𝒊𝒂𝒎𝒃 ~ 𝒑𝒐𝒆𝒕𝒓𝒚 𝒔𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒅

Keeping everything crossed for the five poets yet to send me their completed submissions for wave twenty-three of @iambapoet.com by tomorrow's deadline. I'll start chasing from the 16th – and start contacting those on the reserves list about a week later. So if you're on that list, watch your inbox!

Jamie Woods | wave 14 | iamb ~ poetry seen and heard Hear poet Jamie Woods read poems exclusively for iamb. If you like The Poetry Archive, this poetry site is for you.

And if you want to hear @jamiewoods77.bsky.social read his poem 'Wolf Alice & Camper Van Beethoven Live at the Adam Smith Institute', head over to his page on @iambapoet.com.
iambapoet.com/wave/14-jamie-woods

Huge congratulations to @iambapoet.com's wave twenty-two special guest @katrinanaomipoet.bsky.social for this fantastic win.

Carl Alexandersson | wave 22 | iamb ~ poetry seen and heard Hear poet Carl Alexandersson read poems exclusively for iamb. If you like The Poetry Archive, this poetry site is for you.

' ... there were cows in the lake having escaped their farm

for the cooling bliss of a summer night swim

we stood and listened as they brought them ashore

like we'd listen for the ice to crack'

iambapoet.com/wave/22-carl...

Charlotte Gann | wave 22 | iamb ~ poetry seen and heard Hear poet Charlotte Gann read poems exclusively for iamb. If you like The Poetry Archive, this poetry site is for you.

'"No sudden movements, please. Still is best."
The pupil he’s performing on closes her eyes,
head slightly folded like a bird’s.

She’s collapsed into his woollen front. "See how
my arms arc?" the teacher asks his class.
"Hold each other like precious cargo."'

iambapoet.com/wave/22-char...

Fidel Hogan Walsh | wave 22 | iamb ~ poetry seen and heard Hear poet Fidel Hogan Walsh read poems exclusively for iamb. If you like The Poetry Archive, this poetry site is for you.

'On a rough morning tide
with poor visibility
I see you out of reach

You adrift of free movement
wandering aimlessly
where memories have no meaning'

iambapoet.com/wave/22-fide...

J A Lenton | wave 22 | iamb ~ poetry seen and heard Hear poet J A Lenton read poems exclusively for iamb. If you like The Poetry Archive, this poetry site is for you.

'We looked at the nursery of clouds,
the two unthreading contrails.
We looked at our feet,
nettle, cleavers, bindweed.
We looked at the peeling factory walls.
"They’ll crush you anyway", you shrugged.
"It’s how things get made."'

iambapoet.com/wave/22-j-a-...

Julian Bishop | wave 22 | iamb ~ poetry seen and heard Hear poet Julian Bishop read poems exclusively for iamb. If you like The Poetry Archive, this poetry site is for you.

'He wants an assistente – a boy to prime
canvas, grind his earths and ochres.
The pay – two soldi less than my age,
dieci per una seduta. Then the Master

appears, brighter than The Crucifixion,
blinding rays of mezzogiorno sunlight ... '

iambapoet.com/wave/22-juli...

Kate Jenkinson | wave 22 | iamb ~ poetry seen and heard Hear poet Kate Jenkinson read poems exclusively for iamb. If you like The Poetry Archive, this poetry site is for you.

'Those reeking memories
plague me. Remind me
of all I wish I’d done for me,
instead of giving that promise
of a better life
to someone else.

I could have asked for help.'

iambapoet.com/wave/22-kate...

Katrina Naomi | wave 22 | iamb ~ poetry seen and heard Hear poet Katrina Naomi read poems exclusively for iamb. If you like The Poetry Archive, this poetry site is for you.

'I need your chill; can’t help myself.
You swoosh round my brain, frolicking
with neurones, make my skin fit me, tighter,
tighter, after I’ve plunged right in. I’m going
deeper. I can’t consider what you want ... '

iambapoet.com/wave/22-katr...

Kerry Trautman | wave 22 | iamb ~ poetry seen and heard Hear poet Kerry Trautman read poems exclusively for iamb. If you like The Poetry Archive, this poetry site is for you.

'Singeing a pyrography
quote on a wood block takes a steady

hand, patience, the desire to burn to be
certain everyone sees what you believe.'

iambapoet.com/wave/22-kerr...

Loic Ekinga | wave 22 | iamb ~ poetry seen and heard Hear poet Loic Ekinga read poems exclusively for iamb. If you like The Poetry Archive, this poetry site is for you.

'The men who taught me care, almost starved my mother
to death. You tell me,
How do I open my mouth into a woman’s without
my grandfather marching down her throat?'

iambapoet.com/wave/22-loic...

Mary Mulholland | wave 22 | iamb ~ poetry seen and heard Hear poet Mary Mulholland read poems exclusively for iamb. If you like The Poetry Archive, this poetry site is for you.

'Even fruit bats get amorous in autumn,
making love, feasting in the swamps until dawn,
then off. Like us. Always coming and going.
And you now drip-fed. The cold rips through me.
Does it take this for me to learn I love you?'

iambapoet.com/wave/22-mary...

Patricia M Osborne | wave 22 | iamb ~ poetry seen and heard Hear poet Patricia M Osborne read poems exclusively for iamb. If you like The Poetry Archive, this poetry site is for you.

'I’m harvest for Norman Monks
who decorate churches
at Feast of Candlemas,

nature’s medicine,
rub on temples
to treat mal de tête.'

iambapoet.com/wave/22-patr...

Rishika Williams | wave 22 | iamb ~ poetry seen and heard Hear poet Rishika Williams read poems exclusively for iamb. If you like The Poetry Archive, this poetry site is for you.

'I walk in front for moksha
mangal sutra chains my neck
with the priest facing north
I walk east for liberty
dancing girl is there to protect me'

iambapoet.com/wave/22-rish...

Samantha Terrell | wave 22 | iamb ~ poetry seen and heard Hear poet Samantha Terrell read poems exclusively for iamb. If you like The Poetry Archive, this poetry site is for you.

'We are wet clothes

hanging on the line,
in the rain,

beginning to sag with the
weight of double-saturation –
not knowing how long we must hold on.'

iambapoet.com/wave/22-sama...

Sarah James | wave 22 | iamb ~ poetry seen and heard Hear poet Sarah James read poems exclusively for iamb. If you like The Poetry Archive, this poetry site is for you.

' ... bones can carry years of non-stop rain inside,
yet still remain whole. It wasn’t always like this.
A few decades ago, we had cradles of ice

for our polar cubs, summer skies counterbalanced
by the days of snow.'

iambapoet.com/wave/22-sara...

Wren Wood | wave 22 | iamb ~ poetry seen and heard Hear poet Wren Wood read poems exclusively for iamb. If you like The Poetry Archive, this poetry site is for you.

' ... a couplet of nests sit snow-cloaked and silent,
on this, our shortest day –
awaiting the return of
the lengthening light,
of pink blossom riots,
the renewal of leaves ... '

iambapoet.com/wave/22-wren...

A real blessing, this. 🙏🏼

On behalf of the 15 poets of wave twenty-two, thank you to everyone who visited, read, listened and shared. You're the reason this quarterly journal/library/archive exists.

Here's to many more future waves! And if you're a poet, don't forget to audition in late September.

Screenshot of Google Analytics showing page view numbers for wave twenty-two of online poetry journal iamb over the course of the first 42 hours since publication.

Haven't shared any stats on page views for @iambapoet.com in ages – so here's how the numbers are looking for wave twenty-two in its first 42 hours since publication. That top figure includes a few pages not included in this wave, but trust me when I say the vast majority of views are FOR this wave.

Meaning? This summer's edition of @iambapoet.com has already pulled in roughly the same number of page views I'd expect by the end of the first WEEK of a new wave!

Not only is this very impressive, it's also very exciting.

Thank you to everyone who's visited, read, listened and shared ... so far.

Delighted to play host to special guest poet @katrinanaomipoet.bsky.social's words from her @serenbooks.bsky.social's collection, 'Battery Rocks' as part of wave twenty-two of @iambapoet.com.

Carl Alexandersson | wave 22 | iamb ~ poetry seen and heard Hear poet Carl Alexandersson read poems exclusively for iamb. If you like The Poetry Archive, this poetry site is for you.

Hear Carl Alexandersson read three poems as part of wave twenty-two of @iambapoet.com. #newpoetry
iambapoet.com/wave/22-carl...

Charlotte Gann | wave 22 | iamb ~ poetry seen and heard Hear poet Charlotte Gann read poems exclusively for iamb. If you like The Poetry Archive, this poetry site is for you.

Hear Charlotte Gann read three poems as part of wave twenty-two of @iambapoet.com. #newpoetry
iambapoet.com/wave/22-char...

Fidel Hogan Walsh | wave 22 | iamb ~ poetry seen and heard Hear poet Fidel Hogan Walsh read poems exclusively for iamb. If you like The Poetry Archive, this poetry site is for you.

Hear Fidel Hogan Walsh read three poems as part of wave twenty-two of @iambapoet.com. #newpoetry
iambapoet.com/wave/22-fide...

J A Lenton | wave 22 | iamb ~ poetry seen and heard Hear poet J A Lenton read poems exclusively for iamb. If you like The Poetry Archive, this poetry site is for you.

Hear J A Lenton read three poems as part of wave twenty-two of @iambapoet.com. #newpoetry
iambapoet.com/wave/22-j-a-...

Julian Bishop | wave 22 | iamb ~ poetry seen and heard Hear poet Julian Bishop read poems exclusively for iamb. If you like The Poetry Archive, this poetry site is for you.

Hear Julian Bishop read three poems as part of wave twenty-two of @iambapoet.com. #newpoetry
iambapoet.com/wave/22-juli...

Kate Jenkinson | wave 22 | iamb ~ poetry seen and heard Hear poet Kate Jenkinson read poems exclusively for iamb. If you like The Poetry Archive, this poetry site is for you.

Hear Kate Jenkinson read three poems as part of wave twenty-two of @iambapoet.com. #newpoetry
iambapoet.com/wave/22-kate...

Katrina Naomi | wave 22 | iamb ~ poetry seen and heard Hear poet Katrina Naomi read poems exclusively for iamb. If you like The Poetry Archive, this poetry site is for you.

Hear Katrina Naomi read three poems as part of wave twenty-two of @iambapoet.com. #newpoetry
iambapoet.com/wave/22-katr...

Kerry Trautman | wave 22 | iamb ~ poetry seen and heard Hear poet Kerry Trautman read poems exclusively for iamb. If you like The Poetry Archive, this poetry site is for you.

Hear Kerry Trautman read three poems as part of wave twenty-two of @iambapoet.com. #newpoetry
iambapoet.com/wave/22-kerr...