THE DIRIGIBLE BALLOON 🎈 will have a 3rd #anthology in aid of #KeepMeBreathing a charity that does vital work for children & adults. Thankful to Jonathan Humble & Colin West for including a #poem of mine within🙏🏻 Looking forward to supporting the anthology!❤️ #BooksChangeLives #Readforagoodcause #Poems

I’ve been sorting book data for work this week and it’s sad to see some great books are now out of print or hard to come by. For this week’s #KidsBooksFriday, what brilliant forgotten gems should we be looking out for in libraries and second hand bookshops? #KidLitUK #UKKidLit #KidLit

#PoemsAbout #WrongBody is live. Post through Thursday. We favour vivid imagery, queer voices, emotional honesty, sharp endings, and poems that avoid cliché. Read 3+, repost, reply. Use Alt Text.

time and time again Sue @sueimnw.bsky.social makes us think with such few words and nails it Bang on Sue 👍👏👍👏

Here’s my contribution for for #PoemsAbout #WrongBody thanks as ever to @alanparrywriter.co.uk @thebrokenspine.co.uk

Early stroll. Clouds scribbled across the sky. A snail inhabits its own slow time zone. Artificial flowers on a real windowsill. Two lengths of red string tied to a lamp post. A scratchcard in a garden.

This week's #PoemsAbout theme from @thebrokenspine.co.uk is #WrongBody and I wrote this...

Happy Friday!

Morning @thebrokenspine.co.uk @alanparrywriter.co.uk My #PoemsAbout #WrongBody is a post-migraine affair - prepare yourselves for rhyme 😂😬 Have a fantastic Friday! #poetry #poetrycommunity #writing

My two favourite people have harmonious prompts today so I couldn't not combine them 🖤💚 @daveashleypoet.bsky.social #JollyJune #Sun @sonnetsmith.bsky.social #WildWalkPrompt #Sand

Look what arrived in the mail! I’m grateful to be included in this beautiful magazine edition, bursting with joy. Edited by Sue Lancaster and designed by Graphic Arts & Type. Thank you, @thetoypress.bsky.social. Copies are available at the toy press.com/shop #kidlit #kidlitmagazine

Thank you so much to @cpsummit.bsky.social for letting me share my story and the bereavement anthology created in the family’s honour. Thanks to all the poets who got involved.

Can’t wait! Nothing like a bit of pressure! 😂 Seriously though - so many of my pieces that have gone on to be published have started here. 😊

Two days to go till National Flash Fiction Day! Read with us! Write with us! Publish with us! Celebrate with us! www.nationalflashfictionday.co.uk

#PoemsAbout #WrongBody starts Friday. Write identity, transformation, discomfort, liberation—or something entirely different. Surprise us. Draft now. Use Alt Text.

Mark Bird: Finding Solace Through Poetry childrenspoetrysummit.com/2026/06/11/m...

A beautiful article.

Mark Bird: Finding Solace Through Poetry childrenspoetrysummit.com/2026/06/11/m...

On #EmpathyDay and horrible news day, a children’s poem for those who may need it. #poetryforkids #kidlit #writingforkids. You can listen to it on The Dirigible Balloon - the wonderful free poetry-bank for kids. dirigibleballoon.org/poem/Ruckus-...

Many thanks to Jennifer Thomas and @littlethoughtspress.com for their wonderful review of A Catalog of Curious Creatures! I'm thrilled to know that my little collection of oddities is being enjoyed. #poetry #poetrycommunity #kidlit #writingforchildren www.littlethoughtspress.com/post/book-re...

A toe hello to @thetoypress.bsky.social! #WordOfTheWeek #WorldOceanDay2026 #PoetryCommunity #WritingCommunity #KidLit

Oh this is excellent. I love it 👏👏👏

Daily poetry prompt: What creature or creatures lurk inside you? Inside me there is a manta ray with the speed and grace of the waves. When I'm mad he leaps in angry arcs... More here: brian-moses.blogspot.com/2019/06/insi...

Thanks @thetoypress.bsky.social for #wordoftheweek prompt #wave. Apologies for not writing a sea-based one. You may pick up from the cultural references of the time - this is from my own childhood! 😂 #PentreIfan #standingstone #poetryforchildren #poetryforkids #poetry #writingforchildren #kidlit

Absolutely thrilled to have 2 poems in The Aftershock Review. What a great place to be! I love this mag. Thank you @maxwallis.bsky.social. Here’s Tigers 🙂🐯

‘When Skeletons Rise’ is to be published next week. Very excited! I always feel awkward about mentioning this, but preorders are helpful to authors, so if you’re itching to order a book . . . (If you order from bookshop.org you'll also be helping dedicated indie booksellers all over the country.)

An old poem, but I've just edited it. I recall it caused quite the hoo-hah on Mumsnet when I first put it on the interweb. 'LEAVE THE BABY TO CRY' joshuaseigalpoet.blogspot.com/2023/12/leav... #BookSky #poetry #poetrycommunity

I've been feeling a little spooky, so this week's #wordoftheweek from @thetoypress.bsky.social felt like that perfect opportunity to create a haunting little verse. #poetry #kidlit #poetrycommunity #writingforchildren

Take part in our brand new Birds in Greenspaces survey for a day➡️ www.bto.org/greenspaces 🐦 We’re encouraging everyone to sign up, download the app and give it a go. 🌳 Just explore your local greenspace, which could be a park, football pitch or cemetery & record the birds that you see or hear.

1 month and 1 week to go… 🥰

For #WorldOceanDay - a poem about my favourite kind of tropical beach! 🦀🌴🐐 #mangrove #poetry #writing #WorldOceansDay

We asked the wonderful Simon Mole how he feels being shortlisted for the #CLiPPA26 for his poetry collection 'A First Book of Bugs' published by Walker Books UK. This was his response...

All are welcome to contribute. Thank you to @janpsolivagant.bsky.social Jan for last week's #promptcombo. Please use tags #promptcombo #NothingMakesSenseNowadays and tag me @thewombwellrainbow.bsky.social outrage gets clicks, feeling detached from reality,

For today's #BirdOfTheDay theme #WorldOceansDay with thanks to Alan - another photo from my local beach 💙

For #WorldOceanDay - a poem about gannets from @dustpoetry.bsky.social #poetry #gannet

A poem about barnacles for #WorldOceanDay from the Unwhispered Legacy Anthology @paulwritespoems.bsky.social #poetry #barnacles #lifecycle

Hullo @tomsnarsky.bsky.social and to #smallpoemsunday Thanks again for this lovely invention. #poetry

I write a lot of poems about the sea! Here is another - about the greatest migration on earth🪼🦑🌓 from #TheDirigibleBalloon #poetryforkids #poetry #worldoceanday #kidlit dirigibleballoon.org/poem/The-Eveni…

For #WorldOceanDay tomorrow I’m giving #Orcadia a little trip out! dirigibleballoon.org/poem/Orcadia #poetry #poetryforkids #whales #kidlit @northernjim.bsky.social #SkySurfing

Update coming soon wrt our third anthology. Thank you to that splendid human Colin West for all he has done (and is doing) to make our aeronautical adventures a reality. Thanks also to the wonderful Richard Trinder of The Yorkshire Times & Yorkshire Times Publishing. #PoetryForChildren #TheBalloon

@zoomburst.substack.com #Odd #OpportunityKnocks In the spirit of alternative #PoemsAbout while @alanparrywriter.co.uk takes a break today..here's a very early one, first appeared in Dreich Love Anthology. Be back after a day walking in the Yorkshire Wolds....

It's an #OddFriday with no #PoemsAbout so @zoomburst.substack.com has created #PoemsOn #OpportunityKnocks so we can still have some Friday fun. Thanks Mike ☺️ I am combining mine with #AmpersandAfterDark by @madp03t.bsky.social too as I only had time to write one poem! Have a great weekend all ❤️

afternoon Friday with no #PoemsAbout this week so well pleased that Mike @zoomburst.substack.com has provided us a platform #OddFriday #PoemsOn #OpportunityKnocks happy weekend everyone everywhere here’s my little “throwaway” poem

Good morning @blackboughpoetry.bsky.social #FragmentsFriday my first ever attempt at this, so I might shock someone, but otherwise it might not hit the brief, but it is 18 words. Simmer Dim is used in Shetland and sometimes The Orkney Islands to refer to summer evening twilight around midsummer.

Enjoyed The Spring Feast then this is for you and your writing. Contribute 3 of your unpublished writings to The Starbeck Orion Summer Feast Of Poetry And Artwork. Here are the contribution details: open.substack.com/pub/the880/p...

Not sure if anyone's around in the absence of a #PoemsAbout theme, and have been busy with birds, but inspired by @zoomburst.substack.com alternative Friday #OddFriday #PoemsOn #OpportunityKnocks so there's this...

Morning #OddFriday poets! Here is my #PoemsOn (or is it #PoemOn ? ) #OpportunityKnocks. Well done and thank you @zoomburst.substack.com for sorting! Sorry if you’ve see this one before. Happy Friday! 😊 #poetry #youngcarer

It has Alan's blessing, so who's in? I need my Friday fix!!!

Another superb open mic hosted by Paul @paulwritespoems.bsky.social. Fantastic readers, all 🙌🏼

In the absence of a #PoemsAbout this week, I am going to suggest an #OddFriday of #PoemsOn #OpportunityKnocks. I don't want to tread on the toes of @alanparrywriter.co.uk - so I am more than happy to take this down if he has something up his sleeve. I just want to have my regular read this Friday.