Matthew King
@cincinnatusc.bsky.social
I think I'm getting smarter
birdsandbeesandblooms.com
birdsandbeesandblooms.com
Pic of the week: Hang On
birdsandbeesandblooms.com/2026/02/01/h...
birdsandbeesandblooms.com/2026/02/01/h...
Hang On
Hang On: photo of hairy woodpecker taken near Marmora, Ontario. Copyright Matthew King. E-mail birdsandbeesandblooms@gmail.com to inquire concerning use or purchase.
birdsandbeesandblooms.com
February 2, 2026 at 4:14 AM
Pic of the week: Hang On
birdsandbeesandblooms.com/2026/02/01/h...
birdsandbeesandblooms.com/2026/02/01/h...
Have determined that having a ticking clock on my desk is bad for my teeth
No, not the grinding due to angst at being-toward-death
Are other people compelled to clack their teeth in time to ticking clocks or is it just me
I mean probably also the being-toward-death though
No, not the grinding due to angst at being-toward-death
Are other people compelled to clack their teeth in time to ticking clocks or is it just me
I mean probably also the being-toward-death though
February 2, 2026 at 12:52 AM
Have determined that having a ticking clock on my desk is bad for my teeth
No, not the grinding due to angst at being-toward-death
Are other people compelled to clack their teeth in time to ticking clocks or is it just me
I mean probably also the being-toward-death though
No, not the grinding due to angst at being-toward-death
Are other people compelled to clack their teeth in time to ticking clocks or is it just me
I mean probably also the being-toward-death though
Certify your content AI-free if you estimate it's 90% not AI-generated! ha ha wut
Letting the AI guys be in charge of AI control would be uh *not good*, and like oil companies with carbon emissions they are really gonna want to get themselves put in charge of it
Letting the AI guys be in charge of AI control would be uh *not good*, and like oil companies with carbon emissions they are really gonna want to get themselves put in charge of it
February 2, 2026 at 12:40 AM
Certify your content AI-free if you estimate it's 90% not AI-generated! ha ha wut
Letting the AI guys be in charge of AI control would be uh *not good*, and like oil companies with carbon emissions they are really gonna want to get themselves put in charge of it
Letting the AI guys be in charge of AI control would be uh *not good*, and like oil companies with carbon emissions they are really gonna want to get themselves put in charge of it
Happy Septuagesima to all who celebrate, but especially Oscar Wilde
February 1, 2026 at 4:46 PM
Happy Septuagesima to all who celebrate, but especially Oscar Wilde
Thinking about how the fact that I've set a personal record for poetry rejections this month without even any Poets Respond subs means there's still lots of room to break that record--like how I don't want to break my annual bird count record by so much that I won't break it again next year--
January 31, 2026 at 7:07 PM
Thinking about how the fact that I've set a personal record for poetry rejections this month without even any Poets Respond subs means there's still lots of room to break that record--like how I don't want to break my annual bird count record by so much that I won't break it again next year--
At a poetry book launch thing I went to once one of the poets said in response to some "why do you write" question that they write because it's how you get to be part of the conversation with other poets. I think a lot about how that easily sounds like some bad quiet part out loud thing to say...
January 31, 2026 at 6:46 PM
At a poetry book launch thing I went to once one of the poets said in response to some "why do you write" question that they write because it's how you get to be part of the conversation with other poets. I think a lot about how that easily sounds like some bad quiet part out loud thing to say...
Never mind the classes you took in college, tell me five toes you have on your feet
1. Big toe
2. Other big toe
3. Toe that you want to call middle toe because it's the longest
4. Actual middle toe
5. Fourth toe, most underappreciated toe, or at least unappreciated, honestly not sure we'd miss it
1. Big toe
2. Other big toe
3. Toe that you want to call middle toe because it's the longest
4. Actual middle toe
5. Fourth toe, most underappreciated toe, or at least unappreciated, honestly not sure we'd miss it
January 31, 2026 at 5:38 PM
Never mind the classes you took in college, tell me five toes you have on your feet
1. Big toe
2. Other big toe
3. Toe that you want to call middle toe because it's the longest
4. Actual middle toe
5. Fourth toe, most underappreciated toe, or at least unappreciated, honestly not sure we'd miss it
1. Big toe
2. Other big toe
3. Toe that you want to call middle toe because it's the longest
4. Actual middle toe
5. Fourth toe, most underappreciated toe, or at least unappreciated, honestly not sure we'd miss it
By my count it's 11-1 for Catherine O'Hara over X.J. Kennedy on my feed so far today. Once again, it ain't the old twitter, for sure.
January 31, 2026 at 2:30 AM
By my count it's 11-1 for Catherine O'Hara over X.J. Kennedy on my feed so far today. Once again, it ain't the old twitter, for sure.
It'd be nice if this is a watershed moment for the whole FAFO mindset, which has always been with us (I mean, the popular concept of hell is the ultimate instance of it) but has gained an awful lot of political traction as an all-purpose answer to everything in the last few years
January 26, 2026 at 6:06 PM
It'd be nice if this is a watershed moment for the whole FAFO mindset, which has always been with us (I mean, the popular concept of hell is the ultimate instance of it) but has gained an awful lot of political traction as an all-purpose answer to everything in the last few years
This storm is currently precipitating on all contiguous east coast provinces and states from Nova Scotia to Florida
January 26, 2026 at 2:20 AM
This storm is currently precipitating on all contiguous east coast provinces and states from Nova Scotia to Florida
Pic of the week: Dove Wings
birdsandbeesandblooms.com/2026/01/25/d...
birdsandbeesandblooms.com/2026/01/25/d...
Dove Wings
Dove Wings: photo of mourning dove taken near Marmora, Ontario. Copyright Matthew King. E-mail birdsandbeesandblooms@gmail.com to inquire concerning use or purchase.
birdsandbeesandblooms.com
January 26, 2026 at 1:52 AM
Pic of the week: Dove Wings
birdsandbeesandblooms.com/2026/01/25/d...
birdsandbeesandblooms.com/2026/01/25/d...
This much storm with no pressure below 100 kPa anywhere is in itself pretty impressive
January 25, 2026 at 11:50 PM
This much storm with no pressure below 100 kPa anywhere is in itself pretty impressive
The future depends on whether or not people in sufficient numbers and in positions of influence come to understand what better things there are to do with their lives than fighting. That's it, that's really always ever it. If you want to build the long way forward, that's what you have to work on.
January 21, 2026 at 12:47 AM
The future depends on whether or not people in sufficient numbers and in positions of influence come to understand what better things there are to do with their lives than fighting. That's it, that's really always ever it. If you want to build the long way forward, that's what you have to work on.
So today was the day that I had to get towed twice because we have reached a level of snow around here such that what look like plowed shoulders are actually plowed ELEPHANT TRAPS
January 20, 2026 at 11:06 PM
So today was the day that I had to get towed twice because we have reached a level of snow around here such that what look like plowed shoulders are actually plowed ELEPHANT TRAPS
Most middle-aged dudes, the life advice they want to give you is about investments and winter tires and stuff, mine is, and I can't stress this enough, get yourself some high quality sun catchers
January 20, 2026 at 6:28 PM
Most middle-aged dudes, the life advice they want to give you is about investments and winter tires and stuff, mine is, and I can't stress this enough, get yourself some high quality sun catchers
If you'd told the Dreher-ite conservatives that inside a decade people would be invoking the Havel greengrocer stuff against the intractable hegemony of American conservatism...
January 20, 2026 at 5:17 PM
If you'd told the Dreher-ite conservatives that inside a decade people would be invoking the Havel greengrocer stuff against the intractable hegemony of American conservatism...
Poetry New Year's Weekend as far as I'm concerned
Registration for the 2026 CV2 2-Day Poem Contest is now open!
This fast-paced yearly contest challenges you to write a poem in 48 hours, using ten twisty words provided by us!
Follow this link for more information: contemporaryverse2.ca/2-day-poem-c...
2 Days. 10 words. 1 poem.
This fast-paced yearly contest challenges you to write a poem in 48 hours, using ten twisty words provided by us!
Follow this link for more information: contemporaryverse2.ca/2-day-poem-c...
2 Days. 10 words. 1 poem.
January 20, 2026 at 1:41 AM
Poetry New Year's Weekend as far as I'm concerned
In my list of places I might send poems to there's one my description of which concludes "possibly insane", always amuses me when I scroll down to that one
Aren't we all though yes yes
Aren't we all though yes yes
January 20, 2026 at 12:01 AM
In my list of places I might send poems to there's one my description of which concludes "possibly insane", always amuses me when I scroll down to that one
Aren't we all though yes yes
Aren't we all though yes yes
Pic of the week: Snowy Finch
birdsandbeesandblooms.com/2026/01/19/s...
birdsandbeesandblooms.com/2026/01/19/s...
Snowy Finch
Snowy Finch: photo of American goldfinch taken near Marmora, Ontario. Copyright Matthew King. E-mail birdsandbeesandblooms@gmail.com to inquire concerning use or purchase.
birdsandbeesandblooms.com
January 19, 2026 at 6:36 AM
Pic of the week: Snowy Finch
birdsandbeesandblooms.com/2026/01/19/s...
birdsandbeesandblooms.com/2026/01/19/s...
A particularly weird instance of public goods being required to make business cases for themselves--like counting the neighbourhood parkette as "losing money" because the city has to cut the grass
Sankofa Square lost a lot of money last year due to protests and Donald Trump. Can the downtown Toronto landmark turn the corner this year?
Sankofa Square lost a lot of money last year due to protests and Donald Trump. Can the downtown Toronto landmark turn the corner this year?
Its dismal finances reveal the ongoing tension between the square as both a public space and the only civic square in the city that takes commercial bookings.
www.thestar.com
January 18, 2026 at 11:01 PM
A particularly weird instance of public goods being required to make business cases for themselves--like counting the neighbourhood parkette as "losing money" because the city has to cut the grass
Good day for seeing blue
January 18, 2026 at 10:08 PM
Good day for seeing blue
As Burl would say back at the other place, re the second one down here from Drew Pisarra ("Factors"), I laughed
January 18, 2026 at 5:56 PM
As Burl would say back at the other place, re the second one down here from Drew Pisarra ("Factors"), I laughed
Also taunting: Windows informing me that today is "tulip day" for some reason
Avs dressing up as Nordiques kinda feels like taunting, I dunno
January 17, 2026 at 11:42 PM
Also taunting: Windows informing me that today is "tulip day" for some reason
Every time I pop over to the other place to look for something I'm like geez it's awful grumpy in here and yet that guy who retweets all the poems and gives them 0.3/10 or whatever always puts a smile on my face
January 17, 2026 at 11:29 PM
Every time I pop over to the other place to look for something I'm like geez it's awful grumpy in here and yet that guy who retweets all the poems and gives them 0.3/10 or whatever always puts a smile on my face