iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by Merril D. Smith

Liz Gauffreau @lizgauffreau.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

Story Chat Digest: “The Essay” I'm very excited to have a new story featured on Marsha Ingrao's "Story Chat Digest." If you get a chance, I'd love for you to stop by Marsha's place to add to the conversation.

lizgauffreau.com

Story Chat Digest: “The Essay”

I'm very excited to have a new story featured on Marsha Ingrao's "Story Chat Digest." If you get a chance, I'd love for you to stop by Marsha's place to add to the conversation.

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The Chaos Section Poetry Project @chaossectionpoetry.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Delores Gilmore Donde esta Eduardo? Yo no se share.google/gVMxlJWE1Kmp... "Fear tastes like Cotton candy strawberries Rotting in the fields After the raid Fear tastes like Salty tears and Empty fruit stands At the farmers market Donde esta Eduardo? Yo no se" #poetry #immigration #books #NoKings

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The Chaos Section Poetry Project @chaossectionpoetry.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

Michelle DeRose Morning Ghosts share.google/GeoZ7ZNJqtT6... "Five-dollar breakfast on a plastic tray. A dark-eyed family slips into the booth behind, whispers in Spanish, mutes even the crinkles unwrapping their muffins." #poetry #booksky #books #immigration #ICE #NoKings

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The Chaos Section Poetry Project @chaossectionpoetry.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

Chad Parenteau There’s Options share.google/t1cVdyU2ykx0... "All orders are clear and never wrong. And if any orders seem to contradict, then do them in the order heard, give in to confusion then collapse." #poetry #booksky #books #immigration #ICE #NoKings

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The Chaos Section Poetry Project @chaossectionpoetry.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

Meghan Woodward Coda share.google/7MtoojPMPwUU... "It all culminates in this, masked faces grabbing brown people because they do jobs we want but won’t ever do; Then magically, wands in the wind, industries get exceptions because capitalism Trumps humanity— greed always wins" #poetry #booksky

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The Chaos Section Poetry Project @chaossectionpoetry.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

Eileen McCluskey What You Can Do For Me share.google/awqC9RlmXbrY... "You can walk our streets, watching for them. You may know them by their masks, or their guns. You can remind me of the hotline number, and of the rights I am still supposed to have." #poetry #NoKings #booksky #immigration

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The Chaos Section Poetry Project @chaossectionpoetry.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

Steve Babb Caged share.google/PGlAISd5UfMl... "The seconds and the seasons multiply But she stays mired in eternal now And zeroed out at midnight’s stroke And it’s always midwinter in the cockles of her heart" #poetry #booksky #immigration #detentioncenter #NoKings #ICE #Trump #VOTE

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Jenevieve Carlyn @coastalpoet.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

Rustic tales of the Leatherman, the Hartford Circus Fire of 1944, Baseball, Marilyn Monroe, and more for this week's blog... A tribute to my home state reflecting on the recent publication of The Nutmeg Anthology of Connecticut Poems, with a launch event this Thursday at Guilford Free Library 🍂

jenevievecarlyn.com

Poetry from the Nutmeg State

Greetings from… “the Nutmeg State?”Like you, reader, I wasn’t sure how Connecticut had acquired this sobriquet. Apparently, it comes from an old legend about Yankee peddlers…

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Carmella de Keyser @carmellapoetry.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

Glad to have had my poem listed as an #HonourableMention out of 4000 entries by the #DarkPoetsClub. Check them out, they publish interesting pieces & raise money for @sane.org.uk Many thanks to everyone involved this time, looking forward to reading all the poems... 💀🥀🏴‍☠️

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Merril D. Smith @merrildsmith.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

Thank you very much, Paul! I appreciate your kind words--and good company! 💙

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The Broken Spine (SUBS OPEN) @thebrokenspine.co.uk · 04/10/2026

Next up: #Bites. Teeth. Hunger. Desire. Warning. The mark left afterwards. And all the things capable of biting without having a mouth. New theme begins Friday. Don’t post early. Use Alt Text. Tag #PoemsAbout. Read. Repost. Reply.

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Merril D. Smith @merrildsmith.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

You're very welcome, Roger! I'm so glad you didn't mind that I thought of Oldman.

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Merril D. Smith @merrildsmith.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

It may not be your type of thing, but it's a funny coincidence. 😊

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Merril D. Smith @merrildsmith.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

You're welcome, Jan! No, it's a new novel, Under Story by Chloe Benjamin.

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Merril D. Smith @merrildsmith.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

Wow--great language and imagery! Coincidentally, I'm reading a novel where the main character is a mycologist. 🍄‍🟫 😊

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Merril D. Smith @merrildsmith.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

"a split second in a still world"--those encounters always seem magical! Beautiful! 💙

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Avery Lark ❤️‍🔥🦂 @thebisylarke.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

my offering this lovely fall friday for #PoemsAbout #Rot @thebrokenspine.co.uk I could probably write into this prompt endlessly, as a certified #RotEnjoyer, but this poem came out of me trying to write against some of the themes i tend to write into i hope autumn is treating you all well so far!

AGAINST YEARNING

i try to think
against yearning, to call
my power back, to press it hard
against my hopeless romantic
heart and my escapist tendencies
and my penchant for devotional
drowning, but when i try to swim
against that current, i find myself
caught in the swell, despite my
practiced doggy paddle,
my easy floating.

i try to write
against yearning, creating strict
routines and mandates on desire,
but my desire leads me back to
the muddy muse. i try not to
rot like a red leaf sinking
into this puddle
of sickly autumn rain…

but what else can rot do but rot?
what else does life do but decay?
what else does eros do
but chase?

i try to feel
something, anything
but this loathsome yearning
but i find myself
in my grayest fantasies,
leaning in to kiss a dream.

i find myself
pressing up against a ghost.

i try to work
against yearning
but it swallows me
and goddamn,
do i want nothing more
than to be devoured.

i try to push
this yearning away
but i am so good
at waiting, and yearning
always comes to those who wait.
sometimes, something else does.
most days, nothing comes,
especially not me.

i try to live
against yearning
but of course, i always find myself
against yearning, skin on skin,
heart to heart, cheek to cheek,
if only in my stray dog dreams.

the more i lean into
this solitary love affair,
the more i think
i wouldn’t change a thing.

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stace.bot @stacebot.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

For this week's #PoemsAbout #Rot I'm thinking about how far a memory can spread before we stop calling it memory. @alanparrywriter.co.uk @thebrokenspine.co.uk #prompt #poetry #blueskypoetry #writesky #poetrycommunity #writingcommunity #poets #creativewriting

rot

still
i lie awake
to look at your
side of the bed
the light knows
you are not there
but i don't
stop seeing you
the face
comes first
a pale pause
above the pillow
your breath
against my mouth
the shape of a body
occupying the dark
i know you are not here
still
i wait
see if you'll move

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Merril D. Smith @merrildsmith.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

This might be one of my favorites of yours, Stace! I love the flow and the imagery--the seeing and sensing what is not there. Ghostly. To me, it seem maybe something more like a virus spreading rather than rot?

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Rachel Burrows @rburrows.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Thank you @matthewmcsmith.bsky.social for this poetry place. Here’s my #fragmentsfriday offering. #micropoetry #poetry #parenting

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Merril D. Smith @merrildsmith.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

A lingering image, Rachel. So poignant. 💙

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roger waldron @throwawayreg.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

morning Friday and for #PoemsAbout #Rot a little “throwaway” poem and a song before I get on my skateboard 🛹and push off “these autumn 🍂leaves 🍁pass by my window🪟” that’s all folks #poetry #dogs #poems thanks @alanparrywriter.co.uk @thebrokenspine.co.uk enjoy your weekend everyone everywhere

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Merril D. Smith @merrildsmith.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

I like the sense of companionship--and his loyalty. 🦮 (I don't know if you've seen it, but I am imagining Gary Oldman in Slow Horses though. 😊)

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Merril D. Smith @merrildsmith.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

You're welcome! 💙 What?! Netting skylarks? We don't have them here, but they're songbirds, right? Alouette. I read a novel a few months ago called Skylark.

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Merril D. Smith @merrildsmith.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Oh, that's so kind, John! 🥰 Thank you!

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Merril D. Smith @merrildsmith.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

That's very kind, Jen. Thank you so much! 🙏

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Merril D. Smith @merrildsmith.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Good luck. I'm sure you'll find something around. I've only done virtual ones.

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The Chaos Section Poetry Project @chaossectionpoetry.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Julissa R. Yael Weissburg share.google/QIFXQIXpGQrM... "That day outside the courtroom when you fell into my arms ... I didn’t realize how quickly I’d come to love you, in our broken sentences, our tightly held hands, our reassuring touch when we ran out of words." #poetry #LaPoesía #immigration

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