction at a gig as intense as this, and an artist as visibly moved and motivated by the response ‘I have never been happier, chest against the barrier’ Kae Tempest - Vicar St. Dublin #poetry #poem