Found some exciting books by the bins. Here are some of their more and less proficient illustrations. I especially love the 'wild cat' from behind, as if only ever glimpsed leaving.

“When you want to see something clearly, do not shine too much light on it, do not exile all the shadows from its surface. Our duty—when faced with a true mystery—is not to explain it but to deepen it, to transform it into a greater mystery.” -- Lucian Blaga

My #poem 'Slow' and accompanying interview are in Modron magazine today, amongst lovely company, including a thoughtful and timely editorial. modronmagazine.com/more-than-hu...

Thinking there should be a world day of 'finding a #poet on social media and sending them a message of gratitude and appreciation for a poem they have written'. I have many in mind, and have only told a few.

I have a new sad and angry #poem with Black Iris Poetry's 'poetry of breaking news' on instagram today, in response to the UK's possible plan to confiscate jewellery and other belongings from asylum seekers to pay for 'processing costs'. www.instagram.com/p/DRmfvV6jZwd/

This took courage, and makes me feel very vulnerable, but here I share some insights into how the recent Laika situation played out for me – along with a plea for more compassionate social media engagement. We need reflection, not retribution. www.thetimes.com/uk/scotland/... If useful: archive.is

I so love Poppy Cockburn's poem from @perversemag.bsky.social - the cheery last line (like 'how are you?'/ 'Good thanks' exchanges when this isn't how one is feeling) versus the longing (I think?) of what precedes. I never watched Twin Peaks, but don't feel I needed to for this poem to resonate.

A brilliant article - well worth a read.

Lovely to have my lightbulb #poem out in the world today. Thank you, @perversemag.bsky.social 💡. Do check out the issue, and the archive - lots of gems.

I'd heard of a rare #squirrel a couple of times on local Facebook groups...and found him today - isn't he beautiful!

My little UFO poem has found the perfect home with @atriumpoetry.bsky.social today - thank you so much to @clairewalkerpoetry.bsky.social for her patient checking of how-to-spell-teletubby too! atriumpoetry.com/2025/09/30/u...

Thank you for reading and sharing today's poem - brassband by @niaandthepoems.bsky.social

1st October is the start of the annual #pheasant shooting season. I wrote this unpraise poem with these poor birds in mind. If you have a moment, please consider signing this @animalaid.org.uk petition to end the shooting of birds in the UK - action.animalaid.org.uk/page/135232/...

'These days, the only poems that really embarrass me are the ones that refuse to wrestle in some way with their own smallness and contingency—to acknowledge that a page of poetry is not the same kind of place as a town hall or a war zone or a protest or a poll site.' yalereview.org/article/mill...

Such a moving read - how a small, lost dog resonates and captivates... www.newyorker.com/news/the-wee...

This year's 2 cubs I watch from my window are growing beautifully, and now have their adult coats and eye colours. What a serene looking face this little one has 🧡

We celebrate the bull, believed to have escaped from an abattoir, that ran loose in Birmingham, yet almost everyone participates in the cruel and grisly trade in body parts which keeps abattoirs in business.

Fox Villas news 🧡 - there are only two cubs this year, but they are beauties - a boy and a girl with lovely chunky legs to grow into. Here is the bolder of the two.

Welcome, little one. Here beginneth #chick (gull-let? Gullet?) season.

Honoured to have two poems in this beautiful anthology from @sidhepress.bsky.social. All proceeds go to The Sameer Project. The physical book is available from Amazon, and the ebook is just 5.99 Euros, and can be purchased directly from Sidhe Press here: www.sidhe-press.eu/product/to-l...

I'm really sorry, but we just need to stop doing this. Your wood-burning hygge leads directly to people's deaths - other people's and perhaps your own. www.theguardian.com/environment/...

From last week: How Can I Make People Care? #Disability #CIADISH #NEIS louisekenward.substack.com/p/how-can-i-...

Wow. We are over half-way there. So grateful for the extraordinary response to this appeal from our community. Thank you. We're starting to reach out to schools, plan boxes to send out, & get those books onto library shelves. Please help us spread the word! #poetry fundrazr.com/22Wg69?ref=s...

Just reading the National Poetry Competition winners' anthology - love this moment of noticing by Matt Barnard, that feels like a rites of passage. poetrysociety.org.uk/poems/two-bo...

Hey poets! These are the words now banned or discouraged at federal agencies—on yer mark, get set, ✍️….

#Poetry post joy this morning from @candlestickpress.bsky.social 💚 edited by the lovely Vanessa Lampert, and including my poem 'Symbiosis'. Much gently nourishing noticing here (swallows, a cat to confide in, a heart x-ray) and a humanity that is tender and relatable in this fragile world of ours.

Loved this poem by Elaine Ewart in @atriumpoetry.bsky.social Dear collared doves and their three-twigged embracing of all that's precarious. And such poignancy in the 'without you'. atriumpoetry.com/2025/03/14/t...

Exciting book post today. I was rapt by @jayfarley.bsky.social 's #poetry at a recent @brokensleepbooks.bsky.social reading, and moved by how they spoke of finding their writing/performing voice when discovering their non-binary identity at the age of 48.

Happy Sunday! A new issue of FH just dropped! It's fantastic, even if I do say so myself. The gorgeous piece on the cover is by Shee, and you can read the thread to check out the featured contributors. Access the PDF, listen to recordings, and enjoy ❤️ www.fullhouseliterary.com/issue1-2025

Glad to have a #poem in the new issue of @fullhouselitmag.bsky.social . Thank you to editor, Leia for all her care and work. www.fullhouseliterary.com/issue1-2025

Keeping all crossed the abhorrence of fox hunting (which trail hunting is a smokescreen for) will be banned soon - and not understanding why it hasn't been banned already. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Struck by this poem by Jane Hirshfield...

I shared this photo of a little bird I saw from my window with a birder friend today to ask for an ID - turns out she's a female Black Redstart, and apparently quite rare!

I want to look through this window.

Word of the Day is one I keep posting at the end of the year, hoping its time will come. ‘Respair’, from the 16th century, is fresh hope, and a recovery from despair. Here’s to a few drops of respair in 2025.

In the quiet after fireworks, I'm reading these gems & especially loving Kim Addonizio's 'New Year's Day'. Sending out gentle wishes for 2025 - and for all those who find this time of year hard - here's to the snowdrops & the beans of spring's fox cubs 💚 www.poetryfoundation.org/collections/...

So looking forward to this January haven of warmth and inspiration - I just remembered again the time when Clare took their laptop out into the snow during writing time and made a tiny snow person. Magical 💙

Happy to have my weird little true story #poem included today in Ink Sweat & Tears' 12 Days of Christmas feature, and amongst lovely company... inksweatandtears.co.uk/on-the-eight...

Oh, these lines - 'your love still feathering the depth of sorrow’s nest' (Amy Rafferty)and 'for the funeral pyre that might yet become a field bed brightening' (@timkiely1.bsky.social) . Thank you @helenivory.bsky.social for these Boxing Day poem gifts. inksweatandtears.co.uk/on-the-sixth...

I highly recommend Veganuary - it's free and sends lots of useful tips and a free e-cookbook. My only regret about going vegan several years ago, is not having done so sooner. veganuary.com/try-vegan/

Hey hello, a lot of 'this year' stuff is about to appear here, ppl listing books, publications, awards. No shade (I'll cheer your joys to the moon, possibly literally). But honestly? If what you did this year was keep breathing? Despite (gestures) All This? You won. Yelling for you 🎵🐐 🎈

Spotted this vintage pop-up book yesterday - was a wild swimmer part of the Dick Whittington story? Loved the polarity of Red Riding Hood's side and the wolf's side, but both blessed by doves.

Like many, I find Christmas a bit tricky, so appreciate Ink Sweat & Tears' 'Twelve Days of Christmas' feature for (in the words of lovely @helenivory.bsky.social) its 'dark glitter'. Here's a favourite trio from the archives... inksweatandtears.co.uk/on-the-sixth...

A joy to hear a vixen practising her mating call last night - a voice I didn't recognise, her arias.

...this astonishing poem by Alexandra Melville in @andotherpoems.bsky.social andotherpoems.com/2024/12/11/s...

A poem research rabbit (worm) hole led to this picture of Puget Sound benthic critters (photo by Gustav Paulay, Florida Museum of Natural History). Gorgeous mini beasts. I am bottom left today (brainish with feelers) but would like to be more like the curl to trumpet-flower.

Dear readers, I'm looking for #audible book recommendations - do you have an audiobook you have returned to for another listen? I'm open to most genres, but short stories or discrete chapters that don't require a good memory for previous ones are a bonus.

My phone just offered me a montage of my photos of local foxes, and asked me to 'Name This Pet'.