iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

D M Gordon @dmgordon.com · 01/10/2026

Lots going on! If you're nearby, come nibble cider donuts in an orchard at dusk & listen to poems with horses. Or hold a candle against the murk of late October & hear folkloric poetry & prose honoring witches. Details at www.dmgordon.com. If you're far away—Bluesky far—just wanted you to know.

A black chalkboard decorated with chalk drawings, flowers, books, etc. Title: October Events. 03. How Can Poetry Matter? A conversation at the Stockbridge Library. 07. Meet the Authors. Look Park Garden House. 09 The Year of the Fire Horse. A poetry reading at Park Hill Orchard. 28 Witches Save the World at Forbes Library.

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D M Gordon @dmgordon.com · 28/09/2026

A greeting, three, in the woods. (Four, including me.) #nature #deer

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D M Gordon @dmgordon.com · 23/09/2026

He (they) don't represent us, don't speak for us. He (they) act without our authority. They are not righteous. What he (they) are doing is wrong, wrong, wrong.

Black buttons on a cardboard background. Each says, "Enough."

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D M Gordon @dmgordon.com · 22/09/2026

If you rub alfalfa on your shirt, a donkey will try to eat your shirt. Might come in handy, but there are 14 things you need to know more. Read this week’s poem by Jack Ratliff on Leaf Sheep. #poetry #poem #donkeys #LeafSheep ddmmgordon.substack.com/p/fifteen-th...

A brown shaggy donkey face and title of a poem "Fifteen Things You Need to Know About Donkeys" byt Jack Ratliff, from Leaf Sheep. Find it here: https://ddmmgordon.substack.com/p/fifteen-things-you-need-to-know-about

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D M Gordon @dmgordon.com · 21/09/2026

I'm reading The Children's Book by A. S. Byatt, with @simonhaisell.bsky.social, his Footnotes & Tangents on Substack. 1890's British countryside. Burne-Jones & William Morris, adult fairytales, ceramic art, dark puppet shows, lush & lyrical. Forest & shore. Shadowy, twisty, heavenly. #literary

A painting by Frederic Lord Leighton, from Wikipedia, a woman in a gauzy orange dress, curled in a dreamy nap, soft, long brown hair framing her, Not a lot of information about the painting, but it feels very much like the era. The painting is called Flaming June—the month? the woman?—She feels to me, without knowing, Rapunzel.

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D M Gordon @dmgordon.com · 03/09/2026

This one hurts. Gloria Steinem Is, as of yesterday, no longer with us. She had a clarity. She was a beacon, a true great, and it was wondrous, back then, to spend weeks with her in residence at Hedgerbook on Whidbey Island. #Gloria #feminist #activism #writers #friends

Two women smiling, a gentle side-by-side embrace, beautiful Gloria Steinem on the left in brown, and me on the right.

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D M Gordon @dmgordon.com · 30/08/2026

These flowers celebrate MY PERSONAL NEW YEAR (aka birthday). This is the year I get stronger, healthier. This is the year GABRIEL, a novel about a boy, adrift, a lifetime literary achievement, enters production for publication & will be making its way. #novel #publication #writingcommunity

Black background, speckled kitchen counter, A bouquet of roses in a dark red vase, roses yellow with a deep red blush, a sprinkle of baby's breath.

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D M Gordon @dmgordon.com · 27/08/2026

Have you been phished? Aren't you curious about the person behind the letters in your inbox, the fake profiles on social media? Fake editors looking at your work? #YahooBoys blew me away...we live in alternate universes right here on the planet. #scams #nonfiction #phishing #Nigeria #AI #predation

Book cover. Title: The Yahoo Boys. Subtitle: Love, Deception, and the Real Lives of Nigeria's Romance Scammers

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D M Gordon @dmgordon.com · 21/08/2026

In the middle of war, is it crazy to doggedly witness beauty? Kyiv. The beautiful city. The beauty of everyday lives. Yaroslava @strategywoman.bsky.social is an everyday hero Not letting us forget. This is a #poem, read aloud, a tribute to her work. #Poetry #Ukraine

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D M Gordon @dmgordon.com · 16/08/2026

It's time for the sun golds, as only one can get raised at home, picked so full of sugar that they will split open in hours. #garden #food #tomatoes #August #harvest

An old (old) wooden tabletop, a little metal bird statue, raised wings, partial view of green shrubs out a window, a basket of sun gold tomatoes and a few mini pear tomatoes.

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D M Gordon @dmgordon.com · 10/08/2026

Surprise yourself this week. Spread your wings! Buy a book of poems. #Poetry #Poem #PoetryCommunity #WritingCommunity #Writing

Reading a poetry book
is and isn't
like
eating a box of chocolates.

You don't have to go in order.
(But you can.)
You might select a poem
or two
...or three...a day.

You can read the same poem over and over—no calories.

It's okay to put half-eaten ones back in the box.

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D M Gordon @dmgordon.com · 07/08/2026

Serenely beautiful. A fallen fuscia, a lit patio at Ciro and Sal's in Provincetown. #travel #Provincetown #NewEngland

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D M Gordon @dmgordon.com · 07/08/2026

I have bad #travel karma. Recently to P-town for a reading: high winds, rough chop on the ferry; drenched walking to my (seedy) hotel; too wet & exhausted to eat. This is the moment everything changed. Brunch, a secret patio. A fabulous meal. Only got better from here. (See comments.)

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D M Gordon @dmgordon.com · 05/08/2026

Boston. You make me proud to be American again. Honoring our heritage unblinkingly, with hope. Boston strong. This elegant, moving statue. #Boston #freedom #American #statue

In a small courtyard, an elegant statue of a seated Black woman in a white gown from a different era, She is holding an open birdcage and the birds have been set free. While it's specific, it also speaks broadly.

Google says: "Unbound" is a 14-foot bronze statue in Boston by artist Harmonia Rosales. Located at King's Chapel on Tremont and School Street, it depicts a Black woman holding a cage and releasing birds. It honors 219 individuals enslaved by past members and ministers of the historic church.

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D M Gordon @dmgordon.com · 03/08/2026

In #Provincetown for a reading of Loosestrife for Porcupines. Even in the rain, loved it. Friendly folk. Commercial Street reminded me of The Venice Boardwalk. Here are gardens on the way to The Provincetown Bookshop. #travel #CapeCod #gardens #NewEngland

A photograph, ground up, sidewalk with brick colored panel, white picket fence, pillowy hydrangea in purples and pinks, a peek at a white house with blue shutters, then draping tree branches.

A windy brick path through a lawn, black-eyed Susans, lilies, grasses, pine trees, the glimpse of a New England house.

A white picket fence, a crowded cottage garden with many kinds of flowers and evergreens. The neighbors are competing with one multi-colored, plastic, blow-up tyrannosaurus rex.

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D M Gordon @dmgordon.com · 27/07/2026

LAND, by Maggie O'Farrell. If I'd read the tough reviews 1st, I migtn't have picked it up. But I did and loved it, as much as dark chocolate ice cream on a hot day, wonderful writing, rich world, a relief from the horrid daily ugliness, the powerless of living in America just now. #fiction

A book cover, a ring of collage, spiralling into a dark hole. Title LAND. A Novel. Maggie O'Farrell. Bestselling author of HAMNET

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D M Gordon @dmgordon.com · 22/07/2026

Sunday, my story "Auditioning for The Janet Planet," is being performed at The Story Cafe in Huntington MA. One rainy week during Covid, the directors of Nomadland sent casting directors out to find a non-actor for a part. (Me?) A wild few weeks ensued. This is the story. There's a llama in it.

a white and brown llama standing on a road, dark green forest behind.

A woman (me) photographed behind the music desk of a piano, thinking, a musical score in front, a frame picture to her left.

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D M Gordon @dmgordon.com · 21/07/2026

An open studio in Westhampton, MA at Dog Bar Pottery coming up this weekend, with a wood kiln and waterfall! Local potters Donna McGee and Sam Taylor. Love their work. Love the Hilltown Pottery Tour 2026. This is a snapshot from Donna Mcgee's studio. ❤️ What's not to love? #ceramics #pottery

A photo of several ceramic platters displayed, a blue and white oval with three white chickens. A larger beige oval with three fat white chicks. Bits of other dishes visible.

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D M Gordon @dmgordon.com · 09/07/2026

A cartoon from my sister. Takes a minute. Then it feels like my life. Exactly. What kind of dance have I been doing?

Four Native Americans looking puzzled and their medicine man, reading a book titled 101 Rain Dances. Egg beaters, not rain drops, are falling from the sky. "Oh! FOUR steps to the left and THEN three to the right!... What kind of dance was I doing?"

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D M Gordon @dmgordon.com · 07/07/2026

LEAF SHEEP has arrived! A #poetry Substack with a not-so-secret mission—to fire tiny rockets into your heart. Subscribe and all manner of critters will visit your inbox. First off, a trout swimming through daffodils. Give it a try! Find out more here: dmmgordon.substack.com/about #nature #poems

A black background, a creature that barely seems real, but is, a tiny sea slug that is round and looks like a green sheep with floppy purple ears and crossed eyes, on a bed of moss.

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D M Gordon @dmgordon.com · 06/07/2026

I write literary fiction. I always fumble when someone asks what makes it "literary." Here's Alan Garner quoted by Simon Haisell. ❤️ Literary means words ... that invite the reader...to partake of the creative act. There can be no one meaning for a text. Even that of the writer is but an option." ❤️

"I would say that, because of its essential ambivalence, "literature" is: words that provoke response; that invite the reader or listener to partake of the creative act. There can be no one meaning for a text. Even that of the writer is but an option." Simon Haisell quoting Alan Garner.

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D M Gordon @dmgordon.com · 02/07/2026

Happy news! LOOSESTRIFE FOR PORCUPINES has been chosen for BOOKLIFE ELITE, a curated collection promoting top indie-published books to be sold on OverDrive and other public library eBook platforms. Links to buy—can I say I'm proud?—on my website www.dmgordon.com and at Amazon. #poetry #nature

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D M Gordon @dmgordon.com · 16/06/2026

An encounter today, a greeting, with someone who lives at our house.

a pretty snake that looks like braided silk rope, llifting its head on blue stone, a few random leaves, dandelion for one.

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D M Gordon @dmgordon.com · 15/06/2026

This big-eyed beauty picked our yard to lay eggs. She chose an exposed spot, and left alone, I can't tell if she finished the task or went to look for something safer. Will baby turtles spring from that spot in August? Fingers crossed. #turtles #nature #ecology

A turtle on green grass in the hole she dug, brown earth churned up behind her. She has a particularly beautify eye. A young mother, I think.

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D M Gordon @dmgordon.com · 14/06/2026

My sister sent a box of these as one of her multiple efforts to #DoSomething. I will hand them out, wear one.

A box of black buttons with "Enough" printed in white letters.

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D M Gordon @dmgordon.com · 12/06/2026

I know most Bluesky friends are far away, but here's a shout-out to how cool it is that #EileenFisher thinks art, community and culture matter. A poetry reading in her store tonight (Friday, June 12) in Northampton during Arts Night Out. #poetry, #poem, #poetrycommunity, #writingcommunity

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D M Gordon @dmgordon.com · 10/06/2026

So here's a fun thing. #Poems and shopping. And why not? It’s a Friday evening at #EileenFisher, Arts Night Out, Northampton, MA. I'll be reading from Loosestrife for Porcupines, new poems, #micro-fiction from #StrangePilgrims. Store discounts for attendees. Bach’s ghost, rabbits and song-birds. 😎

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D M Gordon @dmgordon.com · 04/06/2026

I'm going to let Cooper steal the day. #dogs #stone #forest

Forest in the background. to the left, a large stone with smaller white stones making a heart. Ferns. Dead leaves. Cooper the dog, sitting with a dog-smile on his face.

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D M Gordon @dmgordon.com · 29/05/2026

A walk. Stonework on Bug Hill Road... and Cooper. #stonework #landscape #NewEngland #dog

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D M Gordon @dmgordon.com · 28/05/2026

This week, a little drama in our yard, a stranded cormorant. They're huge! A knowledgeable friend knew it needed water to take flight—so to the rescue with towel and transport to a nearby reservoir. #birds #nature #rescue

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D M Gordon @dmgordon.com · 26/05/2026

🎉 ❤️ Thrilled! #STRANGEPILGRIMS sibling of #OnlyPoems called for a 300 word flash, something about rabbits. They love my entry best of 496 submissions ‼️ & will publish Sunday. I'll post a link when it arrives. ❤️ 🎉 www.strangepilgrims.com #flash #fiction #writing

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D M Gordon @dmgordon.com · 25/05/2026

This weekend, the ceramics sale of The Phinney Pottery, full of whimsy as well as practical butter dishes, & gorgeous platters. Throughout the lush green acre are elephants, turtles, dragons, owls, life-sized statues of children, and this fellow. ❤️ #pottery #ceramics #folkart #walrus

A ceramic walrus surrounded by and partly obscured by ferns.

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D M Gordon @dmgordon.com · 21/05/2026

Not a "volunteer." This chive is an escapee from the vegetable plot. I love independence in a plant. Seems quite pleased with itself. #flower #chive

The wooden wall of a house and edge of a screen porch. Three chive flowers growing out of a crack between the baseboard and a stone.

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D M Gordon @dmgordon.com · 20/05/2026

#CharlesRammelkamp wrote a rich review for Loosestrife for Porcupines. 🙏 The last poem begins "Write to me in your unpracticed hand. Do not text. A postcard with a stamp. Write until you run out of room"— (The full poem is in Alt Text) Wonderful surprise in my mailbox. He sent a postcard!!! ❤️❤️❤️

A postcard on a striped cotton blanket, handwritten from a book reviewer. "Hi Diana! I enjoyed reading your book! Can't say I know what it all means—the book of life? But I am not frenzied. Seriously, I'm looking forward to getting my thoughts on paper. Thanks again, Charles.

MOSSES AND IVIES

Write to me in your unpracticed hand. Do not text.
A postcard with a stamp. Write until you run out of room—
up the sides in smaller and smaller letters, dear little e’s,
outrageous y’s and confusing s’s; send a photograph
of the cathedral, the stonework of generations— masons,
oxen, horses—and say how you got there, where once
the rich brought chairs to worship while everyone else stood,
and now the forest grows, blackthorn in the sacristy,
mosses and ivies, a goodly (godly?) stream murmuring
over the flooring stones, all that green, as if that were always
the plan, of the forest I mean. Tell me you aren’t lost,
that your brain isn’t frenzied, that it’s real, that you haven’t
heard the latest, that in the roofless nave you understand,
finally, what it all means, for I do not. Write to me.

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D M Gordon @dmgordon.com · 14/05/2026

Two bears and deer in the field, spring coming in. #bears #deer

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D M Gordon @dmgordon.com · 13/05/2026

Luna, dandelions, spring green, and late afternoon sun. In her Insect Shield tick tee because the ticks have been prolific this spring! #dog #cotondetulear #spring #grass #ticks #Insectshield

Green green grass, little white dog, centered, standing, looking beyond a wire fence in the late afternoon, outlined by light, wearing a green cotton tee-shirt.

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D M Gordon @dmgordon.com · 11/05/2026

Visiting LOOSESTRIFE FOR PORCUPINES & NIGHTLY, AT THE INSTITUTE OF THE POSSIBLE on the shelf at Broadside Books, both still looking for forever homes, it seems. #poetry #bookshop #booksky

A bookshelf in a bookshop, Loosestrife for Porcupines by D M Gordon front in center, porcupine in the foreground on the cover, a field at night, a full moon, NIghtly at the Institute of the Possible next to it, blue book, light blue title on the spine, next to The Best American Poetry

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D M Gordon @dmgordon.com · 06/05/2026

On surviving the news cycle: reading THE LONELINESS OF SONIA AND SUNNY (Booker Prize Finalist): "When Dickens is better than your life, then why live your life? It would be foolishness not to read Dickens instead. " —Kiran Desai. #Booker #novel #reading

a blue book on a breakfast tray with a blanket scrunched beside it. Title of the book: Sonia and Sunny, by Kiran Desai.

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D M Gordon @dmgordon.com · 05/05/2026

You haven't met these fellows yet. Gabriel's been drawing them since he was four & thinks the short one is him, the taller is his beloved brother who's lost to him. As he is lost. GABRIEL began production with Sibylline Press yesterday, The journey of 1000 miles, step one. #BookSky #Gabriel

A line drawing, white background. Two armless figures with knobby knees, round feet, broad shoulders... and antennae?

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D M Gordon @dmgordon.com · 29/04/2026

Gratitude, today. Amaryllis! Flower in a clay pot with white and pink fluffy flowers; out the window a green field, trees, reddish baby spider maple tree-flowers and a blue-blue sky. #flower #spring #happiness #gratitude

Flower in a clay pot with white and pink fluffy flowers; out the window a green field, trees, reddish baby spider maple tree-flowers and a blue-blue sky.

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D M Gordon @dmgordon.com · 27/04/2026

Birds of a feather, from Donna McGee's pottery studio on the Asparagus Valley Pottery Trail. #clay #pottery #DonnaMcGee #chickens #birds

Two clay oval platters, one standing up on a display block with three white chickens on a blue and white background. One laying flat in the foreground with three fanciful round birds, tan background

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D M Gordon @dmgordon.com · 26/04/2026

I'm loving making line-drawings of critters in anticipation of illustrating poems about animals on Leaf Sheep, a Substack WIP to be announced soon. ddmmgordon.substack.com?utm_campaign... Here's a porcupine. He's arrived looking a little bashful I think. #poems #illustration #porcupine #substack

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