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David Atkinson @davidatkinsonpoet.bsky.social · 33m

This poem needs to be heard, not read – link below My poetry celebration of Black History Month wouldn't be complete without a poem by the grandfather of Dub Poetry Linton Kwesi Johnson Performance poetry & rap can trace a line back to this poetry pioneer #poetry #poemoftheday #blackhistorymonth

Poem - 'If I Woz a Tap-Natch Poet' by Linton Kwesi Johnson

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David Atkinson @davidatkinsonpoet.bsky.social · 11h

Glad you liked it ❤️ I think the spelling point might be due to differences between US English and English English

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David Atkinson @davidatkinsonpoet.bsky.social · 21h

There is something interesting here about the juxtaposition of childhood innocence and the ominous personification of the train. Alongside this the environmental violence of resource extraction culminating in a litany of felled Guyanese hardwood trees #poetry #poemoftheday #blackhistorymonth

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David Atkinson @davidatkinsonpoet.bsky.social · 14/10/2026

The opposites are interesting, beginning with the title. Repetition, including slight variations, gives the poem a liturgical feel But in the final few lines there is resilience & resistance against systemic limits on survival – a refusal to be silenced #poetry #poemoftheday #blackhistorymonth

Poem - 'A Litany for Survival' by Audre Lorde

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David Atkinson @davidatkinsonpoet.bsky.social · 13/10/2026

As we face a winter of rising prices & fuel costs, how common will this scene be? The poem's power lies in acute observation & unsentimental tone How you can be sustained by each other & memories when you have little more than a room of cluttered pasts #poetry #poemoftheday #blackhistorymonth

Poem - 'The Bean Eaters' by Gwendolyn Brooks

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David Atkinson @davidatkinsonpoet.bsky.social · 12/10/2026

No. Generally competitions will only accept unpublished poems. The Festival usually publish the shortlisted poems in the local newspaper. So want to respect that. I will share when published 😊

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David Atkinson @davidatkinsonpoet.bsky.social · 12/10/2026

There are few poets with the audacity or credibility to write this poem Honestly, I think the poet has sold herself short! This poem challenges beauty standards, which have often excluded Black women, and replaces them with a more grounded model of beauty #poetry #poemoftheday #blackhistorymonth

Poem - 'Phenomenal Woman' by Maya Angelou

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David Atkinson @davidatkinsonpoet.bsky.social · 11/10/2026

Delighted to have performed last night at the Frances Browne Literary Festival with Sheddas on the Page & to be placed 3rd in the poetry competition The highlight of the night was the incredible Armagh Rhymers, keeping the ancient art of ‘Mumming’ alive #poetry #poemoftheday #seamusheaneysunday

Poem - 'The Last Mummer' by Seamus Heaney

The Armagh Rhymers on stage at the Frances Browne Literary Festival

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

Today is #WorldMentalHealthDay People you care about will be feeling like the speaker in this poem. Check in on them. #AskTwice If you are feeling like the speaker reach out for help What we need most is love & what we need to do most is give love #poetry #poemoftheday #blackhistorymonth

Poem - 'Feeling ****** Up' by Etheridge Knight

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

This poem sets out the body as wounded and miraculous. It is about survival & reclamation of power There is such depth in the images, there is music in these lines, this is a poem to read out loud and slowly #poetry #poemoftheday #blackhistorymonth

Poem - 'A note on the body' by Danez Smith

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David Atkinson @davidatkinsonpoet.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

This poem speaks of the intersection between race & gender. How a lack of role models can place self-limits on one’s aspirations But there is resilience and self-reliance too – not as a romantic notion, but a necessity ‘a bridge between starshine and clay’ #poetry #poemoftheday #blackhistorymonth

Poem - 'Won't you celebrate with me' by Lucille Clifton

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David Atkinson @davidatkinsonpoet.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

I can’t help but notice the irony that World Cotton Day occurs during Black History month. The poem imagines a future in which liberty isn’t an abstract concept or political slogan but a everyday reality. Recently it feels like we are going backwards #poetry #poemoftheday #blackhistorymonth

Poem - 'Frederick Douglass' by Robert Hayden

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David Atkinson @davidatkinsonpoet.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

All we can do is educate ourselves and others to make up for the failures of the establishment Hopefully my poems this month will do a little of that as well as celebrating black culture ❤️🙏

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David Atkinson @davidatkinsonpoet.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

I was a fully grown adult before I fully understood the same. What is more shocking is that I'm living in ireland. Not taught in school or talked about at home ☹️

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David Atkinson @davidatkinsonpoet.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

It's really dark. There were no criminal proceedings. There was a successful civil case upheld citing 'excessive force' and compensation paid

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David Atkinson @davidatkinsonpoet.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

This tiny poem carries the full weight of the atrocity – the bombing by the police of the MOVE residence in Philadelphia 11 people were killed including 5 children. It is alleged police shot people escaping from the burning building That 2-word final line! #poetry #poemoftheday #blackhistorymonth

Poem - 'Haiku for the Police' - by Sonia Sanchez

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David Atkinson @davidatkinsonpoet.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

World Teachers Day - John Agard challenges a education system teaching Imperial/Colonial history History isn't neutral, what's taught shapes who we believe ourselves to be It's not just about historical omissions, it is the consequences of those omissions #poetry #poemoftheday #blackhistorymonth

Poem - 'Checking Out Me History' - by John Agard

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David Atkinson @davidatkinsonpoet.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

Heaney’s re-framing of the biblical story is interesting alone, shifting focus to the people who brought the man to be healed But this was written following a stoke he suffered in 2006 & could also be read as tribute to those who supported his own recovery #poetry #poemoftheday #seamusheaneysunday

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David Atkinson @davidatkinsonpoet.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

I love Lemn's work. He is a great poet and a wonderful human being ❤️

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David Atkinson @davidatkinsonpoet.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

I agree. I think with each loss a part of us is lost too 💔

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David Atkinson @davidatkinsonpoet.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

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