Mike O’Brien
@zoomburst.substack.com
Sixty odd years old. Running the Sixty Odd Press and a proud member of the Promote Indie Lit network
zoomburst.substack.com sixtyoddpoets.substack.com promoteindielit.com
zoomburst.substack.com sixtyoddpoets.substack.com promoteindielit.com
The rather remarkable Jane Sharp, who will have a poem in the inaugural edition of #Odd (The journal of the fellowship of the #60Odd poets. But not one of those featured here... #poetry
53. Jane Sharp
A poet with two poetry collections, two novels and nine lives
sixtyoddpoets.substack.com
February 10, 2026 at 8:43 AM
Heres what I am doing (when I remember that #BlueskyPoetry posts work better with tags. #poetry
An Odd Schedule
I really can't keep away - This is why I must...
zoomburst.substack.com
February 9, 2026 at 10:26 AM
Heres what I am doing (when I remember that #BlueskyPoetry posts work better with tags. #poetry
Here's what I am currently doing - (when I am not procrastinating on social media)
An Odd Schedule
I really can't keep away - This is why I must...
zoomburst.substack.com
February 9, 2026 at 10:19 AM
Here's what I am currently doing - (when I am not procrastinating on social media)
Reposted by Mike O’Brien
In Xanadu did Kubla Khan
An adult pleasure zone decree
An adult pleasure zone decree
February 9, 2026 at 8:53 AM
In Xanadu did Kubla Khan
An adult pleasure zone decree
An adult pleasure zone decree
Today's #SixtyOdd Poet is Ulrica Hume - with a collection of six short, punchy and keenly observed pieces of #poetry.
93. Ulrica Hume
A San Francisco poet and writer who has performed on both sides of the Atlantic.
sixtyoddpoets.substack.com
February 8, 2026 at 1:06 PM
Reposted by Mike O’Brien
I just rebalanced my first poetry collection. I added newer poems & made as much space for urban verse as for material about a city sensibility confronting the natural world.
Much of it has been tested by publication in top magazines. It’s in fine shape.
I’ve almost 30,000 followers.
Publishers…?
Much of it has been tested by publication in top magazines. It’s in fine shape.
I’ve almost 30,000 followers.
Publishers…?
February 7, 2026 at 7:29 AM
I just rebalanced my first poetry collection. I added newer poems & made as much space for urban verse as for material about a city sensibility confronting the natural world.
Much of it has been tested by publication in top magazines. It’s in fine shape.
I’ve almost 30,000 followers.
Publishers…?
Much of it has been tested by publication in top magazines. It’s in fine shape.
I’ve almost 30,000 followers.
Publishers…?
Here’s a little gem. I like the skellingtons in the picture too.
I don’t collect them. They just accumulate …
—Ernest Hilbert
—Ernest Hilbert
Cover to Cover by Ernest Hilbert - Rattle: Poetry
I don’t collect them. They just accumulate,
Tower higher into shoddy columns,
Climbing weirdly like crystal formations
Or pillars of coral.
www.rattle.com
February 6, 2026 at 9:53 PM
Here’s a little gem. I like the skellingtons in the picture too.
Sorry to jump on the #poemsabout hashtag, but I am thinking of putting out a selection of poems on the theme of heresy on the #SixtyOdd #Poets page on Sunday Feb 15th to commemorate Galileo's 462nd Birthday. Anyone want to send me anything? (email in alt text)
February 6, 2026 at 11:55 AM
Sorry to jump on the #poemsabout hashtag, but I am thinking of putting out a selection of poems on the theme of heresy on the #SixtyOdd #Poets page on Sunday Feb 15th to commemorate Galileo's 462nd Birthday. Anyone want to send me anything? (email in alt text)
Tough call this week. Mouths? We've all got em, me included... Great poetry on a theme of mouths? A lot less of us can claim any, I certainly can't.
#PoemsAbout #Mouths
#PoemsAbout #Mouths
February 6, 2026 at 10:14 AM
Tough call this week. Mouths? We've all got em, me included... Great poetry on a theme of mouths? A lot less of us can claim any, I certainly can't.
#PoemsAbout #Mouths
#PoemsAbout #Mouths
Odd - A new literary journal from #SixtyOdd Poets. Those lucky enough to be within striking distance of Mexborough - Come to the launch... Those who are less lucky than that - you will still be able to buy a copy - and maybe even help me to organise a launch near you. #Poetry
February 5, 2026 at 3:48 PM
How lovely to get something in the mail, (the actual postman comes to your door and pushes it through the letterbox mail). And its never too late to get a Christmas card. And #poetry stickers too! It's made my morning. Thank you Danielle @the-engine-idling.bsky.social
February 4, 2026 at 11:40 AM
How lovely to get something in the mail, (the actual postman comes to your door and pushes it through the letterbox mail). And its never too late to get a Christmas card. And #poetry stickers too! It's made my morning. Thank you Danielle @the-engine-idling.bsky.social
More #SixtyOdd #poetry from Sheffield. Heres Andrew Stott, with a collection which spans both comedy and tragedy. (incidentally submissions for sixty Odd Poets are currently open)
92. Andrew Stott
Ex-caver and climber with a passion for poetry
sixtyoddpoets.substack.com
February 3, 2026 at 6:51 AM
I've just read through all the #PoemsAbout #BlackVeils that have gone up so far. I have to say that the quality is stratospheric this week. My breath is taken away.
I'd better throw my veil into the ring...
I'd better throw my veil into the ring...
January 30, 2026 at 9:21 AM
I've just read through all the #PoemsAbout #BlackVeils that have gone up so far. I have to say that the quality is stratospheric this week. My breath is taken away.
I'd better throw my veil into the ring...
I'd better throw my veil into the ring...
Its time for some serious theological discussion. Traditional views of the deity all have him as a holier than thou figure. Perhaps this is a built in feature of Anselm's ontological argument. But by the same argument wouldn't God be able to curse more strongly than any other being in creation?
2.4 What if God Said the F-Word
...Being some thoughts about the Lord God incarnate
zoomburst.substack.com
January 29, 2026 at 7:54 AM
Its time for some serious theological discussion. Traditional views of the deity all have him as a holier than thou figure. Perhaps this is a built in feature of Anselm's ontological argument. But by the same argument wouldn't God be able to curse more strongly than any other being in creation?
I just finished this yesterday. One of the #books that I got for Christmas this year. What a magnificent read. I heartily recommend it. A story of a tough childhood and drug addiction with a political dimension too. Built around Charles Dickens' David Copperfield. Which I shall read next. #booksky
January 28, 2026 at 8:32 AM
Jim Jepps, bookseller #poet who brings stories of discord, reconciliation and #Yorkshire life.
52. Jim Jepps
Advocate of canine anarchy who sells other people's books.
sixtyoddpoets.substack.com
January 27, 2026 at 8:30 AM
Jim Jepps, bookseller #poet who brings stories of discord, reconciliation and #Yorkshire life.
And while I still have the air of Mexborough version of Caledona fortifying my blood, here are my thoughts on #RobertBurns, and the art of rude #poetry. Its the last of my articles in #60Odd Poems for a while. I have lots of other exciting things to do over the next few months.
2.60 Robert Burns and Juvenile Filth
Cock up your beaver, and sup till you cack your stockins, it's Burns night!
zoomburst.substack.com
January 26, 2026 at 7:48 AM
And while I still have the air of Mexborough version of Caledona fortifying my blood, here are my thoughts on #RobertBurns, and the art of rude #poetry. Its the last of my articles in #60Odd Poems for a while. I have lots of other exciting things to do over the next few months.
What a fabulous #BurnsNight Celebration we had in Mexborough yesterday. The whisky flowed, as did the #poetry!
Here's the #SixtyOdd poets Burns Night Special, for all those who partake.
Here's the #SixtyOdd poets Burns Night Special, for all those who partake.
A 60 Odd Burns Night Selection
Poetry for a braw bricht moonlicht nicht.
sixtyoddpoets.substack.com
January 26, 2026 at 7:40 AM
What a fabulous #BurnsNight Celebration we had in Mexborough yesterday. The whisky flowed, as did the #poetry!
Here's the #SixtyOdd poets Burns Night Special, for all those who partake.
Here's the #SixtyOdd poets Burns Night Special, for all those who partake.
January 23, 2026 at 3:33 PM
Is it going to snow? Can we build a #snowman? Can we build the best snowman on the block so that all the other kids will look upon it and despair? Did #Shelley ever build a snowman? Would he have written snowman #poetry? What happens to snowmen when they die? So many questions.
2.2 A Snowman Dies
...Being a winter visit to Percy Bysshe Shelley by way of Raymond Briggs
zoomburst.substack.com
January 22, 2026 at 9:55 AM
Have a read of some of Val Bowen's #poetry, with her cats, roses and trees, along with a flight to Africa on the wings of a butterfly and a coach trip to Whitby
51. Val Bowen
An accomplished poet long awaited by the Sixty Odd Poets
sixtyoddpoets.substack.com
January 20, 2026 at 7:26 AM
Have a read of some of Val Bowen's #poetry, with her cats, roses and trees, along with a flight to Africa on the wings of a butterfly and a coach trip to Whitby
It's great to be in this fabulous science based literary journal. Well worth a read. You can buy a print or a kindle version. If you have kindle unlimited, you can download it for free!
Issue 5 of the literary journal ionosphere is now available on Amazon!
Read poetry and essays by @fadingbetty.bsky.social,
@bigjosh84.bsky.social, @zoomburst.substack.com,
@misshalcyon.bsky.social, @suzannafitzpatrick.bsky.social, and many
others.
Read poetry and essays by @fadingbetty.bsky.social,
@bigjosh84.bsky.social, @zoomburst.substack.com,
@misshalcyon.bsky.social, @suzannafitzpatrick.bsky.social, and many
others.
January 19, 2026 at 8:34 PM
It's great to be in this fabulous science based literary journal. Well worth a read. You can buy a print or a kindle version. If you have kindle unlimited, you can download it for free!
the #Poetry of Allan Wilkinson: With Jinks toi his excellent #Jazz and #ClassicRock radio shows. That's your entertainment covered for the day folks!
91. Allan Wilkinson
Singer/Songwriter poet with a passion for music
sixtyoddpoets.substack.com
January 19, 2026 at 7:57 AM
the #Poetry of Allan Wilkinson: With Jinks toi his excellent #Jazz and #ClassicRock radio shows. That's your entertainment covered for the day folks!