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Cant Use Words Poetry Prompt

@cantusewords.bsky.social
36 followers 28 following 35 posts

Flash poetry prompt platform run by @thewombwellrainbow.bsky.social. Occasional prompts with specific details.

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Jen Thorne @jenthorne.bsky.social · 29/05/2026
I am loving the way this prompt makes you think differently. Here's my offering 😊
Hourglass  
 
Once I was sculpted like time in a glass,  
a pinch at the middle, a perfect pert ass. 
Balanced and bold, with a waistline so slight,  
a shape that defied even gravity’s might.  
 
But time shifts sand with a whispering mouth,
and now all the grains have gathered down south.  
My top’s still a treasure, my middle’s a tale,  
but the bottom’s a banquet, robust and full-scale.  
 
I wobble with wisdom, I jiggle with style,  
no longer a timer, more a rock pile.  
Still, I hold all the life I’ve known,  
and wear my curves like a duvet I’ve grown.  
 
So tip me, or flip me, I’ll still stand with sass, 
for beauty’s not trapped in a curvy hourglass.
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Suzy Dobie @suzydobie.bsky.social · 29/05/2026
#Can'tUseWords @cantusewords.bsky.social #PassingTime Physiscs confuses me. 😵‍💫
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Ann Tigone @anntigone.bsky.social · 29/05/2026
#PoemsAbout #EarnTheRight @thebrokenspine.co.uk @alanparrywriter.co.uk
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Brenda Blue @brendafromia.bsky.social · 28/05/2026
#CantUseWords #PassingTime #Tanka Writing poetry, Reading and drinking coffee Just passing some time Starting yet another day The retired life is grand.
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Cant Use Words Poetry Prompt @cantusewords.bsky.social · 25/05/2026
Welcome to the second #CantUseWords flash prompt. rhyming / unrhyming is permissible. Use a strict form. 70 words or less. Please use above hashtag and #PassingTime Post only on 29th May, not before on this account:
2 Post on 29th. Can'tUse the following words to describe " PassingTime":

Short Durations, Moment / Instant, .Split-second / Flash, .Spell / While, Jiffy / Shake: Span /Stretch, Eon / Infinity / Eternity, Era / Epoch:. Age: e.g., the Iron Age.Generation, Fleeting /Transient: Timeless: Precious /Valuable/Day/morning, noon, night.
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Beth Ember @ctrlaltdltffs.bsky.social · 29/05/2026
she grew up fast yesterday she was little today carried her for the last time what happened? #CantUseWords #PassingTime #tanka #poetry #writing @cantusewords.bsky.social
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Paul Connolly @thepaulconnolly.bsky.social · 29/05/2026
Cool in the air on my walk this morning, slightest watery edge to wind-breath. Under my tread the dirt path over the field looks like an aerial shot of a floodplain in the dry season, cracked mudflats, bouldered with rabbit droppings. Sudden cloud gloom. Day seems to ache for something. Perhaps I do
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Tomas Lenander @mrodomino.bsky.social · 26/05/2026
Having now finished all the Discworld novels I can say it has become one of my all time favorite things. The novels are a beautiful journey, they’re clever, funny, insightful and most importantly, deeply and rightfully angry.
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Jo Wolff @jowolff.bsky.social · 26/05/2026
Just happened to open a copy of the reader Political Thought I co-edited with Mike Rosen in 1999 and it landed on a selection The Enlightened Despot by Frederick the Great.
Thus he is culpable, if he be prodigal of the money of the people, dispersing the produce of the taxes in luxury, pomp, or licentiousness. It is for him to watch over morals, which are the guardians of the laws, and to improve the national ed-ucation, and not pervert it by ill examples. One of the most important objects is the preservation of good morals, in all their purity; to which the sovereign may greatly contribute, by distinguishing and rewarding those citizens who have performed virtuous actions, and testifying his contempt for such as are so depraved as not to blush at their own disorders. The prince ought highly to disapprove of every dishonest act, and refuse distinctions to men who are incorrigible. [..]
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Paul Connolly @thepaulconnolly.bsky.social · 26/05/2026
What a strange work is Britten’s setting of Rimbaud’s Les Illuminations. Britten is so far from my idea of Rimbaud, whose language seems to demand something at once more more weird, violent & ethereal, a blend of Boulez, Stockhausen & Messiaen. Yet the music is so involving @rolandbates.bsky.social
m.youtube.com
Ian Bostridge - Britten - Les illuminations, Op 18
YouTube video by Classical Vault 1
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Robert E. (He/him) @robertemond.bsky.social · 26/05/2026
My pleasure 🫶. I grew up in LA where all the forbidden words are used to describe summer. I actually love these cool summers. Although I miss being able to swim in the ocean without a wet suit.
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DaniGraceWrites @danigracewrites.bsky.social · 26/05/2026
Thank you.🌹
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Eric Montgomery @madp03t.bsky.social · 25/05/2026
Thank you, Can't Use Words Poetry Prompt.
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Jen Thorne @jenthorne.bsky.social · 25/05/2026
You've stolen all my lovely clichés!! I will give it my best shot, but it might be a haiku at this rate!!
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Jen Thorne @jenthorne.bsky.social · 25/05/2026
Oh you were breaking us in easy with the first one then!! 😵
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Suzy Dobie @suzydobie.bsky.social · 25/05/2026
Thanks! Very kind! 🙏
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Cant Use Words Poetry Prompt @cantusewords.bsky.social · 25/05/2026
Welcome to the second #CantUseWords flash prompt. rhyming / unrhyming is permissible. Use a strict form. 70 words or less. Please use above hashtag and #PassingTime Post only on 29th May, not before on this account:
2 Post on 29th. Can'tUse the following words to describe " PassingTime":

Short Durations, Moment / Instant, .Split-second / Flash, .Spell / While, Jiffy / Shake: Span /Stretch, Eon / Infinity / Eternity, Era / Epoch:. Age: e.g., the Iron Age.Generation, Fleeting /Transient: Timeless: Precious /Valuable/Day/morning, noon, night.
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Stefanie Neumann @kokopellibfree.bsky.social · 25/05/2026
Thank you. 🙏💗
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Ute Orgassa @uteorgassa.bsky.social · 25/05/2026
Thank you
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Ute Orgassa @uteorgassa.bsky.social · 25/05/2026
Air conditioner puddles evaporate on concrete Airplanes overhead reflect the sun The air itself is heavy with a thousand perfumes
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stace.bot @stacebot.bsky.social · 25/05/2026
Thanks!
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Brenda Blue @brendafromia.bsky.social · 25/05/2026
Thank you! One of my favorite types of verse.
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Robert E. (He/him) @robertemond.bsky.social · 25/05/2026
#CantUseWords sunny sky crystal clear cold unrelenting north wind summer in Newport natives sunning on the sand pity those who don't live here #Tanka #Haiga #Haiku #Senryu #Poetry #PoetryPrompt #SkyPoets #PoetrySky #PictureAndAPoem #Photography #WestCoastKin #ECK
A photo of a golden sunset on a beach . Two people stand on the water's edge, casting long shadows on the sand. There is a tanka that reads:

sunny sky crystal clear  
cold unrelenting north wind
summer in Newport 
natives sunning on the sand 
pity those who don't live here

Poem and photo by Robert Emond.
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Stefanie Neumann @kokopellibfree.bsky.social · 25/05/2026
Komorebi light during late hours I walk crevasses turn gold - #WritingCommunity #poetry #haiku #vss365 #CantUseWords
Komorebi light
during late hours I walk
crevasses turn gold

© Stefanie Neumann - @KokopelliBFree
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Beth Ember @ctrlaltdltffs.bsky.social · 25/05/2026
Thank you! Excellent prompt!
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Davy Hulme @hulme.bsky.social · 25/05/2026
Singer Neil Diamond started his career as Neil Coal. He changed his name when the pressure got to him.
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Pippa @pippaesque.bsky.social · 25/05/2026
Absolutely!
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Brenda Blue @brendafromia.bsky.social · 25/05/2026
#CantUseWords #Summer #RhopalicVerse the birds sing the crickets chirp their secrets nature comes alive grass grows begging to be mowed goes to seed
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stace.bot @stacebot.bsky.social · 25/05/2026
#Can'tUse words to describe summer #CantUseWords @cantusewords.bsky.social @thewombwellrainbow.bsky.social #poetry #poem #writing #PoetryCommunity #BlueSkyPoets #writingcommunity
lost fingerprints along damp glass
dusklight looms fast
storms run static
dogs run frantic

palms pressed against cool sheets twisted
night mouths salted
shallow breathing
box fan teasing

the open window swallows dark
our closed eyes spark

mouths sucking ice
wild laughs flash white
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stace.bot @stacebot.bsky.social · 25/05/2026
Ha to frying an egg on the pavement! Love this!
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Beth Ember @ctrlaltdltffs.bsky.social · 25/05/2026
can't use words? ok, I won't! 😁 instantly skin is moist and sticky my flowers all wilted in protest the kids fried an egg on the pavement #CantUseWords #summer #tricube #poetry #writing @cantusewords.bsky.social
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Quill of Mnemosyne @sonnetsmith.bsky.social · 23/05/2026
Hello Wild Walk #writers Caught in heaven's ray's My mind lulled in peaceful bliss To soak up the rest. Your word today is #Rays Use the image/word to inspire your writing. #WildWalkPrompt #prompt #writesky #blueskypoets #writingprompt #nature #5amwritersclub
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Pippa @pippaesque.bsky.social · 25/05/2026
the same color at dawn as dusk fireflies in the sweetgum trees #cantusewords #haiku #micropoetry #poetry #writingcommunity
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Tom Snarsky @tomsnarsky.bsky.social · 25/05/2026
and I listen David Ignatow
I WRITE

I write to live as my heart beats.
No one shall misconstrue it
as anything but my heart beating.

Sick, weary of life, afraid
of what’s to come, tired of striving,
ashamed of what I’ve missed,
yet my heart beats,
and I listen
and take from it its rhythm
to make nothing else matter
but the steady beating of my heart.
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Scarred For Life Books @scarredforlife.bsky.social · 25/05/2026
The sterile, hauntological aesthetics of 1970s school text books. Today's earworm: the shrill, off-key sound of a school recorder.
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Ian McMillan @imcmillan.bsky.social · 25/05/2026
The opening lines of Wonders of Obligation, a long poem by my favourite poet Roy Fisher, published in a beautiful edition by Braad Editions. ‘…and the afternoon/comes on steely and still/under the heat,’
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Rachel Deering @racheldeering.bsky.social · 25/05/2026
Book Cover of the Day:
Green cover with gold and black inlay. Title: Clover and Blue Grass by Eliza Calvert Hall.
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Karim Wafa-Al Hussaini @karimwafa.bsky.social · 24/05/2026
A society that stops reading becomes easy to manipulate.
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Eye of Mysterioso @mysteriphoto.bsky.social · 25/05/2026
“Once men turned their thinking over to machines in the hope that this would set them free. But that only permitted other men with machines to enslave them.” Dune (1965) Frank Herbert
Kaleidoscopic image of Frank Herbert’s Dune
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DaniGraceWrites @danigracewrites.bsky.social · 25/05/2026
Opening Day Lounging by yon sea Anticipating dipped glee Copper baked and free Beneath azure heaven climbs Cotton clouds drift above us #CantUseWords #poetry #tanka #summer #PoetsOfBluesky #SkyPoet #Skywriting #PoetryLovers
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Suzy Dobie @suzydobie.bsky.social · 25/05/2026
#Can'tUseWords @thewombwellrainbow.bsky.social @cantusewords.bsky.social #Summer #firstdayonearth
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Suzy Dobie @suzydobie.bsky.social · 25/05/2026
Thank you kindly! 💛
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Ian Brownlie @ianbrownlie.bsky.social · 25/05/2026
@cantusewords.bsky.social? There appears to be a #cantusewords #can'tusewords binary issue!
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Suzy Dobie @suzydobie.bsky.social · 22/05/2026
Nailed it! Another excellent poem, mate. 💛 But I'm confused, it says "Post only on 25th May, not before on this account?" Am I hallucinating? Because if its okay to post now I will... Help a girl out, it is my first day on earth 🥺 #Can'tUseWords @thewombwellrainbow.bsky.social
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Dave Ashley @daveashleypoet.bsky.social · 25/05/2026
Thanks so much Paul. I really enjoyed this and can see me writing more this week.... whilst I hide from the heatwave
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Dave Ashley @daveashleypoet.bsky.social · 23/05/2026
#cantusewords #summer #triolet #poem This took a few minutes more that usual. Clever prompt to really make you use your vocabulary
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Eric Montgomery @madp03t.bsky.social · 25/05/2026
#CantUseWords #prompt #writing #poetry #poem #poet @cantusewords.bsky.social
Poem written and Copyright (c) 2026 by Eric Montgomery (@madp03t.bsky.social). All Rights Reserved.

motels buzzing

boardwalk bars
bleeding old songs
through alley fog

fried food
salt air
spilled beer

tourons sunburnt red
blocking crosswalks
like gulls with wallets

bartenders
line cooks
dishwashers

dragging dead feet
through double shifts

the ocean throws
broken glass
back to shore
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Jen Thorne @jenthorne.bsky.social · 25/05/2026
This poem for the new #Can'tUseWords #prompt from @cantusewords.bsky.social was harder for me than I thought it would be, but it seems very appropriate for this rather warm weekend! But it's a great prompt, so have a go, follow it, and share it around. Let's get the word out! #poetry
Not Summer Lovin'

Overhead 
unrelenting sheets of azure 
blistering retinas 
as I sear
on the towel-covered 
microfossil bed. 

Emerald-draped 
groyne soldiers shimmer 
in a hazy line 
diminishing into 
a distance I can't 
fathom.

Sweat 
beads on my brows
the insistent trickle 
stings squinting eyes. 

I count 
the languishing hours 
to when the horizon 
swallows the 
light 

and darkness 
loosens 
the day's
fevered grip.
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