iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Robert van Vliet @letterspace.org · 12/08/2026

Gosh, I sure hope Angie remembered to thank ICE in her concession speech.

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Robert van Vliet @letterspace.org · 06/08/2026

I have absolutely no interest in seeing the Odyssey now that I’ve learned they cut all the Tom Bombadil scenes.

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Robert van Vliet @letterspace.org · 28/07/2026

Vin Diesel and Jason Statham in “I Know a Man”

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Robert van Vliet @letterspace.org · 07/07/2026

Schadenfreude is a many-splendored thing.

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Reposted by Robert van Vliet

Jeff Sharlet @jeffsharlet.bsky.social · 02/07/2026

I asked my creative writing students to anonymously share their thoughts about AI. www.chronicle.com/article/my-s...

chronicle.com

Opinion | My Students Hate AI. But They Can’t Stop Using It.

Big Tech has gotten them addicted to cheating, and they’ve internalized the blame.

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Reposted by Robert van Vliet

Claire Wahmanholm @cwahmanholm.bsky.social · 02/07/2026

What a thrill, gang!! "Overwinter" was written during Operation Metro Surge, when I was trying very hard to stay afloat. I reread it again just now and realized I've been using it every day since then, too. So grateful that it resonated with @ampoetryreview.bsky.social ❤️❤️

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Robert van Vliet @letterspace.org · 19/06/2026

Firefly, just outside the window!

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Robert van Vliet @letterspace.org · 25/05/2026

I’m about to have a lot of free time on my hands. Maybe I should submit some poems somewhere. It’s been over two years since I did that. I have almost fifty poems in my new weird project. A few of them are good. Some are okay. Most are stupid. But people like stupid poems, right? Gawd I hope so.

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Robert van Vliet @letterspace.org · 24/05/2026

Loyalty is a two-way street.

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Reposted by Robert van Vliet

Into a Darker Wilderness @intoadarkerwilderness.com · 14/05/2026

We invite you to join us, and our sponsor Milkweed Editions, for our launch party at 6:00 pm on May 27th in the Open Book Performance Hall. Admission is free; light refreshments and beverages will be provided. @mkdordiggsy.bsky.social @davigray.com @milkweededitions.bsky.social

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Robert van Vliet @letterspace.org · 09/05/2026

Hey, look what I found on my doorstep: it’s a box of chapbooks from above/ground press! @robmclennan.bsky.social

An opened cardboard box showing stacks of poetry chapbooks.

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Reposted by Robert van Vliet

Mischief Toy Store @mischieftoy.com · 01/05/2026

Emily says we're wrecking the whole #SaintPaul scene. 🫠

A 1 star google review from Emily:

I can't help but feel like Mischief Toy Store has lost the plot a bit. The exterior of the building is covered in messaging that comes across more like virtue signaling than welcoming. It honestly feels like the building is yelling at you before you even walk in.
As a Minnesota native, it makes me sad to see the direction parts of the St. Paul scene seem to be heading. I understand the owner may feel strongly and might be defensive of this feedback, but I wish the focus stayed on what brings people in the door in the first place: kids, toys, and a sense of fun, rather than politics.

Our reply:

Emily,
Social justice has been our "plot" since we opened 10 years ago. Those signs aren't virtue signaling, they reflect the core values of our family and our business. Black Lives Matter. Protect Trans Youth.
No ICE. Resist Fascism. Build safer streets.
If those sentiments made you feel unwelcome, then we kindly encourage you to broaden your understanding and empathy of your fellow human beings. Until then, we encourage you to shop elsewhere.
Sincerely,
Abby, Millie, and Dan owners, Mischief Toy Store

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Robert van Vliet @letterspace.org · 01/05/2026

The moon through the trees.

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Reposted by Robert van Vliet

Henry Gould @henryghenrik.bsky.social · 28/04/2026

Good news from Contubernales. I should have the proofs by the weekend. *Shield of Mnemosyne* draws nigh, sounding ye trumpet.

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Reposted by Robert van Vliet

Samuel Day Wharton @fakeourway.bsky.social · 25/04/2026

Claire Wahmanholm from 32 Poems No. 45

Claire Wahmanholm
Come In, Come In

Stars are stars especially when they're dim.
I am faithless, but make an exception
for them; I make like deep space and trim
their hydrogen shells with endless, open-
work lace. I am nothing like them, and so
love them best of all. or next-to-best. after
my own wretchedness, which 1 am trying
to soften. Stars are soft. What is softer
than dving light? Softer than letting ga
ot yourselt and trusting that something
will call you home when it's time? I listen
so hard sometimes that all I can hear
is my own ringing. Come in, come in
clearly (star, savior). Rhyme me firmly here.

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Robert van Vliet @letterspace.org · 11/04/2026

I regularly refer to Next Chapter Books in St Paul as “Next Chamber.” (iykyk as the kids say)

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Robert van Vliet @letterspace.org · 09/04/2026

Many thanks to @mitchnobis.bsky.social for highlighting this poem from my book, Vessels. Fun fact: that last phrase (“Seeds return to roots, return to seeds”) is the refrain to an old song lyric of mine that never went anywhere, and had to wait about thirty years to land in this poem.

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Robert van Vliet @letterspace.org · 28/03/2026

What a day. It looked like I’d lost the last six years of documents from my computer, and that my back-ups had lost them too. All my writing. Everything. I spent some time letting it all go. A cleansing house fire, ash under a clear sky. Now? I’m restoring all of it from a secondary back-up.

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Robert van Vliet @letterspace.org · 20/03/2026

Okay, I think I’m going to write a cookbook. (But I’ll have to test the recipes first.)

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Robert van Vliet @letterspace.org · 27/02/2026

I think I’m finally someone else now.

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Robert van Vliet @letterspace.org · 24/02/2026

This means more to me than I can say.

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Reposted by Robert van Vliet

Mischief Toy Store @mischieftoy.com · 17/02/2026

Please keep in mind that ICE still hasn't left Minnesota and many of our neighbors are still living in fear. If you're able, please consider donating to one of the many aid funds listed at standwithminnesota.com. Thank you again! 💖

standwithminnesota.com

Stand With Minnesota

Stand With Minnesota is a hub for supporting, learning, and taking action to support Minnesotans impacted by ICE and federal enforcement.

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Robert van Vliet @letterspace.org · 05/02/2026

Oops, it looks like someone forgot the First Rule of Holes. What staggering incompetence and carelessness (among other things, but I'm trying to keep this clean). Under no circumstances should you submit your work to this Ogre place. Avoid at all costs. Unfollow, block.

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Robert van Vliet @letterspace.org · 05/02/2026

“…with all those teeth coming up from below…” #SA4QE

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Robert van Vliet @letterspace.org · 05/02/2026

A favorite quote from a favorite book by a favorite author on what would have been his 101st birthday. #SA4QE

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Reposted by Robert van Vliet

taylr @taylordahlin.com · 27/01/2026

brass solidarity band performing “stand by me” in the streets of whittier next to alex pretti’s memorial. the crowd started chanting “the people united will never be defeated” so they incorporated it into the song. i love minneapolis

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Robert van Vliet @letterspace.org · 22/01/2026

“Friday, January 23rd will be a statewide day of non-violent moral action, reflection: no work, no school, no shopping—only community, conscience, and collective action.” More details here on what Minnesotans will be doing tomorrow:

iceoutnowmn.com

ICE OUT OF MN

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Robert van Vliet @letterspace.org · 17/01/2026

Here’s my answer to the next question: “What’s your favorite under-appreciated novel?” (Answer: It’s something by @russellhoban.bsky.social.) www.letterspace.org/2026/01/17/i...

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Robert van Vliet @letterspace.org · 16/01/2026

Current reading. I ordered it thru my local bookstore, and just picked it up this afternoon. cc/ @markscroggins.bsky.social

The Uncollected Louis Zukofsky, edited by Jeffrey Twitchell-Waas & Mark Scroggins.

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Robert van Vliet @letterspace.org · 14/01/2026

I know it’s a long time ago, so I’ll remind you: my chapbook came out yesterday. Several long times ago (last year), I answered some interesting questions from Unsolicited Press, who published my book, “Vessels.” For the next ten days, I’ll be posting my answers one at a time. Here’s the first one.

letterspace.org

Interview 1 - (fleeting)

My new chapbook came out yesterday! As a sort of fête, I thought I would repost something from last year. As part of Vessels’ book launch, I

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Robert van Vliet @letterspace.org · 12/01/2026

It’s publication day for my chapbook, “inventions.” Snag a copy from my publisher, the unstoppable above/ground press. @robmclennan.bsky.social (Signed copies will be available from me directly in the near future.)

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Robert van Vliet @letterspace.org · 09/01/2026

My new chapbook comes out next week from above/ground press. It’s a bunch of prose poems with little poems and fragments dangling off the bottom of each one. (Like haibun? I dunno. Maybe.) Here’s one such dangler, a hay(na)ku:

peace can survive / anything even / paper

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Robert van Vliet @letterspace.org · 17/12/2025

My book is one year old today! I haven’t done any readings since I returned to the classroom as a high school English teacher this year. Who knows, maybe in the spring. Anyway, thanks again to @unsolicitedpress.bsky.social for taking a chance on it.

My increasingly tattered author copy, with tabs and bookmarks, and a sheaf of paper stuck between the pages.

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Robert van Vliet @letterspace.org · 15/12/2025

My next chapbook is even less imaginary today than it was yesterday. “inventions” is a collection of prose poems accompanied by short poems and fragments. Thanks to the perpetual @robmclennan.bsky.social, it will emerge from above/ground press in January.