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Another brilliant poem!

THE RIVER BETWEEN (Sonnet)

The river dries
by summer’s heat.
The island ties.
Its people meet.

Then water carves
its autumn smile
and slowly halves
the knitted isle,

till none recall
who lives across
the river’s wall.

The sense of loss
itself is lost
by winter’s frost.

Morning Dave

Olympic chiefs have got it badly wrong over Heraskevych ban and owe him an apology | Lizzy Yarnold As athletes we try to focus on our event and the task at hand, but our lives do not take place in a vacuum

British former skeleton racer, Lizzy Yarnold, who won consecutive Olympic gold medals in 2014 & 2018:

"The IOC have got it badly wrong over Heraskevych ban and owe him an apology."

www.theguardian.com/sport/2026/f...

The Dublin Agreement was a huge deterrent. People knew if they arrived in UK & had claimed elsewhere, approved or denied, they would immediately be returned. Now that data sharing is no longer an automatic right. The UK lost access to several shared mechanisms when it left the EU

Nigel Farage is a high class spiv, a thief for his American masters.

Vote him into power and we will be the USA's slaves forever.

Steve Bannon courted Epstein in his efforts to ‘take down’ Pope Francis Steve Bannon, a longtime adviser to US President Donald Trump, discussed opposition strategies with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein against Pope Francis, with Bannon saying he hoped to “take do...

tRumpstein party ...

The party of the ANTI-CHRIST!!

👿👿👿

Hi Durham Council, is it usual practice for Leaders of party groups to knowingly ignore the fact that one of their councillors is carrying out duties without a DBS check? Because Andrew Husband just stated he has since May 2025.

Such a great day at Darfield Museum today; 98 people through the door! Pie and peas/snowdrop trail/conversations with old friends and new. A sense that small museums like ours can be meeting places, cultural hubs and buildings that sing with human possibility.

cathedral of trees form an arch over a small lake/lagoon - two figures sit across the water, facing one another, feeling of expansiveness, divided by a narrow inlet of water, space between, sense of belonging

Tomás Sánchez

Contemplar, 1995

#RepealThe2ndAmendment

What happened?!

I spent 2012 writing a #book about my love of #DoctorWho #DrWho That book was published for the 50th anniversary. It got sort of lost in all the brouhaha ... but I'm still very fond of it! Plus I got to meet some wonderful people. #sciencefiction #cult #scifi
www.amazon.co.uk/50-Celebrati...

There are two parties in this country: the Democratic Party and the Authoritarian Party.

Take it a chapter at a time...

LOVE SONNET OF THE CAUTIOUS ROMANTIC

Valentine’s Day: Impress them with these love poems Michael Longley, Elaine Feeney and eight other Irish poets choose their favourite romantic verse

from @martindoyle.bsky.social 2019

Michael Longley choose Graves:
She tells her love while half asleep,
In the dark hours,
With half-words whispered low:
As Earth stirs in her winter sleep
And puts out grass and flowers
Despite the snow,
Despite the falling snow.
www.irishtimes.com/culture/book...

Government open to banning vapes in cars with children, says Taoiseach Micheál Martin says he is worried vapes came to market ‘without any proper health assessment’

Government open to banning vapes in cars with children, says Taoiseach

You can expect authoritarian violence at the US #Midterms. Be prepared.

Ukrainian Athlete Disqualified From Olympics Over Helmet “This is the price of our dignity,” Heraskevych said, in response to the International Olympic Committee's decision.

Ukrainian Athlete Disqualified From Olympics Over Helmet Depicting War Dead: ‘The Price of Our Dignity’
time.com/7377960/vlad...

@martindoyle.bsky.social You might like this, Martin: a Commentary on all 700 poems of Seamus Heaney, published last October. So far I've come to the end of Death of a Naturalist:
johnod45.substack.com/publish/post...
I should be finished by this time next year!

The cover of A Hosting: Interviews with Irish Writers 1991-2025 by Martin Doyle

Cover reveal of my new book and a link to pre-order. You’re welcome 🤓https://www.lilliputpress.ie/products/a-hosting-interviews-with-irish-writers-1991-2025

Many thanks for sharing!

Seamus Heaney's Poems Introduction

David, you might like this:
johnod45.substack.com/p/seamus-hea...
a readings of all 550 or so poems of Seamus Heaney, posted at the rate of roughly one a day - just coming to the end of Death of a Naturalist: Digging, Mid-Term Break, Blackberrying, plus the uncollected apprentice pieces...

Seamus Heaney's Poems Introduction

You might like this:
johnod45.substack.com/p/seamus-hea...
a Commentary on all 550 or so of Seamus Heaney's Poems, posted at the rate of one a day. Just coming to the end of Death of a Naturalist - Digging, Mid-Term Break, Blackberrying, plus the uncollected apprentice pieces - they're all here...

A copy of The Translations of Seamus Heaney on a wooden surface.

New post!

I take an in-depth look at Seamus Heaney's Beowulf, alongside forays into Victorian translations by William Morris and the brilliantly named Athanasius Diedrich Wackerbarth.

This is based on an undergraduate lecture I gave at Oxford in 2020.

nikolasgunn.co.uk/2026/02/09/o...

@fotoole.bsky.social At the risk of being really cheeky... any update on your biography of Seamus Heaney...?

Seamus Heaney's Poems Introduction

You might be interested in this:
johnod45.substack.com/p/seamus-hea...
a Commentary on Seamus Heaney's Poems: I'm posting at the rate of roughly one a day, and will be finished sometime towards the end of next year. I'm just coming to the end of Death of a Naturalist... Digging, Mid-Term Break, etc.