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Ink Sweat & Tears @inksweatandtears.co.uk · 14h

#Wonder is winding down, but while there's still more sand in the hourglass, please enjoy 'Prolonged Panic Attack II' by Martin McKenna and 'Do you know how your mum and dad met?' by Emma Dandy Read them here: inksweatandtears.co.uk/day-six-of-w... #InkSweatandTears #NationalPoetryDay #Poetry

Image: a stack of papers surrounded by a dusty pink border

Text: Wonder Day 6

Martin McKenna
Emma Dandy

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Jean Atkin @jmatkin.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

'Carry no metal as you walk onto the wooden bridge built without nails.' Thanks @inksweatandtears.co.uk inksweatandtears.co.uk/day-three-of...

inksweatandtears.co.uk

Day Three of ‘Wonder’ for NPD: Math Jones, Jean Atkin, Kate Noakes | Ink Sweat and Tears

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Math Jones @mathjones.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

Day Three of Wonder, celebrated by @inksweatandtears.co.uk Poems by myself, by @jmatkin.bsky.social (really marvellous) and by @katenoakes.bsky.social (also truly marvellous). And see their other days of celebration on site (4 so far) #PoetrySky inksweatandtears.co.uk/day-three-of...

inksweatandtears.co.uk

Day Three of ‘Wonder’ for NPD: Math Jones, Jean Atkin, Kate Noakes | Ink Sweat and Tears

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Sue Finch (she/her) @suefinch.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

Delighted to have my poem 'The Plough' included here. Especially since it was written for #NationalPoetryDay AND it's a love poem!

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Ink Sweat & Tears @inksweatandtears.co.uk · 05/10/2026

Today's poems meditating on the expansive theme of #Wonder are 'Incarnation' by Shanta Acharya, 'The Plough' by @suefinch.bsky.social and 'I create little worlds' by @miriamo77@bsky.social. inksweatandtears.co.uk/day-five-of-... #InkSweatandTears #NationalPoetryDay #Poetry

Image: wooden figurines moving worlds, tinted blue, surrounded by a blue border

Text: Wonder Day 5

Shanta Acharya
Sue Finch
Miriam Otto

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Nina Nazir @ninanazir.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

I'm so delighted to have my word and image poem "Deliverance" published with @inksweatandtears.co.uk today! 🩷 Do check it out below. Poem reads: It's valuable vulnerable work telling the truth in all its beautiful horror. #InkSweatandTears #NationalPoetryDay #deliverance

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Ink Sweat & Tears @inksweatandtears.co.uk · 04/10/2026

Truth in all its 'beautiful horror'. 'Deliverance' from Nina Nazir for IS&T's weeklong National Poetry Day feature. inksweatandtears.co.uk/wonder-nina-... @ninanazir.bsky.social #InkSweatandTears #NationalPoetryDay #Wonder

Part section of word and image consisting of a collage of shredded brightly coloured paper, with the cut out text (see below) superimposed.

It's valuable
vulnerable work
telling the truth
in all its beautiful horror

Social media text:

National Poetry Day
'Wonder'
Word & Image
Nina Nazir

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Ink Sweat & Tears @inksweatandtears.co.uk · 04/10/2026

🎶 on the fourth day of #Wonder, IS&T gave to me...🎶 'Memory and Sky' by Rupert Loydell, 'Inventing the Wheel' by Nick Cooke and 'Does it rain diamonds on Saturn?' by Dave Hubble. Read them here: inksweatandtears.co.uk/day-four-of-... #InkSweatandTears #NationalPoetryDay #Poetry

Image: the moon in purple sky surrounded by a dusty pink border

Text: Wonder Day 4

Rupert Loydell
Nick Cooke
Dave Hubble

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Ink Sweat & Tears @inksweatandtears.co.uk · 03/10/2026

Day 3 of our NPD celebrations brings you 'Numinous' by @mathjones.bsky.social, 'The Folklore of Bridges' by @jmatkin.bsky.social and 'The forager’s spell' by @katenoakes.bsky.social Read them here: inksweatandtears.co.uk/day-three-of... #InkSweatsndTears #Wonder #NationalPoetryDay #Poetry

Image: a magical swirl surrounded by a blue border

Text: Wonder Day 3

Math Jones
Jean Atkin
Kate Noakes

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Ink Sweat & Tears @inksweatandtears.co.uk · 02/10/2026

#Wonder continues ! Today brings you 'egg' by Geraldine Stoneham, 'Matryoshka' by Guinevere Clark / @guinevereclarkpoet.bsky.social and 'Hale-Bopp' by Annette Skade. Read them here: inksweatandtears.co.uk/day-two-of-w... #InkSweatandTears #Poetry #NationalPoetryDay

Image: matryoshka dolls

Text: Wonder Day 2

Geraldine Stoneham
Guinevere Clark
Annette Skade

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Ink Sweat & Tears @inksweatandtears.co.uk · 01/10/2026

From the archives for @poetrydayuk.bsky.social: a filmpoem by Moira McPartlin / @moiramcpartlin.bsky.social for the late Spike Walker. It is 'Magnificence' and full of #Wonder. inksweatandtears.co.uk/wonder-moira... #InkSweatandTears #NationalPoetryDay

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Ink Sweat & Tears @inksweatandtears.co.uk · 01/10/2026

Texts placed inside a crate to create 'Poem Under Construction'. Photos of the finished collage become #WordandImage: 'Wondering: Poem Under Construction'. These are #Wonder (ful). @createdtoread.bsky.social for #NationalPoetryDay on inksweatandtears.co.uk/wonder-rache... #InkSweatandTears

Image of crate covered in different clippings, texts and fonts.

Text:

National Poetry Day
'Wonder'

Word & Image
Rachel Carney

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Ink Sweat & Tears @inksweatandtears.co.uk · 01/10/2026

We're kicking off our celebrations of National Poetry Day strong. Our first day of #Wonder brings you poems from Philippa Greasley, Cindy Botha and Niklas Pettersson. Read them here: inksweatandtears.co.uk/day-one-of-w... #InkSweatandTears #Poetry #NationalPoetryDay

Image: a bear surrounded by grass

Text: Wonder Day 1

Philippa Greasley
Cindy Botha
Niklas Pettersson

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Ink Sweat & Tears @inksweatandtears.co.uk · 30/09/2026

My inbox is open again and I'm excited to read more. This time around I'm looking for filmpoems on the theme of 'transit'. I am also accepting submissions of poetry, flash, word & image and reviews. Email me at interns@inksweatandtears.com. --Sabine inksweatandtears.co.uk/submissions/

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Ink Sweat & Tears @inksweatandtears.co.uk · 30/09/2026

Emma Dandy's 'I found it particularly hard as a dad' bites at a broken system in a formidable prose poem that will lay on your heart. Read it here: inksweatandtears.co.uk/emma-dandy/ #InkSweatandTears #Poetry

Image: a father and daughter holding hands, tinted blue, surrounded by a light blue border

Text: I found it particularly hard as a dad.’

I’ve been staring at the blank page of this notebook for an hour. I close my eyes and breathe in for four, hold for four and out for eight, then repeat three times.

Emma Dandy

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Ink Sweat & Tears @inksweatandtears.co.uk · 30/09/2026

Sometimes you only need a little poem to capture a big moment. Ken Cockburn illustrates this in his poem, 'Duomo' Read it here: inksweatandtears.co.uk/ken-cockburn/ #InkSweatandTears #Poetry

Image: silhouettes of cathedrals surrounded by an orange border

Text: Duomo

We slept as best we could on the night train.
Leaving the station we walked empty streets

aimlessly until turning a corner
there it was, silent and vast as the moon.

Ken Cockburn

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Ink Sweat & Tears @inksweatandtears.co.uk · 28/09/2026

Satya Bosman reviews 'The Lives We Had Before' by Vanessa Napolitano / @moette.bsky.social and is strongly drawn to this 'remarkable' collection: Part of our 'In Praise of...' series. inksweatandtears.co.uk/satya-bosman... #InkSweatandTears #Poetry #PoetryCommunity #Review

Cover of Vanessa Napolitano's 'The Lives We Had Before' showing a woman's hand rising from an assortment of pale daisy-like flowers.

Text

'Each poem is a story, an empathy machine, a portal into her rich and vivid imagination’

Review by Satya Bosman

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Ink Sweat & Tears @inksweatandtears.co.uk · 28/09/2026

'Balancing' by Tim Dwyer asks a question that will consume your thoughts: 'do corvids feel pride?' Read it here: inksweatandtears.co.uk/tim-dwyer-5/ #InkSweatandTears #Poetry

Image: two birds against a grey background surrounded by a black background

Text: Balancing

On the pitch of the roof
a jackdaw holds a twig
longer than its wingspan—
do corvids feel pride?

Tim Dwyer

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Ink Sweat & Tears @inksweatandtears.co.uk · 27/09/2026

'When we die, do we' by Genna Gardini is a poem that zooms out further and further until we are just tiny, wonderful specks. Read it here: inksweatandtears.co.uk/genna-gardini/ #InkSweatandTears #Poetry

Image: shooting stars surrounded by a cream border

Text: When we die, do we

go back, small cell, atom
slit by light. It takes up
space, an ocean, a planet, a
god. Too large to understand
the scale, although we accept
the concept. Constellations,

Genna Gardini

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Ink Sweat & Tears @inksweatandtears.co.uk · 26/09/2026

'Sunflowers' by Fran Hayden is the little pick-me-up you need, we promise. Read it here: inksweatandtears.co.uk/fran-hayden/ #InkSweatandTears #Poetry

Image: sunflowers in the city surrounded by a yellow border

Text: Sunflowers

that was all I needed
to remember
that somewhere in this world
I still bloom
in someone else’s mind.

Fran Hayden

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Ink Sweat & Tears @inksweatandtears.co.uk · 25/09/2026

'At Sea' by Betty Doyle might leave you feeling slightly adrift, but in a sea of your own longing if you've lost somebody... Read it here: inksweatandtears.co.uk/betty-doyle/ #InkSweatandTears #Poetry

Image: a foamy sea surrounded by a white border

Text: At Sea

My grandmother, loosened slowly
into Cardigan Bay under a Hay Moon.
My best friend, spread across a bed
of Pacific seamount, five years before.
Down there, the rocks are hot.

Betty Doyle

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Ink Sweat & Tears @inksweatandtears.co.uk · 24/09/2026

The images of Mark Rutter's 'Well' will remain long after it has been read (or burned down). Read it here: inksweatandtears.co.uk/mark-rutter/ #Poetry #InkSweatandTears

image: a dilapidated house in the woods surrounded by a brown border

Text: Well

when the people are gone
and the wooden house
has been burned down
to recover its nails

Mark Rutter

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Ink Sweat & Tears @inksweatandtears.co.uk · 24/09/2026

So excited once again to be supporting the Jhalak Poetry Prize. Start submitting those pamphlets, collections and anthologies (or nudge your publishers to do so!) Thank you for the opportunity @profsunnysingh.bsky.social and the Jhalak team!

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Dr M. I. Matthews-Schlinzig @whatisaletter.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

Congratulations to Viv Fogel! Thanks to everyone who voted!

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Ink Sweat & Tears @inksweatandtears.co.uk · 23/09/2026

'Relevant, brave and urgently important' Huge congratulations to Viv Fogel whose poem 'At the End of the Class' is the IS&T #PickoftheMonth for August 2026. Revisit the poem and see more voters' comments at inksweatandtears.co.uk/august-2026-... #InkSweatandTears #Poetry #PoetryCommunity

Image of desert landscape with hilly area in back just glimpsed and sun rising from the water. Overall gold haze and deep gold border.

Text (centred)

Congratulations

Viv Fogel

At the End
of the Class

IS&T August 2026 Pick of the Month

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Ink Sweat & Tears @inksweatandtears.co.uk · 23/09/2026

Gráinne Daly reflects on where her body belongs in spite of where it was made in 'Not for me Glasnevin'. Read it here: inksweatandtears.co.uk/grainne-daly/ #InkSweatandTears #Poetry

Image: an aerial view of fields surrounded by a green border

Text: Not for me Glasnevin

Not for me the tomb of Irish soil.
Put me on a plane
and let me make one last journey
before my final departure.

Gráinne Daly

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Ink Sweat & Tears @inksweatandtears.co.uk · 23/09/2026

We have now closed for these. Please do keep checking our Submissions page for details of when we will open up again. Sabine remains open for submissions of word & image, filmpoems and reviews.

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Ink Sweat & Tears @inksweatandtears.co.uk · 22/09/2026

'Why don't you eat pork?' by Rebecca Cohen is an act of siting through heritage and memory you won't want to miss Read it here: inksweatandtears.co.uk/rebecca-cohen/ #InkSweatandTears #Poetry

Image: tiled floor with a strip of light surrounded by a dark border

Text: why don't you eat pork?

I have only the memory of a six-year-old
who sat on the floor at Ohel Leah

and hummed along to the davening,
cradling a wooden cat in her lap.

Rebecca Cohen

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Ink Sweat & Tears @inksweatandtears.co.uk · 21/09/2026

'Undertow' by Rhian Thomas is a haunting poem of a world sucked under water... Don't you wish that world was one only in their head? Read it here: inksweatandtears.co.uk/rhian-thomas... #InkSweatandTears #Poetry

Image: a coastal road surrounded by a grey border

Text: Undertow

I dream roads winding under water. Concrete like flaking skin
or weed rising in glass-green depths. Scan through the earth’s crust

you’ll find tectonic graveyards, plates you might have mapped
in earlier oceans, landmasses in ribbons - now continents

Rhian Thomas

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Ink Sweat & Tears @inksweatandtears.co.uk · 20/09/2026

Helen Ivory / @helenivory.bsky.social is currently open for general submissions of poetry and short prose. For more details go to inksweatandtears.co.uk/submissions/ #InkSweatandTears #Poetry #PoetryCommunity #Submissions

Semi-transparent image of typewriter with sheet of paper containing the word 'writing'. Grey blue background.

Text in white (centred)

Helen Ivory
is currently open for
general submissions of
poetry and short prose.

These will close at midnight on
30 September or when we reach 60 in total!

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Ink Sweat & Tears @inksweatandtears.co.uk · 20/09/2026

The theme of summer continues with 'Summer's End' by Sue Norton. Maybe a few more will bring back the warm weather... Read it here: inksweatandtears.co.uk/sue-norton/ #InkSweatandTears #Poetry

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Ink Sweat & Tears @inksweatandtears.co.uk · 19/09/2026

Do check out our latest review! @timrelf.bsky.social is 'in Praise of' @andrewmcdonnell.bsky.social's '55 Devotionals (Against Erasure)' @brokensleepbooks.bsky.social, finding a 'vein of joy, gratitude and wonder'. inksweatandtears.co.uk/tim-relf-rev... #InkSweatandTears #PoetryCommunity #Reviews

Image of the cover of Andrew McDonnell's '55 Devotionals (Against Erasure)' which shows a painted dark green horizon against a deep sky blue. The border is grey blue.

Text:

'a hugely insightful book with much to say about class, masculinity and family’

Review by Tim Relf

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Ink Sweat & Tears @inksweatandtears.co.uk · 19/09/2026

We can reminisce on summer in all shades. Steph Morris' 'Summers in Black' reminds us... @herr-morris.bsky.social Read it here: inksweatandtears.co.uk/steph-morris... #InkSweatandTears #Poetry

Image: children swimming in the water surrounded by a black background

Text: Summers in Black

Obviously I wouldn’t be wearing that bit,
ever. But the shirts I lived in

all summer, loose, but still black,
a couple of buttons open, neck free,

something most Jesus and Mary Chain fans
didn’t have – something he could do.

Steph Morris

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Ink Sweat & Tears @inksweatandtears.co.uk · 18/09/2026

'Going down to do lights and curtains to fool any burglars' by Kathy Pimlott is one of those poems composed by the lights of night time. @pimlottkathy.bsky.social Read it here: inksweatandtears.co.uk/kathy-pimlot... #InkSweatandTears #Poetry

Image: a street light tinted purple, surrounded by a light purple border

Text: Going down to do lights and curtains to fool any burglars

All done, street lamps
cast my long shadow so it circles me as 1 walk back.
It grows and shrinks, scales walls. Sensing something
behind me, I stop, turn. There she stands, fox-smart

Kathy Pimlott

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Ink Sweat & Tears @inksweatandtears.co.uk · 17/09/2026

Rachael's poem, along with those from all the other Shortlisted and Highly Commended poets – Huge Congratulations to all 🎊🎊🎊– will be featured in the 'Forward Book of Poetry 2027' which is available to preorder at uk.bookshop.org/p/books/the-... #ForwardPrizes #Faber #PoetryAnthology

uk.bookshop.org

The Forward Book of Poetry 2027

The Forward Prizes are the most influential awards for new poetry published in the UK and Ireland. This selection combines fresh voices with familiar names, making the book essential reading for seaso...

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Ink Sweat & Tears @inksweatandtears.co.uk · 17/09/2026

In addition to the Forward Prize shortlists, 50 written poems and 14 performed poems were selected from nearly 550 total submissions – around 3 picks per judge in each category. To make this list means that Rachael was among the #ForwardPrizes judges' favourite selections.

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Ink Sweat & Tears @inksweatandtears.co.uk · 17/09/2026

Beyond excited to have Rachael Clyne / @rachaelclyne.bsky.social Highly Commended for the Forward Prizes 2026 #BestSinglePoemWritten for her poem 'Homeland' which was published on IS&T and #PickoftheMonth for June 2025! #HighlyCommended #ForwardPrizes #ForwardBook2027 #Faber #PoetryAnthology

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Ink Sweat & Tears @inksweatandtears.co.uk · 17/09/2026

'Free Range' by Sharon Black is abstract in a way that will wriggle under your skin to your nerves, but it intends to. Read it here: inksweatandtears.co.uk/sharon-black/ #InkSweatandTears #Poetry

Image: a fox in a rustic setting surrounded by a green-brown border

Text: Free Range

I have a tongue for truth
and a tongue for lies. My mouth

is dry, all this barking. People say
I have something of the fox.

Sharon Black

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Ink Sweat & Tears @inksweatandtears.co.uk · 16/09/2026

'A bit OCD' by Vanessa Napolitano holds its finger to the pulse of a mental health matter that is more than a bit complex, but Napolitano handles it beautifully. @moette.bsky.social Read it here: inksweatandtears.co.uk/vanessa-napo... #InkSweatAndTears #Poetry #MentalHealth

Image: household clutter in black and white surrounded by a black background

Text: A Bit OCD

Floors are unvacuumed. Spices remain un-alphabetised.
I bless the spaces between the furniture to keep everyone safe. Seven.

I do not arrive exactly on time. Margins can keep their default size.
I would like you to promise me this isn’t poison. This supermarket chicken.

Vanessa Napolitano

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Ink Sweat & Tears @inksweatandtears.co.uk · 15/09/2026

Vote now for your IS&T #PickoftheMonth for August 2026. Will it be Aardhra Chandran, Viv Fogel, Janet Hatherley, @whatisaletter.bsky.social, Mark McDonnell or @damenobrien.bsky.social? Poems and the voting link are at inksweatandtears.co.uk/august-2026-... #InkSweatandTears #Poetry #PoetryCommunity

Image: August fields in the sunlight with VOTE icon bottom righr

Text:

IS&T August 2026 Pick of the Month

Aardhra Chandran
Viv Fogel
Janet Hatherley
Marie Isabel Matthews-Schlinzig
Mark McDonnell
Damen O’Brien

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Ink Sweat & Tears @inksweatandtears.co.uk · 15/09/2026

'Nostalgia as Yogi Bear' by Ben Verinder is a whimsical reminder that a poem comes in any package, so sort through your childhood and you might find a poem Read it here: inksweatandtears.co.uk/ben-verinder/ #InkSweatandTears #Poetry

Image: a picnic site surrounded by an olive green border

Text: Nostalgia as Yogi Bear

Lifts a memory from the pic-a-nic basket
of your past and sniffs it excitedly.

He lies about the freshness
of the morsel. Exaggerates its taste.

Ben Verinder

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Ink Sweat & Tears @inksweatandtears.co.uk · 14/09/2026

'I'm Just an Ordinary Dryad' by Jane Spray is exactly the type of poetry you would hope for from a poet hailing from the Forest of Dean. Read it here: inksweatandtears.co.uk/jane-spray/ #InkSweatandTears #Poetry

Image: full moon seen through trees with a dark brown border around it

Image: I’m just an ordinary dryad

full moon in new
dark rising to light

skin and bark together
woodbine up hazel shoots

in loving arms under the boughs
I lie all night in this secluded wood

Jane Spray

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Ink Sweat & Tears @inksweatandtears.co.uk · 13/09/2026

This is the post of 'The Poem of the Sock' by Paul Stephenson. Read it here: inksweatandtears.co.uk/paul-stephen... #InkSweatandTears #Poetry

Image: reflection of orange trees in water surrounded by a light blue border

Text: The Poem of the Sock

The poem of the bath had no depth (full of bathos).
The poem of the mirror was a true reflection.

The poem of the plane never really took off.
The poem of the ship soon ran aground.

Paul Stephenson

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Ink Sweat & Tears @inksweatandtears.co.uk · 12/09/2026

'DayGlo' by Alex Josephy is a poem so resplendent it's as if it's clad in... hi-vis. @alexjosephy.bsky.social Read it here: inksweatandtears.co.uk/alex-josephy... #InkSweatandTears #Poetry

Image: construction workers gathered around a fire surrounded by a neon yellow border

Text: DayGlo

Let us now praise hi-vis men
who gather together
round a pothole, filling the gap
with their sticky black remedy.

Alex Josephy

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Eleanor Carpenter @eleanorcarpenter.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

This poem is so relatable!

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Ink Sweat & Tears @inksweatandtears.co.uk · 11/09/2026

For all those feeling detached, 'Out of Place' by Claire Lynn is for you. Read it here: inksweatandtears.co.uk/claire-lynn/ #InkSweatandTears #Poetry

Image: an up-close shot of fir trees surrounded by a light green border

Text: Out of Place

I don’t understand. Christmas
seems to come round faster

each year. My small talk
shrinks. I spray

DON’T SPEAK TO ME
across my reflection.

Claire Lynn

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Ink Sweat & Tears @inksweatandtears.co.uk · 10/09/2026

It's gonna happen, happen sometime. Or 'It Might Never Happen' according to Peter Daniels. But either way, you'll get a great poem out of it. @peterdaniels.bsky.social Read it here: inksweatandtears.co.uk/peter-daniel... #InkSweatandTears #Poetry

Image: men in silhouette surrounded by a haze

Text: It Might Never Happen

This is not you, but someone soaked in fake Brut
coming at me in a gesture of fake generosity.

For goodness sake, I only want a quiet life,
it’s no crime not to be a gregarious joiner.

Peter Daniels

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Ink Sweat & Tears @inksweatandtears.co.uk · 10/09/2026

'Bus Pass' by Emma Farmer is a poem of connection with a familiar through line: the bus. Read it here: inksweatandtears.co.uk/emma-farmer/ #InkSweatandTears #Poetry

Image: an arial shot of a bus stop surrounded by a pink border

Text: Bus Pass

I sit at the stop we used to wait at for the bus to pick us up,
but now you're three stops ahead
and the journey's been used up.

emma Farmer

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Ink Sweat & Tears @inksweatandtears.co.uk · 08/09/2026

I simply love a narrative poem, like 'At Casa Diablo: Portland's World Infamous Vegan Strip Club' by Carson Wolfe. @carsonthepoet.bsky.social Read it here: inksweatandtears.co.uk/carson-wolfe/ #InkSweatandTears #Poetry

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Ink Sweat & Tears @inksweatandtears.co.uk · 07/09/2026

Photo of jet and flight lines adapted from one by William Hook on Unsplash.

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