R.J. Breathnach
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rjbreathnach.bsky.social
R.J. Breathnach
@rjbreathnach.bsky.social
230 followers 300 following 120 posts
Irish. Scríbhneoir of poetry and science fiction. https://linktr.ee/rjbreathnach
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rjbreathnach.bsky.social
Happy #InternationalDogDay from Clarke and Bacon!
August 26, 2025 at 2:49 PM
rjbreathnach.bsky.social
A fine loaf of sourdough, fresh from the oven 🍞
A freshly-baked sourdough loaf.
August 3, 2025 at 11:32 AM
rjbreathnach.bsky.social
Delighted that my poem “Leavings in the Faerie Tree” has appeared in @dreich.bsky.social Issue 1! #poem #poetry #writing
Front cover of The Candyman’s Trumpet Issue 1. Leavings in the Faerie Tree I stare, fascinated, at the leavings in the faerie tree, hawthorn branches weighed down with hopes and dreams and wishes. This pink cloth says I would like a girl this time, this red cloth says this year I will get that promotion. A hospital wristband says please let them find a cure. An old crisp packet asks to be able to buy food this week. Some tartan shreds ask to pass the Leaving Cert. Lacy underwear says please let there be a second date. A used condom seems to say much the same. Hopes and dreams and wishes shared with the faeries. I leave nothing there on the hawthorn branches, nothing but a lingering gaze. I take nothing from the faerie tree, nothing but resignation.
July 4, 2025 at 7:56 PM
rjbreathnach.bsky.social
Third time’s the charm, it seems. Finally managed to get the right texture to go with the great flavour of this sourdough loaf 🍞
June 15, 2025 at 3:14 PM
rjbreathnach.bsky.social
Second attempt at baking my own sourdough went somewhat better than the first, in that these loaves are actually edible. The bread is still quite a bit denser than I’d like but has a good sourdough flavour.
Two loaves of sourdough bread, fresh from the oven.
June 12, 2025 at 11:48 AM
rjbreathnach.bsky.social
Safe to say my first foray into making my own sourdough did not go to plan…
A dense, underbaked loaf of sourdough bread cut in half.
June 5, 2025 at 4:35 PM
rjbreathnach.bsky.social
And finally, 10. “The Stand” by Stephen King
April 23, 2025 at 2:37 PM
rjbreathnach.bsky.social
9. “Ancillary Justice” by Ann Leckie
April 23, 2025 at 2:36 PM
rjbreathnach.bsky.social
8. “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” by Douglas Adams
April 23, 2025 at 2:35 PM
rjbreathnach.bsky.social
7. “Word Skin” by Orla Fay, published by @salmonpoetry.bsky.social
April 23, 2025 at 2:35 PM
rjbreathnach.bsky.social
6. “Devastation Songs”, published by @brokensleepbooks.bsky.social
April 23, 2025 at 2:31 PM
rjbreathnach.bsky.social
5. “The Motorcycle Diaries” by Che Guevara.
April 23, 2025 at 2:30 PM
rjbreathnach.bsky.social
4. “Thyme Travellers”, edited by @soniasulaiman.bsky.social
April 23, 2025 at 2:29 PM
rjbreathnach.bsky.social
3. “We Are All Palestinians” published by Culture Matters
April 23, 2025 at 2:29 PM
rjbreathnach.bsky.social
2. “The Telling” by Ursula K Le Guin.
April 23, 2025 at 2:28 PM
rjbreathnach.bsky.social
Every year on #WorldBookAndCopyrightDay I share a list of the top 10 books I read over the last 12 months. So without further ado, let’s begin the 2025 list:

1. “Palestine +100”, published by @commapress.bsky.social
April 23, 2025 at 2:27 PM
rjbreathnach.bsky.social
Finally, my poem, “The Irish Yeast Co.”, was published in @eatthestorms.com Issue 4.
The Irish Yeast Co. Along a busy city centre street where broken glass and cigarette ash meet, and sirens echo off of concrete walls, lay ruins for which the drums of time must beat. The brown paint flakes as if a leper came infecting all around him. Who to blame when rot sets into shops that once sold yeast, and every other building is the same? The cityscape, it seems, has lost its glow. These fungal, black-mould ruins have space to grow. If only shops like this sold yeast again and rose up with the fire, phoenix dough.
December 28, 2024 at 7:37 PM
rjbreathnach.bsky.social
My poem, “Rafah”, was published in The Waxed Lemon Issue 8.
Rafah A mother is kissing the ashes, the handful of sand compacted from six children. Eroded by a sea of fire, a bright storm, a flash flood of smoke like a magician’s trick. Please, let this be a magician’s trick. Say the babies shorn in half are just an illusion, a heat mirage among the flames lapping at a father’s tears. Say that the infant Dullahan held aloft is just a folktale, old wives whispering to bold children in bed, scaring them into good behaviour, leaving them frightened but safe. Say it and lie to me, in this world of lies. This dying world of deception. Hide me from the truth of burning children and a mother kissing the ashes.
December 28, 2024 at 7:35 PM
rjbreathnach.bsky.social
Three of my poems, including my poem “What Can a Writer Do”, were published in @dreich.bsky.social Season 9 Issue 1 (No.97)
What Can a Writer Do R.J. Breathnach But write? Three thousand children murdered. Three thousand saplings burned. They found eight hundred babies In a septic tank in Tuam Which, ironically, sounds like tomb. That was years ago And no one paid. Worse, The murderers still preach Morality from their pulpits And cry poverty When honestly They mean depravity. Gaza sounds like tomb, too. Three thousand babies Bombed and blasted. Worse, Still no one pays. Worse, Still murderers preach morality. What can a writer do but write? I tried weeping When the number hit three thousand But no one heard the tears fall Or saw them smudge the ink Of this poem. There’s nothing I can do But write Three thousand children murdered, Until their murderers pay.
December 28, 2024 at 7:20 PM
rjbreathnach.bsky.social
Clarke is really enjoying my contributor copy of The Waxed Lemon Issue 8. So happy that my poem “Rafah” found a home here. #poem #poetry #poetrycommunity #writing #WritingCommunity #irishwriters
Small dog curled up next to a copy of The Waxed Lemon Issue 8.
November 20, 2024 at 11:01 AM
rjbreathnach.bsky.social
My copy of The Storms Issue IV arrived today and Bacon is a big fan! @stormshelter.bsky.social #writing #poetry
A dog curled up next to a copy of The Storms Issue 4.
November 8, 2024 at 10:45 AM
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Sharing my Le Guin collection (so far) to celebrate her birthday 📚 #ursulakleguin #books
October 21, 2024 at 3:33 PM
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Sitting down with my contributor copy of Dreich, immensely proud to have poems published here before they decided to call it a day. They’ll be sorely missed in the #poetrycommunity. #poetry #writing #irishwriters
June 19, 2024 at 5:24 PM
rjbreathnach.bsky.social
On this day 108 years ago, James Connolly was shot for his role is organising and leading the 1916 Rising. To mark the occasion I want to share this #poem, originally published in The Cry of the Poor anthology from Culture Matters. #poetry #poetrycommunity #irishhistory #irishwriters #writing
The Cry of the Poor An anthology of radical writing about poverty Selected and edited by Fran Lock
May 12, 2024 at 1:38 PM
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Sharing one of my first ever published poems for #PoetryDayIRL. I wrote this in 2017 and not much has really changed in terms of the #HousingCrisis over the last 7 years. Landlords were the enemy during An Gorta Mór and they’re still the enemy now. #poem #poetry #poetrycommunity
Black 47 to 17 Ain’t no home. Not on these quiet streets where the new gentry lie in wait to sink their long vampiric fangs into your wallet. Where expensive dwellings harken back to Black 47, when we were stuffed inside workhouses, packed tight like cigarettes in their box, just waiting to burn out. The greedy rub their hands with glee in much the same way now as they did back then. Over a hundred and seventy years changed nothing. The rich get richer and the poor grow more poor, and most of us have nowhere to live. For their ain’t no home in Dublin.
April 25, 2024 at 9:52 AM