Rob Galpin
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robgalpin.bsky.social
Rob Galpin
@robgalpin.bsky.social
360 followers 470 following 110 posts
Writer, gardener and conservationist. Lots of interests and endlessly distracting hobbies like music, literature, nature writing and poetry. North-east England.

Blogging at https://burnedge.wordpress.com

Poems at https://write.as/robgalpin
Posts Replies Media Videos
Reposted by Rob Galpin
jamesgilbertmr.bsky.social
This week I discovered the poem “Desiderata” by Max Ehrmann. It got me. There is, I think, some sound life advice within. I share the poem here, in case it also does others good.
“Desiderata”, by Max Ehrmann.
November 13, 2025 at 11:13 AM
Reposted by Rob Galpin
northeastbylines.co.uk
Reading is power, we need to support Seven Stories
 | Nick Kemp
Devolution, culture and the case for Seven Stories
Reading is power, we need to support Seven Stories
northeastbylines.co.uk
November 13, 2025 at 8:13 AM
Reposted by Rob Galpin
ecoanarchism.bsky.social
Fantasy is thinking you can keep destroying nature without consequences. Fantasy is thinking the richest 1% can own as much as the poorest 50% without consequences. Fantasy is thinking politics can just tweak an endlessly shitty status without consequences. It’s not the Greens who need to grow up!
Times column headline telling “kids” that Green politics are a fantasy.
November 12, 2025 at 1:17 PM
Reposted by Rob Galpin
mikegalsworthy.bsky.social
◾ >9 years since Tees Valley voted for supposed benefits of Brexit

◾ >8 since Houchen was elected Mayor of Tees Valley

◾ >6 since Johnson promised to level up left-behind areas

...Middlesbrough remains the local authority with the highest proportion of most deprived neighbourhoods in England.
Houchen’s deprivation failure exposed – official
Middlesbrough remains the local authority with the highest proportion of most deprived neighbourhoods in England
northeastbylines.co.uk
November 11, 2025 at 9:38 AM
Reposted by Rob Galpin
greenparty.org.uk
People fleeing war and persecution are ready and able to contribute to our society.

The problem is... they're not allowed.

Rather than shipping them off to army barracks all over the country, it's time to let asylum seekers work.
REAL HOPE. REAL CHANGE. LET THEM WORK Green Party Promoted by Chris Williams on behalf of The Green Party, both at PO Box 78066, London SE16 9GQ
November 11, 2025 at 1:02 PM
Reposted by Rob Galpin
hansmollman.bsky.social
A radio programme like the Shipping Forecast but it’s called Bin Day and it just reads out every single council in the country’s bin schedule
November 10, 2025 at 11:53 PM
Reposted by Rob Galpin
hool415.bsky.social
Herb rich and rabbit bit…
Despite the escape into open air, this wonderful poem just gets darker and darker until that final, slamming last image. Stunning write. 🏆
November 11, 2025 at 6:08 AM
Reposted by Rob Galpin
ecoanarchism.bsky.social
A foreign government gloating over its influence over our national broadcaster. The Telegraph, BoJo, Farage and all those involved in this scandal claim to be patriots when they are nothing more than shills for Washington. All that stuff about sovereignty during Brexit was just BS, wasn’t it?
A tweet from the White House claiming Trump got Tim Davie fired.
November 9, 2025 at 10:25 PM
Reposted by Rob Galpin
davidlancecallahan.bsky.social
Never understood why MX80 Sound don't get the props that Pere Ubu, Chrome, This Heat, etc, do for being post-punk before punk. Here they are already sounding like Sonic Youth in 1976/77:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=7kk6...
MX-80 Sound - Man On The Move
YouTube video by MrWzzzW
www.youtube.com
November 9, 2025 at 10:08 PM
robgalpin.bsky.social
Hi @hool415.bsky.social - here's my response to #PromptCombo #WorkingLove #poem #poetry
The Burn Closes Another silent afternoon, stunned in the supermarket by the this-ness of the shampoo bottles on the shelves, and of the workers who stocked them— bawling happy insults at each other across the stock room floor. So I took the long way home through the burn closes: to the plateau with the little ruined church, the grounds herb-rich and rabbit-bit; the rich greens of the gorse, the grass, the trees blending with the sky— the sky glaucous, and carnation. And through the pink, rusting 70s fence to the medieval Holy Cross— a ruin by 1800 — and St Peter's, down the bank, not built for another seven years. And in that church-less gap, all the parish souls, married, with or without offspring, in a pen-stroke deemed on the instant illegitimate— their ties illegal, the registers annulled: A portcullis authority over small, quiet lives.
November 10, 2025 at 5:14 PM
Reposted by Rob Galpin
buddhaakame.bsky.social
If you're unsure what Zack stands for, or whether you want to join the Green party, then please take 5 minutes of your time to read this. Hopefully it can clarify some things & show why he & The Greens, are a true viable alternative.
November 10, 2025 at 11:00 AM
Reposted by Rob Galpin
ecoanarchism.bsky.social
There you have it. Someone who knows the far right press intimately, says what we all know: the BBC has been subject to a coup orchestrated by fascists in DC. Hard to imagine a more serious abuse of UK sovereignty & democratic integrity. The BBC Board must resign. www.theguardian.com/media/2025/n...
BBC resignations are result of internal ‘coup’, says former Sun editor
David Yelland says Tim Davie and Deborah Turness were undermined by people close to BBC board
www.theguardian.com
November 10, 2025 at 11:46 AM
Reposted by Rob Galpin
ottoenglish.bsky.social
Everything on our news agenda is being driven by a corrupted disinformation machine, run by a billionaire who sponsors Tommy Robinson and who keeps trying to foment civil war in the UK.

And incredibly our MPs & news providers stay there.

THAT is the problem. Not some bad editing choice on the BBC.
November 10, 2025 at 9:18 AM
Reposted by Rob Galpin
zackpolanski.bsky.social
Cheers!

We don't have to agree on absolutely everything.

But want lower bills? Think billionaires should pay more tax?

Join.greenparty.org.uk
November 9, 2025 at 6:17 PM
Reposted by Rob Galpin
profbillmcguire.bsky.social
On the BBC News front page, you can find out how two prisoners were accidentally released last year, about a TV celebrity's cancer surgery, and about how to make veggie meatball soup

But no mention AT ALL of the COP30 climate summit

I am lost for words

www.bbc.co.uk/news
Home - BBC News
Visit BBC News for up-to-the-minute news, breaking news, video, audio and feature stories. BBC News provides trusted World and UK news as well as local and regional perspectives. Also entertainment, b...
www.bbc.co.uk
November 8, 2025 at 3:51 PM
robgalpin.bsky.social
Hi @youngliz.bsky.social and #vss365. Response to prompt #language
Language The guinea pig can not converse with the rat, nor the pig with the fox, the worm with the camel. But there is the story of the ape who spoke with the sky, with the river and the sea, with the squid and the moth, with the absence of light in the night-time pines. Finding itself nonetheless alone, it spoke in never-ending circles— finally, and only, with itself.
November 8, 2025 at 3:41 PM
Reposted by Rob Galpin
flyingrodent.bsky.social
If you’re my age then politics in the 21st century was one avoidable, ludicrous catastrophe after another: disastrous wars, financial collapse, crumbling infrastructure and plummeting living standards, all explained via utterly abject, insulting drivel.The question is, who do you think is to blame.
Meet gen X: middle-aged, enraged and radicalised by internet bile | Gaby Hinsliff
Who is driving the populist insurgency? It’s not grumpy pensioners or vulnerable teenagers – it’s my generation, says Guardian columnist Gaby Hinsliff
www.theguardian.com
November 7, 2025 at 2:40 PM
robgalpin.bsky.social
I won't prompt tag again to save spamming, but this - THIS! - is the one 😂
write.as/robgalpin/ar...
#poem #poetry
Arundo donax Unsuccessful meditation; no green and yellow to earth the wires. In this dreadful quiet the doors won't open— try instead the free-blown fires: The sprung Arundo donax— animal squeal and ominous rumble, war-born spiritual, spittle and click. It's a rattling spell to raise it. Shaking reeds in a fizzy jungle— summer morning, city park. Grasses feed us twice: The stick that strikes the silent chimes springs locks, lets jumbling words through— maddeningly perfect, an ever-blowing riff— tall rushes in a meadow. The sweep of sounds won't solve you, but could—like this enjambment— have you freed, and stepping through— across the opened door jamb.
November 7, 2025 at 2:12 PM
Reposted by Rob Galpin
sueimnw.bsky.social
For this week's #PoemsAbout #LockedDoors with thanks to @alanparrywriter.co.uk @thebrokenspine.co.uk and all those participating. Not what I thought I'd write...
November 7, 2025 at 6:31 AM
robgalpin.bsky.social
Felt like I was writing against the prompt here - an unusually (?) chirpy one from me! #PoemsAbout #LockedDoors - thanks @alanparrywriter.co.uk and @thebrokenspine.co.uk
#PoetryCommunity #Poem #Poetry
Help Me Out Here No success in meditation; is it green or yellow to earth the wires? In dreadful quiet, the door won't open— try instead the free-blown rush. The sprung Arundo donax— animal squeal and ominous rumble— war-torn spiritual, spittle and click. It's a spell to call it— shaking reeds in a fizzy jungle: summer morning city park. So grasses feed us twice. The stick that strikes the silent chimes springs locks, lets jumbling words through— maddeningly perfect, an ever-blowing riff: tall grasses in a meadow. The sweep of sounds won't solve you but could, like this enjambment, see you stepping out across the door jamb.
November 7, 2025 at 9:12 AM
Reposted by Rob Galpin
parkroseperma.bsky.social
November 7, 2025 at 6:30 AM
Reposted by Rob Galpin
thetnholler.bsky.social
Devastating— “I’m afraid for my parents to leave the house. They treat us like dogs because of the color of our skin. I shouldn’t be scared, I should be focusing on school.”

A 16yo American living in fear of the Trump regime’s ICE goons terrorizing brown people pleads for help.
November 6, 2025 at 2:58 PM
robgalpin.bsky.social
#vss365 #geography #poetry
Geography Are there too many places? And here we are, struggling to get the washing dry. Well, moving from one place to another, I see that it is not raining there— and although the sky is grey, the cherry leaves are golden. On bikes, the boys pass a spliff. The smell is agricultural, the way muck- spreading invades passing cars. Back home, solidarity is languid— though there is the company of bricks; of damp indoor air.
November 6, 2025 at 3:52 PM