iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Scott McConnaha @smcconnaha.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

Contributor copy of the Wis. Fellowship of Poets 2027 Wisconsin Poets' Calendar arrived today! Honored to be among so many great poets. Copies may be purchased in many book stores throughout the state and online at www.wfop.org/2027-wiscons...

054

Scott McConnaha @smcconnaha.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

Sad to hear of Wendell Berry’s passing. He’s been integral to my formation. Sharing this essay in grateful remembrance. #wendellberry substack.com/home/post/p-...

substack.com

Nowhere Near Ready

Wendell Berry told me so

031

Scott McConnaha @smcconnaha.bsky.social · 04/08/2026

Hello @jenthorne.bsky.social and all! Here's my #promptcombo #stand. A work in progress. Keep going back and forth between prose poem and stanzas.

181

Scott McConnaha @smcconnaha.bsky.social · 30/07/2026

Grateful to have been selected for this. Looking forward to working with the WFOP calendar team! I know I'm following some pretty impressive past editors. www.wfop.org #poetry #poets

132

Reposted by Scott McConnaha

Jen Thorne @jenthorne.bsky.social · 21/07/2026

@rfsmith.bsky.social I manged to get it sort of how I wanted it, so here is my second offering for #RealPeople 🙏 #PromptCombo #Poetry

Poetry Readings
(or Why Must We Always Ascend? )

It always seems to begin with stairs.
A winding and steep pilgrimage.

Up staircases that spiral like plot twists,
past signs that say mind your head,
past faded pictures of the glory days.
Into elderly, cramped rooms,
scented with the memories of spilt drinks.
Filled with mismatched chairs,
filled with mismatched people.

You jostle for a place and settle down.
And then the poets rise.
One by one, they stand.
Some with the poise of seasoned magicians,
others with the tremble of someone
showing you their heart,
hastily wrapped in a Tesco receipt.

They speak of grief and pigeons,
of mothers and mushrooms,
of heartbreak and the bus to the Post Office.
They find wonder in the mundane,
alchemy in the overlooked.

Not every poem is polished.
Some are gloriously lopsided,
like a cake baked with too much hope
and not enough flour.
Each one a revelation.
A glimpse into someone else’s sky.

There you sit, awestruck.
Not because every line is perfect,
but because every voice is brave.
Because they climbed the stairs too,
and let you look through
a cracked, glorious, unexpected window.

You listen.
You wonder.
And leave lighter.

Reminded of how many ways
there are to be human.

174316

Scott McConnaha @smcconnaha.bsky.social · 30/06/2026

Contributor copy of the Spring '26 issue of Bramble Lit Mag arrive today. Happy to have my poem "Unmoved" among so many other great pieces. www.wfop.org/bramble-lit-...

043

Scott McConnaha @smcconnaha.bsky.social · 18/05/2026

Happy Monday. Here's my #home #promptcombo contribution. Did a little tweaking of this one from its original publication in The Avocet last fall. Thanks @rfsmith.bsky.social!

4104

Scott McConnaha @smcconnaha.bsky.social · 01/05/2026

Proud to have a poem in the latest issue of Mobius: The Journal of Social Change. mobiusmagazine.com/poetry/theyv... #poetry #poem #poetsofbluesky

mobiusmagazine.com

Mobius: The Journal of Social Change

021

Scott McConnaha @smcconnaha.bsky.social · 22/04/2026

Reading all of these #naturehasweapons #promptcombo contributions this morning in the context of today being #EarthDay has been quite enjoyable and inspiring. Thank you all for sharing your art!

040

Scott McConnaha @smcconnaha.bsky.social · 22/04/2026

Honored to have been a guest on the Wisconsin Writers Association Midwest Writers Room podcast during National Poetry Month to discuss my book and my journey to poetry. #nationalpoetrymonth #poem #poetry #poetrycommunity #writingcommunity youtu.be/aVyI03pBUGA?...

youtu.be

Season 4, Ep 8 - Scott McConnaha

YouTube video by Midwest Writers Room

0124

Scott McConnaha @smcconnaha.bsky.social · 14/04/2026

Here's my #visions #PromptCombo. Inspired by the movie Burnt by the Sun. Thanks, @rfsmith.bsky.social!

3154

Scott McConnaha @smcconnaha.bsky.social · 27/03/2026

Here's my #poemsabout #inbloom. @alanparrywriter.co.uk @thebrokenspine.co.uk This just appeared in America Magazine www.americamagazine.org/poetry/2026/...

2182

Reposted by Scott McConnaha

David Birch @davidbirch.bsky.social · 02/03/2026

Thanks @rfsmith.bsky.social for hosting this week's #PromptCombo #Powerless. Here's a fairly literal response which turns a little gloomy at the end. Looking forward to reading other offerings from the #PoetryCommunity in due course

45413

Scott McConnaha @smcconnaha.bsky.social · 03/03/2026

I've never posted twice in one week to #promptcombo, but I think this one fits the theme of #powerless and the times we live in. @rfsmith.bsky.social

4132

Reposted by Scott McConnaha

DrNaturegirl @drnaturegirl.debbiemross.co.uk · 03/03/2026

Morning, Ronnie @rfsmith.bsky.social and the rest of the crew, thanks for this week’s #PromptCombo #powerless This was what came to mind and as you can tell I’ve not spent any time working on it. #poetrycommunity #poetry

A 2 stanza poem by Debbie Ross entitled Illusions

Text as follows:
A vote in a democracy, a bill through the letterbox, a result from a test, a credit card in a wallet, a roof over your head.
Power-crazed lunatics running the show, protest won't stop them, neither will hope.

2195

Scott McConnaha @smcconnaha.bsky.social · 02/03/2026

Thanks @rfsmith.bsky.social for this week’s #promptcombo #powerless. Here’s one about the powerlessness that comes with an aging body.

3104

Reposted by Scott McConnaha

David Birch @davidbirch.bsky.social · 23/02/2026

Thank you very much @victoriaspires.bsky.social for your #PromptCombo #Rupture. Inspired by @sueimnw.bsky.social's witty #haiku I was hoping to produce something light and witty about 'a secret rupture' but it all got a bit gloomy....

4165

Scott McConnaha @smcconnaha.bsky.social · 22/02/2026

Good morning. Happy #smallpoemsunday. Just saw news that Saint Francis's bones have been put on display again. Assisi can get quite overrun with tourists. The saint's bones displayed crowds clamor 'round his glass case calm coffee with birds @tomsnarsky.bsky.social #poem #poetry #blueskypoets

030

Reposted by Scott McConnaha

DrNaturegirl @drnaturegirl.debbiemross.co.uk · 17/02/2026

Hello #PromptCombo crew. Thanks for this week’s #AChangeOfUse @thewombwellrainbow.bsky.social My offering is a #WIP. I don’t think we’ll get the decision now until after the Scottish elections but I will never forgive them if they destroy Coul protected habitat. www.rspb.org.uk/helping-natu...

A poem by Debbie Ross entitled

Planning Permission Pending

You can scar the land with eighteen tidy greens, plough moss and maram for your fairways
across the already fine, fair ways of wild whin and wild rose.
You can get the planners on side with your fancy golf hotel and promises,
and call it paradise, forever change this wild landscape,
shaped by wind and sea.
Your plans will re-shape and destroy what's endured for millennia, yet you seed your own destruction with each trade.

1124

Scott McConnaha @smcconnaha.bsky.social · 16/02/2026

Happy Monday. Thanks @thewombwellrainbow.bsky.social for this week's #AChangeOfUse #promptcombo. This was inspired during a trip a couple years ago to visit our daughter studying in New Zealand.

193

Scott McConnaha @smcconnaha.bsky.social · 15/02/2026

I'm only now learning that #smallpoemsunday is a thing (thanks to a lovely posting I just saw from @victoriaspires.bsky.social). Here's my first crack, and it's even about a Sunday.

2112

Scott McConnaha @smcconnaha.bsky.social · 12/02/2026

I initially thought too narrowly about #ecstasy and was going to sit this one out. Then I remembered the ecstasy of a boy enjoying a bit of illicit freedom. (The Bellevue Queen was a restaurant along the banks of the Missouri River.) Thanks, @dragonslayerma.bsky.social, for this fun #PromptCombo!

162

Scott McConnaha @smcconnaha.bsky.social · 09/02/2026

So cool that @doorisajarmag.bsky.social hosts a virtual reading with each new issue. Happy to have been one of their featured authors! (Though is anyone ever happy with the way they look and sound on video?) #poem #poetry #skypoets #blueskypoets #poetsofbluesky #poetrycommunity #writingcommunity

175

Scott McConnaha @smcconnaha.bsky.social · 28/01/2026

Just listened. Made me tear up. This is so needed right now. Thanks for posting, Jacob.

172

Scott McConnaha @smcconnaha.bsky.social · 26/01/2026

Good morning! Here is my #promptcombo #moment. This is from my recent chapbook. @rfsmith.bsky.social

3141

Scott McConnaha @smcconnaha.bsky.social · 25/01/2026

In honor of Robert Burns on his birthday, I'm sharing a poem of his that served as a nice dig toward those who practiced injustice against their fellow Scots. (I expect he'd be singing a similar song if he were in the US today!) Happy Burns Night! #poetry #scotland #robertburns #burnsnight

scottishpoetrylibrary.org.uk

Address of Beelzebub

To the Right Honorable The Earl of Breadalbane, President of the Right Honorable and Honorable the / Highland Society, which met...

011

Scott McConnaha @smcconnaha.bsky.social · 22/01/2026

When my daughter read this, she said "You and Mom are a good combo. The recovering cynic and the recovering always-looking-at-the-bright-side." #poem #poetry #skypoets #blueskypoets #poetsofbluesky #poetrycommunity #writingcommunity

open.substack.com

I'm Trying

A poem by Scott McConnaha

132

Scott McConnaha @smcconnaha.bsky.social · 20/01/2026

#PromptCombo #Subtext @victoriaspires.bsky.social Literally If they actually, suddenly took their god as written, it would be impossible to find a spot to fish among the pharisaic barkers crowding the pier with millstones around their necks.

280

Reposted by Scott McConnaha

Brian Bilston @brianbilston.bsky.social · 18/01/2026

Here’s a short poem about the power of poetry to change the world.

The Power of Poetry

with things falling apart
and anarchy let loose,

it was only poetry, he found,
which had any use,

so he reached for his copy
of The Complete Works of Yeats

and bludgeoned the President
of the United States

Brian Bilston

10436791179