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Reposted by Dawn McLachlan

Fiftywords

@fiftywords.bsky.social

This #PoemsAbout #Imps is rooted in a particular history, but it speaks to anyone who's ever felt their truth diminished, distorted, or dismissed. It’s for those reclaiming what was reduced and remembering what was hidden. #Speirgorm @alanparrywriter.co.uk @thebrokenspine.co.uk

Unshrinking the Leprechaun They made us feel small, a tidy colonial trick: shrink what unsettles you, dress it in whimsy,
market it as charm. A whole inheritance
flattened into fairytale. A grin nailed
to a shameful story. But compression.
brings a pressure
that one day breaks the spell And then the hedgerows unlearn their taming, the smallness stirs splinters at the edges, height returning, anger breathing, a presence too large for the joke that tried
to hold it.
Refusing to stay small.
Refusing their language.
Refusing the lie.
Gold is what we find beneath the bright disguise, when a history, long hidden,
steps forward

December 5, 2025 at 5:50 AM

Reposted by Dawn McLachlan

Raymh

@rayhourigan.bsky.social

Childlike wonder as
Butterfly flutters by, a
Fairy visitor.
#WildWalkPrompt #butterfly #haiku #senryu #poem #writing #writingcommunity
@sonnetsmith.bsky.social

December 6, 2025 at 7:09 AM

Reposted by Dawn McLachlan

Rob Gotobed

@robgotobed.bsky.social

One of my sister’s kids has just brought me two bottles of bourbon and said, "Here's your Christmas juice uncle Rob," and now she's the one I'm leaving everything to.

December 22, 2024 at 8:42 AM

Dawn McLachlan

@deemclachlan.bsky.social

These #poemsabout prompts are courtesy of @thebrokenspine.co.uk
Follow and engage!

#poetrypress #poetrycommunity

Dawn McLachlan @deemclachlan.bsky.social · 1d

Today’s #fridaypoem inspired by the #poemsabout prompt #imps
I’ve suffered from trauma related night terrors for most of my life so this sprung to mind when imps were mentioned.
#poetry #poems #nightmares #nightterrrors

The Mare by Dawn Mclachlan

For too long you slept upon my chest with threat of eternal catastrophe my damnable familiar
pressing dreadful weight upon me caustic mutters of a million fears turning goodness into dark
skulking in the frequent pauses of my joy scraping the thin cracks with long claws waiting in the empty spaces to drown hope with dread watching for rare bright glistening
To fill with whispering shadows
I know you
and I will break your grip throw your hold
and turn my face to the moon

December 5, 2025 at 11:20 AM

Dawn McLachlan

@deemclachlan.bsky.social

Today’s #fridaypoem inspired by the #poemsabout prompt #imps
I’ve suffered from trauma related night terrors for most of my life so this sprung to mind when imps were mentioned.
#poetry #poems #nightmares #nightterrrors

December 5, 2025 at 11:18 AM

Reposted by Dawn McLachlan

The Broken Spine

@thebrokenspine.co.uk

They’re loose: #PoemsAbout #Imps is live.
From now ‘til Thursday, write your chaos.
Use Alt Text. Tag your post.
#TakeRisks #EndOnAnImage #AvoidCliché
Read, repost, reply to 3+.
Krampus is watching.
Inbox prompts: shorturl.at/0Xm7A

December 5, 2025 at 7:00 AM

Reposted by Dawn McLachlan

Rachel Burrows

@rburrows.bsky.social

Morning! I’m not sure what flu-fuelled babble I’m offering here - I hope it makes sense. My #PoemsAbout #Imps is about a child who used to apparently bring me up in hives. Sorry it’s nothing more cerebral! Best wishes @alanparrywriter.co.uk @thebrokenspine.co.uk #poetry Happy Friday!

December 5, 2025 at 7:13 AM

Reposted by Dawn McLachlan

roger waldron

@throwawayreg.bsky.social

Morning Friday
here’s my little “throwaway” poem for
#PoemsAbout #Imp and this poem is about somebody’s nostrils
thank you @alanparrywriter.co.uk
@thebrokenspine.co.uk have a great weekend everyone everywhere
#poems #poetry #nostrils 🚶🏼‍♂️‍➡️

December 5, 2025 at 7:22 AM

Reposted by Dawn McLachlan

Ann Tigone

@anntigone.bsky.social

Scared eyes
shining in the dark,
a shuffle in the shadows,
the malodorous stench
of fear.

I've got her,
I've got her...

#poemsabout #imps

@alanparrywriter.co.uk
@thebrokenbinding.bsky.social

December 5, 2025 at 7:23 AM

Reposted by Dawn McLachlan

DrNaturegirl

@drnaturegirl.debbiemross.co.uk

Good morning #BlueskyPoetry @thebrokenspine.co.uk @alanparrywriter.co.uk and #PoemsAbout peeps. Today is an off the cuff maybe even off subject offering for #imps At least it’s short! Look forward to reading the other #poems through the day. Thanks for the platform. #poems #poetry

A poem by Debbie Ross for hashtag poems about hashtag imps entitled

Heart of Darkness

text as follows

We are all half human
half beast,
covering our nature
with niceties.
Hiding
the heart of darkness
inside.

December 5, 2025 at 7:40 AM

Reposted by Dawn McLachlan

James Mcconachie

@jamesmcconachie1.bsky.social

S’pose I should. Seeing as it’s actually titled #Imps for #poemsabout via @thebrokenspine.co.uk This the 2nd sonnet of a heroic crown about 👽👽 currently emitting an element 115 gravity wave from someone’s inbox..

2. Imps
We see they have twice used the secret sun, beguiled before its intonation, lanced obsidian slime and carboniferum,
to force the light and heat of their advance.
Hove-to, above the forest canopy,
John Frum, sung into being by our barque, may keep a distance from the panoply
and princely machinations of our arts
as though it awed the work of God himself.
We could share but a humbling sum of that, beyond the spindlings of an ocean shelf,
still deeper than brave simian thought contracts.
Fixated as a bird, upon the sky. Peeke-in-the-Crowne, the imps are here to pry.

December 5, 2025 at 7:56 AM

Reposted by Dawn McLachlan

Rother Writes

@rotherwrites.bsky.social

Yes, a tricky prompt this week (aren't they all) for #PoemsAbout. Is it possible to lighten up with #Imps? I'm doubtful; I failed. Bring it on.
This was from a free write with very minimal editing.
@thebrokenspine.co.uk
#PoetsOnBluesky

December 5, 2025 at 8:06 AM

Reposted by Dawn McLachlan

Jen Thorne

@jenthorne.bsky.social

I think I may have been reading too much Terry Pratchett lately, but I really enjoyed doing this one.

@thebrokenspine
#PoemsAbout #Imps
#poetry #poetrycommunity #blueskypoets

The Imp in the Camera

It lurks in the hollow behind the lens,
grown fat on the scraps of my ruined photographs.

It adores everyone else.
Gives them soft light and noble angles,
skin with the sheen of rich cream,
eyes polished to an icy steel glint.

But when it sees me,
it cracks its knuckles
and swells me into a drifting dirigible.
Turns my hair into a haystack
mauled by a single minded cow.
Shapes my mouth into the grimace
of someone sipping cold tea.

It sketches double chins with ceremony,
sets them on a collapsed deckchair posture,
then grants me the complexion of a potato
forgotten in the pantry.

I am certain it submits its work
to the Brotherhood of Unflattering Portraits,
where it wins awards for
“Most Gargoyle Like Subject”
and “Best Use of Shadows to Suggest Facial Hair.”

I continue to pose,
obedient in the ritual of humiliation,
while the imp cackles
and offers fresh proofs of my lost dignity.
All around me, everyone else
glows with unearned radiance
in the cruel bureaucracy of light.

December 5, 2025 at 8:25 AM

Reposted by Dawn McLachlan

Francesca L Rolle

@francesca-laura.bsky.social

I haven't slept well in weeks so the #Imps must be running wild in my head. Thanks @thebrokenspine.co.uk for the latest #PoemsAbout prompt! #Insomnia #Exhaustion

A poem by Francesca L Rolle:
Title: Impetuous Visitors
Poem: The imps are inside my brain,
Flicking on switches and tapping out a tango
on my frazzled neurons desperate for some sleep,
The imps like to party and they don't care
about the inky black pooling beneath my eyes,
They flash lights through my irises
to create colourful strobes,
And sing whistling tunes that echo
between my ears through the day,
I've asked them to leave but they
don't seem to hear me,
They'll keep up their tippy tapping
until the last nerve ending has frayed,
With no more fun left to have,
They'll depart in a hurry,
Leaving debris strewn about
my mind not quite what it once was.

December 5, 2025 at 8:55 AM

Reposted by Dawn McLachlan

Mike O’Brien

@zoomburst.substack.com

#PoemsAbout #Imps A true story...

Old Holborn

My Dad had a dead imp
In an old tobacco tin
He kept it under lock and key
In the shed out back
My mother wouldn’t allow it in the house
He seldom let us see it
If we found him working in the shed
And pleaded with him for long enough
He would prize the lid off the tin
Revealing the little wizened creature within
Its ribs visible under shrivelled leather skin
Yellow teeth peeping between grimaced lips

Was it a mouse?
No tail
Was it a bat?
No wings
Where did he get it?
His grandfather found it
Under a sourapple tree
No more questions
He snapped the lid tight closed

Clearing out the shed after he died
I found that old tobacco tin
I took it home and opened it up
To examine the shut fast sunken eyes
The clawed fingers
The tiny strands of coppery hair

Here’s the tin, see
I left it open that night
On the kitchen table
I climbed the stairs to bed, alone
And never saw that imp again

But sometimes when the house falls silent
I hear a scratching and a shuffling
And, every now and then
A tiny rattling laughter

December 5, 2025 at 9:32 AM

Reposted by Dawn McLachlan

Ian Brownlie

@ianbrownlie.bsky.social

I was going to skip #PoemsAbout this week as I feel festively-rushed and wasn't engaging with the prompt. Then I had a free moment at work and pondered writing about something else and just calling it an #Imp. Then I went and tied it back in anyway.
@alanparrywriter.co.uk
@thebrokenspine.co.uk

a rose by any other name

the imp is such a perfect flower
the king of floral porns
and yet, beneath that blushing bower
lurks a spike-strip of sly thorns

December 5, 2025 at 10:10 AM

Reposted by Dawn McLachlan

Bernard Pearson

@bernp.bsky.social

Shout out to @thebrokenspine.co.uk and @alanparrywriter.co.uk for hosting #PoemsAbout #Imps here's my attempt I shall love reading everyone else's stuff

A bit of a to do
There was a flamboyant djinn
playing with his silver beard
queuing outside Sainsbury’s
this morning.
Out of boredom,
he picked up the world
and shook it
like a pocket handkerchief,
out fell Africa, Asia, Europe,
and both the Americas.
Antarctica dropped last
splintering all over
the disabled parking space,
I was just about to say
something,
when my bus pulled in.

© Bernard Pearson

December 5, 2025 at 10:12 AM

Reposted by Dawn McLachlan

Jane Dougherty

@janedougherty47.bsky.social

Almost every week I think this prompt isn't for me. Then something appears. For #PoemsAbout #Imps @alanparrywriter.co.uk @thebrokenspine.co.uk

December 5, 2025 at 10:14 AM

Reposted by Dawn McLachlan

Paul

@paulwritespoems.bsky.social

For #PoemsAbout #Imps here’s my quick take on the prompt. I wanted something fun for the festive season.

This is Elf & Safety

@thebrokenspine.co.uk
@alanparrywriter.co.uk

Elf & Safety

This is an urgent public service broadcast:

Don’t drink too much imp ale
I implore you
otherwise you may end up impaled
or impotent or even more sinister—
impressive.

You cannot act with impunity
imp ale will make you impetuous and
imprudent.

Let this message imprint on your mind,
implausible as it is.

Don’t drink too much imp ale
for fear of impishness,
impotence
and impalement.

This emergency broadcast
was brought to you
by the Council of Elves.

December 5, 2025 at 10:34 AM

Reposted by Dawn McLachlan

Dave Ashley

@daveashleypoet.bsky.social

#PoemsAbout #Imps
@alanparrywriter.co.uk
@thebrokenspine.co.uk
#poems #poetrycommunity

December 5, 2025 at 10:55 AM

Reposted by Dawn McLachlan

Stu Hennigan

@stuhennigan.bsky.social

We released this track last year to raise money for Refuge UK. Domestic violence cases always rise at this time of year so if anyone wants to buy a bit of Sabbath-meets-Stevie Nicks filth to help this great charity, today is a good day to do it.

kamien.bandcamp.com/track/p-i-g

December 5, 2025 at 11:13 AM

Reposted by Dawn McLachlan

Rother Writes

@rotherwrites.bsky.social

I am delighted and flattered to receive this Silver Branch nomination along with Jacky, Sue, Helen, Vicki and Oormila.

And I am indebted to Matthew Smith and Black Bough Poetry for seeing something distinct in my writing, and the value of the mentoring relationship the led to this 'Glamour'. ❤️