Bex Hainsworth

Shortbread I add four teaspoons of cocoa to my grandmother’s shortbread recipe. The dough becomes terracotta clay which I mould into an urn, curve into the shape of myself, my floured hands sinking into its hips. There is something primitive about the way it folds like a bowl, then flattens into a tablet, fork strokes becoming language. I slide the tray into the oven, leave it twenty minutes to bake. An anxiety-hollowed afternoon is softened with this preparation. For I am a body, and I deserve something sweet.

For #smallpoemsunday I'm sharing my poem 'Shortbread' from my new pamphlet, Circulaire 💛
writtenoffpublishing.com/shop/p/circu...

"Cunning chimera, desperate for loneliness,
you stacked eucalyptus. Webbed paws
slapped dirt into an expectant mound."

My poem 'Penelope Escapes the Platypusary' is now up at the wonderful @anthro-poetry.bsky.social 🌊
anthropocenepoetry.org/post/penelop...

"Cunning chimera, desperate for loneliness,
you stacked eucalyptus. Webbed paws
slapped dirt into an expectant mound."

My poem 'Penelope Escapes the Platypusary' is now up at the wonderful @anthro-poetry.bsky.social 🌊
anthropocenepoetry.org/post/penelop...

Thank you so much, Rick!! 💙

Truly a dream publication!! 'Penelope Escapes the Platypusary' is now up at @anthro-poetry.bsky.social 🌊

www.anthropocenepoetry.org/post/penelop...

🌸🌺 MORE FLOWERS 🌸🌺 forthcoming February 2026 from Trio House Press! Enjoy this little unboxing video and pre-order at the link in the replies! Endless gratitude to so many!

@triohousepress.org
@krisbigalk.bsky.social
@natashakane.bsky.social

Delighted to receive a Pushcart nomination for my poem 'Goblin Shark', published in @thebraag.bsky.social 🦈

Latest review is up on my Substack, These Expectant Rooms.

Today featuring Circulaire by @poetbex.bsky.social

open.substack.com/pub/victoria...

Thanks for reading! x

Huge thank you to Victoria for this beautiful review of Circulaire 💛☕️

Crossroads By Bex Hainsworth like a signature in the forest frills of an old castle and I’m thinking of Hecate goddess blessing entrances and liminal spaces witch of the way forward mistress of murderers with a smile like a knife of moon keys rust on her belt outlasting their locks a black terrier with yellow eyes trotting at her heels here is Hecate’s mark there is a decision to be made and like a poem you cannot simply stop (like a door, this opens both ways)

Honoured to be a part of Ghost Light Lit's stunning new issue, 'of myths & monsters'. Here is my ode to Hecate 🖤

I've now posted signed copies of Circulaire, my new pamphlet from @writtenoffbooks.bsky.social, to six different countries! 📨

I still have copies available, so if cosy odes about family, femininity, and home are your jam, please drop me a comment - £10 via PayPal, I'll cover p&p 💛 ☕️

Mammoth contemporary, she has been fruiting for four thousand years. Branches twist into minotaur horns, rising from a hollow labyrinth of roots. The vast trunk is bulbous, beautiful; rippled bark tenses like a muscle in the calf of a crouching titan. She is a monument, outlasting empires and human heartache, a weathered ark resisting drought and fire and flood. Every year, twigs plump like knuckles with olives, green currency, ready to anoint kings and restaurant crockery. Her crown is cornucopia, world basket, reaching upwards like Daphne’s arms, dwindling to wreaths. Her heartwood has worn away but, pulseless, she persists.

My poem 'The Olive Tree of Vouves' is in the latest issue of
@poetrybrum.bsky.social 🌳 You can read Issue 11.5, exploring the fragility and endurance of nature, here: poetrybirmingham.com/current-issue

Poetry Birmingham Literary Journal – Issue 11.5 – Bex Hainsworth – The Olive Trees of Vouves — Poetry Birmingham Poetry Birmingham Literary Journal – Issue 11.5 – Bex Hainsworth – The Olive Trees of Vouves

So excited to have a poem in the new issue of
@poetrybrum.bsky.social! Fragility and Tenacity: Nature in the Balance is curated by the wonderful Paul Roberts and I was honoured to be a part of it.

You can read 'The Olive Tree of Vouves' here: poetrybirmingham.com/bex-hainswor...

Hainsworth 84 — The Interpreter's House

"The spire of Christchurch rises like a splinter,
desperate to slide free from slum muck.
Itchy Park stinks like Eden, the rotten fruit

of our bodies hasn’t fallen far. We are Eve,
we are Hagar, we are Magdalene."

theinterpretershouse.org/hainsworth-84

Thank you so much for reading and your lovely feedback, Lucy!! Really proud of this one 😊

Thank you so much for reading, Heather!! 😊

‘Autumn dawn is the colour of old bruises with a moon

like a nail print in a neck.’

Hainsworth 84 — The Interpreter's House

Delighted to have a poem in the new issue of The Interpreter's House alongside @calebparkinpoet.bsky.social and @moette.bsky.social!

My piece 'Fourpence', narrated by the women of Whitechapel during the time of Jack the Ripper, can be read here:
theinterpretershouse.org/hainsworth-84

Thank you so much for reading and sharing!! 🖤

"my journal...like a planchette"

"what is it you want me to know?"

Séance Alone in the house in the early hours, I sit on my bed with my journal in front of me like a planchette. A candle is burning on the chest of drawers and I decide it is time to commune with the ghost of myself. Ready for visitation I speak out loud: I am listening, what is it you want me to know?

Happy Halloween! 🎃

Here's 'Séance', from my new pamphlet, Circulaire 🖤

Just a reminder that Circulaire, my new pamphlet, has all the spooky vibes of the season! 🎃

If haunted houses, séances, and bonfires are your jam, you can grab a copy from Written Off Publishing here: writtenoffpublishing.com/shop/p/circula…💀

Or drop me a comment for a signed copy 🖤

Thank you, Paul!! 😊

"Mewed".

The latest in a series of poems on which I'm working, each starting and ending with the first and last lines of another poet's poem.

#poem #poetry #skypoets #blueskypoets #poetsofbluesky #poetrycommunity #writingcommunity #topped&tailed
@poetbex.bsky.social
@writtenoffbooks.bsky.social

Oh gosh, how totally unexpected, Peter! I’m so honoured that ‘The House of Peace’ has found a second life with ’Mewed’. Such a beautiful piece - I love the use of white space and structure. Thank you so much for sharing this 😊

Thank you so much, Eleanor!! ❤️

Just wanted to share my poem 'Dancing with Mercutio in Klute Nightclub', published in the latest issue of
@poetrywales.bsky.social 💙

Thank you so much for the shout out, @teniemi.bsky.social! Another copy of Circulaire has crossed the Atlantic ☕️

Just a friendly reminder that if you fancy a signed copy, please do drop me a comment, £10 via PayPal, I ship internationally 💛

Thank you, Jess!! Absolutely loving New Arcana, especially 'Queen of Cups'. "I'm thinking how water's the only element that loves the body - / can hold and be inside it at the same time"... just wow 🖤

Thank you, Julian!! 😊