David Atkinson

It’s hard to put into words how proud I am to be part of this group as we celebrate 30 years together, I have been there for 29!

This book has been months in the making and delighted to release it into the wild tonight.

#poetry
#poemoftheday
#MentalHealthMatters
#ItsOkayNotToBeOkay

Sorry for making you cry ❤️‍🩹

Love the image. Hadn't seen that before. The last picture catches you 💔

A quote from Mary Shelley

#quoteoftheday

Each time I read it I see something new 😊

Love that picture and quotation ❤️

I love the intersection between poetry and science.

Here we have the physics of the heart balancing between knowing and unknowing, love and loss, presence and disappearance.

Every line hums with quiet wonder and the ache of trying to hold what won’t stay still.

#poetry
#poemoftheday

We are who we are, & our people are always our people. There is much between the lines & words of this poem. There is unflinching honesty. There are strong women throughout the poem, culminating in that brilliant final line. ‘My People’ by Kim Moore, from The Art of Falling

#poetry
#poemoftheday

I was going to post something else today but this popped up on my Facebook memories from 10 years ago.

My daughter did the illustration. She is now studying animation and is probably a better artist than her father is a poet ❤️

#poetry
#poemoftheday
#advent

Following the teaching theme. Recently, I heard Mike Garry perform ‘Signify’ with the Cassia String Quartet.

I had tears in my eyes and a lump in my throat.

Don’t just read the words, click on the link and listen. Buy the album

open.spotify.com/track/2nSn3V...

#poetry
#poemoftheday

I know what you mean. he has taken a beautiful idea and presented it perfectly. We should all aspire to write like this 🙏

I have. It's a unique book. Took me three attempts to get through it, but glad I stuck with it. Worth it in the end ❤️

What my grandfather would have called 'gumption'. It Will still be a thing after we all have forgotten about mindfulness 😊

Took me decades to figure that out

Now that would be cool if it was the same teacher. But also cool that there could be two Mrs Nelsons out there 😊

We all had teacher like Mrs Nelson. This is a gentle reminder of the life lessons grown into

There is a great irony in the title, the wisdom being shared on the one day the poet was absent

The line ‘The English lesson was that I am is a complete sentence’ is a poem in itself

#poetry
#poemoftheday

I love the comparison between the image of the baby's heart & St Kevin's story, 2 different prayers.

But this holds an extra poignancy for me. Our eldest had a heart transplant at just 13 months. Each scan after that we prayed another's heart was beating strong

#poetry
#poemoftheday
#giftoflife

Yes!!

And no disrespect to Lawrence, but I think I prefer the smaller less rambling poem.

(The snake is very good too though)

This can be seen as a metaphor for violence or harm done out of prejudice towards ‘the other’ who is seen (wrongly) as evoking fear because they appear threatening, because they are different

Note the use of ‘she’ in the final lines & the short lines that slow the poem down

#poetry
#poemoftheday

Spike Milligan is a great poet as well as a ground breaking comedian. His poetry is often funny & frivolous, but can be deep, poignant, and moving too.

In this poem he has caught both, reflecting on the quiet heartbreak watching a child step out into their own life.

#poetry
#poemoftheday

My school English teachers weren't brilliant at all. The best (English) teacher was the librarian!
Had a great economics teacher - Andy McCann.
Just finished a Masters at Manchester Metropolitan University and all the teaching staff there were top class

Been writing a long time

Some go out of their way to ruin the joy of poetry...

My high school teacher asked us to share a favourite poem. She said my choice by Roland Bottrall was a poor example of a poem.

I said nothing. 40 years later I am certain she was wrong.

It has many poetic credentials, but most of all it has heart, and truth, and soul.

#poetry
#poemoftheday

Just found a copy of that. Thank you for recommending ❤️

I love a sonnet.

The octave, general in terms, listing the necessities love fails to provide. Then in the sestet, more personal, and challenging the idea that ‘Love is All’. But even with that, at the end, the poet does not think she would trade or sell it for solace.

#poetry
#poemoftheday

Back home.

This is for the young lady I spoke with in Krakow station, asking if we were on the right platform for the airport.

She was going there too, at 7.00 on a Sunday, to meet her father (flying for the first time) & help him through security.

#poetry
#poemoftheday
#poland
#kindness

There is a beautiful simple child like philosophy in this, but something deeper under the surface too.

It is a poem that improves with re-reading, but will also speak a different truth on different days ❤️

My last day in #poland

Take notice of the world; broken & scarred. Yet, amid this there is still wine and wild strawberries and gentle sunlight.

There is a quiet lyrical invitation to gratitude in this poem, to seeing ordinary miracles that persist in a wounded world.

#poetry
#poemoftheday

Continuing with the #Poland theme

Różewicz presents a haunting testament to survival amplified by the juxtaposition of opposites.

That these can co-exist in a person.

What sometimes needs to be done to survive.

Life continues, but every breath carries memory.

#poetry
#poemoftheday

From this book by Joanna Trzeciak