Rowan Bell
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rowanpoetry.bsky.social
Rowan Bell
@rowanpoetry.bsky.social
400 followers 570 following 380 posts
Writer living in North Yorkshire. Poetry in The Friday Poem, Púca Magazine, Wishbone Words and Spelt. Regular blog in 'Moodscope' https://moodscope.com. Poetry and art. Poetry as therapy.
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rowanpoetry.bsky.social
I’m not the only one who didn’t check the tides.
Car parked in water. Viewed from the Richmond Lock steps which have globe lights on either side of the steps.
February 5, 2026 at 5:06 PM
rowanpoetry.bsky.social
That thing when you haven’t checked the tides or moon when walking along the Thames path at Kew, and then start paddling barefoot because the wet section can’t be long, and end up paddling all the way to Richmond Lock.
Path covered in water with a line of trees on either side.
February 5, 2026 at 5:02 PM
rowanpoetry.bsky.social
"I won’t spoil the plot if you haven’t read the book, or like me, haven’t read it for a while, but just to say that the Heathcliff flounce has a lot of unintended consequences."
moodscope.com/blog/communi...
Communication | Moodscope
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moodscope.com
February 1, 2026 at 6:09 AM
rowanpoetry.bsky.social
Swallow nests ready for market on the Indonesian island of Sumba. A recording of swallow calls attracts them to a building where they nest and every few months the nests are collected.
A man reaches into a polystyrene box containing many pale half cup shaped swallow nests.
January 29, 2026 at 1:58 AM
rowanpoetry.bsky.social
Surf on the western peninsula of Lombok in Indonesia. The island was the site of a massive volcanic eruption in 1257, one of the largest in the Holocene.
Areal view of a line of surf just offshore from a beach. The aeroplane’s propeller is in the top half of the picture.
January 27, 2026 at 4:53 AM
rowanpoetry.bsky.social
"Then there is making up the fires. It’s an old house and there are three fireplaces. Normally I just live in one room which has a wood burning stove that I can keep ticking over during the day by adjusting the airflow so it doesn’t use too much fuel."
moodscope.com/blog/recover...
Recovery from Visitors | Moodscope
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moodscope.com
January 24, 2026 at 11:17 AM
rowanpoetry.bsky.social
Here's the third of my poems published in @wishbonewords.bsky.social Issue 15 #poems #bipolar
Bipolar Astronomy Atoms throb rays transmit vibrate the ether across galaxies to planets where astronomers tend their telescopes focused on distant constellations they quietly watch the white dwarf suck matter from its companion until all that is left of two suns that shone so brightly are the flickers of light we see a billion miles away long after the last ripples have died.
January 24, 2026 at 11:14 AM
rowanpoetry.bsky.social
Rise like Lions after slumber
In unvanquishable number,
Shake your chains to earth like dew
Which in sleep had fallen on you –
Ye are many – they are few.
January 23, 2026 at 8:13 AM
rowanpoetry.bsky.social
Painted walls in the Rainbow Kampung, Bandung, Indonesia.
Wall painted with many dots of colour especially red, yellow, green and blue. Wall painted with many dots of colour especially yellow, green and blue but without red.
January 23, 2026 at 1:48 AM
rowanpoetry.bsky.social
The Rainbow Kampung in Bandung, Indonesia.
View of a hillside covered in many small houses painted in bright colours. At the bottom of the picture is a brightly coloured bridge over a river.
January 22, 2026 at 5:49 AM
Reposted by Rowan Bell
folklorepod.bsky.social
I'm not sure how this had passed me by, but please give some support to @icaruswritingcollective.com by following their BlueSky account. They are rebuilding after moving from another platform.

Magazines to read for free or to buy - mythic stories to enjoy.
icaruswritingcollective.com The Icarus Writing Collective @icaruswritingcollective.com · Dec 20
🌊 The tide is coming in, which means the fourth issue of The Icarus Writing Collective is finally here! 🩵

Read it for free on our website or consider purchasing a copy to support the magazine 🔱

www.icaruswritingcollective.com/currents ⬅️
A blue poster announcing the launch of The Icarus Writing Collective's fourth issue. The blue background is broken up by a section of transparent water texture and squiggly waves. On top, the text reads "read online | order print" while in the center in large white bold font reads "Issue 04 Currents is out!" in all caps. Below the center design reads, "www.icaruswritingcollective.com/currents"
January 13, 2026 at 10:02 AM
Reposted by Rowan Bell
folklorepod.bsky.social
Like myths and legends?

Like a bit of water?

Then please take a look at @sabrinariverfolk.bsky.social and follow their BlueSky account. They've been shouting into the void a little since moving to this platform, and we all know folklore is better to talk about than most of the other things here!
January 13, 2026 at 2:45 PM
rowanpoetry.bsky.social
This large pot in #OsterleyHouse is from China. It is for keeping goldfish in given as a birthday present. If the goldfish are struck by lightning they turn into dragons, which is very lucky because then you have a dragon for a pet instead of a goldfish. Thanks to NT guide Margaret for the story.
Large glazed pot standing on the floor in Osterley House near London.The pot is cream white on the inside and blue on the outside with a picture depicting a household scene in China. The goldfish and dragon story was told to us by the wonderful National Trust guide Margaret who is so incredibly knowledgeable about the house and its history.
January 11, 2026 at 5:57 PM
rowanpoetry.bsky.social
"We watched a squall of snow come over Hall Moor, down Swinner Gill, across the Swale, until it engulfed us on Kisdon Hill before passing on and the sun came out again. Except that the sun didn’t reach where we stood."
moodscope.com/blog/facing-...
Facing North | Moodscope
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moodscope.com
January 4, 2026 at 7:15 PM
rowanpoetry.bsky.social
Ruins of the house at Hartlakes haunted by Snapper John’s daughter.
View downwards from a hillside of a ruined house and barn in the Upper Swaledale valley. The foreground is frosted with snow in shade and the house and far side of the valley is in sun.
January 4, 2026 at 6:40 PM
rowanpoetry.bsky.social
Wolf Moon over St Mary’s Church in Muker.
Full moon in a dark blue sky above a church tower lit by spot lights. The church tower has a white clock face with black hands and the tips of gravestones are in the churchyard in the foreground.
January 3, 2026 at 10:21 PM
rowanpoetry.bsky.social
A hawthorn tree covered in moss and lichen on the Pennine Way as it skirts around the top of Kisdon Hill. This part of the path is always in shade during the winter months as the sun doesn’t get high enough to break the shade cast by the hill to the south and east.
Twigs covered in dark green moss and grey lichen with a few hawthorn red berries
January 1, 2026 at 5:33 PM
rowanpoetry.bsky.social
I went into the garden this evening to look for shooting stars. There should be about two a minute from the Geminids. I didn’t see any, but the sky was clear and the ground frosty. Orion and the Big Dipper were bright.
Night sky with stars of the constellation Orion Night sky with the constellation the Big Dipper.
December 16, 2025 at 10:48 PM
rowanpoetry.bsky.social
Watts 1963. Kerry James Marshall in the Royal Academy.
A girl walks on a path next to a crouching boy and behind a boy laying on the ground. They are in Nickerson Gardens housing project where Kerry James Marshall grew up. Behind the children is a lawn and in the distance a line of apartments beneath a blue sky. The picture is autobiographical “I think it is important for a Black artist to create Black figure painting in the grand tradition”. Marshall uses black pigments for skin colours “if you say black you should see black”.
December 9, 2025 at 5:37 PM
rowanpoetry.bsky.social
And every shepherd tells his tale
Under the hawthorn in the dale.
John Milton
Red fruit of the hawthorn tree with white frost on the grass below and blue winter sky above.
December 1, 2025 at 11:55 AM
rowanpoetry.bsky.social
Frosty morning in Swaledale today.
View down a valley towards the coming dawn. Fields in the foreground are white with frost. The fields are divided by lines of dry stone walls and in the centre foreground there is a stone hay barn. The sky is pale yellow-orange over the hills, fading to violet above.
November 26, 2025 at 7:58 PM
rowanpoetry.bsky.social
Ofrendra for Leon Trotsky in his house, Mexico City
Photograph of Leon Trotsky in a red picture frame with orange marigolds either side.
November 4, 2025 at 5:55 PM
rowanpoetry.bsky.social
Detail from the mural ‘Man, Controller of the Universe’ painted by Diego Rivera in 1933 on a wall in the Palacio de Bellas Artes in Mexico City.
Policemen carrying batons ride on horses through a crowd of hungry people in a city
November 1, 2025 at 11:09 AM
rowanpoetry.bsky.social
Portrait of Lupe Marin, 1938 by Diego Rivera. Murdock de Arte Moderno. Mexico City.
Woman in a long white dress seated on a chair in front of a mirror, which reflects her arm and part of the dress. Her shoes are black, with two straps. She is wearing a necklace of pale green balls and wide silver bracelets.
October 30, 2025 at 9:13 PM
rowanpoetry.bsky.social
Autumn leaves of Carya ovata in Kew Gardens
Tall tree with yellow brown autumn leaves some of which have fallen on to the green grass below. The background is blue sky and the morning sunshine is lighting up the leaves. Carya ovata is known as the shagbark hickory. The name hickory comes from the Algonquian word pawcohiccora which is the food and drink that was formerly obtained from the nutritious nuts of the tree.
October 9, 2025 at 9:49 AM