David Atkinson
davidatkinsonpoet.bsky.social
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
Spent the best day with
super talented colleagues from various ethnic heritages, helping them achieve their potential despite the daily barriers they face

Here Leontia Flynn remembers a true hero, Frederick Douglass

Proud we have his statue in Belfast

#poetry
#poemoftheday
#blackhistorymonth
February 10, 2026 at 5:51 PM
The whole collection is outstanding.
February 10, 2026 at 9:55 AM
Once you see it you can't unsee it πŸ˜‚
February 9, 2026 at 11:06 PM
That's a great question ❀️
February 9, 2026 at 10:51 PM
I find myself nodding in agreement. Not everyone is left standing the war has ended & also the notion that some of those left standing have been irrevocably changed by their experience

But there is hope for a better future and an urgency to fight for what we might never see

#poetry
#poemoftheday
February 9, 2026 at 10:16 PM
Hadn't seen that at all!

That's great. Thanks for sharing that thought πŸ™
February 8, 2026 at 6:53 PM
It's very good. Worth every penny. I think the commentary at the end is very interesting too.
Hope you enjoy it ❀️
February 8, 2026 at 6:02 PM
My pleasure. Which book did you buy?
February 8, 2026 at 5:42 PM
From β€˜Stations’ a β€˜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
February 8, 2026 at 8:22 AM
Thank you for sharing this too. It's a great collection ❀️
February 7, 2026 at 4:16 PM
It's great. πŸ’― recommend
February 7, 2026 at 12:41 PM
It really is. Glad to have brought it back to you ❀️
February 7, 2026 at 10:34 AM
This is from Matthew Rice’s collection β€˜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
February 7, 2026 at 10:01 AM
Met a Ugandan man recently living in Belfast and learning Gaeilge

So much good work going on to cherish, share, and promote minority languages ❀️
February 6, 2026 at 7:59 PM
Ada LimΓ³n 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
February 6, 2026 at 6:43 PM
I hear what you say. Perhaps the collection the poem is taken from, A Farewell to English (1975), is the β€˜ending’ to the poem?

It was his statement that he was going to no longer write in English but rather write in the language of his people.

Or may he intended it to feel 'unended'?

❀️
February 5, 2026 at 8:09 PM
The poem stands well on it's own, but I agree the metaphor adds richness.
Glad you liked it ❀️
February 5, 2026 at 7:57 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 β€˜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
Hadn't read Life of Towns until a couple of days ago.

Loved it
February 4, 2026 at 9:21 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
February 4, 2026 at 9:06 PM
It is a fine balance between the sensual and the tawdry, I think she has done this very well ❀️
February 4, 2026 at 5:56 PM
A view I see from the air at least once a month. Never get tired of it ❀️
February 3, 2026 at 11:21 PM
As much as it pains me to say this, I hope the underbussing can wait until I get my bus drivers licence
February 3, 2026 at 9:26 PM
Brilliant 😊
February 3, 2026 at 7:36 PM
πŸ˜‚
February 3, 2026 at 7:33 PM