'the latest one / to reach / the summit / was sunset'

bougie

time is malleable, says the wax–
time consumes, says the flame–

time is just a trick of light
and shadows, says the wick–

time will come to an end–
says the dark

12.X.25

I remember the balloon, but not the bus?

I agree, there's a naivety to poets who treat 'the publisher' as some grand entity or institution; most are simply poets doing their national service. Every poet should put their shoulder to the publishing wheel for a time and learn something of what it means to try and sell poetry books.

ode

if my love had waited
any longer to meet me

her big pants would’ve
been up to her oxters–

but then I already
learnt the hard way

what love means to those
who favour scant pants

11.X.25

after Yakamochi

if she were here
–I can’t say it

if she were here
–I can’t name it

10.X.25

And the link to the free e-book, issuu.com/livingwithsa...

Coming everyday next week, on Radio 4, Hayden Lorimer's expanded vision of our work on wintering well and SAD. The nights are fair drawing in www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...

naw, we're no feelin it.

after Yakamochi

long autumn nights–
cold autumn nights–
windy autumn nights–
sleepless autumn nights–
autumn nights alone

9.X.25

An excellent example of political parley on the latest NS podcast, on Gaza and how it has torn communities apart. Kudos to both contributors. www.newstatesman.com/podcasts/pol...

Scottish Outdoor Access Code recognises that specific routes may need to be managed for deer stalking on specific days, but not blanket bans like this.

Section 14 of Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003 gives councils the power to remove non-compliant signs.

@perthandkinross.bsky.social must act now.

ME/CFS is a devastating condition that has long been denied, dismissed, psychologised and underdiagnosed. Research is at last starting to catch up with it, with glimmers of hope for those who have been left untreated for so long.
There's a huge BUT coming ...🧵
www.theguardian.com/society/2025...

'I can dream walking / but not leaps / I long to float / in the mid- / air touching nothing– / free of pain (after Shiki, for Abby Ryder-Huth)

This is very, very, very good

The wind got up in

the night and took our plans away

-John Berger,
"Ten Dispatches About Endurance in Face of Walls”

#everynightapoem #ofsorts

I never saw a doctors bill until I moved from Montreal to NYC—I almost cried. How pathetic, for a country with so much wealth to devalue and monetise human life to the extent of putting a literal dollar value to our right to health. What an outright theft & bankruptcy of human dignity, on all sides.

let’s agree that if you squeeze
The Statue of Liberty she
scweems and scweems

let’s agree with Amy and Ben, out there
it’s wetter than an otter’s pocket

let’s agree that come autumn, your aquarium
can become a leaf garden

7.X.25

more let’s agree

let’s agree there is no recipe
for another of my green soups

let’s agree he felt a little off-colour
after winning the paint
drinking competition

let’s agree I am in their bag
and on their case

let’s agree the world has got
too hyperstitious

6.X.25

for every law against repeated protests, a law against repeated wrongs.

Your 'doom quote' for today:

"Then there is the third possibility, the one that I as a scientist believe is most likely: the ice sheets melt rapidly, the sea rises ferociously, and all the scenarios set forth in this book come to pass."

www.biblio.com/book/flooded...

think luggage, for journey, these are all free.
poetry.

word-mntn (Creag an Choin-Leth, the half-dog half-wolf crag, or lurcher's crag)