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Alan Parry He/Him

@alanparrywriter.co.uk

3.9K followers 2.5K following 4K posts

Independent Writer Spoken-Word Artist EiC @thebrokenspine.co.uk Workshop Facilitator Podcast & Events Host Lecturer in SEND #PromoteIndieLit https://shorturl.at/gxRbM

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Alan Parry He/Him @alanparrywriter.co.uk · May 24

My debut novella #PeelingApples is out now with @darkwinterlitmag.bsky.social
A tender, unflinching bildungsroman tracing boyhood, loss, and becoming—
Order your copy: amzn.eu/d/angSgVq
I’d love to hear what it stirs in you.

Cover of Peeling Apples by Alan Parry. The title is handwritten in black on a textured pale blue background, partially torn to reveal layered photographs underneath. Images include red apples on a wooden board, a cracked mug holding a cactus, a netted bowl of marbles on a lace doily, and a vintage photo of a young boy holding a football. The author’s name appears at the bottom in the same handwritten font.

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Alan Parry He/Him @alanparrywriter.co.uk · 10h

There’s such depth in these — language pulled from the mire & made luminous. Thoughtful, raw, and utterly human. Precisely why this prompt series exists. Thanks for sharing! #PoemsAbout #ImperfectMe

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Reposted by Alan Parry He/Him

Karen Keefe @greenkari.bsky.social · 13h

My husband, Robert Guzikowski, has aphasia. These poems are from his book, Unwordly, published by UnCollected Press. #PoemsAbout#ImperfectMe

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Alan Parry He/Him @alanparrywriter.co.uk · 10h

A manifesto in miniature — clear, compassionate, and necessary. “Lift the mask worn by the apparently whole” feels both invitation & command. #KeepWriting
#PoemsAbout #ImperfectMe

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Reposted by Alan Parry He/Him

Kristin Houlihan, Writer @kristinwrites.bsky.social · 1d

Late post for #PoemsAbout #ImperfectMe

@thebrokenspine.co.uk
@alanparrywriter.co.uk

From my book, Lift the Mask, and the piece its title was taken from (this is a photo of the page from the paperback)

#Ubiquity

Normalize the
#ubiquity of brokenness.
Enlighten all to the
universality of struggle.
Lift the mask worn
by the apparently whole.
Each broken soul
will then find solace
in knowing it's
not alone.

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Alan Parry He/Him @alanparrywriter.co.uk · 10h

‘i float behind like a deflating balloon’ You capture invisibility tenderly, the pain of being half-seen, half tethered.
#KeepWriting #PoemsAbout #ImperfectMe

Reposted by Alan Parry He/Him

Ian Brownlie @ianbrownlie.bsky.social · 23h

Am I late for #poemsabout? Perfect.
#ImperfectMe
@thebrokenspine.co.uk
@alanparrywriter.co.uk

dog walking

the man crouches down to stroke my dog
i float behind like a deflating balloon
tethered to a child

their exchange is silent
and so personal
that i feel the need to look away

the man stands up
eyeing the balloon properly for the first time
then walks away as if confused by its presence

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Alan Parry He/Him @alanparrywriter.co.uk · 10h

‘the endless fray of being me’ — that closing line is so strong. You capture loneliness without ornament, a plea stitched to survival.
#KeepWriting #PoemsAbout #ImperfectMe

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Reposted by Alan Parry He/Him

Rebekah 💙🏳️‍🌈 @rteller.bsky.social · 15h

Here's my offering for #PoemsAbout #ImperfectMe @thebrokenspine.co.uk @alanparrywriter.co.uk

Twelve

Sometimes I feel
I don't belong
And being here
Just feels so wrong.
From deep inside
A quiet moan.
And all I want
Is to go home.

I get nervous.
I don't know why,
And all I seem
to do is cry.
It's dark and wet
And hard and old.
And all I do
Is what I'm told.

The world is there.
It's big and bright.
But all I see
Is empty night.
Nightmares and fear
And evil queens
Are all I have
In place of dreams.

But someday soon,
I don't know when,
This misery
Will find an end.
Can someone please
Help me relieve
The endless fray
Of being me?

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Alan Parry He/Him @alanparrywriter.co.uk · 10h

‘a cane, an absence, and a shared heart’ Strange and brilliant. You balance humour with pain, the oddness of symmetry made true.
#KeepWriting #PoemsAbout #ImperfectMe

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Reposted by Alan Parry He/Him

John Chmura @johnchmura.bsky.social · 16h

#PoemsAbout #ImperfectMe
@thebrokenspine.co.uk
Having just encouraged another poet to double dip and being triggered in a good way by a line in another poem, I’d like to double dip with this short piece I wrote in 2021 after seeing a man with a cane walking a dog with three legs.

OMNE TRIUM PERFECTUM

Three-legged man walks
three-legged dog;
a cane, an absence, and a shared heart.

Third wheel in three-legged races,
odd in games of evens; spacewalker
pounding Cupola windows.

Grabbing Gorilla Glue
to fix a three-legged stool,
putting small stock in the bond.

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Alan Parry He/Him @alanparrywriter.co.uk · 10h

‘the burnt sugar and blood kind of stuff’ You blend the domestic with the existential, every stir of the bowl thick with memory & cost.
#KeepWriting #PoemsAbout #ImperfectMe

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Reposted by Alan Parry He/Him

stace.bot @stacebot.bsky.social · 17h

the truth is. i've already posted #PoemsAbout #ImperfectMe this week. but i guess i just can't stop thinking about it. thanks a lot @alanparrywriter.co.uk and all of the ridiculously talented writers. @thebrokenspine.co.uk

sorry for being greedy and drafty and posting twice.

stace.bot @stacebot.bsky.social · 1d

a field guide for biochemical exhaustion
is inspired by

#fatigued
#Emoetry
@fafo-poets-society.bsky.social
@mwplovesmusic.bsky.social

#oeuvre
@poetickunal.bsky.social
#BlueSkyRelay @blueskyrelay.bsky.social

a field guide for biochemical exhaustion

i stir the ingredients for chocolate chip cookies
in a bowl with my hands, as if kneading back
the accumulation of everything—
all the imperfect selves, the murmurs and mirrors,
ink ghosts on the flyleaves of books
i haven’t thought about in ages.

the body, like cellular layers—
stacks of drafts.
it’s like i’m searching for a word
some professor once told me
how to pronounce with an accent: oeuvre.

i add more chips to the bowl.
it’s an after-word word that i’m after,
the one you use when you’re looking back
at what you’ve made—
the burnt sugar and blood kind of stuff,
and what it cost.

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Alan Parry He/Him @alanparrywriter.co.uk · 11h

‘Not AI generated, far from it’ That bites with pride. You remind us what real mess feels like: the spill, the slur, the beautiful human glitch.
#KeepWriting #PoemsAbout #ImperfectMe

Reposted by Alan Parry He/Him

Francis H Powell writer and poet @fhpowellwriter.bsky.social · 1d

#PoemsAbout #imperfectMe
@paulwritespoems.bsky.social

@alanparrywriter.co.uk

@thebrokenspine.co.uk

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Alan Parry He/Him @alanparrywriter.co.uk · 11h

‘the table of contents a puzzle’ That’s a gorgeous self-portrait. You give autobiography texture, each stanza turning the page on forgiveness.
#KeepWriting #PoemsAbout #ImperfectMe

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Reposted by Alan Parry He/Him

sheilaeh.bsky.social @sheilaeh.bsky.social · 1d

#PoemsAbout #ImperfectMe

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Alan Parry He/Him @alanparrywriter.co.uk · 11h

‘ellipsis signaling the story continues—’ Triumphant. You turn survival into punctuation. Smart!
#KeepWriting #PoemsAbout #ImperfectMe

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Reposted by Alan Parry He/Him

Merril D. Smith @merrildsmith.bsky.social · 1d

Good morning! I wasn't going to do this prompt for #PoemsAbout #imperfectMe but started writing it yesterday @paulwritespoems.bsky.social writing group. It's still rough. Thanks as always to @alanparrywriter.co.uk and @thebrokenspine.co.uk

Poem:

Still Standing

The scar on my right breast
a faint tracing,
the charcoal under the artist’s paint,

tattooed dots,
ellipsis signaling the story continues—

always a before
and an after--

so far, always an after--

the sagging of flesh, the greying of hair,
points for endurance, if not for style,

as vain as anyone, I suppose,
but embracing the imperfect,
me.

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Alan Parry He/Him @alanparrywriter.co.uk · 11h

‘Don’t touch me’ After all that sculpting and surf, the final command lands like shrapnel — a body both masterpiece & warning. Devastating!
#KeepWriting #PoemsAbout #ImperfectMe

Reposted by Alan Parry He/Him

Glenn Barker @rotherwrites.bsky.social · 2d

Hello @thebrokenspine.co.uk and host @alanparrywriter.co.uk for #PoemsAbout #ImperfectMe.
This week I am personifying the inanimate. I'm not sure about it...

Revelation

Tidal rock
Kicked and scraped
Shoal swimmer
Ocean colour catcher
Beach candy

Hard as nails

Wet clay
Dull-witted grains
Studio tabula rasa
Creator seeded
Shop window dressed

Forever fragile

Carrara marble
Hammer and chisel
Removing nothing
Revealing everything
Brittle hardness

Don’t touch me

© Glenn Barker October 2025

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Alan Parry He/Him @alanparrywriter.co.uk · 11h

‘Alive, but not for a lack of trying' You turn survival into confession, every rhyme dragging air back into bruised lungs.
#KeepWriting #PoemsAbout #ImperfectMe

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Reposted by Alan Parry He/Him

Raymh @rayhourigan.bsky.social · 2d

My contribution for #PoemsAbout #ImperfectMe, this is Flood..
@alanparrywriter.co.uk
@thebrokenspine.co.uk

Raymh @rayhourigan.bsky.social · Apr 28

Flood.. #poetry #poem #writing #writingcommunity

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Alan Parry He/Him @alanparrywriter.co.uk · 11h

‘My hide set hard’ That opening lands like a door bolting shut. You write resilience as isolation, strength carved from the pain of self-preservation.
#KeepWriting #PoemsAbout #ImperfectMe

Reposted by Alan Parry He/Him

Clare O'Brien @clareobrien.bsky.social · 1d

Bit late to the party with this, work & family stuff has kept me from my writing lately! So #ImperfectMe is the ideal theme. This is a WIP, trying to get at how it feels when we isolate ourselves from what feels like an unfriendly world.
#poemsabout
@alanparrywriter.co.uk
@thebrokenspine.co.uk

LINES OF DEFENCE
by Clare O'Brien

My hide set hard.
I’m fiercely solid, not a crack
to betray my weakness, defences
holding when the nightmares come.
Nothing can break me, nothing shake
my still resolve. My guards don’t sleep.
Unblinking eyes patrol between
the towers and the searchlights,
looking for incursions. I find nothing.
Nothing finds me.

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Alan Parry He/Him @alanparrywriter.co.uk · 11h

‘whittling you to the imperfect figure you have made of yourself’ You sculpt selfhood from damage, every line glistening with salt.
#KeepWriting #PoemsAbout #ImperfectMe

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