A great poem can cause the pulse to race, bring hope, empathy, understanding, the desire for action. Sean McNulty ponders the power of a poem at the other end of the spectrum, in this cautionary Pick of the Day www.abctales.com/story/sean-m...

Goodnight. ‘The moon is my mother. She is not sweet like Mary. Her blue garments unloose small bats and owls. How I would like to believe in tenderness— The face of the effigy, gentled by candles, Bending, on me in particular, its mild eyes.’ ~Plath The Moon: third day, Secrets of the stars, 1922.

Currently listening: m.youtube.com/watch?v=Yt67...

New interview with me over on the Substack. Thank you @paulburston.bsky.social for the questions. substack.com/@paulburston...

#poetryalert Never thought I'd be thanking a Pope for anything, but he did give me the title. A Handful of Tyrants www.abctales.com/story/ewan/h...

Hedgehogs wake from their winter sleep early in April. But what if they don't? In regions where they hold auspicious significance, this is not a good sign. Our 48th #darkspringtide story tells such a tale, of one who slept late in Bulgaria, in the spring of 1876. Read it below! 🎨 Jane Dignum

My latest story: Prophesy: The Immortal Witch Part 18 The Book of Revelations www.abctales.com/story/marand...

Apple blossoms and bird's nest, L. Prang & Co, 1878.

🖼️ Kelly Louise Judd

The Old Bullfrog, Roger Duvoisin. #FrogForFriday

Pigeon of the Day: Crested Pigeon 📷 Ben Johns

Book Cover of the Day:

Deer, Rosa Bonheur, c.1885.

🖼️ Dick Twinney

Morning. Crested Pigeon, Kyoko Imazu.

‘Oh! Who can be ever tired of Bath?’ ~ Jane Austen, Northanger Abbey. Tomorrow is #WorldHeritageDay and as such, #BookWormSat plans to visit the buildings or places of note, architecture, sites and monuments, real or imagined in literature. Do join us. 🖼️ Walter Richard Sickert

Pigeon of the Day: Seychelles Blue-Pigeon 📷 Mark Van Beirs

Book Cover of the Day:

🖼️ Dick Twinney

"At dusk, when the rain does not fall, the light is thin and the shadows stretch long, the Black Nun descends to the riverbank, clad in the silence of the abbey’s ruined choir, her habit as dark as the black adder’s coil, the one they call the hell adder" www.tumblr.com/whatthecrowt...

In Wales, dragonflies are called gwas y neidr, adder's servants, and we meet the adder today, in our 47th #darkspringtide tale, in the valley of the Eglwyseg River in Powys. Gwas y neidr collect prayers for her, those that should rather not be prayed. Read the story below.

Morning. 🖼️ Vanessa Cooper

Afternoon. Set of Three Pink Pigeons, Les Pigeon Rose, Unknown, 1811.

"Wind Sprite" 🎨 Bertha Lum (1920)

Goodnight. ‘I whistle gaily on starry nights Through the arch of the elfin northern lights, But in long white valleys I pause to hark Where the ring of the home-lights gems the dark. Come, ye earth-children, whose hearts are sad, I will make you valiant and strong and glad!’ ~ L M Montgomery.

Diolch i Nation Cymru am gyhoeddi fy erthygl am Benrhos. Many thanks to Nation Cymru for including my article about saving Penrhos Nature Reserve from development into a holiday complex. @save-achubpenrhos.bsky.social 1

"Woman in Water" 🎨 George F. Kerr (1902)

Mail is running a poll on whether the UK should rejoin the EU. Takes seconds to vote and it's going hilariously well… www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article...

It’s time to come out swinging. You care about short stories? Please read The Hotdog Short Story Manifesto. substack.com/@drewgummers...

Incredible writing. SoulFire77’s Ridgeline is our Pick of the Day. Do read and share. www.abctales.com/story/soulfi...

“He who shall take a pinch of the powder in this snuff-box and say the word ‘Mutabor’ shall be able to transform himself into any kind of animal and understand the creature’s language.” (Wilhelm Hauff "The Caliph Storck") 🎨 Andrey Babanovsky #wyrdwednesday

On #worldartday, we follow an impressionist painter to the woods in the heart of Brittany, where she would not paint people but violets. Or does she? Read her story in our 46th #darkspringtide tale below. 🎨 Edouard Manet "Berthe Morisot With a Bouquet of Violets" (1872)

Week off work and I have the worst cold. Started three weeks ago, felt poorly on and off, seemed to go, came back on my chest and larynx, my voice went, sore throat, now is firmly ravaging my sinuses. Peak misery yesterday and today. ‘Toad did not answer. He had fallen asleep.’ 🖼️ Arnold Lobel

Forget-Me-Nots, Marie Nyl-Frosch, late C19th.

🖼️ Ruby Keller

Oh wow. Can’t wait for this.

Pigeon of the Day: Pink Pigeon 📷 Josep Manchado #PigeonSky

Book Cover of the Day:

🖼️ Dick Twinney

🖼️ Józef Wilkon

Morning. From Set of Three Pink Pigeons, Les Pigeon Rose, Unknown, 1811.

Goodnight. ‘And all the lonelier stars that have their place, Calm lamps within the distant southern sky, And planet-dust upon the edge of space, Look down upon the fretful world, and I Look up to outer vastness unafraid And see the stars which sang when earth was made.’ ~ Marjorie Pickthall

#PigeonSky #BirdSky #Birds www.theguardian.com/film/2026/ap...

Wyrdlings, 271 years ago #OnThisDay, Dr Johnson published his famous dictionary & even if “aardvark” was left out, #BookologyThursday’s BookCat & the Mothers of #WyrdWednesday team up, take the opportunity & give you: “Absurd Words, Nonsense Poems, and Nursery Rhymes” as this week’s joined topic!

"The mümmlein cried and her nixie sisters wailed, but go she must, and the spirits of the Mummelsee made her a lantern from a will-o’-the-wisp, who also cried and wailed, and off she went to dry land, the Mummel-Liesel" www.tumblr.com/whatthecrowt...

#FolkloreThursday THIS WEEK! Join us 16th April for our Guardians of the Forest: Spirits, Deities, and Creatures of the Woods themed hosted #FolkloreThursday

Year after year, poor Mummel-Liesel the ex-nixie is forced to return to her pond in the Black Forest to report doom and gloom to her master, enthralled by his spells. Read more of Liesel in our 45th #DarkSpringtide tale below. 🎨 unknown, unfortunately

If you’re in America and want some bonkers British seaside stories featuring mermaids, killer seals, nuclear power station meltdowns it seems you can order my latest, Saltburn, from Barnes and Noble. www.barnesandnoble.com/w/saltburn-d...

From a collection called "A Story a Week": because that's how I wrote it. In the end it took 53 weeks to write (+ the word-wrestling to make each one make sense + arranging them). Controversial? Not everything is black-and-white - and I hope that comes across. www.abctales.com/story/ewan/j...

Tuesday plans: 🖼️ Rien Poortvliet