iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

David Atkinson @davidatkinsonpoet.bsky.social · 19h

I love how poetry can say so much with a few words. Lemn does this brilliantly, & not just in this poem Here we have how love shapes an individual Then, in the conditional 2nd stanza, the unknown. An interruption - how would we be if this love was lost? #poetry #poemoftheday #blackhistorymonth

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David Atkinson @davidatkinsonpoet.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Today is International Day of Non Violence Images grounded in nature & cosmology give 1956 anti-apartheid march an elemental feel The march ended with the 30 minutes silence 70 years later the struggle is not over - “And who will join this standing up” #poetry #poemoftheday #blackhistorymonth

Poem - 'Poem for South African Women' by June Jordan

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David Atkinson @davidatkinsonpoet.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Today is #NationalPoetryDay. It’s also #BlackHistoryMonth This reminds us that poetry is not an abstract art form - but something lived, overheard, dug up, carried, and spoken. Poetry belongs to everyone It is community, witness, survival. It is interest in one another. #poetry #poemoftheday

Poem - 'Ars Poetica #100: I Believe' by Elizabeth Alexander

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David Atkinson @davidatkinsonpoet.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Today is International Translation Day - this poem is about language, inheritance, & the emotional labour of a poet writing in English for a mother whose language is Spanish Translation is not a technical exercise but a metaphor for a child’s role to interpret for the parent #poetry #poemoftheday

Poem - 'Translation for Mama' by Richard Blanco

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David Atkinson @davidatkinsonpoet.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Firstly, I love the title of this poem Secondly, followers know I love a sonnet. This subverts the traditional sonnet, written to a single lover, to a lament to the many – and though forgotten the emotional imprint of their kisses remain ‘the rain is full of ghosts tonight’ #poetry #poemoftheday

Poem - 'What lips my lips have kissed, and where, and why' by Edna St Vincent Millay

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David Atkinson @davidatkinsonpoet.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

This poem by Pádraig Ó Tuama asks us to re-orient how we think about loss, memory, and closure That loss is not always final or absolute Remembering is not always a good thing, forgetting can be an act of self-care The ending of a book is the nature of stories #poetry #poemoftheday

Poem by Pádraig Ó Tuama - Not everything that's lost is lost

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David Atkinson @davidatkinsonpoet.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

One of my ‘nerdy’ hobbies is collecting coins. I have an almost complete set of Irish pre-euro coins I remember having a ‘punt purse’ for going on holiday In this poem Heaney laments the loss of Ireland’s coinage following the adoption of the Euro in 2002 #poetry #poemoftheday #seamusheaneysunday

Poem - 'A Keen for the Coins' by Seamus Heaney

A Keen for the Coins

O henny penny! O horsed half-crown!
O florin salmon! O farthing wren!
O hare! Oh hound! O snipe, O bull!
O mint of field and flood farewell!
Be Ireland’s lost ark, gone to ground,
And where the rainbow ends, be found.

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David Atkinson @davidatkinsonpoet.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Today is European Day of Languages I've a good friend who spoke Ulster Scots until he went to secondary school and was beaten by the teachers until he spoke properly Here Liz Berry recalls her & her father’s love of Black Country dialect before school robbed her of language #poetry #poemoftheday

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David Atkinson @davidatkinsonpoet.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Today is National Native American Day 4 by Layli Long Soldier from 'Whereas' which examines the pitiful 2009 Govt Apology There's no word in Irish for sorry, instead we say 'tá brón orm' sorrow is upon me This poem is for all nations waiting for sufficient apology #poetry #poemoftheday #Gaeilge

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David Atkinson @davidatkinsonpoet.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

Posting early again, tomorrow I'll be on the high seas beyond the reaches of the world wide Web 😁❤️🚢🚫🌍🕸️ A layered poem by Jean Sprackland about sibling relationships and how the persistence of failure becomes a metaphor for trying to bridge a separation that cannot be bridged #poetry #poemoftheday

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David Atkinson @davidatkinsonpoet.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

These questions are a meditation on what it means to be human We are asked to reflect on identity, memory, trauma, survival, mortality, and love Interesting that some have question marks and others don't. Also (just my maths brain) there are more than 12 questions! #poetry #poemoftheday

Poem - 'Twelve Questions' by Bhanu Kapil

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David Atkinson @davidatkinsonpoet.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

This poem by Dorianne Laux uses a simple domestic setting as a bridge to explore the emotional territory between a husband and wife. A juxtaposition between closeness and unknowability It's not only about her listening to her husband’s but his reaction to the song. #poetry #poemoftheday

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David Atkinson @davidatkinsonpoet.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

Posting early, tomorrow I'll be in the Adriatic beyond the the reaches of the world wide Web 😁❤️🚢🚫🌍🕸️ Most war poems are really peace poems On the International Day of Peace Carol Ann Duffy, nodding to Owen, runs those old images backwards, unwinding the horror of the trenches #poetry #poemoftheday

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David Atkinson @davidatkinsonpoet.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

In this poem, where time shifts, Heaney examines the relationship between the teacher and student And the schoolbag becomes a metaphor for poetry itself - and what an image 'unemptiable as the itinerant conjurer's hat' #poetry #poemoftheday #seamusheaneysunday

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David Atkinson @davidatkinsonpoet.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

There is a darkness beneath this poem by Dana Gioio that is built almost entirely out of slang, idioms, clichés A poem that climbs towards that ominous final line that nods back to the epigraph #poetry #poemoftheday

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David Atkinson @davidatkinsonpoet.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

National Cheeseburger Day - I like a cheeseburger but does it need its own day? But if there is a reason for cheesy beef in a bap to have its own day - it’s this poem A celebration of humble work as pride, as skill & identity. The pure satisfaction of a job done well #poetry #poemoftheday

Poem - 'Short-Order Cook' by Jim Daniels

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David Atkinson @davidatkinsonpoet.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

There is a stillness here, a meditation on memory and loss. Little autumn details carry feelings, hold a relationship in the mind The speaker caught in today, caught between yesterday & tomorrow "Forever will be a day like this / strung perfectly on the necklace of days" #poetry #poemoftheday

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David Atkinson @davidatkinsonpoet.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

Today is International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer A magnificent poem railing against anti-fact, anti-truth, anti-science politics Nature keeps speaking even when we refuse to listen But eventually it will stop & we will be left with the silence of bees #poetry #poemoftheday

Poem - 'On the Fifth Day' by Jane Hirshfield

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David Atkinson @davidatkinsonpoet.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

Today is International Democracy Day & in a week I will be in Athens, the Agora, the birthplace of democracy The word translated means ‘the power of the people’ – not some people, all of the people Oh, how the last 7 lines in this poem speak of the truth of democracy #poetry #poemoftheday

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David Atkinson @davidatkinsonpoet.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

I love the attention in Jackie Kay’s poem, if we look for stories in the landscape it will provide them – but not always the story we seek Also, the idea of not looking hard for something but looking the other way - that thing that eludes us might find us when we least expect it #poetry #poemofday

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David Atkinson @davidatkinsonpoet.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

It’s that time of the year again Blackberry picking this afternoon and jam making tomorrow. It’s starting to feel a lot like autumn There really can be only one poem today #poetry #poemoftheday #seamusheaneysunday

Poem - 'Blackberry-Picking' by Seamus Heaney

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David Atkinson @davidatkinsonpoet.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

There is something in the blending of ritual, memory, and a conversation that is almost a monologue All of this bound up in mythological tragedy 'in the olny season of his life that mattered' The prophetic ‘I know what's coming’. All it will take is a turn of the head #poetry #poemoftheday

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David Atkinson @davidatkinsonpoet.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

I wasn’t sure whether to post this yesterday for World Suicide Prevention Day A conversation today with someone I know reminded me it can be hard to find the right words If this poem encourages 1 person to check in, or to ask for help, then it may have done some good #poetry #poemofday #asktwice

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David Atkinson @davidatkinsonpoet.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

I've been posting a daily poem for just over a year In celebration I'm sharing the 10 most popular poems of the last 12 months In 1st place we have Noor Hindi ‘Poetry is when an emotion has found its thought and the thought has found words’ – Robert Frost #poetry #poemofday

Poem - 'F**k Your Lecture on Craft My People Are Dying' by Noor Hindi

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David Atkinson @davidatkinsonpoet.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

I've been posting a daily poem for just over a year In celebration I'm sharing the 10 most popular poems of the last 12 months In 2nd is Jay Hulme’s poem about grace & belonging, about being loved just as you are & accepting this truth Conversion therapy - still legal in UK 😡 #poetry #poemofday

Poem - 'Jesus at the Gay Bar' by Jay Hulme

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David Atkinson @davidatkinsonpoet.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

I've been posting a daily poem for just over a year In celebration I'm sharing the 10 most popular poems of the last 12 months In 3rd place is Gwendolyn Brooks. I love the lines breaks, the jazz back beat, the pure music of this poem How it elevates the heartbreaking narrative #poetry #poemofday

Poem - 'We Real Cool' by Gwendolyn Brooks

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David Atkinson @davidatkinsonpoet.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

I've been posting a daily poem for just over a year In celebration I'm sharing the 10 most popular poems of the last 12 months In 4th – the question is not ‘is it better than Blake’s Tyger?’ But is it celebrating the escape of an incarcerated tiger, or a warning for us to run? #poetry #poemofday

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David Atkinson @davidatkinsonpoet.bsky.social · 06/09/2026

I've been posting a daily poem for just over a year In celebration I'm sharing the 10 most popular poems of the last 12 months 6th – has echos of Niemöller’s poem ‘First They Came’ The 1st houses are already ashes. Many still think the wind is blowing in the opposite direction #poetry #poemofday

Poem - 'The Problem with Early Warnings' by Charles Rafferty

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David Atkinson @davidatkinsonpoet.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

I've been posting a daily poem for just over a year In celebration I'm sharing the 10 most popular poems of the last 12 months 6th - poignant in the week we lost Wendell It's easy to point fingers. It's also important to ask what's my culpability, either directly or by apathy #poetry #poemofday

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David Atkinson @davidatkinsonpoet.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

I've been posting a daily poem for just over a year In celebration I am sharing the 10 most popular poems of the last 12 months In 8th place - Hanif Abdurraqib My 1st Punk show was Stiff Little Fingers. Unlike the poet’s experience #punk in #Belfast united a divided city #poetry #poemofday #SLF

Poem - 'AT MY FIRST PUNK SHOW EVER' by Hanif Abdurraqib

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David Atkinson @davidatkinsonpoet.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

I've been posting a daily poem for just over a year As a fitting birthday celebration I will be sharing the 10 most popular poems of the last 12 months In 8th place is a counterpoint to the heroic narrative of The Odyssey A meditation on war & the impact of paternal absence #poetry #poemofday

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David Atkinson @davidatkinsonpoet.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

I've been posting a daily poem for just over a year As a fitting birthday celebration I will be sharing the 10 most popular poems of the last 12 months In 9th place is this poem about resilience, about not to instinctually run from ‘an obesity of grief’, but to enter it #poetry #poemofday

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David Atkinson @davidatkinsonpoet.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

On the anniversary of #poemoftheday it would be ungracious not to mention the people who regularly engage with my posts. Your likes, reposts, and comments mean the world to me. Without you I would be reading poems to myself, which is kinda boring and a little bit weird!

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David Atkinson @davidatkinsonpoet.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

I've been posting a daily poem for just over a year As a fitting birthday celebration I will be sharing the 10 most popular poems of the last 12 months In 10th place is this poem about hope & endurance, loss & renewal that sings like a little bird, rings sweet as a bell #poetry #poemofday

Poem - 'When the Heart' by Michael Leunig

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David Atkinson @davidatkinsonpoet.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

As we close out August and bring summer to an end I will leave you with this perfect little sonnet I may spark some controversy with this statement, but... I think this might be a better blackberry poem than Heaney’s ‘cramming the black honey of summer into my mouth’ #poetry #poemoftheday

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David Atkinson @davidatkinsonpoet.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

I was at the Seamus Heaney Homeplace today for the @comartspartner.bsky.social Seamus Heaney Awards for New Writing, an extra poignancy on his anniversary Delighted to have 1 poem longlisted & 1 placed 3rd Huge congratulations to the winner Susan Gully #poetry #poemoftheday #seamusheaneysunday

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David Atkinson @davidatkinsonpoet.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

Looking forward to Paul Muldoon tonight at the Seamus Heaney Centre - ‘A History of Ireland in 12 Poems’ Hoping that this is 1 of the 12 A beautiful juxtaposition of a childhood memory & Irish politics. Its documentary style exercises great care not to romanticise or judge #poetry #poemoftheday

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David Atkinson @davidatkinsonpoet.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

Today 63 years ago at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington Dr Martin Luther King gave his ‘I Have a Dream’ This poem by Langston Hughes was written 13 years earlier. 76 years later both men’s dreams are still to be realised #poetry #poemoftheday #IHaveADream

Poem - 'I Dream a World' by Langston Hughes

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David Atkinson @davidatkinsonpoet.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

Today is the 21st anniversary of hurricane Katrina The human impact was unprecedented. But this was compounded by an utterly abject federal response This is from Patricia Smith's brutally honest and heart-breaking collection ‘Blood Dazzler’ that addresses the catastrophe #poetry #poemoftheday

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David Atkinson @davidatkinsonpoet.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

Today is Women’s Equality Day Here Annemarie Ní Churreáin’s poem become a ritual, weaving a spell of self assertion to reclaim voice, agency, and moral authority She rejects silence and names harm precisely. Each transformational stage is testimony of resilience and refusal #poetry #poemoftheday

Poem - 'A Handmaid's Incantation Against Silence' by Annemarie Ní Churreáin

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David Atkinson @davidatkinsonpoet.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

Today in 1914 German soldiers set fire to the library in Louvain I am remined of the bombing of the Edward Said library in Gaza founded by the poet Mosab Abu Toha Here, in an earlier poem, he speaks of his personal library but I cannot help but see the connection #poetry #poemoftheday

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David Atkinson @davidatkinsonpoet.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

Living in Ireland, I’m probably worse than an ‘Easterner’ Here we have restrained, unsentimental attention to detail More than a nature poem, it teaches us that what's barren to one person is beautiful to another. It's about how the land we grow up in teaches us how to see #poetry #poemoftheday

Poem - 'California Hills in August' by Dana Gioia

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David Atkinson @davidatkinsonpoet.bsky.social · 23/08/2026

Here we have an intricate & understated love poem that weaves memory, place, & metaphor Three stages of a relationship symbolised by three rugs - the third one is the one Heaney really wants to speak about The poem builds to the brilliant final two lines #poetry #poemoftheday #seamusheaneysunday

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David Atkinson @davidatkinsonpoet.bsky.social · 22/08/2026

I recently shared a poem from this collection which prompted me to read it again The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran is astonishing in its wisdom, imagery, & language ‘You may house their bodies but not their souls, for their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow’ #poetry #poemoftheday #SealeyChallenge

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David Atkinson @davidatkinsonpoet.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

Today is Senior Citizens Day I know this poem is very well known but it’s brilliant & I really can’t think of a more apt poem for today. I’m all for practicing now too. In fact, of the list of dos and don’ts I’m 40% of the way there already #poetry #poemoftheday

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David Atkinson @davidatkinsonpoet.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

Chatting with a friend tonight about a poem they had written about a mixed marriage, in this case between a Protestant and a Catholic Reminded me of this poem I read recently from Natasha Tretheway’s brilliant collection 'Native Guard' #poetry #poemoftheday #SealeyChallenge

Poem - 'Miscegenation' by Natasha Tretheway

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David Atkinson @davidatkinsonpoet.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

Today is World Photography Day Something has been lost in the digital age - the photographer's skill & the value of the photograph I got my 1st camera when I was 9. Returned after 30 minutes, the whole roll shot & looking for another I still have the photos I took that day #poetry #poemoftheday

Poem - 'Smiles' by David Atkinson

SMILES
for Joan

There was the smell,
the smell of film,
as I popped the lid,
removed it from
its plastic canister,
and loaded it,
all fingers and thumbs,
threading the leader,
winding it on,
praying it had caught,
but scared to open the camera
for fear of spoiling it.

I guessed at focus and exposure,
each click captured a slice of light,
but I never knew for certain
if, by skill or luck,
I had caught that Kodak moment,
until weeks later when I opened
the envelope,
like a Christmas present,
hoping that it wasn't
blank, or blurred, or beheaded,
and was rewarded
with a smile
that I valued enough
to write the name
of its owner on the back
and stick it
in an album
full of smiles

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David Atkinson @davidatkinsonpoet.bsky.social · 18/08/2026

Today in 1612 The Pendle Witch Trials began I'm deeply interested in this topic & have just finished a project addressing The Islandmagee Witch Trials Here Helen Ivory uses imagery of witch trial torture to address bodily autonomy & the continuity of violence against women #poetry #poemoftheday

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David Atkinson @davidatkinsonpoet.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

Spent a lovely couple of hours with Len Pennie’s Poyums Annaw With this one I found myself sitting on the other side - not the daughter but the dad I hope if my daughter wrote a poem about me it would be like this #poetry #poemoftheday #sealeychallenge

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David Atkinson @davidatkinsonpoet.bsky.social · 16/08/2026

Something a little lighter today If poets wrote advertisements for cars this is what they would be like There is a joyful noticing of small things in this poem ‘the wiper slugging on like oars in rowlocks’ #poetry #poemoftheday #seamusheaneysunday

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