David Karlsen
@vonkarlsen.bsky.social
Prose writer and poet. BA (Hons) Humanities, Literature. Non-binary. Interests: The Arts, Natural History, Geology. Vegan. Francophile. X 🌈🏴 🇪🇺
©️David Karlsen [All poetry, prose and photographs]
Paintings, etc. belong to the artist I repost. NO CHAT!
©️David Karlsen [All poetry, prose and photographs]
Paintings, etc. belong to the artist I repost. NO CHAT!
Pinned
David Karlsen
@vonkarlsen.bsky.social
· Jan 3
Warning: I absolutely hate being tagged! And, I always report and block people send me lewd or offensive material! Everyone I've reported so far have had their accounts suspended. I always protect myself and people who trust and follow me. Unless I know you don't send me DMs as you'd be blocked. X
from a window inland
cloud moved silently
a slow grey presence
unseen by Flavia
or Clarice locked
together
while Danish slept
a thousand miles away
in another room
hand
still touching a cover
of Orlando
her eyes had last seen
its print
converging hours ago
cloud continued passing
#poetry
cloud moved silently
a slow grey presence
unseen by Flavia
or Clarice locked
together
while Danish slept
a thousand miles away
in another room
hand
still touching a cover
of Orlando
her eyes had last seen
its print
converging hours ago
cloud continued passing
#poetry
November 24, 2025 at 6:51 AM
from a window inland
cloud moved silently
a slow grey presence
unseen by Flavia
or Clarice locked
together
while Danish slept
a thousand miles away
in another room
hand
still touching a cover
of Orlando
her eyes had last seen
its print
converging hours ago
cloud continued passing
#poetry
cloud moved silently
a slow grey presence
unseen by Flavia
or Clarice locked
together
while Danish slept
a thousand miles away
in another room
hand
still touching a cover
of Orlando
her eyes had last seen
its print
converging hours ago
cloud continued passing
#poetry
Laura at school was asked
to find some spirogyra
for a biology lesson
water silk
mermaid's tresses
were common names
they can reproduce
sexually or asexually
but Laura was told
that her specimen
was merely duckweed
which was totally
lesson unrelated
but good cover
and food tor waterfowl
#poetry
to find some spirogyra
for a biology lesson
water silk
mermaid's tresses
were common names
they can reproduce
sexually or asexually
but Laura was told
that her specimen
was merely duckweed
which was totally
lesson unrelated
but good cover
and food tor waterfowl
#poetry
November 23, 2025 at 8:28 PM
Laura at school was asked
to find some spirogyra
for a biology lesson
water silk
mermaid's tresses
were common names
they can reproduce
sexually or asexually
but Laura was told
that her specimen
was merely duckweed
which was totally
lesson unrelated
but good cover
and food tor waterfowl
#poetry
to find some spirogyra
for a biology lesson
water silk
mermaid's tresses
were common names
they can reproduce
sexually or asexually
but Laura was told
that her specimen
was merely duckweed
which was totally
lesson unrelated
but good cover
and food tor waterfowl
#poetry
Reposted by David Karlsen
Sunset in Green Canyon in North Logan, Utah
6x12" oil on panel
#Art #ArtWork #FineArt #Landscape #Painting #TraditionalArt #OriginalArt #OilPainting #Tonalism #Stunday
6x12" oil on panel
#Art #ArtWork #FineArt #Landscape #Painting #TraditionalArt #OriginalArt #OilPainting #Tonalism #Stunday
November 23, 2025 at 5:14 PM
Sunset in Green Canyon in North Logan, Utah
6x12" oil on panel
#Art #ArtWork #FineArt #Landscape #Painting #TraditionalArt #OriginalArt #OilPainting #Tonalism #Stunday
6x12" oil on panel
#Art #ArtWork #FineArt #Landscape #Painting #TraditionalArt #OriginalArt #OilPainting #Tonalism #Stunday
This Late November
one's eye can find another
lying watchful in the sand
as if one's nightmare
has become another dream
like an echo of the sun
lying in a different depth
waiting merely waiting
for his ultimate and last gaffe
where the shadows deeply
darken lies the final laugh
#poetry
one's eye can find another
lying watchful in the sand
as if one's nightmare
has become another dream
like an echo of the sun
lying in a different depth
waiting merely waiting
for his ultimate and last gaffe
where the shadows deeply
darken lies the final laugh
#poetry
November 23, 2025 at 6:11 PM
This Late November
one's eye can find another
lying watchful in the sand
as if one's nightmare
has become another dream
like an echo of the sun
lying in a different depth
waiting merely waiting
for his ultimate and last gaffe
where the shadows deeply
darken lies the final laugh
#poetry
one's eye can find another
lying watchful in the sand
as if one's nightmare
has become another dream
like an echo of the sun
lying in a different depth
waiting merely waiting
for his ultimate and last gaffe
where the shadows deeply
darken lies the final laugh
#poetry
Abstracted
Kazu had taken
to abstracts
yellows trying
to escape
a faint strong
blue grey
while tiny particles
were drawn
into a void of black
#poetry
Kazu had taken
to abstracts
yellows trying
to escape
a faint strong
blue grey
while tiny particles
were drawn
into a void of black
#poetry
November 23, 2025 at 4:35 PM
Abstracted
Kazu had taken
to abstracts
yellows trying
to escape
a faint strong
blue grey
while tiny particles
were drawn
into a void of black
#poetry
Kazu had taken
to abstracts
yellows trying
to escape
a faint strong
blue grey
while tiny particles
were drawn
into a void of black
#poetry
Anaïs and. Kazu
were talking while
watching reflections
in the stream running
out to the estuary
Laura was standing
a very pale figure between them
three huggled women
two keeping a cold day
away from a third
bare branches mirrored beneath them water
continuous
loud in the brook
#poetry
were talking while
watching reflections
in the stream running
out to the estuary
Laura was standing
a very pale figure between them
three huggled women
two keeping a cold day
away from a third
bare branches mirrored beneath them water
continuous
loud in the brook
#poetry
November 23, 2025 at 8:00 AM
Anaïs and. Kazu
were talking while
watching reflections
in the stream running
out to the estuary
Laura was standing
a very pale figure between them
three huggled women
two keeping a cold day
away from a third
bare branches mirrored beneath them water
continuous
loud in the brook
#poetry
were talking while
watching reflections
in the stream running
out to the estuary
Laura was standing
a very pale figure between them
three huggled women
two keeping a cold day
away from a third
bare branches mirrored beneath them water
continuous
loud in the brook
#poetry
Silurian rock takes on sunshine
as if it owned its very quality
of being
and all the time relentless
waves iron already
ironed sand
that empty place before
Kazu pressed a size four
shoe into sublimity
and I breathed silently
as if I was afraid someone
might hear my beating heart
#poetry
as if it owned its very quality
of being
and all the time relentless
waves iron already
ironed sand
that empty place before
Kazu pressed a size four
shoe into sublimity
and I breathed silently
as if I was afraid someone
might hear my beating heart
#poetry
November 22, 2025 at 7:23 PM
Silurian rock takes on sunshine
as if it owned its very quality
of being
and all the time relentless
waves iron already
ironed sand
that empty place before
Kazu pressed a size four
shoe into sublimity
and I breathed silently
as if I was afraid someone
might hear my beating heart
#poetry
as if it owned its very quality
of being
and all the time relentless
waves iron already
ironed sand
that empty place before
Kazu pressed a size four
shoe into sublimity
and I breathed silently
as if I was afraid someone
might hear my beating heart
#poetry
Reposted by David Karlsen
Selbstbildnis vor der Staffelei (Self-Portrait in Front of an Easel) by Gabriele Münter (German) - Oil on canvas / c 1908–09 - Princeton University Art Museum (New Jersey) #WomenInArt #GabrieleMünter #Münter #PrincetonUniversityArtMuseum #artText #GabrieleMunter #WomensArt #WomanArtist #WomenArtists
November 22, 2025 at 5:21 PM
Selbstbildnis vor der Staffelei (Self-Portrait in Front of an Easel) by Gabriele Münter (German) - Oil on canvas / c 1908–09 - Princeton University Art Museum (New Jersey) #WomenInArt #GabrieleMünter #Münter #PrincetonUniversityArtMuseum #artText #GabrieleMunter #WomensArt #WomanArtist #WomenArtists
Vitrine
they called their only
daughter
she sat stood in various
poses angular
aging inside its glass
interior
an airless residence
a sound of sliding
uninterrupted
green broken pieces
destroyed
eventually photographs
lost
to everywhere Vitrine
#poetry
they called their only
daughter
she sat stood in various
poses angular
aging inside its glass
interior
an airless residence
a sound of sliding
uninterrupted
green broken pieces
destroyed
eventually photographs
lost
to everywhere Vitrine
#poetry
November 22, 2025 at 6:38 PM
Vitrine
they called their only
daughter
she sat stood in various
poses angular
aging inside its glass
interior
an airless residence
a sound of sliding
uninterrupted
green broken pieces
destroyed
eventually photographs
lost
to everywhere Vitrine
#poetry
they called their only
daughter
she sat stood in various
poses angular
aging inside its glass
interior
an airless residence
a sound of sliding
uninterrupted
green broken pieces
destroyed
eventually photographs
lost
to everywhere Vitrine
#poetry
If winter
continued longer
as a dark and cloudy
sky
with leaves unseen
grass no longer
springing freshly green
nothing pleasant to our
eye
we'd have to find
a way
of changing nature's
grim faced icy
course
I think The People would
cry out
"If necessary use force!"
#poetry
continued longer
as a dark and cloudy
sky
with leaves unseen
grass no longer
springing freshly green
nothing pleasant to our
eye
we'd have to find
a way
of changing nature's
grim faced icy
course
I think The People would
cry out
"If necessary use force!"
#poetry
November 22, 2025 at 9:17 AM
If winter
continued longer
as a dark and cloudy
sky
with leaves unseen
grass no longer
springing freshly green
nothing pleasant to our
eye
we'd have to find
a way
of changing nature's
grim faced icy
course
I think The People would
cry out
"If necessary use force!"
#poetry
continued longer
as a dark and cloudy
sky
with leaves unseen
grass no longer
springing freshly green
nothing pleasant to our
eye
we'd have to find
a way
of changing nature's
grim faced icy
course
I think The People would
cry out
"If necessary use force!"
#poetry
Parvenue
this upstart from the waves
in its moment will be one
of millions that reshape
physical geography
unlike the political
parvenue
in its attempt to remake
the world in their own image
this single strike of water
is more powerful
than a dozen Empires
their suspect historians
#poetry
this upstart from the waves
in its moment will be one
of millions that reshape
physical geography
unlike the political
parvenue
in its attempt to remake
the world in their own image
this single strike of water
is more powerful
than a dozen Empires
their suspect historians
#poetry
November 21, 2025 at 5:56 PM
Parvenue
this upstart from the waves
in its moment will be one
of millions that reshape
physical geography
unlike the political
parvenue
in its attempt to remake
the world in their own image
this single strike of water
is more powerful
than a dozen Empires
their suspect historians
#poetry
this upstart from the waves
in its moment will be one
of millions that reshape
physical geography
unlike the political
parvenue
in its attempt to remake
the world in their own image
this single strike of water
is more powerful
than a dozen Empires
their suspect historians
#poetry
All Branches
broke grey sky
and cloud had found
its low way in
but leaves
had long gone
gripped
by an early frost
or wind shrugging
continually its huge
shoulders
the estuary flooded
their lower back garden's
reach one high tide
but rain was now
a wind dried
anxious memory
#poetry
broke grey sky
and cloud had found
its low way in
but leaves
had long gone
gripped
by an early frost
or wind shrugging
continually its huge
shoulders
the estuary flooded
their lower back garden's
reach one high tide
but rain was now
a wind dried
anxious memory
#poetry
November 21, 2025 at 10:22 AM
All Branches
broke grey sky
and cloud had found
its low way in
but leaves
had long gone
gripped
by an early frost
or wind shrugging
continually its huge
shoulders
the estuary flooded
their lower back garden's
reach one high tide
but rain was now
a wind dried
anxious memory
#poetry
broke grey sky
and cloud had found
its low way in
but leaves
had long gone
gripped
by an early frost
or wind shrugging
continually its huge
shoulders
the estuary flooded
their lower back garden's
reach one high tide
but rain was now
a wind dried
anxious memory
#poetry
Kazu Anais and Laura
dressed warmly
arms round each other
looking out to sea
day a chill engravement
of wind whip on faces
each branch a copperplate
commonplace
bare bone
a curvature
leaves now shrivelled rarities
sky and sea both pewter
Clarice Flavia Danish
waiting in car's warmth
#poetry
dressed warmly
arms round each other
looking out to sea
day a chill engravement
of wind whip on faces
each branch a copperplate
commonplace
bare bone
a curvature
leaves now shrivelled rarities
sky and sea both pewter
Clarice Flavia Danish
waiting in car's warmth
#poetry
November 20, 2025 at 5:11 PM
Kazu Anais and Laura
dressed warmly
arms round each other
looking out to sea
day a chill engravement
of wind whip on faces
each branch a copperplate
commonplace
bare bone
a curvature
leaves now shrivelled rarities
sky and sea both pewter
Clarice Flavia Danish
waiting in car's warmth
#poetry
dressed warmly
arms round each other
looking out to sea
day a chill engravement
of wind whip on faces
each branch a copperplate
commonplace
bare bone
a curvature
leaves now shrivelled rarities
sky and sea both pewter
Clarice Flavia Danish
waiting in car's warmth
#poetry
You Did Not Do
what I expected
did not praise
my books enough
tea grew cold cake
still sits
on expensive plate
why say my Aunt
is priggish
that my nose
was too long
to be attractive
on a girl
that's why I thought
let's take the walk
follow my finger
isn't that
a long way down
#poetry
what I expected
did not praise
my books enough
tea grew cold cake
still sits
on expensive plate
why say my Aunt
is priggish
that my nose
was too long
to be attractive
on a girl
that's why I thought
let's take the walk
follow my finger
isn't that
a long way down
#poetry
November 20, 2025 at 10:36 AM
You Did Not Do
what I expected
did not praise
my books enough
tea grew cold cake
still sits
on expensive plate
why say my Aunt
is priggish
that my nose
was too long
to be attractive
on a girl
that's why I thought
let's take the walk
follow my finger
isn't that
a long way down
#poetry
what I expected
did not praise
my books enough
tea grew cold cake
still sits
on expensive plate
why say my Aunt
is priggish
that my nose
was too long
to be attractive
on a girl
that's why I thought
let's take the walk
follow my finger
isn't that
a long way down
#poetry
Reposted by David Karlsen
Death of the World
unclaimed by any
organization
who was there
to claim responsibility?
no violence
massive explosion nothing shook cities
great tracks
of usual emptiness
remained
kept their faithful
silences
not a beetle moved
and people lay
in cities
everywhere
at awkward angles
#poetry
unclaimed by any
organization
who was there
to claim responsibility?
no violence
massive explosion nothing shook cities
great tracks
of usual emptiness
remained
kept their faithful
silences
not a beetle moved
and people lay
in cities
everywhere
at awkward angles
#poetry
November 20, 2025 at 7:49 AM
Death of the World
unclaimed by any
organization
who was there
to claim responsibility?
no violence
massive explosion nothing shook cities
great tracks
of usual emptiness
remained
kept their faithful
silences
not a beetle moved
and people lay
in cities
everywhere
at awkward angles
#poetry
unclaimed by any
organization
who was there
to claim responsibility?
no violence
massive explosion nothing shook cities
great tracks
of usual emptiness
remained
kept their faithful
silences
not a beetle moved
and people lay
in cities
everywhere
at awkward angles
#poetry
here the sky an emptied tree
two hours passed you sat with me
and every time the blue and white
was harried by the wind its bite
insisting we should leave
I held your free hand did believe
a world would change for us anew
those hours I spent alone with you
pressed against your cold face true
#poetry
two hours passed you sat with me
and every time the blue and white
was harried by the wind its bite
insisting we should leave
I held your free hand did believe
a world would change for us anew
those hours I spent alone with you
pressed against your cold face true
#poetry
November 19, 2025 at 6:47 PM
here the sky an emptied tree
two hours passed you sat with me
and every time the blue and white
was harried by the wind its bite
insisting we should leave
I held your free hand did believe
a world would change for us anew
those hours I spent alone with you
pressed against your cold face true
#poetry
two hours passed you sat with me
and every time the blue and white
was harried by the wind its bite
insisting we should leave
I held your free hand did believe
a world would change for us anew
those hours I spent alone with you
pressed against your cold face true
#poetry
November Sky
offsetting stern grey
gravitas wearing fard
gives skeletal trees
a little presence
through interstices
ghost fading grasses
break up the face
of late lead Autumn
converging both sides
darker evening waits
to close a gap
bring every other ally
of a night
down suddenly
#poetry
offsetting stern grey
gravitas wearing fard
gives skeletal trees
a little presence
through interstices
ghost fading grasses
break up the face
of late lead Autumn
converging both sides
darker evening waits
to close a gap
bring every other ally
of a night
down suddenly
#poetry
November 19, 2025 at 4:14 PM
November Sky
offsetting stern grey
gravitas wearing fard
gives skeletal trees
a little presence
through interstices
ghost fading grasses
break up the face
of late lead Autumn
converging both sides
darker evening waits
to close a gap
bring every other ally
of a night
down suddenly
#poetry
offsetting stern grey
gravitas wearing fard
gives skeletal trees
a little presence
through interstices
ghost fading grasses
break up the face
of late lead Autumn
converging both sides
darker evening waits
to close a gap
bring every other ally
of a night
down suddenly
#poetry
Parable of the "king"
who locked food
away to rot, stopped
poor people's cheques,
remember the story?
Recap: frames people
by hiding gold in their
sacks and has them
arrested, decorates
his own house with it
but forgets his own stupidity in releasing
criminals
in a democracy!
#poetry
who locked food
away to rot, stopped
poor people's cheques,
remember the story?
Recap: frames people
by hiding gold in their
sacks and has them
arrested, decorates
his own house with it
but forgets his own stupidity in releasing
criminals
in a democracy!
#poetry
November 19, 2025 at 8:02 AM
Parable of the "king"
who locked food
away to rot, stopped
poor people's cheques,
remember the story?
Recap: frames people
by hiding gold in their
sacks and has them
arrested, decorates
his own house with it
but forgets his own stupidity in releasing
criminals
in a democracy!
#poetry
who locked food
away to rot, stopped
poor people's cheques,
remember the story?
Recap: frames people
by hiding gold in their
sacks and has them
arrested, decorates
his own house with it
but forgets his own stupidity in releasing
criminals
in a democracy!
#poetry
Kazu's oil works were often
landscapes
a matt stretch of county
from a lost year was given
to Laura with love
when she was told
by a clinician
her anaemia was the reason
for her tiredness
her often falling asleep
in daytime hours
Kazu her lips tight firm
gave pale Laura this painting
#poetry
landscapes
a matt stretch of county
from a lost year was given
to Laura with love
when she was told
by a clinician
her anaemia was the reason
for her tiredness
her often falling asleep
in daytime hours
Kazu her lips tight firm
gave pale Laura this painting
#poetry
November 18, 2025 at 8:04 PM
Kazu's oil works were often
landscapes
a matt stretch of county
from a lost year was given
to Laura with love
when she was told
by a clinician
her anaemia was the reason
for her tiredness
her often falling asleep
in daytime hours
Kazu her lips tight firm
gave pale Laura this painting
#poetry
landscapes
a matt stretch of county
from a lost year was given
to Laura with love
when she was told
by a clinician
her anaemia was the reason
for her tiredness
her often falling asleep
in daytime hours
Kazu her lips tight firm
gave pale Laura this painting
#poetry
Good Company
I'm reading while you watch
me turning pages
if you could read I'd ask
your opinion of this novel
on its unreliable
first person narrator
laptops interest you
dancing images
you look at me I can't explain
forget my talk of novels
your company's more important
#poetry
I'm reading while you watch
me turning pages
if you could read I'd ask
your opinion of this novel
on its unreliable
first person narrator
laptops interest you
dancing images
you look at me I can't explain
forget my talk of novels
your company's more important
#poetry
November 18, 2025 at 2:53 PM
Good Company
I'm reading while you watch
me turning pages
if you could read I'd ask
your opinion of this novel
on its unreliable
first person narrator
laptops interest you
dancing images
you look at me I can't explain
forget my talk of novels
your company's more important
#poetry
I'm reading while you watch
me turning pages
if you could read I'd ask
your opinion of this novel
on its unreliable
first person narrator
laptops interest you
dancing images
you look at me I can't explain
forget my talk of novels
your company's more important
#poetry
These Places
where we leaned
against tall slender
trunks
kissing hours
tongues
resting when our
eyes opened
on occasion
oblivious
to the sky the sea
I have kissed
you all here
wet mouthed too
while you whispered
"Anaïs" as if these
trees might hear
two syllables
if spoken loudly
#poetry
where we leaned
against tall slender
trunks
kissing hours
tongues
resting when our
eyes opened
on occasion
oblivious
to the sky the sea
I have kissed
you all here
wet mouthed too
while you whispered
"Anaïs" as if these
trees might hear
two syllables
if spoken loudly
#poetry
November 18, 2025 at 8:07 AM
These Places
where we leaned
against tall slender
trunks
kissing hours
tongues
resting when our
eyes opened
on occasion
oblivious
to the sky the sea
I have kissed
you all here
wet mouthed too
while you whispered
"Anaïs" as if these
trees might hear
two syllables
if spoken loudly
#poetry
where we leaned
against tall slender
trunks
kissing hours
tongues
resting when our
eyes opened
on occasion
oblivious
to the sky the sea
I have kissed
you all here
wet mouthed too
while you whispered
"Anaïs" as if these
trees might hear
two syllables
if spoken loudly
#poetry
The Oak
leaning like forever
across
a country lane
arching bend
at vanishing point
this tree must once
have been a sapling
all these fallen leaves
green still to colour yellow
the oak's no longer
there
why they felled this tree
I cannot say
in perfect health it disappeared
#poetry
leaning like forever
across
a country lane
arching bend
at vanishing point
this tree must once
have been a sapling
all these fallen leaves
green still to colour yellow
the oak's no longer
there
why they felled this tree
I cannot say
in perfect health it disappeared
#poetry
November 17, 2025 at 5:38 PM
The Oak
leaning like forever
across
a country lane
arching bend
at vanishing point
this tree must once
have been a sapling
all these fallen leaves
green still to colour yellow
the oak's no longer
there
why they felled this tree
I cannot say
in perfect health it disappeared
#poetry
leaning like forever
across
a country lane
arching bend
at vanishing point
this tree must once
have been a sapling
all these fallen leaves
green still to colour yellow
the oak's no longer
there
why they felled this tree
I cannot say
in perfect health it disappeared
#poetry
Bare
the sky, deciduous
trees
only evergreens
remain; bare essentials
and the needles fall
unnoticed as others
take possession.
Like the peopled
world
dead needles
unnoticed
lying everywhere
I wish we had
an answer
to this
mystical philosophy.
#poetry
the sky, deciduous
trees
only evergreens
remain; bare essentials
and the needles fall
unnoticed as others
take possession.
Like the peopled
world
dead needles
unnoticed
lying everywhere
I wish we had
an answer
to this
mystical philosophy.
#poetry
November 17, 2025 at 7:19 AM
Bare
the sky, deciduous
trees
only evergreens
remain; bare essentials
and the needles fall
unnoticed as others
take possession.
Like the peopled
world
dead needles
unnoticed
lying everywhere
I wish we had
an answer
to this
mystical philosophy.
#poetry
the sky, deciduous
trees
only evergreens
remain; bare essentials
and the needles fall
unnoticed as others
take possession.
Like the peopled
world
dead needles
unnoticed
lying everywhere
I wish we had
an answer
to this
mystical philosophy.
#poetry
a waterfall along our lane
the river Saith
reaching the sea
at different times
depending
on the tide's ebb or flow
plunging onto the shore
glacial activity forcing
a carving of its own
making
and all this time
its flow running the past
present and future in water
#poetry
the river Saith
reaching the sea
at different times
depending
on the tide's ebb or flow
plunging onto the shore
glacial activity forcing
a carving of its own
making
and all this time
its flow running the past
present and future in water
#poetry
November 16, 2025 at 2:25 PM
a waterfall along our lane
the river Saith
reaching the sea
at different times
depending
on the tide's ebb or flow
plunging onto the shore
glacial activity forcing
a carving of its own
making
and all this time
its flow running the past
present and future in water
#poetry
the river Saith
reaching the sea
at different times
depending
on the tide's ebb or flow
plunging onto the shore
glacial activity forcing
a carving of its own
making
and all this time
its flow running the past
present and future in water
#poetry