Close up image of a basketball against a black background. Ink Sweat & Tears interns logo lower left. Text: ELONTRA (upper right) Thank you! (in italics and with a small heart)

Elontra @cloudscholar.bsky.social we appreciate so much your four months with us – your superb editing and curation of submissions, your compelling and personal social media posts, and the way you think outside of the box (or hoop!) An absolute privilege.

#InkSweatandTears #EditingInternships

Title: Return Author: Tamara Evans Excerpt: Travel West. Submerge yourself/ in the M4's homeward drift. Description: Two swallows fly over a green field.

Tamara Evans' poem, 'Return,' is filled with imagery and memory, focusing on the fine details that a person might rely on to help them find their way back. @cadicarterbrown.bsky.social

Read it here: inksweatandtears.co.uk/tamara-evans/

#InkSweatandTears #Poetry #Submission

Background image: crashing waves Text: Art Exhibit I hear the roar of the ocean. I hear a series of shrieks and long screams. Luis Cuauhtemoc Berriozabal©

In 'Art Exhibit', Luis Cuauhtemoc Berriozabal's associations and metaphors push and pull much like the crashing and wombing of the ocean. Full of surrealism and sound, it's a great wave to ride. @cuatemochi.bsky.social

Read it here: inksweatandtears.co.uk/luis-cuauhte...

#InkSweatandTears #Poetry

Title: Elements Author: Antonia Kearton Excerpt: On my son's desk lies/the periodic table of the elements./ I look. Amongst the arcane names/ I recognise, easy as breathing./ carbon, oxygen, gold, beloved of kings. Description: A number of graduated cylinders and beakers and phials set across a glass countertop.

Antonia Kearton's poem, 'Elements', doubles as both a meditation on elements and alchemy and an exploration of human inquiry and desire. @antoniakearton.bsky.social

Read it here: inksweatandtears.co.uk/antonia-kear...

#InkSweatandTears #Poetry #Submission

Title: A zuihitsu of strings Author: Oormila Vijayakrishnan Prahlad Excerpt: A lacquer table, gloss under fingertips. A raised stage with dark linen. A young woman smiles with her hand-held harp, its nine strings glistening. The room swells with the cadence of her pearly notes. Beneath the pendant lights-a vision of serenity. Description: A harp stands alone on a stage with a stool and music stand.

In Oormila Vijayakrishnan Prahlad's word & image poem, 'A zuihitsu of strings', there is music, memory, pain and healing all at once. It is a beautiful piece of work full of strong imagery and musicality. @oormilaprahlad.bsky.social

inksweatandtears.co.uk/40824-2/

#InkSweatandTears #WordandImage

Title: Passing the Torch Author: Elontra Hall Excerpt: At one time or other, I have studied: Shaq's jump-hook, Iverson's crossover, Garnett's snarl, Kobe's pull-up & footwork. Description: A basketball hovers just above the mouth of a basketball rim in a crowded arena.

Welcome to pre-season!

October is a special month as it not only - sadly - marks Elontra Hall / @cloudscholar.bsky.social 's last month with IS&T but also the start of basketball season and we are looking for poems, etc, on this beautiful game!

More details at inksweatandtears.co.uk/submissions/

Title: The art of cutting and stitching Author: Sarah James/Leavesley Excerpt: My mother's knife made the first cuts -/she removed my fertile light bullbs,/ then stuffed my womb with shredded tissues. Description: A striped tropical fish swims with fins extended, in blue water against a speckled background.

Today, @sarahleavesley.bsky.social explores the violence perpetuated on women by society, sometimes done in the name of protection. Moving and brutal, the poem highlights how thin the line between thought and reality.

inksweatandtears.co.uk/sarah-james-le…

#InkSweatandTears #Poetry #Submissions

Day six of Ink Sweat & Tears' celebration of National Poetry Day: Play!

Today's poets - Rachel Burns, Catherine Sweeney, MD Bier - all take a look at childhood and play through a nostalgic lens.

inksweatandtears.co.uk/md-bier/

#InkSweatandTears #Poetry #Submissions #NationalPoetryDay

Day seven of our celebration of National Poetry Day and its theme of Play, and the focus shifts again.

Lee Fraser, Charlotte Dormandy and Suzanna Fitzpatrick look to children and their awe, wonder and imagination.

inksweatandtears.co.uk/play-for-nat...

#InkSweatandTears #NationalPoetryDay

Thanks @cloudscholar.bsky.social for selecting this for @inksweatandtears.co.uk on the @poetrysociety.org.uk #nationalpoetryday theme of 'Play'. Also up today is my @poetryschool.bsky.social MA colleague Charlotte Dormandy, will share her poem shortly.
inksweatandtears.co.uk/play-for-nat...

Fellow @poetryschool.bsky.social MA student Charlotte Dormandy for @inksweatandtears.co.uk on the @poetrysociety.org.uk #nationalpoetryday theme of 'Play', selected by @cloudscholar.bsky.social. The best short poems Every nook in this opens into big questions. inksweatandtears.co.uk/play-for-nat...

Welcome to day five of National Poetry Day at Ink Sweat & Tears!

We hope that you enjoy today’s poets - Alexandra Corrin-Tachibana, Ruth Aylett, Brian Comber - and their examination of imaginary/creative Play:

inksweatandtears.co.uk/play-for-nat...

#InkSweatandTears #NationalPoetryDay

Day three of our National Poetry Day celebration has arrived, and with it three new poets - David A. Lee, Seán Street, Oenone Thomas - with great poems!

Read them here: inksweatandtears.co.uk/play-for-nat...

#InkSweatandTears #Poetry #Submissions #NationalPoetryDay

Day four of our National Poetry Day celebration!

Again, today's poets - Wendy Klein, Robin Houghton, Judith Shaw, Jennifer A McGowan - all have wonderful takes on the theme of Play.

inksweatandtears.co.uk/play-for-nat...

#InkSweatandTears #Submissions #NationalPoetryDay

Welcome to day two of our celebration of National Poetry Day! @poetrydayuk.bsky.social

Today, we have three new poets - Gayathiri Kamalakanthan, Paul Stephenson, Jem Henderson - all exploring: Play.

inksweatandtears.co.uk/play-for-nat...

#InkSweatandTears #NationalPoetryDay

Welcome to National Poetry Day!

Today we have four poets - Elena Brake, Eleanor Holmes, John Mole, Karen Downs-Barton - with different takes on this year's theme: Play.

inksweatandtears.co.uk/play-for-nat...

#InkSweatandTears #NationaPoetryDay

Image of ambulance racing down street at night. Text: weeks after being stabbed my brother saw his attacker at a petrol station Jacob McKibbin copyright

In 'weeks after being stabbed', Jacob McKibbin explores themes of violence, pride, connection and the price of masculine bravado.

Read it here: inksweatandtears.co.uk/jacob-mckibb... or via the link in bio to our homepage.

#InkSweatandTears #Poetry #Submission

In his prose poem, 'My Mother's Hands', David Waters explores a plethora of themes through the speaker's relationship with their mother.

Read it here: inksweatandtears.co.uk/david-waters...

#InkSweatandTears #PoetryCommunity #Submission

In 'Glimmers', Jade Wright's speaker tracks moments of beauty and reconsiders the way that they measure what makes life worth living.

Read it here: inksweatandtears.co.uk/jade-wright/

#InkSweatandTears #PoetryCommunity #Submission

Image of a full moon over urban rooftops Text Watching, January 2021 The new year slouches forward, unlovable, barely acknowledged but for tired, gritty eyes and a muffled scream into the kitchen towel. Ruth Lexton copyright

In Ruth Lexton's 'Watching January 2021', the speaker ponders the moon in all of its power and beauty and the impact that it has on all of us. By the end though, our familiar satellite finds itself in a very novel situation.
inksweatandtears.co.uk/ruth-lexton-2/

#InkSweatandTears #Poetry

Title: Dehydration Author: Caire Booker Excerpt: Never has there been so much interest/ in the humble tongue. It peek-a-boos from my/mouth like the little man in a weather clock. Description: A doctor or nurse tends to a patient who is lying on a bed.

In 'Dehydration', Claire Booker's speaker wonders at the efficiency and efficacy of the medical practitioner assisting them. @clairebooker.bsky.social

Read it here: inksweatandtears.co.uk/claire-booker/

#InkSweatandTears #PoetryCommunity #Submission

Title: Gold Medal Author: Fran Hawthorne Excerpt: It was only my second speech and debate tournament in high school, and I was coming home with a gold medal in Dramatic Interpretation and a silver in Extemp. Description: A small cloud of multi-coloured confetti hangs in the air.

Fran Hawthorne's 'Gold Medal is everything but predictable. Exploring themes of relationships, recognition and visibility, you'll never see the end coming. @hawthornewriter.bsky.social

Read it here: inksweatandtears.co.uk/fran-hawthor...

#InkSweatandTears #FlashFiction #Submission

Thank you to Ink Sweat & Tears! This is my 1st-ever piece of Creative Nonfiction. (I usually write novels & used to write standard nonfiction)

Image of an explosion against a black background. Text: Child’s Innocence in Gaza We are the ones who see big crackers burst every day— Syed Anas S©

In 'Child's Innocence in Gaza', Syed Anas S looks at the Gazan landscape through the eyes of a child on the ground.

Read it here: inksweatandtears.co.uk/syed-anas-s/

#InkSweatandTears #PoetryCommunity #Submission

Image of a couple sitting slightly apart both holding their heads in their hands Text: The night before their wedding, Dad tells Mum two things He's ten years older than he'd said, which makes him twenty-eight years older, not eighteen. Janet Hatherly copyright

Janet Hatherly's poem, 'The night before their wedding, Dad tells Mum two things', explores relationships, trust, revelations and discovery.

Read it here: inksweatandtears.co.uk/hatherly-2/

#InkSweatandTears #PoetryCommunity #Submission

Tiny pink flower peeping up through crack in pavement. Tinkerbell on Queensway She barely glances at you when you chink your spare coins in her upturned cap, but still spreads a spell among the pavement footfalls, Dharmavadana©

In Dharmavadana's 'Tinkerbell on Queensway', the speaker provides us with an update on a familiar childhood presence.

Read it here: inksweatandtears.co.uk/dharmavadana/

#InkSweatandTears #PoetryCommunity #Submission

Close up of chestnut tree branch with conkers Text: Shedding It begins high up the chestnut tree Tim Dwyer©

Marking the beginning of Autumn, Tim Dwyer's 'Shedding' depicts one of the more noticeable markers of the return of the season. @Timtjdwyer

Read it here: inksweatandtears.co.uk/tim-dwyer-ma....

#InkSweatandTears #Poetry #Submission #AutumnEquinox

Image: Purple flowers with green leaves and blurred background of Inthanin flower, Queen's flower Queen's crape myrtle, Pride of India, Jarul, Pyinma/ Lagerstroemia Text Triplet From this far-side apartment you watch jarul leaves darkening with the seasons Gopal Lahiri

Gopal Lahiri's Speaker in 'Triplet' moves from light into darkness, and also seemingly towards a more sombre end of a relationship.

Read it here: inksweatandtears.co.uk/gopal-lahiri...

#InkSweatandTears #PoetryCommunity #Submission

This is the honey by Kwame Alexander

I’ve been getting back into reading traditional books by picking up a book of poetry every morning and night. This one is a must-have for #PoetryPeople and #BlackSky and anyone who loves truth and beauty.

Image: A large hairy bumblebee (a drumbledrane?) on a pink flower Text Drumbledrane Determined, you smash against the window I have to admire you in your striped suit Adam Kelly©

Adam Kelly's 'Drumbledrane', is an image rich and sincere ode to some unsung heroes of the natural world.

Read it here: inksweatandtears.co.uk/adam-kelly/

#InkSweatandTears #PoetryCommunity #Submission