David Atkinson
@davidatkinsonpoet.bsky.social
(he/him) Belfast/Coleraine poet. Black Eyed Peace, is available as free eBook from Wordpress, inc. the Pushcart nominated Hunting for the Aurora. MA student at MMU - davidatkinsonpoet.wordpress.com
From ‘Stations’ a ‘Sliding Doors’ poem
I wonder what would have happened if he hadn’t won the scholarship?
Would all of those poems have been lost? On such small events worlds can shift
The benches on which he sat are now quite empty, circles are broken
#poetry
#poemoftheday
#seamusheaneysunday
I wonder what would have happened if he hadn’t won the scholarship?
Would all of those poems have been lost? On such small events worlds can shift
The benches on which he sat are now quite empty, circles are broken
#poetry
#poemoftheday
#seamusheaneysunday
February 8, 2026 at 8:22 AM
From ‘Stations’ a ‘Sliding Doors’ poem
I wonder what would have happened if he hadn’t won the scholarship?
Would all of those poems have been lost? On such small events worlds can shift
The benches on which he sat are now quite empty, circles are broken
#poetry
#poemoftheday
#seamusheaneysunday
I wonder what would have happened if he hadn’t won the scholarship?
Would all of those poems have been lost? On such small events worlds can shift
The benches on which he sat are now quite empty, circles are broken
#poetry
#poemoftheday
#seamusheaneysunday
This is from Matthew Rice’s collection ‘Plastic’.
A microcosm of working class life set in a single 12 hour factory night shift.
It is an astonishing book, its acute observations are at times stark and bleak, at other surreal, funny and humane
#poetry
#poemoftheday
A microcosm of working class life set in a single 12 hour factory night shift.
It is an astonishing book, its acute observations are at times stark and bleak, at other surreal, funny and humane
#poetry
#poemoftheday
February 7, 2026 at 10:01 AM
This is from Matthew Rice’s collection ‘Plastic’.
A microcosm of working class life set in a single 12 hour factory night shift.
It is an astonishing book, its acute observations are at times stark and bleak, at other surreal, funny and humane
#poetry
#poemoftheday
A microcosm of working class life set in a single 12 hour factory night shift.
It is an astonishing book, its acute observations are at times stark and bleak, at other surreal, funny and humane
#poetry
#poemoftheday
Ada Limón reflects on growing up with divorced parents and reframes the difficulties and challenges with gratitude for a twice lived experience
I think this also speaks of her dual nationality, rather than being one/other/neither, there is something to treasure in being both
#poetry
#poemoftheday
I think this also speaks of her dual nationality, rather than being one/other/neither, there is something to treasure in being both
#poetry
#poemoftheday
February 6, 2026 at 6:43 PM
Ada Limón reflects on growing up with divorced parents and reframes the difficulties and challenges with gratitude for a twice lived experience
I think this also speaks of her dual nationality, rather than being one/other/neither, there is something to treasure in being both
#poetry
#poemoftheday
I think this also speaks of her dual nationality, rather than being one/other/neither, there is something to treasure in being both
#poetry
#poemoftheday
Michael Hartnett's Irish woman is a metaphor for Ireland
A political elegy addressing the loss of culture, language & tradition. It isn’t nostalgia, it’s evidence
The line ‘I loved her from the day she died’ pulls you up before he moves into the final 6 perfect images
#poetry
#poemoftheday
A political elegy addressing the loss of culture, language & tradition. It isn’t nostalgia, it’s evidence
The line ‘I loved her from the day she died’ pulls you up before he moves into the final 6 perfect images
#poetry
#poemoftheday
February 5, 2026 at 7:19 PM
Michael Hartnett's Irish woman is a metaphor for Ireland
A political elegy addressing the loss of culture, language & tradition. It isn’t nostalgia, it’s evidence
The line ‘I loved her from the day she died’ pulls you up before he moves into the final 6 perfect images
#poetry
#poemoftheday
A political elegy addressing the loss of culture, language & tradition. It isn’t nostalgia, it’s evidence
The line ‘I loved her from the day she died’ pulls you up before he moves into the final 6 perfect images
#poetry
#poemoftheday
After the Brookes poem I shared recently a conversation developed about the impact of unconventional line endings
This poem by Anne Carson was mentioned
The lines endings & the use of punctuation is incredible. Also note the omission of the greatest threat to wolves
❤️🐺
#poetry
#poemoftheday
This poem by Anne Carson was mentioned
The lines endings & the use of punctuation is incredible. Also note the omission of the greatest threat to wolves
❤️🐺
#poetry
#poemoftheday
February 4, 2026 at 9:06 PM
After the Brookes poem I shared recently a conversation developed about the impact of unconventional line endings
This poem by Anne Carson was mentioned
The lines endings & the use of punctuation is incredible. Also note the omission of the greatest threat to wolves
❤️🐺
#poetry
#poemoftheday
This poem by Anne Carson was mentioned
The lines endings & the use of punctuation is incredible. Also note the omission of the greatest threat to wolves
❤️🐺
#poetry
#poemoftheday
My father worked in the Belfast Shipyard. My grandfather too, he helped build the Titanic
As a boy I remember him coming home soaked, standing in front of the fire, steam rising off him
I wonder were there days, before I came along, when my mother greeted him like the poet
#poetry
#poemoftheday
As a boy I remember him coming home soaked, standing in front of the fire, steam rising off him
I wonder were there days, before I came along, when my mother greeted him like the poet
#poetry
#poemoftheday
February 3, 2026 at 6:55 PM
My father worked in the Belfast Shipyard. My grandfather too, he helped build the Titanic
As a boy I remember him coming home soaked, standing in front of the fire, steam rising off him
I wonder were there days, before I came along, when my mother greeted him like the poet
#poetry
#poemoftheday
As a boy I remember him coming home soaked, standing in front of the fire, steam rising off him
I wonder were there days, before I came along, when my mother greeted him like the poet
#poetry
#poemoftheday
Threaded through this calm list of ordinary pleasures is a single, ominous word 'otherwise'
It reminds us that everything we enjoy exists only provisionally
As well as being a celebration of the day this is also a meditation on what might have been or could be tomorrow
#poetry
#poemoftheday
It reminds us that everything we enjoy exists only provisionally
As well as being a celebration of the day this is also a meditation on what might have been or could be tomorrow
#poetry
#poemoftheday
February 2, 2026 at 7:02 PM
Threaded through this calm list of ordinary pleasures is a single, ominous word 'otherwise'
It reminds us that everything we enjoy exists only provisionally
As well as being a celebration of the day this is also a meditation on what might have been or could be tomorrow
#poetry
#poemoftheday
It reminds us that everything we enjoy exists only provisionally
As well as being a celebration of the day this is also a meditation on what might have been or could be tomorrow
#poetry
#poemoftheday
There is a ecological aspect to this poem from ‘Wintering Out’. I love ‘forests coopered to wine casks’
But it also speaks of colonial erasure of culture and language
And I am grateful, despite of this, to be witnessing cultural rewilding
#poetry
#poemoftheday
#seamusheaneysunday
#rewilding
But it also speaks of colonial erasure of culture and language
And I am grateful, despite of this, to be witnessing cultural rewilding
#poetry
#poemoftheday
#seamusheaneysunday
#rewilding
February 1, 2026 at 1:17 PM
There is a ecological aspect to this poem from ‘Wintering Out’. I love ‘forests coopered to wine casks’
But it also speaks of colonial erasure of culture and language
And I am grateful, despite of this, to be witnessing cultural rewilding
#poetry
#poemoftheday
#seamusheaneysunday
#rewilding
But it also speaks of colonial erasure of culture and language
And I am grateful, despite of this, to be witnessing cultural rewilding
#poetry
#poemoftheday
#seamusheaneysunday
#rewilding
Poems make you laugh and then they make you cry.
This was the man that once inhabited the empty shirt that hugged Tess Gallagher in the poem I shared a few days ago.
To have written something as poignant as this, having received such news, I find it incredible.
#poetry
#poemoftheday
This was the man that once inhabited the empty shirt that hugged Tess Gallagher in the poem I shared a few days ago.
To have written something as poignant as this, having received such news, I find it incredible.
#poetry
#poemoftheday
January 31, 2026 at 2:00 PM
Poems make you laugh and then they make you cry.
This was the man that once inhabited the empty shirt that hugged Tess Gallagher in the poem I shared a few days ago.
To have written something as poignant as this, having received such news, I find it incredible.
#poetry
#poemoftheday
This was the man that once inhabited the empty shirt that hugged Tess Gallagher in the poem I shared a few days ago.
To have written something as poignant as this, having received such news, I find it incredible.
#poetry
#poemoftheday
That's my reading sorted for a few days.
New work by Matthew Rice, Fiona Benson and @lukewrightpoet.bsky.social
Just need to decide where to start
#poetry
#AmReading
New work by Matthew Rice, Fiona Benson and @lukewrightpoet.bsky.social
Just need to decide where to start
#poetry
#AmReading
January 31, 2026 at 11:23 AM
That's my reading sorted for a few days.
New work by Matthew Rice, Fiona Benson and @lukewrightpoet.bsky.social
Just need to decide where to start
#poetry
#AmReading
New work by Matthew Rice, Fiona Benson and @lukewrightpoet.bsky.social
Just need to decide where to start
#poetry
#AmReading
Poetry doesn’t always have to be deep, or angry, or thought provoking, or sad
Sometimes it needs to be fun, to make you smile
This poem by Meg Cox from her collection ‘A Square of Sunlight’ does just that. And perhaps behind that smile a little recognition…
#poetry
#poemoftheday
Sometimes it needs to be fun, to make you smile
This poem by Meg Cox from her collection ‘A Square of Sunlight’ does just that. And perhaps behind that smile a little recognition…
#poetry
#poemoftheday
January 30, 2026 at 10:17 PM
Poetry doesn’t always have to be deep, or angry, or thought provoking, or sad
Sometimes it needs to be fun, to make you smile
This poem by Meg Cox from her collection ‘A Square of Sunlight’ does just that. And perhaps behind that smile a little recognition…
#poetry
#poemoftheday
Sometimes it needs to be fun, to make you smile
This poem by Meg Cox from her collection ‘A Square of Sunlight’ does just that. And perhaps behind that smile a little recognition…
#poetry
#poemoftheday
This, from Lemm Sissay’s collection ‘Listener’, is a masterclass in pace and rhythm and rhyme.
It is a read it out loud kind of poem.
It is playful, funny, poignant, and deep all at the same time.
#poetry
#poemoftheday
It is a read it out loud kind of poem.
It is playful, funny, poignant, and deep all at the same time.
#poetry
#poemoftheday
January 29, 2026 at 8:21 PM
This, from Lemm Sissay’s collection ‘Listener’, is a masterclass in pace and rhythm and rhyme.
It is a read it out loud kind of poem.
It is playful, funny, poignant, and deep all at the same time.
#poetry
#poemoftheday
It is a read it out loud kind of poem.
It is playful, funny, poignant, and deep all at the same time.
#poetry
#poemoftheday
Speaking to a friend after yesterdays poem about acts of kindness about a conversation he had with a waiter where he took time & care to engage in genuine dialogue & how much this was appreciated
Being kind might not change the world but might change the world for one person
#poetry
#poemoftheday
Being kind might not change the world but might change the world for one person
#poetry
#poemoftheday
January 28, 2026 at 10:19 PM
Speaking to a friend after yesterdays poem about acts of kindness about a conversation he had with a waiter where he took time & care to engage in genuine dialogue & how much this was appreciated
Being kind might not change the world but might change the world for one person
#poetry
#poemoftheday
Being kind might not change the world but might change the world for one person
#poetry
#poemoftheday
Going out to give blood tonight I am reminded of this poem
How insignificant acts of kindness can mean the world to the recipient.
The impact of the accumulation of kindness
That if we are kind often enough our kindness will find someone who really needs it
#poetry
#poemoftheday
#giveblood
How insignificant acts of kindness can mean the world to the recipient.
The impact of the accumulation of kindness
That if we are kind often enough our kindness will find someone who really needs it
#poetry
#poemoftheday
#giveblood
January 27, 2026 at 6:57 PM
Going out to give blood tonight I am reminded of this poem
How insignificant acts of kindness can mean the world to the recipient.
The impact of the accumulation of kindness
That if we are kind often enough our kindness will find someone who really needs it
#poetry
#poemoftheday
#giveblood
How insignificant acts of kindness can mean the world to the recipient.
The impact of the accumulation of kindness
That if we are kind often enough our kindness will find someone who really needs it
#poetry
#poemoftheday
#giveblood
It feels like at the moment every day could be a Langston Hughes kind of day.
‘Clutching at a moment while you control an hour’
The poem ending on the image of the flower, but not flowers that are growing, flowers that are laid
#poetry
#poemoftheday
‘Clutching at a moment while you control an hour’
The poem ending on the image of the flower, but not flowers that are growing, flowers that are laid
#poetry
#poemoftheday
January 26, 2026 at 6:38 PM
It feels like at the moment every day could be a Langston Hughes kind of day.
‘Clutching at a moment while you control an hour’
The poem ending on the image of the flower, but not flowers that are growing, flowers that are laid
#poetry
#poemoftheday
‘Clutching at a moment while you control an hour’
The poem ending on the image of the flower, but not flowers that are growing, flowers that are laid
#poetry
#poemoftheday
Reposted by David Atkinson
I ♥️ this poem & am reminded of Sheena Wellington’s beautiful voice “A Man's A Man For A' That", at the official opening of the Scottish Parliament on 1st July 1999.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=hudN... #RobertBurns #BurnsNight
www.youtube.com/watch?v=hudN... #RobertBurns #BurnsNight
A Man's A Man For A' That (Opening of Scottish Parliament) - Sheena Wellington
YouTube video by Bruce Davies
www.youtube.com
January 25, 2026 at 7:16 PM
I ♥️ this poem & am reminded of Sheena Wellington’s beautiful voice “A Man's A Man For A' That", at the official opening of the Scottish Parliament on 1st July 1999.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=hudN... #RobertBurns #BurnsNight
www.youtube.com/watch?v=hudN... #RobertBurns #BurnsNight
Noting the day that it is and sharing my favourite Burns poem
My eye are drawn today, in particular, to the third stanza
Happy Burns Night to all
'That Man to Man, the world o’er,
Shall brothers be for a’ that'
#poetry
#poemoftheday
#burnsnight
My eye are drawn today, in particular, to the third stanza
Happy Burns Night to all
'That Man to Man, the world o’er,
Shall brothers be for a’ that'
#poetry
#poemoftheday
#burnsnight
January 25, 2026 at 6:59 PM
Noting the day that it is and sharing my favourite Burns poem
My eye are drawn today, in particular, to the third stanza
Happy Burns Night to all
'That Man to Man, the world o’er,
Shall brothers be for a’ that'
#poetry
#poemoftheday
#burnsnight
My eye are drawn today, in particular, to the third stanza
Happy Burns Night to all
'That Man to Man, the world o’er,
Shall brothers be for a’ that'
#poetry
#poemoftheday
#burnsnight
Such music in this sonnet
The last line circles to the first & reminds me of the Ukrainian woman who gave seed packets to Russian soldiers so wildflowers will grow where they die
Remember today the courage that's needed to stand against those better armed
#poetry
#poemoftheday
#seamusheaneysunday
The last line circles to the first & reminds me of the Ukrainian woman who gave seed packets to Russian soldiers so wildflowers will grow where they die
Remember today the courage that's needed to stand against those better armed
#poetry
#poemoftheday
#seamusheaneysunday
January 25, 2026 at 10:57 AM
Such music in this sonnet
The last line circles to the first & reminds me of the Ukrainian woman who gave seed packets to Russian soldiers so wildflowers will grow where they die
Remember today the courage that's needed to stand against those better armed
#poetry
#poemoftheday
#seamusheaneysunday
The last line circles to the first & reminds me of the Ukrainian woman who gave seed packets to Russian soldiers so wildflowers will grow where they die
Remember today the courage that's needed to stand against those better armed
#poetry
#poemoftheday
#seamusheaneysunday
I love the line breaks in this by Gwendolyn Brooks, the softening of the ‘we’ gives the poem almost a jazz backbeat rhythm.
There is also great tension in the short lines as well as the language
That last line still starkly true 60 years later
#poetry
#poemoftheday
There is also great tension in the short lines as well as the language
That last line still starkly true 60 years later
#poetry
#poemoftheday
January 24, 2026 at 9:44 AM
I love the line breaks in this by Gwendolyn Brooks, the softening of the ‘we’ gives the poem almost a jazz backbeat rhythm.
There is also great tension in the short lines as well as the language
That last line still starkly true 60 years later
#poetry
#poemoftheday
There is also great tension in the short lines as well as the language
That last line still starkly true 60 years later
#poetry
#poemoftheday
This from Meadowlands, which uses the Odyssey as a conceit to tell the story of deteriorating marriage. There are 3 broken hearts
There is the detachment of not taking sides, but also the detachment of time – the speaker looking back as an adult and seeing things differently
#poetry
#poemoftheday
There is the detachment of not taking sides, but also the detachment of time – the speaker looking back as an adult and seeing things differently
#poetry
#poemoftheday
January 23, 2026 at 6:54 PM
This from Meadowlands, which uses the Odyssey as a conceit to tell the story of deteriorating marriage. There are 3 broken hearts
There is the detachment of not taking sides, but also the detachment of time – the speaker looking back as an adult and seeing things differently
#poetry
#poemoftheday
There is the detachment of not taking sides, but also the detachment of time – the speaker looking back as an adult and seeing things differently
#poetry
#poemoftheday
This, a parody of Shakespeare’s Sonnet 55, is a counterpoint to yesterday's poem - beauty, love and verse will be forgotten.
Also connecting to my other recent posts by Galleymore & Olzmann addressing eco-poetics.
Some of her predictions have already come to pass
#poetry
#poemoftheday
#sonnet
Also connecting to my other recent posts by Galleymore & Olzmann addressing eco-poetics.
Some of her predictions have already come to pass
#poetry
#poemoftheday
#sonnet
January 22, 2026 at 7:35 PM
This, a parody of Shakespeare’s Sonnet 55, is a counterpoint to yesterday's poem - beauty, love and verse will be forgotten.
Also connecting to my other recent posts by Galleymore & Olzmann addressing eco-poetics.
Some of her predictions have already come to pass
#poetry
#poemoftheday
#sonnet
Also connecting to my other recent posts by Galleymore & Olzmann addressing eco-poetics.
Some of her predictions have already come to pass
#poetry
#poemoftheday
#sonnet
Imagine these Elizabethan sweethearts enjoying a beach walk & Spenser stopping to write her name in the sand (maybe inside a heart!)
Her rebuke (feisty for the time), & his reply, even after death their love & his verse will live on
Today these words are still strong
#poetry
#poemoftheday
#sonnet
Her rebuke (feisty for the time), & his reply, even after death their love & his verse will live on
Today these words are still strong
#poetry
#poemoftheday
#sonnet
January 21, 2026 at 7:22 PM
Imagine these Elizabethan sweethearts enjoying a beach walk & Spenser stopping to write her name in the sand (maybe inside a heart!)
Her rebuke (feisty for the time), & his reply, even after death their love & his verse will live on
Today these words are still strong
#poetry
#poemoftheday
#sonnet
Her rebuke (feisty for the time), & his reply, even after death their love & his verse will live on
Today these words are still strong
#poetry
#poemoftheday
#sonnet
Here we have a square sonnet, 14 lines & 14 words in each line, but each time the order of words changes
Challenging Cage's philosophy regarding silence & the idea that all sounds, even "nothing," can be music
That poetry that's saying nothing is saying something
#poetry
#poemoftheday
#sonnet
Challenging Cage's philosophy regarding silence & the idea that all sounds, even "nothing," can be music
That poetry that's saying nothing is saying something
#poetry
#poemoftheday
#sonnet
January 20, 2026 at 5:54 PM
Here we have a square sonnet, 14 lines & 14 words in each line, but each time the order of words changes
Challenging Cage's philosophy regarding silence & the idea that all sounds, even "nothing," can be music
That poetry that's saying nothing is saying something
#poetry
#poemoftheday
#sonnet
Challenging Cage's philosophy regarding silence & the idea that all sounds, even "nothing," can be music
That poetry that's saying nothing is saying something
#poetry
#poemoftheday
#sonnet
A poem for #bluemonday
Check in with the people you care about, ask how they are, #asktwice, and listen to their answer
#poetry
#poemoftheday
#ItsOkNotToBeOk
#mentalhealthmatters
Check in with the people you care about, ask how they are, #asktwice, and listen to their answer
#poetry
#poemoftheday
#ItsOkNotToBeOk
#mentalhealthmatters
January 19, 2026 at 7:14 PM
A poem for #bluemonday
Check in with the people you care about, ask how they are, #asktwice, and listen to their answer
#poetry
#poemoftheday
#ItsOkNotToBeOk
#mentalhealthmatters
Check in with the people you care about, ask how they are, #asktwice, and listen to their answer
#poetry
#poemoftheday
#ItsOkNotToBeOk
#mentalhealthmatters
From Death of a Naturalist this addresses darker & uncomfortable elements of rural life, but also speaks of colonial violence
‘I just shrug, bloody pups. It makes sense’ a reminder that when violence becomes commonplace, it becomes acceptable
#poetry
#poemoftheday
#SeamusHeaneySunday
‘I just shrug, bloody pups. It makes sense’ a reminder that when violence becomes commonplace, it becomes acceptable
#poetry
#poemoftheday
#SeamusHeaneySunday
January 18, 2026 at 10:28 AM
From Death of a Naturalist this addresses darker & uncomfortable elements of rural life, but also speaks of colonial violence
‘I just shrug, bloody pups. It makes sense’ a reminder that when violence becomes commonplace, it becomes acceptable
#poetry
#poemoftheday
#SeamusHeaneySunday
‘I just shrug, bloody pups. It makes sense’ a reminder that when violence becomes commonplace, it becomes acceptable
#poetry
#poemoftheday
#SeamusHeaneySunday