Author | Lightnews

Reposted by David Hanlon

The Broken Spine @thebrokenspine.co.uk · 9h

Tomorrow: #PoemsAbout #BurnForTheCamera. Not glitz—grit. Don't post before Friday. That heat? That’s your moment. Tag it. Use Alt Text. Sign up for Saturday inbox prompts: shorturl.at/0Xm7A

The same film camera image continues across all four skeets — a black high-end camera stands out sharply against a muted pink background. The Broken Spine branding appears top left, and "@thebrokenspine.co.uk" sits top right. Lower right text reads: "Read Repost Reply #POEMSABOUT #BURNFORTHECAMERA".

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David Hanlon @vespertine4.bsky.social · 4d

This stunning poem by @hool415.bsky.social! ❤️

Julian (Hool) @hool415.bsky.social · 4d

Hullo. Some recycled whimsy for #smallpoemsunday

Carer

I guess
my future carer
is still in school,
I feel bad that I’m the waiting
crystallisation of their dreams;
either a Welsh valley-girl wanted:
all lilting, gently-fussing-bustle,
or that inherent kindness of a stereotypically
soft, Filipino gent.
I hope they are both
just grasping numeracy, the basic alphabet;
not worrying about public exams,
and life beyond the classroom
yet.

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Reposted by David Hanlon

Joshua Zeitler @thejayestofzees.bsky.social · 6d

Two new poems featured this week on @dialogist.bsky.social—read “Transition Diary II” & “Transition Diary IV” here:

dialogist.org/poetry/2025-...

Poetry, Week 42: Joshua Zeitler — DIALOGIST

Transition Diary II Hungry for panting          my wish list          explicit. Thirsty bulb.  &n...

dialogist.org

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David Hanlon @vespertine4.bsky.social · 12d

Thrilled to receive an acceptance for a poem from @passionfruitlit.bsky.social 💜💛

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The Broken Spine @thebrokenspine.co.uk · 14d

New theme lands tomorrow: #PoemsAbout #ImperfectMe. Don’t post early—Friday to Thursday only. Give the mess its moment. Use Alt Text. Tag #PoemsAbout to be seen. Get sharp prompts sent direct: shorturl.at/0Xm7A

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Projjwal @mprojjwal162.bsky.social · 18d

This is fantastic see how your poem paints the garden,such a joy to read your work

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David Hanlon @vespertine4.bsky.social · 18d

Thank you for your kind praise!

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Katie Jenkins @katiejenkinspoet.bsky.social · 22d

Thanks @vespertine4.bsky.social - I didn’t realise that poem was online
❤️💜🧡 It was such a thrill to appear in @lucentdreaming.bsky.social Stunning production quality!

David Hanlon @vespertine4.bsky.social · 26d

"Years I spent abandoned
in that lonely totem of loss
my braid a dead gold chain
the crone my only caregiver
bitterness lacing my blood."

@katiejenkinspoet.bsky.social in @lucentdreaming.bsky.social ❤️

lucentdreaming.com/origin-story...

Origin Story by Katie Jenkins (Lucent Dreaming Issue 9)

It was sucker-punch simplicity: heavy with her umbilical burdenshe craved rampionfrom the neighbour’s thorny garden. Heavy with his responsibilityher expectationhe relented, fetched it. The price t…

lucentdreaming.com

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Damien B Donnelly @eatthestorms.com · 23d

Meet the Stormers of Issue V

Sheena Hussain is a poet, writer, essayist. A former lawyer who turned to poetry after receiving a cancer diagnosis. In 2024 she was commissioned as a New Northern Poet by Ilkley Literature Festival.

The Storms is supported by #fingalarts @dublincityoflit.bsky.social

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Reposted by David Hanlon

Julian (Hool) @hool415.bsky.social · 27d

Hullo @alanparrywriter.co.uk and to #poemsabout #neveragain

Found this tricky, so it’s not quite fully on topic. Apologies.

Honestly

I can’t feel war:
it’s not
that the undersea cables of my empathy
have been clandestinely damaged
or cut
but I understand more
those star-bursting cells
firing hard
their shrapnel-batteries of cancer;
or that direct hit in the chest
of a familial heart attack;
any befuddled refugee
seems less lost to me
than someone close
with wandering dementia.
In truth, my only life-changing risk:
were I to face
that daily press
of skin-shredding
Ozempic.

I feel so unversed
to write any war,
holding only unearned ink,
my clean
and bloodless paper.

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Reposted by David Hanlon

Julian (Hool) @hool415.bsky.social · 27d

Hullo #vss365 and to #sonorous

Autumn: A Soft Clattering

Squeezed between two arrogant bookends,
the petering season:
pages neither fully devoured nor stuck open,
a fan of damp thumbs, frustratingly
losing their place.

Nature’s Grandfather clock, mid sonorous gong:
the rusted mechanism of time
prised open, embarrassingly shown.

Those spearheads of birds,
thrown and rethrown at impossible
continental targets:
a slew of unstoppable if haphazard arrows.

A world that’s hoarse,
wanting the hug of honey or numbness of ice.

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David Hanlon @vespertine4.bsky.social · 26d

You're so welcome lovely! Fantastic poem in a fantastic journal! And Elisabeth's inspiration to boot!

David Hanlon @vespertine4.bsky.social · 26d

"while our breakfasts turn cold

the way our hearts did

when the snow fell and one

pair of eyes wandered,

and the other didn’t shed any tears.

We don’t cry about that any more."

@amandamwrites.bsky.social in @anthro-poetry.bsky.social ❤️

www.anthropocenepoetry.org/post/2-poems...

2 poems by Amanda McLeod

...

www.anthropocenepoetry.org

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David Hanlon @vespertine4.bsky.social · 26d

"After years spent wanting to die I have come to terms

with life. Call it a new lease with a landlord determined

to sell the floor from under me."

@thejayestofzees.bsky.social in Wildness ❤️

Joshua Zeitler @thejayestofzees.bsky.social · Sep 20

Live today in wildness—“Transition Diary III”—check out all the wondrous work in issue 39!!

readwildness.com/39/zeitler-d...

Transition Diary III, by Joshua Zeitler | wildnesswildness

Wildness is an online literary and arts journal.

readwildness.com

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Joshua Zeitler @thejayestofzees.bsky.social · Sep 21

Up on The Shore now, “Transition Diary I,” a poem about naming, about the difficulty of relating to the world when my relation to myself was off-kilter. Check out issue 27 for more excellent poems from Jane Zwart, Jacob J Billingsley, Natalie Eleanor Patterson, & many more!

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David Hanlon @vespertine4.bsky.social · 26d

👏🎉

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Reposted by David Hanlon

Joshua Zeitler @thejayestofzees.bsky.social · Jul 31

The link is live!! You can now order my debut chapbook BLISS ROAD from @sevenkitchenspress.bsky.social!!

Many thanks to Ron Mohring, who has been wonderful throughout this process.

sevenkitchens.blogspot.com/2025/07/josh...

Joshua Zeitler | Bliss Road

Bliss Road: poems by Joshua Zeitler. Number 24 in our Rane Arroyo Series. Release date: July 31, 2025 [100 copies] 25 pages ISBN: 978...

sevenkitchens.blogspot.com

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David Hanlon @vespertine4.bsky.social · 26d

"Years I spent abandoned
in that lonely totem of loss
my braid a dead gold chain
the crone my only caregiver
bitterness lacing my blood."

@katiejenkinspoet.bsky.social in @lucentdreaming.bsky.social ❤️

lucentdreaming.com/origin-story...

Origin Story by Katie Jenkins (Lucent Dreaming Issue 9)

It was sucker-punch simplicity: heavy with her umbilical burdenshe craved rampionfrom the neighbour’s thorny garden. Heavy with his responsibilityher expectationhe relented, fetched it. The price t…

lucentdreaming.com

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David Hanlon @vespertine4.bsky.social · 26d

"Instead of your crutch, I lean on the eastern slopes of Marxism and offer to sell
my beauty – my hair, my teeth – to keep the linked chain of my woman’s spine
gliding when I move."

@karenpgonzalez.bsky.social in @feralpoetryandart.bsky.social ❤️

feralpoetry.net/turning-away...

‘Turning Away from Despair’ by Karen Pierce Gonzalez – FERAL: A Journal of Poetry and Art

feralpoetry.net

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David Hanlon @vespertine4.bsky.social · Sep 22

🤗

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David Hanlon @vespertine4.bsky.social · Sep 14

Thanks to the amazing @katiejenkinspoet.bsky.social and @alanparrywriter.co.uk!🤩

David Hanlon @vespertine4.bsky.social · Sep 14

So excited for this! Lots of striking and powerful poetry coming your way soon.

Thanks to all who submitted and congrats to the poets included.

It was a pleasure to read and spend time with all the work we received - thank you! ❤️

The Broken Spine @thebrokenspine.co.uk · Sep 14

All responses to submissions for #SelectedPoetry #Autumn2025 have now been sent out.

The work will be published as a free downloadable PDF on The Broken Spine website in the coming weeks.

Huge thanks to our Co-Poetry Editors — @katiejenkinspoet.bsky.social & @vespertine4.bsky.social

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David Hanlon @vespertine4.bsky.social · Sep 14

So excited for this! Lots of striking and powerful poetry coming your way soon.

Thanks to all who submitted and congrats to the poets included.

It was a pleasure to read and spend time with all the work we received - thank you! ❤️

The Broken Spine @thebrokenspine.co.uk · Sep 14

All responses to submissions for #SelectedPoetry #Autumn2025 have now been sent out.

The work will be published as a free downloadable PDF on The Broken Spine website in the coming weeks.

Huge thanks to our Co-Poetry Editors — @katiejenkinspoet.bsky.social & @vespertine4.bsky.social

a man is typing on a laptop that has a message on the screen

Alt: a man is typing on a laptop that has a message on the screen

media.tenor.com

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Reposted by David Hanlon

The Broken Spine @thebrokenspine.co.uk · Sep 14

All responses to submissions for #SelectedPoetry #Autumn2025 have now been sent out.

The work will be published as a free downloadable PDF on The Broken Spine website in the coming weeks.

Huge thanks to our Co-Poetry Editors — @katiejenkinspoet.bsky.social & @vespertine4.bsky.social

a man is typing on a laptop that has a message on the screen

Alt: a man is typing on a laptop that has a message on the screen

media.tenor.com

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Reposted by David Hanlon

David Hanlon @vespertine4.bsky.social · Aug 31

Thrilled and grateful to have three poems out today with @anthro-poetry.bsky.social 🤩

www.anthropocenepoetry.org/post/3-poems...

3 poems by David Hanlon

Urinal CakeYou might call it persistent rain,falling through withered air —but urinal cake suits better:the nicotine-yellow disc,the guillotine dividebetween urinal and cake,bitter on your thinned ton...

www.anthropocenepoetry.org

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David Hanlon @vespertine4.bsky.social · Sep 1

Thank you, @brettstuckel.com! And thank you for taking the time to read them.

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