Glenn Barker
@rotherwrites.bsky.social
[My words] "are shut up tight inside themselves like boxes, yet they would open up, unfolding quite wonderfully, if only" [I could interest them], Sylvia Plath
Tonight we are at... Victoria Hall Sheffield to see Sheffield Philharmonic Orchestra in a concert of Tchaikovsky (5th Symphony), Howard (Trombone Concerto) and Howell (Three Divertissements). Baton down beat at 7.30pm. And there's a harp!
November 15, 2025 at 7:09 PM
Tonight we are at... Victoria Hall Sheffield to see Sheffield Philharmonic Orchestra in a concert of Tchaikovsky (5th Symphony), Howard (Trombone Concerto) and Howell (Three Divertissements). Baton down beat at 7.30pm. And there's a harp!
Hello everyone for this week's @thebrokenspine.co.uk #PoemsAbout.
Two Remembrance ceremonies and a Remembrance Day poetry group have knocked the harshness out of me. #Desire has taken me back to writing the intangible.
We're on autopilot; keep posting, liking, commenting and reposting. 🔥
Two Remembrance ceremonies and a Remembrance Day poetry group have knocked the harshness out of me. #Desire has taken me back to writing the intangible.
We're on autopilot; keep posting, liking, commenting and reposting. 🔥
November 14, 2025 at 7:02 AM
Hello everyone for this week's @thebrokenspine.co.uk #PoemsAbout.
Two Remembrance ceremonies and a Remembrance Day poetry group have knocked the harshness out of me. #Desire has taken me back to writing the intangible.
We're on autopilot; keep posting, liking, commenting and reposting. 🔥
Two Remembrance ceremonies and a Remembrance Day poetry group have knocked the harshness out of me. #Desire has taken me back to writing the intangible.
We're on autopilot; keep posting, liking, commenting and reposting. 🔥
What a difference a day makes...in the life of a shaggy inkcap, or lawyers wig (here with its two junior acolytes).
November 10, 2025 at 10:58 AM
What a difference a day makes...in the life of a shaggy inkcap, or lawyers wig (here with its two junior acolytes).
In the garden this morning, Coprinus comatus, commonly known as the shaggy ink cap, lawyer's wig, or shaggy mane. The barrister and their two articled clerks?
November 9, 2025 at 1:03 PM
In the garden this morning, Coprinus comatus, commonly known as the shaggy ink cap, lawyer's wig, or shaggy mane. The barrister and their two articled clerks?
Echoing that theme of mannequin, these three have most definitely flat-lined for me. The colour has completely drained out of them.
November 8, 2025 at 8:26 PM
Echoing that theme of mannequin, these three have most definitely flat-lined for me. The colour has completely drained out of them.
Welcome one and all for this week's @thebrokenspine.co.uk for the #PoemsAbout theme of #LockedDoors, and why they might be locked, what lies behind them.
Until Alan returns please keep the sharing and feedback alive. It took a long time to build #PoemsAbout to the community it is today. 🎯
Until Alan returns please keep the sharing and feedback alive. It took a long time to build #PoemsAbout to the community it is today. 🎯
November 7, 2025 at 7:18 AM
Welcome one and all for this week's @thebrokenspine.co.uk for the #PoemsAbout theme of #LockedDoors, and why they might be locked, what lies behind them.
Until Alan returns please keep the sharing and feedback alive. It took a long time to build #PoemsAbout to the community it is today. 🎯
Until Alan returns please keep the sharing and feedback alive. It took a long time to build #PoemsAbout to the community it is today. 🎯
A guiding thought Alan, from #PoemsAbout as it happens.
November 5, 2025 at 8:30 AM
A guiding thought Alan, from #PoemsAbout as it happens.
Hello @thebrokenspine.co.uk for this week's most difficult of prompts for #PoemsAbout. There was only one way I could respond to #Blood given my dread of all this season expects and imposes.
October 31, 2025 at 7:55 AM
Hello @thebrokenspine.co.uk for this week's most difficult of prompts for #PoemsAbout. There was only one way I could respond to #Blood given my dread of all this season expects and imposes.
I've stepped into the reading of comfortable fiction "neither literary nor too commercial".
Persephone Books, Bath, is a publisher of "largely forgotten 20th century novels by (mostly) women writers".
This week I'm reading...'Someone at a Distance' by Dorothy Whipple, ordered from Read, Holmfirth.
Persephone Books, Bath, is a publisher of "largely forgotten 20th century novels by (mostly) women writers".
This week I'm reading...'Someone at a Distance' by Dorothy Whipple, ordered from Read, Holmfirth.
October 26, 2025 at 8:36 AM
I've stepped into the reading of comfortable fiction "neither literary nor too commercial".
Persephone Books, Bath, is a publisher of "largely forgotten 20th century novels by (mostly) women writers".
This week I'm reading...'Someone at a Distance' by Dorothy Whipple, ordered from Read, Holmfirth.
Persephone Books, Bath, is a publisher of "largely forgotten 20th century novels by (mostly) women writers".
This week I'm reading...'Someone at a Distance' by Dorothy Whipple, ordered from Read, Holmfirth.
Hello @thebrokenspine.co.uk and another Friday of #PoemsAbout. And hello @alanparrywriter.co.uk and @karenpgonzalez.bsky.social.
This week I #BurnForTheCamera with a slightly different format; the emdash found me.
This week I #BurnForTheCamera with a slightly different format; the emdash found me.
October 24, 2025 at 7:01 AM
Hello @thebrokenspine.co.uk and another Friday of #PoemsAbout. And hello @alanparrywriter.co.uk and @karenpgonzalez.bsky.social.
This week I #BurnForTheCamera with a slightly different format; the emdash found me.
This week I #BurnForTheCamera with a slightly different format; the emdash found me.
Just been reading this, and being an OU textbook it's full of definitions, hence my reading of your poem with a studied eye. 😊
October 21, 2025 at 9:57 AM
Just been reading this, and being an OU textbook it's full of definitions, hence my reading of your poem with a studied eye. 😊
...and if you haven't seen it already Denra, here's that auto-writing!
Thank you; I hadn't thought of reading it out loud. Looking at it again, it feels like a poem of two halves: hard to soft, or maybe reshaping the bees breaks. 💚
Thank you; I hadn't thought of reading it out loud. Looking at it again, it feels like a poem of two halves: hard to soft, or maybe reshaping the bees breaks. 💚
October 18, 2025 at 7:50 PM
...and if you haven't seen it already Denra, here's that auto-writing!
Thank you; I hadn't thought of reading it out loud. Looking at it again, it feels like a poem of two halves: hard to soft, or maybe reshaping the bees breaks. 💚
Thank you; I hadn't thought of reading it out loud. Looking at it again, it feels like a poem of two halves: hard to soft, or maybe reshaping the bees breaks. 💚
Here is that 'flow in the dark' Jihn that got me started. Interpreting the middle jumble was a challenge. Let's hear it for free writing, but with a stinger light perhaps?
October 17, 2025 at 8:23 AM
Here is that 'flow in the dark' Jihn that got me started. Interpreting the middle jumble was a challenge. Let's hear it for free writing, but with a stinger light perhaps?
With thanks to @karenpgonzalez.bsky.social, our guest host for this week's #PoemsAbout. I did struggle to #BreakTheMould until dawn yesterday when a page of illiterate auto-writing in the dark got me somewhere...
October 17, 2025 at 6:31 AM
With thanks to @karenpgonzalez.bsky.social, our guest host for this week's #PoemsAbout. I did struggle to #BreakTheMould until dawn yesterday when a page of illiterate auto-writing in the dark got me somewhere...
For @thebrokenspine.co.uk weekly #WednesdayWIPs, here's the outcome of writing in near-darkness, not enough to see what I'm writing; but when a thought arrives, let it flow (and hope that you can read it later). 😳
October 15, 2025 at 4:06 PM
For @thebrokenspine.co.uk weekly #WednesdayWIPs, here's the outcome of writing in near-darkness, not enough to see what I'm writing; but when a thought arrives, let it flow (and hope that you can read it later). 😳
Hello @thebrokenspine.co.uk and host @alanparrywriter.co.uk for #PoemsAbout #ImperfectMe.
This week I am personifying the inanimate. I'm not sure about it...
This week I am personifying the inanimate. I'm not sure about it...
October 10, 2025 at 6:36 AM
Hello @thebrokenspine.co.uk and host @alanparrywriter.co.uk for #PoemsAbout #ImperfectMe.
This week I am personifying the inanimate. I'm not sure about it...
This week I am personifying the inanimate. I'm not sure about it...
This week I want to #LiftToTheSky poet Brian Patten, who died September 29th; not so much for his poetry but this quote from him in a newspaper obituary, which goes to the heart of why we come together every week for #PoemsAbout #PromptCombo and others.
@thebrokenspine.co.uk
#PoetsInBluesky
@thebrokenspine.co.uk
#PoetsInBluesky
October 6, 2025 at 11:32 AM
This week I want to #LiftToTheSky poet Brian Patten, who died September 29th; not so much for his poetry but this quote from him in a newspaper obituary, which goes to the heart of why we come together every week for #PoemsAbout #PromptCombo and others.
@thebrokenspine.co.uk
#PoetsInBluesky
@thebrokenspine.co.uk
#PoetsInBluesky
Alas, #NationalPoetryDay is over, but we have #PoemsAbout instead! 🥰 Last week I filled the kitchen sink; too many words. For #Mannequin here is something much more succinct and easy to digest.
October 3, 2025 at 6:42 AM
Alas, #NationalPoetryDay is over, but we have #PoemsAbout instead! 🥰 Last week I filled the kitchen sink; too many words. For #Mannequin here is something much more succinct and easy to digest.
It's #NationalPoetryDay and I'll be celebrating with a powerful night of live literature as Flux Rotherham presents Spread The Word Anthology LIVE! – the official launch of the very first print anthology.
I have three poems, one of which I'll be reading from Ourselves Reflected Back.
#PoetsOnBluesky
I have three poems, one of which I'll be reading from Ourselves Reflected Back.
#PoetsOnBluesky
October 2, 2025 at 7:42 AM
It's #NationalPoetryDay and I'll be celebrating with a powerful night of live literature as Flux Rotherham presents Spread The Word Anthology LIVE! – the official launch of the very first print anthology.
I have three poems, one of which I'll be reading from Ourselves Reflected Back.
#PoetsOnBluesky
I have three poems, one of which I'll be reading from Ourselves Reflected Back.
#PoetsOnBluesky
Hello @thebrokenspine.co.uk and super host @alanparrywriter.co.uk
It's Friday, it's #PoemsAbout and #NeverAgain. Are they deeds, or words we can only say but not live by.
It's Friday, it's #PoemsAbout and #NeverAgain. Are they deeds, or words we can only say but not live by.
September 26, 2025 at 6:12 AM
Hello @thebrokenspine.co.uk and super host @alanparrywriter.co.uk
It's Friday, it's #PoemsAbout and #NeverAgain. Are they deeds, or words we can only say but not live by.
It's Friday, it's #PoemsAbout and #NeverAgain. Are they deeds, or words we can only say but not live by.
Not a work-in-progress for this week's #WednesdayWIPs, but here's the genesis of the #PoemsAbout #SilentPlanets poem that became 'Cosmosis'.
Just look upon it as a clutch of wordy wallpaper, out of which something useful appeared.
Bring back the auto-writing muse; this is hard work. 🙂
Just look upon it as a clutch of wordy wallpaper, out of which something useful appeared.
Bring back the auto-writing muse; this is hard work. 🙂
September 24, 2025 at 7:21 AM
Not a work-in-progress for this week's #WednesdayWIPs, but here's the genesis of the #PoemsAbout #SilentPlanets poem that became 'Cosmosis'.
Just look upon it as a clutch of wordy wallpaper, out of which something useful appeared.
Bring back the auto-writing muse; this is hard work. 🙂
Just look upon it as a clutch of wordy wallpaper, out of which something useful appeared.
Bring back the auto-writing muse; this is hard work. 🙂
Every March and September equinox SIX, a biannual poetry microjournal on womanhood, will publish six poems, SIX reflections on the awkward liminality of the spaces women are forced to inhabit.
Read the first issue today Monday 22 Sept 2025, 7:19 pm.
sixpoetryjournal.substack.com
#PoetsOnBluesky
Read the first issue today Monday 22 Sept 2025, 7:19 pm.
sixpoetryjournal.substack.com
#PoetsOnBluesky
September 22, 2025 at 1:38 PM
Every March and September equinox SIX, a biannual poetry microjournal on womanhood, will publish six poems, SIX reflections on the awkward liminality of the spaces women are forced to inhabit.
Read the first issue today Monday 22 Sept 2025, 7:19 pm.
sixpoetryjournal.substack.com
#PoetsOnBluesky
Read the first issue today Monday 22 Sept 2025, 7:19 pm.
sixpoetryjournal.substack.com
#PoetsOnBluesky
Hello @thebrokenspine.co.uk and host @alanparrywriter.co.uk for this week's #PoemsAbout.
Are #SilentPlanets just so, or do they know more than we do.
Are #SilentPlanets just so, or do they know more than we do.
September 19, 2025 at 7:42 AM
Hello @thebrokenspine.co.uk and host @alanparrywriter.co.uk for this week's #PoemsAbout.
Are #SilentPlanets just so, or do they know more than we do.
Are #SilentPlanets just so, or do they know more than we do.
Hello @thebrokenspine.co.uk and everyone, and perennial host @alanparrywriter.co.uk.
After #Riots and #UrbanDecay (elsewhere), must come calm. Yes (1986) sang 'Soon, oh soon the light, pass within and soothe this endless night'.
For this week's #PoemsAbout #Candlelight I turn metaphysical.
After #Riots and #UrbanDecay (elsewhere), must come calm. Yes (1986) sang 'Soon, oh soon the light, pass within and soothe this endless night'.
For this week's #PoemsAbout #Candlelight I turn metaphysical.
September 12, 2025 at 6:14 AM
Hello @thebrokenspine.co.uk and everyone, and perennial host @alanparrywriter.co.uk.
After #Riots and #UrbanDecay (elsewhere), must come calm. Yes (1986) sang 'Soon, oh soon the light, pass within and soothe this endless night'.
For this week's #PoemsAbout #Candlelight I turn metaphysical.
After #Riots and #UrbanDecay (elsewhere), must come calm. Yes (1986) sang 'Soon, oh soon the light, pass within and soothe this endless night'.
For this week's #PoemsAbout #Candlelight I turn metaphysical.
Trowel it deep, sell it wide. The Kardashian Inheritance is in full swing; the volume at Spinal Tap 11.
For balm, here's the view from a bench we're sitting on in the garden of the great house.
For balm, here's the view from a bench we're sitting on in the garden of the great house.
September 5, 2025 at 11:41 AM
Trowel it deep, sell it wide. The Kardashian Inheritance is in full swing; the volume at Spinal Tap 11.
For balm, here's the view from a bench we're sitting on in the garden of the great house.
For balm, here's the view from a bench we're sitting on in the garden of the great house.