Been uncommonly quiet on here and elsewhere since summer's end. Two reasons, mainly. One is a creeping disillusionment with social media in general since Twitter's demise (something I now realise has dented me more than perhaps it should).

Another issue of this triumph of modern poetry publishing landed on my doormat today. To call it a journal is to do it a disservice; the quality of its production equal in every way to that of the work between its covers. Kudos to @maxwallis.bsky.social for having the vision to make this happen.

Wow! This feels like it was an AGE ago ... when in fact, it's been less than a year since this appeared. My thanks, still, to @matthewmcsmith.bsky.social, @blackboughpoetry.bsky.social, and my former BBC journalist interviewer @elcurwen.bsky.social. 🙏🏼

If there’s any of you who profess to be into noir and have not yet seen MR INBETWEEN, you need to fix that asap. If you need further convincing, my @crimereads.bsky.social piece from a few years ago #noirvember crimereads.com/mr-inbetween/

Speaking of poetry open mics, I almost missed Lime Square Poets' session last night with Hannah Kiely. Thank God for phone reminders! Another great evening from our friends across the water in Ireland. I read my poem 'Parliament' – one I've aired at a few open mics since the summer.

If you're looking for a fun new poetry open mic where you can share your work and hear others air theirs, @paulwritespoems.bsky.social's got you covered this Sunday. Hot off the back of his successful online series The Book Bag, Paul's gearing up for this project's inaugural night. bit.ly/4oq9OlL

Wonderful to have this poem featured on the night of fireworks and a full moon. My grateful thanks to @markantonyowen.com for this opportunity.

Because he's a nonce and who gives a fuck?

Show this invaluable resource some love, poetry lovers. And remember, without The Poetry Archive, there would be no @iambapoet.com (now steaming towards the start of its sixth year online).

Open call to any poet here who'll be at Lime Square Poets' Epic Open Mic (online) this evening. I'd planned to go, but stupidly double-booked myself elsewhere – meaning my place is now free! If you're going along (or want to), let me know. And hey, please apologise from me to whomever's hosting! 😆

Genuine question: Why is the Microsoft Outlook app for Android demonstrably better than the 'proper' desktop app for Windows? (Also, why haven't @mailbird.bsky.social developed a mobile app yet? Theirs is my email client of choice on desktop.)

Do you by any chance know anyone who could help me set up templates for zines? I can pay a little, but as the press is now a complete mutual aid project (with all the profits going to Gaza), not much. 🧵

Hey #promptcombo crew 👋🏼 Thanks to @thewombwellrainbow.bsky.social for hosting last week. This week's prompt is #DreamLogic. Tag me & use the #. Replies will be a little sporadic initially, but I know the community will be out in force, supporting each other as ever ☺️

Great night of poetry at @louisepoetical.bsky.social's monthly Last Saturday Poets get-together. Among many superb performances were readings by @drbafc.bsky.social, @jahshabby.bsky.social, @saraswatinagpal.bsky.social, @hool415.bsky.social and the host herself. I should attend these more often.

Something I ponder occasionally: Will I see (or use) a commercially available quantum computing laptop in my lifetime? I'm thinking the odds are pretty slim.

This heart-breaking song by Pearsall is one of my all-time favourite pieces of choral music – and this performance of it is extraordinarily moving. youtu.be/VM2xHJG2uJk

Deadline day for wave twenty-four of @iambapoet.com. Still to hear from six poets – the other nine got their submissions in on time. This bit makes me the most anxious: not knowing if I'll have to disappoint a poet who's waited ages to appear in the journal because they can't get their work to me.

Haven't shared much poetry by others here recently. Been (and still am) too preoccupied with auditions for @iambapoet.com and subs for @afterpoetry.com ... which are still open till the end of this month, by the way. 😉 Anyhow, I just had to share this by @victoriaspires.bsky.social. bit.ly/4nCLzAy

If I sold the weed on my writing desk, I’d make more money.

A gathering of poets is still one of the best things in this world.

Goodnight, Kitty. You'll be dusting your knick-knacks in the hereafter from here on. x #rippatriciaroutledge youtu.be/T-iDlTBZhKg

So shall we meet again next year for National Poetry Day, wearing flowing bardic robes, and proclaim in the agora like Homer, sing in the towns like Arnaud Daniel, or shall we meet again tomorrow and quietly share our latest compositions in a generous fellowship showing that every day is poetry day?

As one window shuts (@iambapoet.com), another opens – and this one's for the whole of October. If you have an 'after' or #ekphrastic poem that's looking for a home, that home could be @afterpoetry.com. So go on. Send it in. afterpoetry.com/submit

So many jokes could write themselves here. Who's putting up the seed funding? What are they using as starting guns? Do your own gags ... bit.ly/489EtyO

We didn't have many (hardly any) volumes of poetry at home when I was growing up. But we had a book of love poems by Liverpool poet Brian Patten, whose passing has just been announced. I don't recall making much sense of his writing when I was a kid. Maybe this will prompt a revisit. bit.ly/4mKTLxf

Engineer said he would arrive between 11 and 11.30, so now I'm twitching like Chief Inspector Dreyfus's eye.

Honestly, I will never forgive Musk for fucking up Twitter. The sheer amount of time and effort various artistic communities (in particular) put into building something meaningful on that platform, only to have that K-holed shithouse turn it into a right-wing cesspit, really fucking crucifies me. 🤬

It's nearly time again ... If you've been looking for a home for that 'after' or ekphrastic poem, @afterpoetry.com is the place for you. Submissions reopen tomorrow – October 1st 2025. You then have the entire month to send in your poem for a chance to feature in After... in 2026. Good luck! 🤞🏼

Wholeheartedly endorse this. A classic example of a bullshit job. In fact, outside of IT development, the whole Agile/Scrum wank can get in a tissue ... and then the bin.

Dear Poets: Please recommend places that accept long poems. I have a ten-page poem. I'm curious what's out there for long poems and I am also hoping that this will be helpful for other poets in a similar situation. Thanks, in advance, and Happy Sunday!

I’ve had to cancel tonight’s Write the Night Poetry Workshop due to late technical issues. I’m so sorry for the short notice — refunds are have already issued in full today. Thanks for understanding, I’ll reschedule soon.

'I always feel, especially in my fallow periods, that I don’t recognise this monster who finishes my work with such intensity. It’s like Rumpelstiltskin coming in and turning all the straw into gold and then going away again.' #riptonyharrison bit.ly/46y5JUU

**AUDITIONS CLOSE – 23:59 BST** Not yet submitted your audition to @iambapoet.com? You're in luck – there's time left! If you're still thinking about it, think about this instead: two years is a long time to wait till auditions reopen in Sep 2027. So go on. Be bold. Whip out your mic – and do it!

Few people want the truth. Most settle for a lie they can live with. This world won't change significantly until enough of us want the truth above all else – no matter how difficult, unpalatable or discomforting. Truth is the route to freedom, peace, and wholeness.

Autobiographies should be written ONLY by those with the skill to do so engagingly, and who have a clear-eyed perspective on their own past and its significance. Which is pretty much no one. Biographies, while still biased by the lens chosen by the biographer, are by far a superior review of a life.

There is no better feeling that when the barperson thinks you're next to be served, but actually someone else was and you get to be all like 'no, it's actually their turn' and you're basically Jesus.

It's come around fast, but it's here at last: your final chance to try out for a place in @iambapoet.com in either 2026 or 2027. Fewer than 20 spaces remain – so head over to iambapoet.com/audition before 23:59 BST today and submit your poem. Auditions won't reopen till Sep 2027, so don't wait!! 😉

Reservoir Sausage. The Sausagefather (Part II). Chariots of Sausage. Sausage Poppins.

As ravishing as a Turner painting, the sky was.

POETS. DO. NOT. MISS. THIS!! Audition SOON for a chance to appear in @iambapoet.com in either 2026 or 2027. Everything you need to know to join some of poetry's most celebrated names is on the Audition page. Fewer than 40 spaces available now. You'll need to be quick! iambapoet.com/audition

Mobile service provider O2's claim that their network is "around you like oxygen" is utter bollocks. If oxygen were as rarified as their signal coverage, people would be passing out every time they walked passed a tall building.

#poetsofbluesky #promptcombo #poemsabout Hope you don't mind a polite shout-out for this zoom event happening soon! Would love to see many of you there to hear these fantastic poets. DM me for zoom link x

Every poet involved in this (host included) is superb, and has appeared in @iambapoet.com ... or will do, soon enough. 😉 DM @victoriaspires.bsky.social, get the skinny, go along. It's a perfect night in!

Listen to what @petitecreature1.bsky.social is saying here. Not just the bit about how good @iambapoet.com is for poets looking to bring their words vividly to life, but also to the really important part about auditions being open RIGHT NOW (and for only the next five days). iambapoet.com/audition

Like dozens and dozens of other poets I've had the pleasure of working with on @iambapoet.com, @eleanorholmes.bsky.social was just brilliant to work with (and as an aside, if you get a chance to hear her read at an open mic somewhere, take it).

Thank you to @thewombwellrainbow.bsky.social for hosting last week! This week's #promptcombo is #ancestry. This piece was published in Freeverse Revolution Issue XII & is something of a letter to my younger self. Also doubling up as a fairly seamless segue from #history 😁 Tag me/use # to join in

These are wise women. Do as they urge. Based on the high standard of 45+ auditions in the first 48 hours, places in @iambapoet.com for next year and the year after could be filled twice over by September 27th (when the current window closes). But no decisions are final till the last audition is in!

Poets, the time is NOW ... and through till Sept 27th, when the window for auditions (submissions) for (to) @iambapoet.com closes. I'm looking to fill a whole eight waves worth of the journal across 2026/27 – so don't be shy! Go to the Audition page, and give me your best. iambapoet.com/audition