GrimalkinGerry @grimalkingerry.bsky.social · 18/08/2026Thank you @davebonta.bsky.social for sharing our work. 120
GrimalkinGerry @grimalkingerry.bsky.social · 16/08/2026New post on the blog. thistlewren.blogspot.com/2026/08/a-nu... #thistlewren #poetryblogger #poetrybloggingnetworkthistlewren.blogspot.comA Nugget of Reality Wrapped in Silver Foil.First week at school with the kids in session. Nothing to say but exhaustion. It's more fun to talk about the eclipse. We saw it here in Fi... 010
Reposted by GrimalkinGerryDave Bonta @davebonta.bsky.social · 11/08/2026Performing poems in care homes, being the forbidden lover of a prince & other adventures @jannoble.bsky.social @richfergusonpoet.bsky.social @saudaminideo.bsky.social @sbpoet.bsky.social @robmclennan.bsky.social @suefinch.bsky.social @grimalkingerry.bsky.social 3/3 www.vianegativa.us/2026/08/poet...vianegativa.usPoetry Blog Digest 2026, Week 32A personal selection of posts from around the Anglophone blogosphere. 264
GrimalkinGerry @grimalkingerry.bsky.social · 08/08/2026New post on the Thistle Wren blog, looking at Ithaka and memory. thistlewren.blogspot.com/2026/08/mind... #thistlewren #poetryblogger #poetrybloggingnetworkthistlewren.blogspot.comMind the GapsHorrible week. Ok, maybe not horrible, but frustrating and difficult and too, too real. Going back to work after a teacher's summer is tough... 000
Reposted by GrimalkinGerryDave Bonta @davebonta.bsky.social · 03/08/2026This week in the poetry blogs with @alinaetc.bsky.social @grimalkingerry.bsky.social @clareshawpoet.bsky.social @kent-nj.bsky.social @encyclopaediac.bsky.social @matriches.bsky.social @samrasnake.bsky.social @suefinch.bsky.social @garybarwin.bsky.social 1/3 www.vianegativa.us/2026/08/poet...vianegativa.usPoetry Blog Digest 2026, Week 31A personal selection of posts from around the Anglophone blogosphere. 3127
GrimalkinGerry @grimalkingerry.bsky.social · 01/08/2026New post on the Thistle Wren blog - my AI debate continues. thistlewren.blogspot.com/2026/08/do-i... #thistlewren #poetryblogger #poetrybloggingnetwork (sorry new link and image, but same post)thistlewren.blogspot.comDo I Continue to Feed the Beast?Aghh, I've lost two days of my holiday because I've had to change roles at work. This year I get to look forward to more hours, more busy wo... 020
Reposted by GrimalkinGerryDave Bonta @davebonta.bsky.social · 21/07/2026Nolan's Odyssey & more w/ @victoriamoul.bsky.social @sallythomasnc.bsky.social @grimalkingerry.bsky.social @webbish6.bsky.social @velveteenrabbi.bsky.social @renee-emerson.bsky.social @jannoble.bsky.social @adamcairnspoet.bsky.social @thepoetslizard.bsky.social 2/2 www.vianegativa.us/2026/07/poet...vianegativa.usPoetry Blog Digest 2026, Week 29A personal selection of posts from around the Anglophone blogosphere, including Substack. 162
GrimalkinGerry @grimalkingerry.bsky.social · 15/07/2026New post on the blog - Slow Summer Urgency. thistlewren.blogspot.com/2026/07/slow... #thistlewren #poetryblogger #poetrybloggingnetworkthistlewren.blogspot.comSlow Summer UrgencyIt's been a long summer of contrasts, weeks where it rains like a judgement, weeks where the heat clings and drags us down. I have course wo... 000
GrimalkinGerry @grimalkingerry.bsky.social · 16/06/2026Thanks @davebonta.bsky.social for sharing our work. 110
GrimalkinGerry @grimalkingerry.bsky.social · 15/06/2026New post on the blog, Collecting the Collections. thistlewren.blogspot.com/2026/06/coll... #thistlewren #poetryblogger #poetrybloggingnetworkthistlewren.blogspot.comCollecting the collectionsAnother long day summer and another attempt to clear the desk I bought to do my writing. It overlooks the back of the house, a stretch of li... 010
GrimalkinGerry @grimalkingerry.bsky.social · 08/06/2026New post on the blog, beginning of summer. thistlewren.blogspot.com/2026/06/writ... #poetryblogger #thistlewren #poetrybloggingnetworkthistlewren.blogspot.comWriting for No RewardSummer is finally here and we've finally got a decent burst of rain, so everything is greening up. School has been finished for a week and ... 010
Reposted by GrimalkinGerryDave Bonta @davebonta.bsky.social · 23/03/20264/4 @dylan20.bsky.social @andotheritems.bsky.social @thepoetslizard.bsky.social @mariapopova.bsky.social @jillpearlman.bsky.social @kristybowen.bsky.social @grimalkingerry.bsky.social @richfergusonpoet.bsky.social @matriches.bsky.social @saudaminideo.bsky.social www.vianegativa.us/2026/03/poet...vianegativa.usPoetry Blog Digest 2026, Week 12A personal selection of posts from the Poetry Blogging Network and beyond. 062
GrimalkinGerry @grimalkingerry.bsky.social · 21/03/2026New post on the Thistle Wren blog: thistlewren.blogspot.com/2026/03/wall... #thistlewren #poetryblogger #poetrybloggingnetworkthistlewren.blogspot.comWallowing in nostalgia is better than red tape.I used to write letters to family, friends, lovers and pen-pals. I've kept a lot of the letters I received, but have rarely been tempted to ... 010
GrimalkinGerry @grimalkingerry.bsky.social · 28/02/2026Thanks @davebonta.bsky.social for sharing these posts. Always great to see what other poets are doing. 110
GrimalkinGerry @grimalkingerry.bsky.social · 22/02/2026New post on the blog: my 2025 writing stats. thistlewren.blogspot.com/2026/02/swee... #thistlewren #poetryblogger #poetrybloggingnetworkthistlewren.blogspot.comSweeping Away the Last Clutter of 2025I've just been sorting through my mess of admin, how I keep track of submissions, what poems I've written, where they've been published. Thi... 010
GrimalkinGerry @grimalkingerry.bsky.social · 07/02/2026Kári, that's my gut reaction too, but mainly for that sense of craft, the writer's connection to language. If you want to improve a translation, speak to the users of the language, learn its idiosyncrasies, don't hand it over to someone who doesn't live it or love it. 020
GrimalkinGerry @grimalkingerry.bsky.social · 31/01/2026New post on the Thistle Wren blog: AI Trigger Warning. #aidebate #poetryblogger #poetrybloggingnetwork #thistlewren thistlewren.blogspot.com/2026/01/ai-t...thistlewren.blogspot.comAI Trigger WarningA member of my writing group asked last night what we would think about them bringing a story that AI had translated for them. I have to adm... 131
Reposted by GrimalkinGerryDave Bonta @davebonta.bsky.social · 06/01/2026The first poetry blog digest of 2026 with @lauragraceweldon.bsky.social @kristybowen.bsky.social @grimalkingerry.bsky.social @matthewepaul.bsky.social @kerstenak.bsky.social @shawnalemay.bsky.social @robmclennan.bsky.social @pearlpoet.bsky.social 1/3 www.vianegativa.us/2026/01/poet...vianegativa.usPoetry Blog Digest 2026, Week 1A personal selection of posts from the Poetry Blogging Network and beyond. 5102
GrimalkinGerry @grimalkingerry.bsky.social · 02/01/2026New post on the blog: Scottish Book Tour 2025. #thistlewren #poetryblogger #poetrybloggingnetwork thistlewren.blogspot.com/2026/01/scot...thistlewren.blogspot.comScottish Book Tour 2025Every summer when I go to Scotland to work, I order an obscene amount of books from a small independent bookseller in the Scottish Borders. ... 010
GrimalkinGerry @grimalkingerry.bsky.social · 02/01/2026I'm excited to share and be a part of the 2025 Helsinki Writers Group Anthology. Check it out. #helsinkiwritersgroup www.helsinkiwriters.com/anthology/?f... 020
Reposted by GrimalkinGerryDave Bonta @davebonta.bsky.social · 05/08/2025Reading poetry to pigs, yellow stretchy man, the canon of spiteful literature, & other curiosities w/ @webbish6.bsky.social @lesleymwheeler.bsky.social @kristybowen.bsky.social @grimalkingerry.bsky.social @robinhoughton.bsky.social @rebeccaloudon.bsky.social 3/3 www.vianegativa.us/2025/08/poet...vianegativa.usPoetry Blog Digest 2025, Week 31A personal selection of posts from the Poetry Blogging Network and beyond. 073
GrimalkinGerry @grimalkingerry.bsky.social · 29/07/2025New post on the blog: A Summer Ending. thistlewren.blogspot.com/2025/07/a-su... #thistlewren #poetryblogger #poetrybloggingnetworkthistlewren.blogspot.comA Summer EndingToday is the last day of my holidays and I'm still in my jammies, writing with tea, playing solitaire until my head quiets. I'm blessed with... 000
GrimalkinGerry @grimalkingerry.bsky.social · 16/07/2025Thanks @davebonta.bsky.social for collecting these blogs and sharing them. Honoured to be a part of it. 120
GrimalkinGerry @grimalkingerry.bsky.social · 14/07/2025New post on the blog: thistlewren.blogspot.com/2025/07/the-... #thistlewren #poetryblogger #poetrybloggingnetworkthistlewren.blogspot.comThe Blank PageLess than a month left of my summer holidays and I've been thinking about the blank page . . . I don't fear it, I fill it with nonsense most... 010
GrimalkinGerry @grimalkingerry.bsky.social · 21/06/2025New post on my Thistle Wren blog: Midsummer. #thistlewren #poetryblogger #poetrybloggingnetwork thistlewren.blogspot.com/2025/06/mids...thistlewren.blogspot.comMidsummerIt's midsummer, when Finnish people turns away from the cities and towards the water and the forest, relax and be themselves. As much as I d... 010
GrimalkinGerry @grimalkingerry.bsky.social · 15/06/2025Went onto the porch today to write - sometimes I write by peeling paint off my old picnic table. The sharpened blade of the scraper catching on any loose thoughts, revealing beneath the raw, true colours. Any unwanted thoughts are stripped away and blown off by the wind. 010
Reposted by GrimalkinGerryDave Bonta @davebonta.bsky.social · 09/06/2025The task of silence, skies of spit & more w/ @thepoetslizard.bsky.social @lesleymwheeler.bsky.social @andotheritems.bsky.social @jillpearlman.bsky.social @kristybowen.bsky.social @grimalkingerry.bsky.social @roguestrands.bsky.social @timlovewriter.bsky.social 3/3 www.vianegativa.us/2025/06/poet...vianegativa.usPoetry Blog Digest 2025, Week 23A personal selection of posts from the Poetry Blogging Network and beyond. 194
GrimalkinGerry @grimalkingerry.bsky.social · 09/06/2025New post on the Thistle Wren blog: thistlewren.blogspot.com/2025/06/lazy... #thistlewren #poetryblogger #poetrybloggingnetworkthistlewren.blogspot.comLazy Days When No One is WatchingA week into full summer and the kids have been sleeping in late, having stayed up too late again. Menopause has gifted me with mornings, so ... 010
GrimalkinGerry @grimalkingerry.bsky.social · 01/06/2025New post on my Thistle Wren blog. thistlewren.blogspot.com/2025/06/expr... #thistlewren #poetryblogger #poetrybloggingnetworkthistlewren.blogspot.comExpressing Big EmotionsThe day outside is beautiful, but I'm stuck inside with a pollen allergy that has moved to my chest. It is a struggle to breathe, to even pu... 000
Reposted by GrimalkinGerryDave Bonta @davebonta.bsky.social · 20/05/2025Poets in "the crosshairs of the present" @webbish6.bsky.social @thepoetslizard.bsky.social @kristybowen.bsky.social @grimalkingerry.bsky.social @oyoguhito.bsky.social @matriches.bsky.social www.vianegativa.us/2025/05/poet...vianegativa.usPoetry Blog Digest 2025, Week 20A personal selection of posts from the Poetry Blogging Network and beyond. 383
GrimalkinGerry @grimalkingerry.bsky.social · 18/05/2025New post on my Thistle Wren blog thistlewren.blogspot.com/2025/05/a-co... #poetryblogger #thistlewren #poetrybloggingnetworkthistlewren.blogspot.comA Collector of Scrap and DetailsSummer is officially here, though we still are really only in spring in terms of where the weather and plant growth is. My tulips are just b... 010
GrimalkinGerry @grimalkingerry.bsky.social · 30/04/2025#glopowrimo Last Day and I've managed to do all but one day. Feels like something I want to continue. Day 30 Bittersweet He's leaving and breathless she spins face up in the current of the room. Clothed in the synonyms for how she must feel, she has lost the original. Each night becomes a map. 000
GrimalkinGerry @grimalkingerry.bsky.social · 30/04/2025Day 29 #glopowrimo zibladone I have not yet outgrown you I write you punk love notes in the margins scream and slash the paper I place my hope in pomegranate seeds but they are more bite than juice and bleed on the page 000
GrimalkinGerry @grimalkingerry.bsky.social · 30/04/2025Day 28 #glopowrimo tell me every sorrow tell me about the hole in your fleece and your homework on birch trees. Then laugh how the teacher stood in the woods and just gazed up happily. The same trees are making me sneeze. 000
GrimalkinGerry @grimalkingerry.bsky.social · 28/04/2025New post on the blog thistlewren.blogspot.com/2025/04/agin... #thistlewren #poetryblogger #poetrybloggingnetworkthistlewren.blogspot.comAging and Love are InvoluntaryI had a student this week say he follows me on Insta, Hi I!, but he doesn't read these blog posts which is probably a relief. It got me wond... 020
GrimalkinGerry @grimalkingerry.bsky.social · 28/04/2025Day 27 #glopowrimo A blessed day the exhausted field and I stop torn over by plough and the lack that I always carry with me still grateful for a milk-kissed morning the mist cooried down the wind is edible peat-infused and the hill low-ridged enough to dip a toe 000
GrimalkinGerry @grimalkingerry.bsky.social · 27/04/2025Day 26 #glopowrimo - I do wonder who people will relate to Billie these days (it’s Holliday for me) in the unruly hour in the arms of night I am drowning in blues that ache of wanting and wanting more and that voice petal black is the rain and Billie’s sadness she knew 000
GrimalkinGerry @grimalkingerry.bsky.social · 26/04/2025Day 26 #glopowrimo grace is not required my midlife crisis needs a midwife as much as a birth to find a way through the cravings and softening skull a hand to hold when facing the feverish heights of hormones and the slow fall to decay aging is involuntary 010
GrimalkinGerry @grimalkingerry.bsky.social · 25/04/2025Day 24 #glopowrimo I stalk the heron the bird is not an omen starving for my questions feeding on my promises but a reflection of what of who is hidden in the nettles and dried stalks 100
GrimalkinGerry @grimalkingerry.bsky.social · 23/04/2025Day 23 #glopowrimo I missed yesterday but inspired by a Finnish song today joesta järveen Tuonelan Koivut, Kotiteollisuus I thought the song said love flowed from the river to the lake so finnish so enclosed far from the pull of the tide just a collection of emotions hemmed in but it was tears 000
GrimalkinGerry @grimalkingerry.bsky.social · 23/04/2025Day 21 #glopowrimo the poetry of who I was the past filed away in boxes old photos with a gold wash friends and stories still kent over the decades faces I want to forget hard copies blurred and real can I edit them out 000
GrimalkinGerry @grimalkingerry.bsky.social · 21/04/2025New post on the blog. The Poetry of Who I Am Now. thistlewren.blogspot.com/2025/04/the-... #thistlewren #amwriting #poetryblogger #poetrybloggingnetworkthistlewren.blogspot.comThe Poetry of Who I am NowEaster weekend and we got 5 days off school for it. I love the luxury of waking up and thinking, 'not tomorrow' especially when the rain is ... 030
GrimalkinGerry @grimalkingerry.bsky.social · 21/04/2025Day 20 #glopowrimo - the format just does not work for this online. myself in the abstract the rain pelting down this is content I am torn from the page of the unmade bed this is arrival a husk of the moon longing 010
GrimalkinGerry @grimalkingerry.bsky.social · 19/04/2025Day 19 #glopowrimo unstrung I string myself along vibrating synched to the wind high-strung gutted and burned dry and fall like a broken kite when did I stop talking when he stopped listening I’ve chosen to ignore the opinions of the wind 000
GrimalkinGerry @grimalkingerry.bsky.social · 19/04/2025Day 18 #glopowrimo rugby in black and white bodies rumble into motion pitch churned to mud limb wrapping limb grip bind outstretched tensed vibrating with the soul of the push pounding in the blood 010
GrimalkinGerry @grimalkingerry.bsky.social · 18/04/2025@matthewmcsmith.bsky.social Looking forward to seeing your rugby poem. Haven't quite figured out how to broach that subject yet, but I'd like to write one. 110
GrimalkinGerry @grimalkingerry.bsky.social · 18/04/2025Day 17 #glopowrimo there’s no happiness in this no peace either yet I keep plunging myself deeper I confess I felt dead spiraling into silence into dust 000
