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Mike O’Brien @zoomburst.substack.com · 14h

#Poetry, music and good companionship. This Saturday evening on the banks of the River Ouse (or thereabouts).

Mike O’Brien @zoomburst.substack.com · 28/09/2026

here's the latesr #60Odd page from a prompt given on Bluesky - There will be another #oddChallenge at the beginning of October - but if you want an early preview, its at the bottom of this small collection.

sixtyoddpoets.substack.com

Poetic Recipes

What if you could open a recipe book and find it full of poetry?

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Mike O’Brien @zoomburst.substack.com · 27/09/2026

bizarre and brilliant in equal measure!

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Mike O’Brien @zoomburst.substack.com · 25/09/2026

That is jaw dropping - Living every glorious moment! A lovely piece. And something I have been thinking about this very morning, as I prepare for the next sixty odd challenge!

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Mike O’Brien @zoomburst.substack.com · 25/09/2026

Do you know, I thought robins. But have heard more about feathers. You only have to listen for initials when in the company of an experienced medium, trained in receiving initials!

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Mike O’Brien @zoomburst.substack.com · 24/09/2026

May I use this in Sunday's Sixty odd poets page Stephanie? and would you DM me if you can. Thanks

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Mike O’Brien @zoomburst.substack.com · 24/09/2026

i missed this one first time around Elena - sorry - I've been highly distracted. I love the idea of leaving the vanilla out until the end.

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Mike O’Brien @zoomburst.substack.com · 24/09/2026

sorry i missed this 19 days ago - thanks for rising to the challenge!

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Mike O’Brien @zoomburst.substack.com · 22/09/2026

Tariq Khan is the Featured fellow on Sixty Odd Poets this week.Thoughtful poetry with a scientific twist. Well worth a click.

sixtyoddpoets.substack.com

110. Tariq Khan

A poet strongly informed by scientific knowledge

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Mike O’Brien @zoomburst.substack.com · 20/09/2026

Blimey - what a time Ive been having! And part of it was enjoying an Open Mic Poetry session. Just to be helpful, I have created a little article with some tips on how to enjoy one of those. Take it or leave it. (thats the advice - in a nutshell)

zoomburst.substack.com

How to Enjoy a Poetry Open Mic

... if you tend to overthink everything - like I do

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Mike O’Brien @zoomburst.substack.com · 08/09/2026

Well ... it is rather good... I have discovered the technique of having stuff like this open in one browser window, whilst reading the bluesky feed in another.

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Mike O’Brien @zoomburst.substack.com · 07/09/2026

I'm giving another of my #Dickens talks next Sunday afternoon at 3pm - this one to be given at Boothby Pagnell Church near #Grantham, Lincolnshire. Its part of a #LincolnshireHeritage Open Day. Look at how young he looks in that picture - Yes! It's him in pre-beard days.

A picture of a young Charles Dickens with a backdrop of the George Hotel Grantham, where he stayed briefly in 1838. I am giving a talk in Boothby Church near Grantham on Sunday 13th of September at 3pm.

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Mike O’Brien @zoomburst.substack.com · 07/09/2026

It's Luke Meyers AKA the Quill Of Mnemosyne @sonnetsmith.bsky.social on #SixtyOdd poets this week with an elegantly composed collection of #poetry on subjects including (but not limited to) cats, comparisons, and career choices.

sixtyoddpoets.substack.com

109. Luke Meyers

Curling, Coffee and Role Playing Games

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Mike O’Brien @zoomburst.substack.com · 05/09/2026

Well - If you are magically creating wonderful images in the readers mind, does it matter that they aren’t quite the ones you intended?

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Mike O’Brien @zoomburst.substack.com · 05/09/2026

Haha - im a master of misunderstanding. Sorry!

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Mike O’Brien @zoomburst.substack.com · 05/09/2026

That is probably a good thing. It might have spoiled the effect. Its a great poem, Christmas or not.

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Mike O’Brien @zoomburst.substack.com · 05/09/2026

Yes! a continuation rather than a sequel ... very good

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Mike O’Brien @zoomburst.substack.com · 05/09/2026

thats a clever little collection of mottoes! love it!!

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Mike O’Brien @zoomburst.substack.com · 05/09/2026

thats a great piece - sinister - unnerving and almost panoramic in its history lesson. Nice!

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Mike O’Brien @zoomburst.substack.com · 05/09/2026

I'll wait a while before taking the plunge thanks

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Mike O’Brien @zoomburst.substack.com · 05/09/2026

ohh I like this one - one of your best!

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Mike O’Brien @zoomburst.substack.com · 05/09/2026

nice distinction - cant shed the skin so shed the guilt - I'll do my best 😳

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Mike O’Brien @zoomburst.substack.com · 05/09/2026

crikey! i like it - but I'm not sure that I understand it. My fault not yours.. Did you get a tattoo?

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Mike O’Brien @zoomburst.substack.com · 05/09/2026

I would like to think that you handed it in eventually!

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Mike O’Brien @zoomburst.substack.com · 05/09/2026

Ohhh - sorry if its a favourite of yours. I have some oddities when it comes to stuff like that. The theory of it is fine - but the sight of it - I just can't do it!

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Mike O’Brien @zoomburst.substack.com · 05/09/2026

I like this - it has a very christmassy feel without being explicitly about Christmas.

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Mike O’Brien @zoomburst.substack.com · 05/09/2026

thats wicked - I'm staying away! I can see you offering it through the window to Snow White.

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Mike O’Brien @zoomburst.substack.com · 05/09/2026

Nice one - words fail me - I'd better be left to simmer!

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Mike O’Brien @zoomburst.substack.com · 05/09/2026

ohh I odont think I'd dare take a sip of that - Well done for an original and captivating piece.

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Mike O’Brien @zoomburst.substack.com · 05/09/2026

marvellous! I like it! - full of dynamism! and the illustration you found!

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Mike O’Brien @zoomburst.substack.com · 05/09/2026

hahaha - I like this little grumpy outburst! and the measurements are wild!

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Mike O’Brien @zoomburst.substack.com · 05/09/2026

The poem is great - but that soup looks disgusting - sorry. I'm very picky with my food. And whats that spoon?

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Mike O’Brien @zoomburst.substack.com · 05/09/2026

🤣 whats a guillotined hat rat?

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Mike O’Brien @zoomburst.substack.com · 05/09/2026

I saw this in Scarborough the other week it goes well with your poem www.instagram.com/c.a.p_bespok...

poster for a recent exhibition in Scarborough. A huge octopus attacks the lifeboat station

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Mike O’Brien @zoomburst.substack.com · 05/09/2026

ohh yes! It fits the bill (or the beak) Fascinating creatures arent they, and moving into British shores!

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Mike O’Brien @zoomburst.substack.com · 05/09/2026

Fabulous - i imagine that this one is issued to all members of Parliament as part of their induction pack at Westminster. A great non-food twist!

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Mike O’Brien @zoomburst.substack.com · 05/09/2026

Remarkable - And excellent - and full of Jiggery Pokery! Thanks dave - glad you had fun!

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Mike O’Brien @zoomburst.substack.com · 05/09/2026

ohh - that is so good - both poetically and practically. You have certainly risen to the challenge. In poetry and in life!

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Mike O’Brien @zoomburst.substack.com · 02/09/2026

“Stir sorrowfully” excellent - and the idea of a lachrymose loaf is so natural I actually feel as if I’ve known about them for years!

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