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Rich Clarkson @revrichclarkson.bsky.social · 7d

A new poem inspired by a conversation I had during my recent visit to Melanesia
#poem #iambicpentameter #melanesia #anglican #library #MynaBirds

A picture of a yellow library building in Solomon Islands with mountains in the background and this poem overlaid on the sky:

A Conversation Outside the Charles Elliot Fox library at Kohimarama

“The birds around here speak sometimes”, he said,
“the smallish brown ones with the yellow eyes.
You have to pay attention though, they spread
their mottled wings, glance back, say their goodbyes
and then before you know it they have gone,
packed up their conversation and moved on.”

“We used to have a bishop here,” he said,
“who was well known for talking to the birds
and other creatures. Once the rats all fled
from the cassava patch at just a word
from Bishop Fox. His grave is over there.
It's said the birds still join with him in prayer.”

I tried to pay attention like he said,
but though I watched and listened for a week,
I talked to them, sang songs, and shared my bread,
I never once did hear the Myna speak.
Beside the Charles Fox library, filled with words,
I sit in silence, praying with the birds.

Rich Clarkson, 2025

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Reposted by Rich Clarkson

The Church of England @churchofengland.org · 12d

Today Bishop Sarah Mullally, nominated as the 106th Archbishop of Canterbury, made her first address at Canterbury Cathedral.

Watch the address at cofe.io/106thArchbishopAddress.

Announcement of Next Archbishop of Canterbury

Watch Rt Revd and Rt Hon Dame Sarah Mullally DBE, who will be the 106th Archbishop of Canterbury, make their first address at Canterbury Cathedral. May God...

cofe.io

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Reposted by Rich Clarkson

Jo Kershaw @mthrjo.bsky.social · 12d

SHE HAS A NAME

Sky News @news.sky.com · 12d

Woman named as new Archbishop of Canterbury in historic first

Bishop of London Dame Sarah Mullally, a former nurse, has been named as the next Archbishop of Canterbury - the first time a woman has been appointed to the role in the Church of England's history.

news.sky.com

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Reposted by Rich Clarkson

Simon Evans @drsimevans.carbonbrief.org · 15d

NEW: Something remarkable happened recently and hardly anyone noticed – GB electricity demand was 100% covered by clean power

We took a look at the data and this has happened for a record 87 hours in 2025 to date, twice as often as ever before

🧵

www.carbonbrief.org/...
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Rich Clarkson @revrichclarkson.bsky.social · 19d

1981, 1987, 2005, 2010 - what do they have in common? Nottinghamshire won the County Championship and England won the Ashes. Notts just won the County Championship again and the Ashes start in a few weeks... #JustSaying
@trentbridge.co.uk @wisdencricket.bsky.social #CountyChampionship #Ashes

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Reposted by Rich Clarkson

Nottinghamshire CCC @trentbridge.co.uk · 20d

Kyle Verreynne seals the title in stupendous style, lofting a six to take us beyond 300 and banking the required batting points!

#Champions25 🏆

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Rich Clarkson @revrichclarkson.bsky.social · Sep 13

I'm currently in the Solomon Islands getting to know the Anglican Church here and learning about the impacts of Climate Change here. This is a poem I wrote today reflecting on the last week of visits and conversations. #ClimateChange #Environment #CreationCare #SolomonIslands #Anglican #poetry #poem

Vulnerable
There is a vulnerability in these
small Islands where the challenges they face
are mostly not of their own making. Seas
are rising, trees are being felled, the race
for land and for development is fierce -
their magnitude could flood the roads with tears.
But vulnerable does not mean powerless.
Developing does not mean uninformed.
These islands, villages, and towns are getting
ready now to face the gathering storm.
Stone by stone, day by day, resisting
those forces that would stop them from existing.
Here, where land and sea are in a battle aeons long,
a fragile hope against all odds has always been their song.
RichClarksonPoetry.com

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Rich Clarkson @revrichclarkson.bsky.social · Sep 10

The Umbilical Tree.
#ClimateChange #ClimateCrisis #Pacific #SolomonIslands

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Rich Clarkson @revrichclarkson.bsky.social · Aug 31

I've offset the flights through #ClimateStewards - not to greenwash but, acknowledging the impact of long haul flight balanced with the value of making the trip, to do some extra good and tip the balance a little further!

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Rich Clarkson @revrichclarkson.bsky.social · Aug 31

The visit is supported by the Melanesian Mission UK and Lichfield Diocese, as well as my own parishes of Kinver & Enville, and while there I'll be starting with the Melanesian Brotherhood and visiting various ACoM projects and people

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Rich Clarkson @revrichclarkson.bsky.social · Aug 31

The Season of Creation begins tomorrow, and I'm just packing to head out to the Solomon Islands in behalf of Lichfield Diocese to see firsthand the impacts of Climate Change in the Pacific and the work the Anglican Church of Melanesia is doing in response #SeasonOfCreation #Melanesia #ClimateChange

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Rich Clarkson @revrichclarkson.bsky.social · Jun 22

I'm 6'3" and even I have to go up into the pulpit to light the Paschal candle our church warden bought this Easter - it's huge 😂

Reposted by Rich Clarkson

Rabbi Marisa James @marisaelana.bsky.social · Jun 22

I'm not sure who turned my words into a meme, and included U.S. citizens (most of whom do not want a new war!), but I appreciate how many people are connecting with it.

May all of us, in all of our different situations, somehow help bring the justice this world so desperately needs. 💔

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Rich Clarkson @revrichclarkson.bsky.social · Jun 21

A glorious sunny afternoon watching the frogs and newts in the pond #frogs #newts #pondlife

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Rich Clarkson @revrichclarkson.bsky.social · Jun 13

And yet somehow the idea that we need to get to Net Zero carbon emissions as quickly as possible is a debated and disputed political idea. We need to do it for the literal survival of our species and our planet! #NetZero #ClimateChange

Rich Clarkson @revrichclarkson.bsky.social · Jun 13

We went to a garden centre this morning and I was struck by this matter of fact sign saying that this particular plant has been "bred to withstand our ever-increasing summer temperatures". Yet another symptom of the undeniable fact of climate change #ClimateChange #NetZero

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Reposted by Rich Clarkson

Adam Tranter @adamtranter.bsky.social · Jun 10

Today, the Government launches plans to fast-track driverless vehicle trials in the UK.

One of the companies involved says London presents a big challenge:

“It has seven times more jaywalkers than San Francisco.”

Except… it doesn't. 🧵

The UK Accelerates Its Self-Driving Car Ambitions

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Rich Clarkson @revrichclarkson.bsky.social · Jun 10

Today's GCSE History exam is on the twin topics of "Making America" and "Living Under Nazi Rule". Those two are much closer together at the moment than they ought to be...

A photo of a GCSE timetable which includes today's History exam with the title "Mke Amrc Liv Undr Nzi Rle"

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Rich Clarkson @revrichclarkson.bsky.social · Jun 8

A group of folks I'm part of who usually meet at the pub on a Tuesday night have hired the church hall and are putting in a concert for family and friends and it's wonderful! 3 songs each and some impromptu bands - amateur music is alive and well in this corner of the world ❤️

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Reposted by Rich Clarkson

Dave Walker @davewalker.bsky.social · Jun 8

New drawing: ‘The artists whose work was used when you made a picture using AI, and how much they were paid’. One of ten drawings about AI from Diagram Club #042: open.substack.com/pub/diagramc...

Black and white cartoon, with title ‘The artists whose work was used when you made a picture using AI, and how much they were paid’. There are six figures, each being creative in some way (painting, drawing, with a phone, at a screen). Underneath the six figures the following captions: ‘Nothing, zero, nil, nought, not a sausage, nowt’.

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Rich Clarkson @revrichclarkson.bsky.social · Jun 6

richclarksonpoetry.com/2025/06/06/c...

richclarksonpoetry.com