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Ian Brownlie

@ianbrownlie.bsky.social

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Ian Brownlie @ianbrownlie.bsky.social · 9h

Thanks, Alan!

Ian Brownlie @ianbrownlie.bsky.social · 22h

Very kind, thank you

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Ian Brownlie @ianbrownlie.bsky.social · 1d

Thank you

Ian Brownlie @ianbrownlie.bsky.social · 1d

Thanks, Mike.

Reposted by Ian Brownlie

stace.bot @stacebot.bsky.social · 2d

For this week's #PoemsAbout #ImperfectMe, I'm thinking about a small devotion to the unhinged and unhealed parts of ourselves.

Thank you to the host @alanparrywriter.co.uk
and @thebrokenspine.co.uk and to all of the other writers.

#poetry #poem #writing #PoetryCommunity #BlueSkyPoets

a small devotion

sometimes i wonder
what it feels like to be you--

i search the pockets of my mouth,
the hard palate,
the ache that arches me empty.

you aren’t there
in any sheet fold.
when i roll the bed to blindness,
and when i wake--
only a stung tongue,
nightmare dreams of liquid cake,
bird attacks,
red-lacquered fingertips.

all night my eyes pluck out
their own orbit--
broken bulb of you.

every medicine-cabinet morning
needs to catch
the mirror’s mocking gape.

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Reposted by Ian Brownlie

Bernard Pearson @bernp.bsky.social · 2d

corrected a couple of bloopers! huge thanks to @alanparrywriter.co.uk and @thebrokenspine.co.uk for hosting #PoemsAbout #imperfectme

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Ian Brownlie @ianbrownlie.bsky.social · 1d

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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Ian Brownlie @ianbrownlie.bsky.social · 1d

Great album. I'd add in Scott Walker (Scott 3/Scott 4 era) feels too, which I guess relates back to Brel.

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Ian Brownlie @ianbrownlie.bsky.social · 4d

Reaching Rainbows

Reposted by Ian Brownlie

The Toy Press 🍩🦜🍑🌻🪐🛼 @thetoypress.bsky.social · 6d

Hello, here is your #wordoftheweek!

#writingcommunity #writingforchildren #writingprompt #poetryforkids #PoetryCommunity #poetryforchildren #kidlit

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Ian Brownlie @ianbrownlie.bsky.social · 6d

Well, I read some parts of Dante's Inferno, then Leonora Carrington's The Hearing Trumpet, and now I'm on R.F. Kuang's Katabasis. So it's been a real hellish time.

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Reposted by Ian Brownlie

Rebecca Chaney @rebeccajchaney.bsky.social · 6d

It's always exciting to see pics of your book in the wild, especially on the other side of the world! STU AND THE SKETCHY TIME STOPS has found his way to Marlow Library in the UK! TY @ianbrownlie.bsky.social for sharing this pic!

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Ian Brownlie @ianbrownlie.bsky.social · 7d

Thanks, Gary

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Ian Brownlie @ianbrownlie.bsky.social · 8d

My edible offering for @thetoypress.bsky.social #WordOfTheWeek #Bake.

It's a little late as I didn't hear the oven timer go off, and after cutting off the burnt edges only a limerick was left.

#WritingCommunity #WritingForChildren #PoetryCommunity #PoetryForKids #KidLit #WordPrompt

There once was a baker from Goring
Whose cakes were a little bit boring
He baked rainbow iced buns
And stacked them high as twelve suns
Which people had more trouble ignoring

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Reposted by Ian Brownlie

Jim Beckett @jimbeckett.bsky.social · 8d

I taught at the school that Katharine traduces in To Miss With Love, (Penguin 2011 - it was on Radio 4 too). She and I worked closely together, on the school magazine for example. She left the school in 2009 when it came out that she had been secretly blogging about her colleagues 1/4

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Ian Brownlie @ianbrownlie.bsky.social · 8d

Thanks, Alan. Yes, that line is certainly where things start to turn!

Ian Brownlie @ianbrownlie.bsky.social · 8d

I think if this poem were to have an alternate title, it would be:

silence of the iambs

Ian Brownlie @ianbrownlie.bsky.social · 8d

Thanks. I toyed with the idea of reining the ending in a bit, but mannequins just feel a bit creepy so I stuck with it.

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Ian Brownlie @ianbrownlie.bsky.social · 8d

Thanks!

Ian Brownlie @ianbrownlie.bsky.social · 8d

Thank you!

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Ian Brownlie @ianbrownlie.bsky.social · 8d

Thanks. I probably watched that episode from hiding behind the sofa when I was far too young for it! Though I only actually remember doing that for the also-terrifying blank-faced people episode of Sapphire and Steel...

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Reposted by Ian Brownlie

Duotrope @duotrope.com · 9d

Today's listing of the day is: Audi Locus: A Journal of Poetry @audilocus.bsky.social #WritingCommunity

Listing of the Day

Today's listing of the day is: Audi Locus: A Journal of Poetry @audilocus.bsky.social #WritingCommunity

duotrope.com

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Ian Brownlie @ianbrownlie.bsky.social · 9d

For this week's #poemsabout
#mannequin
@thebrokenspine.co.uk
@alanparrywriter.co.uk

watching all the pretty mannequins dance

i dress them
place them
set them spinning

a line of mannequins
imperfect in their various stages
and states

costumed to suggest personalities
that i assign
and will shine through
their blank expressions
so that i can picture their dreams

look at them

i want nothing more than this
though need
yes need still exists

and the only real dream
that each mannequin has
is to make it back to their loved ones
alive

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Ian Brownlie @ianbrownlie.bsky.social · 9d

Also delighted to have a poem (the show) in the new issue of the wonderful Audi Locus! It has been a very busy #NationalPoetryDay. Going to relax and enjoy the rest of the issue now...

www.audilocus.com/volume1-issu...

Ian Brownlie @ianbrownlie.bsky.social · 9d

Thanks to @streetcakemag.bsky.social for publishing my poem, titled:

don't panic
the number of people i've killed has been greatly exaggerated

So a nice cheery one for celebrating #NationalPoetryDay

www.streetcakemagazine.com/issue.html

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