Jean Atkin

YouTube video by Bold Politics with Zack Polanski The Battle For The Soul Of The Nation | Hannah Spencer | Zack Polanski

If you missed it - here's this weeks @boldpolitics.bsky.social with Green Party candidate for Gorton & Denton, Hannah Spencer!

youtu.be/uCy0VdHTVvs?...

Day 1: the Lovely Weather

Yesterday's sun caused
the cat to climb the pergola
in whiskered lines of light

#haiku #cat

British.

To dream of poppies in February.
#BlueSkyArtShow

#BlueSkyArtShow

This was February two years ago. Look - blue sky and flying trees.

Ten thousand spoons might get you down, right enough.

Leap year extra.

Finally got my hands on my author copies of this. What a stunning publication! Massive thanks to @blackcatpress.bsky.social for all their patience and care. And I want to thank Jean for agreeing to enter into this writing project with me and for doing so with such enthusiasm and generosity.

Thrilled with this beautifully produced little book about poetry and walking, the result of a collaboration with @richardnskinner.bsky.social
Thank you @blackcatpress.bsky.social - and look, real Shropshire mud...

'Crossing Paths' launched this very day! You can buy a copy from @blackcatpoet.bsky.social - link in their bio :)

#NationalSnowdropDay, as I discovered later, after marvelling at drifts of them in the hills, tucked into rare sunshine in an ancient churchyard.

St Peter and St Paul's church in Muchelney, with its cloudy ceiling of angels tempting us to Com Up Yether.

I posted elsewhere about a lady in one of my Leeds Irish Health and Homes workshops who wrote 'I've had dementia / for as long as I can remember'. It came back to me reading @ravoon.bsky.social's tremendous debut 'Dirt Rich', full of technically brilliant, emotionally-devastating work like this:

CROW (Palindrome)

Deft,
I saw a crow
over us,
a sure vow or caw
as it fed.

Pretty sure this won't surprise anyone who knows me, but this is one of my favourite speeches. I used to have a lovely copy framed on the wall of my study. It resonates as strongly today as it did when written.

I've just bought this beautiful book, reminded by the lovely presence of @nicolawriting.bsky.social on #Ramblings this week. Congratulations Nicola!

Great tree. Here, in #Cairngorms N. P. it is often underrated ( Pics controversially threatened sites).
A diary (see: Feb 22 2024 @strathspeyherald.co.uk) on it touched also on world #wetlands day that highlights millions of people depend on wetland habitats #Alnus #Feàrn #Evelyn #riparianzone

I'm very excited about this beautiful new book, to be launched in February!
Thank you @blackcatpress.bsky.social and my collaborator @richardnskinner.bsky.social (whose bright idea this was in the first place).

Issue twenty-two — Bad Lilies

We have a new issue out in February. In the meantime, enjoy our latest offering! badlilies.uk/issue-twenty-two

New podcast episode with five fabulous poets, recorded for our November 2025 Poetry Spotlight event. @julwe1.bsky.social @lesleysharpe.bsky.social @zoebrooks.bsky.social @annasaund.bsky.social #poetry @cheltpoetfest.bsky.social #poetry

www.mklitfest.org/podcasts

🌍🔥 The Suicide Pact: What Happens the Moment We Touch Greenland If the United States follows through on the threat to invade Greenland, we need to be crystal clear about what happens the next morning.

open.substack.com/pub/brentmol...

‘The U.S. economy, which relies on the dollar being the global reserve currency, will collapse. Inflation will make the post-COVID spikes look like a rounding error. Your savings will be worthless before the ink dries on the invasion orders.’

Lovely piece of work Ian!

What a capture of the tractor-printed lanes of January.

Old photo: The city of Viroconium Cornoviorum, near the present-day Wroxeter, Shropshire, was the 4th-largest Roman settlement in Britain.
In 2010, English Heritage recreated a town house on the site, using only the tools and materials available to the Romans.
A view from the porch...

So delighted to have this little poem appear in @ampoetryreview.bsky.social, alongside a handful of others! Much gratitude to the editors!

Gorse and ice in the Shropshire hills yesterday.

‘let us not be scared of the work because it's hard let us move the mountain because the mountain must move.’ Danez Smith

No one cares until it’s too late.

Until warnings become reality.
Until the fire reaches their door.
Until the system fails someone they love.

But justice & change are needed before the breaking point.

Justice demands more than words, it demands action. So, let’s do the work.

Such a good poem.