For #FragmentsFriday host @matthewmcsmith.bsky.social of @blackboughpoetry.bsky.social A warning scratched into the tiled walls of the subconscious. A fragment about desire, denial, & the burdens we bury until they begin to bury us.

Who knew getting my ears pierced would unleash a full-blown earring addiction? 😂 What started as “I’ll just grab a couple of funky pairs” has spiralled into a situation where my earrings now need their own postcode. They’re running the place.

My #FuneralSong open.spotify.com/track/27hhIs...

I'm so tired, I just tried to stroke my robot vacuum, thinking it was the dog.

Crack on peeps!

Really looking forward to attending @thebrokenspine.co.uk #poemsabout #openmic … thank you 🙏 @alanparrywriter.co.uk , these evenings have always been super wonderful supportive spaces 🥰

Absolutely honoured to be part of this. Many thanks @alanparrywriter.co.uk

These are deep and perfectly suited for surfing #poetry that catches the waves to and from any shore. Another great @thebrokenspine.co.uk @alanparrywriter.co.uk project! bsky.app/profile/theb...

My pleasure!

I don’t say this lightly, this has been years in the making. I’ve worked with some of the finest poets I’ve come across, building this series: ten collections in total. Three waves of three — and one final, bumper anthology that will bring the whole project together. #TheWhiskeyTree #Wave3

Calling all troubadours! An idea. Post your audio poems. Tag them #PoemsAloud so they're easy to find & share. That's the idea. 🥳 Why? #PoemsAloud syncs perfectly w/ #PoemsAbout or can stand on its own. Some poems live beyond the page. I recorded a bunch & don't know what else to do w/ them 🤷‍♀️

Cmon Bluesky, do your thing! Wonderful to see BBP being increasingly active here!

There’s a difference between critique and performance. Writers deserve more than recycled criticism dressed up as authority.

Yesterday I covered a Harry Potter inspired tattoo, because... Rowling! In its place something that celebrates a mate who took his own life in 2005.

Having fun yesterday. youtu.be/cp6D_99Qshs?...

But yeah, stay on X 🙄 Clubs complain to X about 'sickening' Grok posts - www.bbc.co.uk/sport/footba...

A5 page. 2 poems. 10pt Times New Roman. That’s the formality. Everything else? Break it. Rip up the rulebook. Burn the workshop. Write it like it matters. #PoemsAbout #LiftToTheSky #PoetsOfBluesky #WednesdayWIPs #Poetry #SubmissionWindow

Well this is annoying! Alt Text: A person stands in low, warm light wearing a yellow sleeveless bodysuit. Their arms are tattooed, and they hold a pineapple at their lower torso. Their head is slightly bowed, expression unreadable.

Small Prophets is the first time I've been able to concentrate on a TV show since last October, & fuck me was it good! Tender and beautifully funny with an outstanding cast!

Love an acceptance email on a Monday evening! 🥳 A poem I wrote for #PoemsAbout will be on #BBC #Upload Thursday night. Thank you so much @adamcrowther.bsky.social for choosing it and @alanparrywriter.co.uk for prompting it! ❤️ #poetry #writing

whenever someone talks about line breaks online someone always shows up and says something like LINE BREAKS ARE ONLY THERE FOR BREATHS and I just can't imagine saying you love poetry while hating it so much

Thrilled to have a dark little poem in this upcoming anthology. Some cracking company and oh how I love naming the grim on occasion. Thanks @alanparrywriter.co.uk

My #LiftToTheSky today goes to the amazing @onlypoemsmag.bsky.social, a place I go when I feel the need to discover and read stunning poets and poems and know I'll never be let down! 🙏💜 @thebrokenspine.co.uk @alanparrywriter.co.uk onlypoems.com

As editor + founder, I’m tired of presses cosplaying “community” while using prizes as sales funnels. It’s nefarious, it’s cynical, and everyone knows it. We just don’t say it out loud. #TheBrokenSpineAward #ByPoetsForPoets #PoemsAbout #LiftToTheSky

Hey @robinince.bsky.social, thanks for the follow!

#NewYear brings new beginnings? Anyone else stepping into their #crone era? Leaving something behind? Starting a #ThirdAct? Send me links to your work! Here’s mine: www.amazon.co.uk/Trilogy-wido... Sent into the world thanks to the fabulous @alanparrywriter.co.uk @thebrokenspine.co.uk

Can’t wait!

Family day out at the tattooist’s 🖤 Three of us. One studio. No overthinking, rather meaning made permanent. At Amethyst Ink, tattooed by Z. Clean lines. Solid trust. No bullshit. Memory. Mischief. Love. Ink well spent.

Also featuring @katiejenkinspoet.bsky.social!!!

Submit your work 🫶🏼

I have opened this with immediate effect, submit people! Those waiting on responses ought to get them this week, for past calls.

So, just read that there are other An American Tail movies that were straight to video releases, and I am now desperate to see them! Also, kind of fancy a Fievel tattoo 😂😂😂

Didn’t expect to be swooning over Kelly Jones in leather or adding Geronimo to the shag playlist — but here we are. Came for the nostalgia, left a sweaty, grinning mess. My review’s live at The Broken Spine: 🔗 thebrokenspine.co.uk/2025/12/17/s...

Gig review: Still Crazee After All These Years: Slade, Dave Hill, and the Politics of Joy thebrokenspine.co.uk/2025/12/15/s...

'Everyday when I′m away And there's been a few Every land I need a hand To help me come through.' Slade were a lot of fun, review incoming. vm.tiktok.com/ZNRFLrDPB/

Tonight’s writing session spat this out, With a Lover (after Joan Armatrading). A poem about saying anything, doing anything, & meaning it. Dropping it here before I overthink it.

Guestlist for Slade tomorrow, & Stereophonics on Tuesday sorted! #Exciting open.spotify.com/track/3ODxqN...

Thank you so much. I think I've just about taken it in! Been on cloud 9! Still am.

Email saying I've had a poem accepted by Purple Ink Press, I don't even recall sending it out. Good times!

Thank you so much to @alanparrywriter.co.uk, @thebrokenspine.co.uk, for choosing my novella-in-flash as one of the three winners in the Summer 2025 Competition. I've been working on The Knack of Gaining Entry for years and have never given up on it. Now it has found a perfect home. I'm thrilled.

🥳🥳🥳

Still taking this in! Thrilled and honoured beyond belief. Congratulations to @lozzawriting.bsky.social and @belrimmer.bsky.social , and massive thanks to @alanparrywriter.co.uk . It's an absolute privilege, and a dream come true. So grateful 🙏 #poetry #poetrycommunity

This is the kind of stuff that excites sad lil editors like me! It's why I continue doing what I do. Wait till y'all read this work!

Nile Rogers is playing the pub two minutes from my workplace next August! Of course I'm going to that! #LetsDance #CestChic

And dance... open.spotify.com/track/2pH6l6...

BBC investigation into abuse of footballers online found that 'managers were targeted more than players, with 82% of abusive posts made on X' - the place is a shithole - but yeah, stay & be a cog in the wheel! Or leave & do something great? I celebrated 12 months gone on 13.11.25. Take a stand!

Well, this is almost too much!

Speaking plainly, my biggest lie... 'I'm fine.' I'm really not. I'm trying to carry on, but feel like I am losing grip of any progress I'd made. This cannot end too soon.