iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Debra J. Nordyke @dnwritespoetry.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

Deeply grateful to Kelsay Books for believing in me! Also on Kindle version! link.edgepilot.com/x/tqg0aCE-ur...

Debra J. Nordyke @dnwritespoetry.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

I would like to share that it is official, my long-held dream, on Monday, August 17th at 2:09 pm, I received an email from my publisher, that Ink my book has been officially released on Amazon and Kelsay Books website! www.amazon.com/INK-Debra-J-...

amazon.com

INK

Amazon.com: INK: 9798901468722: Nordyke, Debra J.: Books

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Debra J. Nordyke @dnwritespoetry.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

Poetry Palooza - North Bay Poetics - I am honored to be the featured poet and will MC the event! You must register to read by today, info@northbaypoetics.net. Please include a 50-word bio and headshot for promotion Would love to see everyone! @alanparrywriter.co.uk @karenpgonzalez.bsky.social

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Debra J. Nordyke @dnwritespoetry.bsky.social · 08/07/2026

Deeply grateful for another fantastic opportunity to read my poetry alongside an amazing star in poetry...Maria Nazos! Her new book "Pulse." I will be in Lincoln, NB on Thursday, July 16, 2026, at 5:30 pm at Francie & Finch Bookshop! I am profoundly honored! @marianazos.bsky.social

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Stacia Kaywood (she/her) @staciakaywood.bsky.social · 06/04/2025

April and May will be two exciting months for me. I have so many great events I get to be a part of. Be sure to check out my website for listings, links! 1. Main Street Coffee, April 19. 2. Woodneath Library on April 22 3. Bliss Wine and Books on April 26 4. Lit and Libations on May 10

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Karen Pierce Gonzalez @karenpgonzalez.bsky.social · 07/05/2026

Happy Mother's Day (or not) to you from me and two other #poets @benedictan.bsky.social @dnwritespoetry.bsky.social #OneSizeDoesNotFitAllMothers #Substack karenpiercegonzalez.substack.com/p/one-size

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Debra J. Nordyke @dnwritespoetry.bsky.social · 30/04/2026

So honored and excited to be a contributor for Volume 3 of Speak Up Against Stigma. Please link in to hear our readings!

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Debra J. Nordyke @dnwritespoetry.bsky.social · 13/03/2026

Thrilled to be included in this month's publication in The Candyman's Trumpet! It is filled with amazing poetry! Enjoy! drive.google.com/file/d/1Rbo6...

drive.google.com

Tct 9 FAMILY March 26.pdf

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Debra J. Nordyke @dnwritespoetry.bsky.social · 13/03/2026

Thrilled to be included in this fabulous publication! MasticadoresCanada! link.edgepilot.com/s/5469cb54/w...

link.edgepilot.com

Checking link...

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SoulScratches @soulscratches.bsky.social · 02/03/2026

Quiet beginnings on open roads. Even with the uncertainty of the long journey, choose kindness. 🫶🏻 #HumanityFirst #KindnessMatters

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The Broken Spine (SUBS OPEN) @thebrokenspine.co.uk · 01/03/2026

This week: #BeingWatched. The look that lingers. The sense of eyes before proof. The body adjusting itself without knowing why. Write the awareness. The almost-seeing. The way desire sharpens when it’s observed. New theme opens Friday. Don’t post early. Use Alt Text. Tag #PoemsAbout to be found.

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David Birch @davidbirch.bsky.social · 27/02/2026

Many thanks @thebrokenspine.co.uk @alanparrywriter.co.uk for today's #PoemsAbout prompt #Spent. Here's a brief off-the-cuff 'tribute' to someone we knew only too well in the UK. Apologies, I was feeling tetchy this morning....

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Paul @paulwritespoems.bsky.social · 27/02/2026

After a small break, here is my return piece for #PoemsAbout #Spent. @thebrokenspine.co.uk @alanparrywriter.co.uk Will be catching up later/over weekend

Waste

He spent his life pleasing others,
spent his money pleasing others,

in the end, when only the ending mattered,
he spent his last day alone.

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Rachel Burrows @rburrows.bsky.social · 27/02/2026

To all those who never ever get to start the new toothpaste! 😊 #PoemsAbout #Spent Thanks @alanparrywriter.co.uk @thebrokenspine.co.uk Happy Friday!

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Ann Tigone @anntigone.bsky.social · 27/02/2026

#poemsabout #spent Banjaxed: a common Irish slang term meaning something is broken, ruined, severely damaged, or beyond repair.

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SoulScratches @soulscratches.bsky.social · 27/02/2026

attic sketches appear unclaimed reels linger as grey tinged captions claim the passage confounded and spent my impulses proceed through the fire and passion stoking the burnt offerings left scratching their way through the ash and lust where noted desires played #PoemsAbout #Spent

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Jen Thorne @jenthorne.bsky.social · 27/02/2026

I love Fridays, or #PoemsAbout day as I now call them. Here is my offering, and I look forward to seeing all of yours 😁 #Spent @thebrokenspine.co.uk @alanparrywriter.co.uk #poetry

Spent

A match
burned down to fingers.

I have nothing left.
So use the blackened stub
to write messages on the pavement
to be washed away by rain.

A purse
emptied of cash.

The price paid rises each day.
The reserve is empty,
trading on credit
I have no hope of repaying.

A body
utterly exhausted.

Bed offers no respite.
Lying there I am spent.
Recovery
takes longer than I have.

One day what wakes
will not be me.

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Andy Williamson @andywilliamson.com · 27/02/2026

Nice to be able to post a quick little poem for #poemsabout #spent after a bit of an enforced absence last week (bad cold). Thanks @alanparrywriter.co.uk / @thebrokenspine.co.uk for the prompt and to everyone contributing! #poems #poetry #writingcommunity #poetrycommunity #scottishpoetry

After

the room is still
the air heavy
the floor damp with rain
now the storm
has ebbed away
but you
you sit with me
you
you hold my hand
saying nothing
just here
here

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Debra J. Nordyke @dnwritespoetry.bsky.social · 27/02/2026

So excited! My first interview regarding my poetry and three poems included! Flapper Press is an amazing magazine with exceptional writing and art! I am honored beyond words! @fpress.bsky.social www.flapperpress.com/blog/categor...

flapperpress.com

Poetry

Familiar classics and original poetry from across the globe as well as interviews with poets and helpful hints to jumpstart your writing.

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Debra J. Nordyke @dnwritespoetry.bsky.social · 27/02/2026

Good morning #BlueSkyPoets! #PoemsAbout #Spent @thebrokenspine.co.uk @alanparrywriter.co.uk I took the traditional sonnet and tweaked the form to create a List Sonnet, I hope you enjoy! Excited to read your poetic creations!

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The Broken Spine (SUBS OPEN) @thebrokenspine.co.uk · 27/02/2026

#PoemsAbout #Spent is live. Write the after. The bodies that don’t rush apart. The silence that isn’t empty. The care that follows intensity. Post from today. Tag #PoemsAbout #Spent to be read and shared. Use Alt Text. Take care with each other.

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The Broken Spine (SUBS OPEN) @thebrokenspine.co.uk · 24/02/2026

One editor will pick the poems they love. That’s it. No career promises. No breakthrough narrative. Just cash and community — raised together. #TheBrokenSpineAward #ByPoetsForPoets #PoemsAbout #LiftToTheSky

Black-and-white graphic of a vintage typewriter seen from above. Torn paper strips sit in the typewriter reading “£1200 RAISED” and “WIN CASH” in bold lettering. Below, the hashtags “#TheBrokenSpineAward” and “#ByPoetsForPoets” are printed. The overall style is gritty, high-contrast, and zine-like.

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The Broken Spine (SUBS OPEN) @thebrokenspine.co.uk · 24/02/2026

#PoemsAbout #Spent starts Friday. Write exhaustion as intimacy. Sweat drying. Breath slowing. The body no longer performing. What’s left when desire has finished speaking? Draft now. Share from Friday. Tag your post. Use Alt Text.

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John Chmura @johnchmura.bsky.social · 21/02/2026

Most fleas don’t burrow, but sand fleas do. But we all carry a poetic license in our pockets. Scientific accuracy is not as important to us as it should be to RFKJR, which reminds me I have a personal poem from the POV of his brain worm…

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Phil Hyde @gphydeauthor.bsky.social · 20/02/2026

Here’s a response to this week's call for #PoemsAbout #UndertheSkin from @thebrokenspine.co.uk k Thanks for hosting @alanparrywriter.co.uk

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DrNaturegirl @drnaturegirl.debbiemross.co.uk · 20/02/2026

Hello @alanparrywriter.co.uk @thebrokenspine.co.uk for today’s #PoemsAbout #UnderTheSkin a wee experimental verse that I’m not sure about. A bit literal rather than oblique I’m afraid. Appointments today, but will check back over cuppas when I can Thanks #blueskypoetry pals look forward to reading.

A short single stanza poem by Debbie Ross entitled Skin Tales

You count your rosary
of lumps and scars,
praying to the twin gods
of radio and chemotherapy,
hoping the skin cancer
is just under the skin,
hasn’t gone too far…

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Mike O’Brien @zoomburst.substack.com · 20/02/2026

This did start life as a response to #PoemsAbout #UnderTheSkin. Honestly

A poem about my uncle John, cars and women.

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roger waldron @throwawayreg.bsky.social · 20/02/2026

Afternoon Friday here’s my little “throwaway” poem for #PoemsAbout #UndertheSkin and thank @alanparrywriter.co.uk @thebrokenspine.co.uk Hope everyone everywhere has a great weekend

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Jen Thorne @jenthorne.bsky.social · 20/02/2026

@thebrokenspine.co.uk #PoemsAbout #UnderTheSkin #DarkLovePoem #Poetry I've had such a busy week that I'm late posting this late and have hardly read any of the poems this week, but I've got them to look forward to tomorrow. Have a good weekend friends

Addictive

Your kiss.
A naked flame,
melting substance into want.
Anticipation unfiltered,
drawing breath thin
as heat spreads.

Coiling.
Waiting.
Craving.

Your bite.
Sharp, tearing,
a slow needle
slipping beneath my skin.
An itching hunger
racing through my veins,
claiming me.

You drag me to the place
where nothing else survives,
lifting me on euphoric waves
as pain and ecstasy braid together,
indistinguishable.

I drown in wanton depths.
A fleeting glance,
a forsaken chance
at untainted pleasure.

Fluid, we collapse
into each other’s shape,
clinging skin to skin,
ascending through the dark.
Falling and rising in rhythm
through velvet compulsion.
Grasping towards
a pulsating crescendo
that fades too fast.

We are sinking
back into longing.
Waiting
to be taken
again.

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Ian Brownlie @ianbrownlie.bsky.social · 20/02/2026

I tried to get a little away from the film #UnderTheSkin this week for #PoemsAbout this week, as it's one of my all time favourites. Bits of it may have snuck in. Ditto the song Only Skin by Joanna Newsom. @thebrokenspine.co.uk

bones

they called him bones
in whispers
like he was
a serial killer

though the whispers
always reached him
and they knew
the whispers reached him

slowly
he began
to think of himself
as bones too

he studied
the angularity
of his face in the mirror
for hours

he breathed in the calcium dust
that he sensed
himself shedding
and made no plans

he was bones
old bones
he was
bones

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Rother Writes @rotherwrites.bsky.social · 20/02/2026

For this week's #PoemsAbout I attempted something more about the 'wanting that lingers' something softer, more vulnerable; but something else more urgent was #UnderTheSkin. My apologies in that it contains nothing uplifting. I've been snagged by a troubling zeitgeist.

Danger to Life

the heat generated
deep-laid internal friction
beneath that luminous skin
pressure points scraping
burning scarring
upwards and outwards

mania gears grinding
night-clenched teeth
white knuckle addiction
heat, ice, heat, speed
opium acceleration
dopamine panic speed

a soul peeling away
self-destruct initiated
burnt out, you too
falling, an ash cloud
faint trace of something
that was, now isn’t.

© Glenn Barker February 2026

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Rachel Burrows @rburrows.bsky.social · 20/02/2026

A phone scribble from the steps of The Uffizi! It’s all that Botticelli that did it. 😊 Thanks for the #PoemsAbout #UnderTheSkin prompt @alanparrywriter.co.uk @thebrokenspine.co.uk I might not get a chance to read and comment for a while! Happy Friday!

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John Chmura @johnchmura.bsky.social · 20/02/2026

#PoemsAbout #UnderTheSkin @thebrokenspine.co.uk Took a little break from the polemical this week. Will put a reading in the comments.

SECOND SKINS
(for Grace)

clock watching

peel myself from the claustrophobic pod
and slide into a windbreaker shell

in the queue for a New York lunch
epidermis milking daybeams
waiting for a skinless frank

I nosh on a bench
like a glacial erratic
watching the reflections
of the sidewalk stream around me

behind a sleeve
of steel and glass
human hive mind hums
a malignant drone
under banks of fluorescent sun

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Lin Hart @poetry-with-hart.bsky.social · 20/02/2026

Repost/fixed a typo. I only have the one offering right now for #poemsabout #prompt #undertheskin. I wanted to do more with it, but the words stayed hidden. Best wishes, enjoy 🤗 @thebrokenspine.co.uk @alanparrywriter.co.uk #poem #poetry #poemaday #skypoem #skypoetry #5amwritersclub #6amwritersclub

My skin doesn't fit
over all of me

spilling out, slipping out
mind over mouth, soul

an ocean emerging in waves
pouring from my eyes.

I try containing it
a sieve to hold back the sea.

So instead I try to bottle it,
this facsimile of a face

we falsely see as identity.
I am all the labels

fluid or at least, fitting
new forms of pressure created

at every moment the air
calls upon me to be.

I am water.

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Sue Ibrahim @sueimnw.bsky.social · 20/02/2026

For this week's #PoemsAbout #UnderTheSkin @thebrokenspine.co.uk my mind went off in very different directions - didn't know which to go with, so went with both...

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Dean Norton @zentinl.bsky.social · 21/02/2026

Apologies for the late contribution to #PoemsAbout #UnderTheSkin. I went in a different direction than I expected. Thank you @alanparrywriter.co.uk and @thebrokenspine.co.uk #poetrycommunity #poetry #poems #blueskypoets #blueskypoetry

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David Birch @davidbirch.bsky.social · 20/02/2026

I've struggled with this week's #PoemsAbout prompt #UndertheSkin so I've settled on something I posted a few months ago which does fit fairly precisely: I hope it's new to some of the #PoetryCommunity. Many thanks @thebrokenspine.co.uk for challenge

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Matthias (watering thoughts) 🦄🧚‍♂️🐉 @ignorantfairy.bsky.social · 20/02/2026

A rather quick, personal contribution to #poemsabout Might write something else and gonna read your amazing pieces tomorrow, since I'm a bit preoccupied today. Thanks to @thebrokenspine.co.uk @alanparrywriter.co.uk for the prompt of #UnderTheSkin I went the literal route this time. #poetry

washed-out ink

ink once black
now washed-out blue
by time and sunshine — double hearts
hidden in barcode
remnant of days
unencumbered, rubbing his arm
Mancunian memories blossom and fade
like these pigments
shot into his dermis
cover-up out of the question
so he faces
embraces imperfection
distraction
from a polished demeanour
skin as witness
not armour

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The Broken Spine (SUBS OPEN) @thebrokenspine.co.uk · 20/02/2026

#PoemsAbout #UnderTheSkin is live. Write what embeds. What alters you quietly. What you still feel days later. Not everything leaves a mark you can point to. Post from today. Tag #PoemsAbout #UnderTheSkin to be read and shared. Use Alt Text. Take care with each other.

Tomorrow: #PoemsAbout #UnderTheSkin.

Not obsession.
Not possession.

Don’t post before Friday.
That heat that doesn’t cool?
That memory your body keeps?
That’s the poem.

Tag it.
Use Alt Text.

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