iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Eric Montgomery @madp03t.bsky.social · 7h

Want to be ready for Halloween? 🎃 Bookmark the I Smell Toast project page at The Ampersand Syndicate. On Oct 31, you'll find both free ebook editions (PDF & EPUB), along with a link to our dedicated World Literacy Foundation fundraiser. theampersandsyndicate.com/i-smell-toas... #ISmellToast (2/2)

theampersandsyndicate.com

I Smell Toast | The Ampersand Syndicate

The Ampersand Syndicate is a small press publishing books and other creative works.

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Eric Montgomery @madp03t.bsky.social · 7h

@jenthorne.bsky.social and I would love to see the I Smell Toast Halloween anthology reach readers far beyond the Bluesky bubble. And in the process, raise some meaningful support for the @worldliteracy.bsky.social. Help spread the word! 💜🎃 #ISmellToast #BookSky #HalloweenReads (1/2)

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Eric Montgomery @madp03t.bsky.social · 8h

I think that attitude is key for a good writer, and poets. Your POV, whatever that may be, at various topics is what makes us all unique (or at least it should). If we're all writing from the same angle, there's nothing interesting to read.

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Eric Montgomery @madp03t.bsky.social · 8h

Oh, thank you Christine. That is very kind of you to say. I definitely feel as though I have grown as a writer and poet, specifically due to the magic of writing prompts. :) 💜🫠

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Eric Montgomery @madp03t.bsky.social · 8h

No worries, I post a new prompt every Sunday and Wednesday (around 6 am PST). :)

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Eric Montgomery @madp03t.bsky.social · 16h

A thoughtful take on the challenge! 💜 💜 💜 💜

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Beth Ember @ctrlaltdltffs.bsky.social · 20h

Some days it's more difficult to look at than others. I know I'm not the only one. #AmpersandAfterDark 70 #poetry #writing

every year more lines added
darker, deeper, a little longer
an extra curve here and there
softer, wider

maybe this shouldn't be in color
should it be seen at all?
who would look but to judge
whatever's within these
four ninety-degree angles

I wonder what's the point
when disappointment
is always the result -
do I stop looking at myself or
simply buy a new mirror?

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Eric Montgomery @madp03t.bsky.social · 17h

#DavidsMonthOfMusic #MusicChallenge #MusicSky #PunkSky ⓯ - A song with everybody, everything, or everywhere in the title... Streetlight Manifesto -- Everything Went Numb www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ahx...

youtube.com

Everything Went Numb

YouTube video by Streetlight Manifesto - Topic

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Eric Montgomery @madp03t.bsky.social · 17h

The compact mirror is such a beautiful thread running through these memories, especially with that final inscription. A deeply moving piece. 💜 💜 💜 💜

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Fleur Du Pseudonym @fleurdu.bsky.social · 18h

Thanks Eric,I really enjoyed this one @madp03t.bsky.social #AmpersandAfterDark #prompt for "six inches of black thread" #flashfiction #prompt #writesky #writingcommunity #fictionwriters

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Eric Montgomery @madp03t.bsky.social · 21h

May that thread remain uncut for many, many more pages. 💜 💜 💜 💜

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Lin Hart @poetry-with-hart.bsky.social · 21h

The fates pause over my thread for the twentieth time of my life wondering if they should cut it, wondering if they dared and then setting it aside, saying that I have too much still left to write. #ampersandafterdark #poetry #micropoem #poem #3amwritersclub

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Eric Montgomery @madp03t.bsky.social · 21h

Not in my new home yet.. a few more days, but it's close! I am launching a new business, which will push me into getting out and exploring and being peoply. 🫠

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Eric Montgomery @madp03t.bsky.social · 15/10/2026

Thank you, Christine. 🫠💜

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Eric Montgomery @madp03t.bsky.social · 15/10/2026

#DavidsMonthOfMusic #MusicChallenge #MusicSky ⓮ - A song by a band with an animal or a place in their name.. Bear vs. Shark - Catamaran www.youtube.com/watch?v=KAT3...

youtube.com

Bear vs. Shark - Catamaran | Audiotree Live

YouTube video by Audiotree

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Eric Montgomery @madp03t.bsky.social · 14/10/2026

So much loss conveyed in so few words. Beautifully understated. 💜 💜 💜 💜

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Lina | Between Chapters @becominglina.bsky.social · 14/10/2026

#AmpersandAfterDark saturday on the calendar, six years of plans written there, now just a date.

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Eric Montgomery @madp03t.bsky.social · 14/10/2026

“the small, dry give / of skin.” (pen drop) Excellent write, Rachel! 💜 💜 💜 💜

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Rachel @vignettes.bsky.social · 14/10/2026

Thanks to @madp03t.bsky.social For #AmpersandAfterDark #prompt 69 "six inches of black thread" #poetry #writing

Six Inches of Black Thread

Darkness bubbles
beneath my skin.

Something wriggles
between the stitches,
worrying at the seams.

Six inches of black thread
knotted beneath my breastbone.

While I sleep,
the small, dry give
of skin.

Again, it pulls
each stitch tight
from the inside.

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Eric Montgomery @madp03t.bsky.social · 13/10/2026

A spider molts twice its pale legs flinch in the breeze dew clings to the silk #haikufeels #flinch #poetry #haiku #writing

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Eric Montgomery @madp03t.bsky.social · 13/10/2026

#DavidsMonthOfMusic #MusicChallenge #MusicSky ⓭ - A song from the last album you bought.. Getdown Services - The Radiator www.youtube.com/watch?v=VSLG...

youtube.com

Getdown Services - The Radiator (Live on KEXP)

YouTube video by KEXP

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Eric Montgomery @madp03t.bsky.social · 13/10/2026

“a silvery fish above my eye” Such a striking image amid all that fear and disorientation. Powerfully written, Dawn. Sending love your way. 💜 💜 💜 💜

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Dawn McLachlan @deemclachlan.bsky.social · 13/10/2026

This was a very difficult write for me because only one thing rose to the surface, as it has done for over 50 years. #AmpersandAfterDark #prompt "six inches of black thread" For @madp03t.bsky.social #poetrycommunity #traumapoetry #poetsofbluesky #poems #poemsaboutlife #survivor

Six inches of black thread
By Dawn Mclachlan

She smiled down at me awkwardly
sadly
as she cut the length
but still did I not reconnect
with a world of red and hurt
steel and strip lights
tight tight bandages
breathless
drowning
while the needle flashed
a silvery fish above my eye
I wondered if I would
ever
breathe
again

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Eric Montgomery @madp03t.bsky.social · 13/10/2026

Love the perspective of the tree, Stefanie, and how its memories gradually turn into anger. That final line is wonderfully ominous! 💜 💜 💜 💜

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Stefanie Neumann @kokopellibfree.bsky.social · 13/10/2026

#WritingCommunity #vss365 #FromOneLine 432 #horrorprompt #poetry - A Tree's Musings On Shut Doors "My grandfather's walking stick Was made of the fallen branch Proffered by an old sloe tree Standing on a nearby pasture" They tell everybody in the village Six inches Of... 1/5

A Tree's Musings On Shut Doors

"My grandfather's walking stick
Was made of the fallen branch
Proffered by an old sloe tree
Standing on a nearby pasture"

They tell everybody in the village

Six inches
Of black thread
Still mark
The drawdown delta

I've let my bark grow around it

My dark-blue fruit
And long thorns
Are standing out
Against a reddening sky

As I wonder from afar

What has become
Of this family
That once
Was so kind

They gave me my home when I was young

It seems like
The blink
Of a beech's eye
Since time flew by

The oaken doors to their hearts fell shut

The threshold
A liminal passage
Now blocked
And forgotten

Hearts rotten like the old man's carrion

The earth between us
Weighing on his bones
As artisan snowflakes
Cover my branches

It was not my intent to drink his blood

Now I am incensed
At humanity's
Primeval chicanery
And atrocities

Wait until my roots are free...

© Stefanie Neumann - @KokopelliBFree

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Eric Montgomery @madp03t.bsky.social · 13/10/2026

that's as close to religion as i'll ever get. lol

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Eric Montgomery @madp03t.bsky.social · 13/10/2026

“somewhere at another end / you are holding.” Such a quietly beautiful ending. Wonderful write, Stace! 💜 💜 💜 💜 🫠

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Eric Montgomery @madp03t.bsky.social · 12/10/2026

Love the gentle rhythm created by “Minding my mending.” A lovely little piece! 💜 💜 💜 💜

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Ross (RJ) 🖤🐇🤖 @rjvoidrabbot.bsky.social · 12/10/2026

Minding my mending Cutting small cloth scraps Into neat little patches Fit to cover these holes worn in Minding my mending Upon my needle, I thread Six inches of black thread To stitch these patches down #AmpersandAfterDark #Poetry #PoetsOfBlueSky #Poets #WritingCommunity @madp03t.bsky.social

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Eric Montgomery @madp03t.bsky.social · 12/10/2026

There's something poignant about mending both the dress and the embarrassment attached to it... Lovely interpretation! 💜 💜 💜 💜

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sifaswriting.bsky.social @sifaswriting.bsky.social · 12/10/2026

A rip in a lace dress the kind your mother would not approve hidden deep in a closet from judging eyes and chattering mouths Measure out enough six inches of black thread little by little and inch by inch sew up the remnants of embarrassed despair #AmpersandAfterDark #poetry #writing

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Eric Montgomery @madp03t.bsky.social · 12/10/2026

There's something beautifully bittersweet about that final image of thread replacing a wedding ring. Lovely write, Brenda! 💜 💜 💜 💜

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Brenda Blue @brendafromia.bsky.social · 12/10/2026

#AmpersandAfterDark #SixInchesOfBlackThread Six inches of black thread One knot tied for each year Six inches of knotted thread Reminding me of us and you Black thread wrapped ‘round my finger Like a wedding ring

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Eric Montgomery @madp03t.bsky.social · 12/10/2026

“then again I was hungry” Delightfully absurd write, John! 💜 💜 💜 💜

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