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Ink Sweat & Tears @inksweatandtears.co.uk · 8h

On the last day of Ink Sweat & Tears' celebration of National Poetry Day, things slow down. Today's poets - Heather Hughes, Laura Webb, Jude Brigley - all look at nature and its influence on how we might like to play.

inksweatandtears.co.uk/heather-hughes…#InkSweatandTearsr#NationalPoetryDayay

Ink Sweat & Tears @inksweatandtears.co.uk · 1d

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

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Ink Sweat & Tears @inksweatandtears.co.uk · 2d

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

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Ink Sweat & Tears @inksweatandtears.co.uk · 3d

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

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Reposted by Ink Sweat & Tears

Robin Houghton @robinhoughton.bsky.social · 3d

Grand to see a pome from The Mayday Diaries on @inksweatandtears.co.uk for its National Poetry Day series this year inksweatandtears.co.uk/play-for-nat...

Play, for National Poetry Day: Jennifer A. McGowan, Judith Shaw, Robin Houghton, Wendy Klein | Ink Sweat and Tears

inksweatandtears.co.uk

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Ink Sweat & Tears @inksweatandtears.co.uk · 4d

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

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Ink Sweat & Tears @inksweatandtears.co.uk · 5d

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

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Ink Sweat & Tears @inksweatandtears.co.uk · 6d

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

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Ink Sweat & Tears @inksweatandtears.co.uk · 7d

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

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Ink Sweat & Tears @inksweatandtears.co.uk · 8d

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

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Ink Sweat & Tears @inksweatandtears.co.uk · 9d

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

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

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Reposted by Ink Sweat & Tears

Claire Booker @clairebooker.bsky.social · 10d

Thank you Elontra Hall and Ink, Sweat & Tears for publishing my praise poem to a hospital consultant today. Read 'Dehydrated' here at inksweatandtears.co.uk/claire-booker/

Claire Booker | Ink Sweat and Tears

inksweatandtears.co.uk

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Ink Sweat & Tears @inksweatandtears.co.uk · 10d

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: 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.

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Ink Sweat & Tears @inksweatandtears.co.uk · 11d

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

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Ink Sweat & Tears @inksweatandtears.co.uk · 12d

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

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.

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Ink Sweat & Tears @inksweatandtears.co.uk · 12d

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

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

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Ink Sweat & Tears @inksweatandtears.co.uk · 14d

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

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

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Ink Sweat & Tears @inksweatandtears.co.uk · 15d

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 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©

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Ink Sweat & Tears @inksweatandtears.co.uk · 16d

'Evocative, descriptive, challenging and uplifting'

Congratulations to John Bartlett whose poem 'sclerenchyma' is the IS&T Pick of the Month for August 2025. To revisit the poem & see more voters' comments go to inksweatandtears.co.uk/august-2025-...

#InkSweatandTears #Poetry #PickoftheMonth

Image

Faint image of lilies coming through the image of clouds and sky of an autumn dusk.

Text:

Congratulations

John Bartlett
sclerenchyma

The IS&T August 2025 Pick of the Month

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Ink Sweat & Tears @inksweatandtears.co.uk · 16d

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

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©

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Ink Sweat & Tears @inksweatandtears.co.uk · 17d

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

Close up of chestnut tree branch with conkers

Text:

Shedding

It begins high up
the chestnut tree

Tim Dwyer©

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Ink Sweat & Tears @inksweatandtears.co.uk · 18d

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

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

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Ink Sweat & Tears @inksweatandtears.co.uk · 19d

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

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©

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Ink Sweat & Tears @inksweatandtears.co.uk · 20d

In Sandra Noel's 'The Sea Happens to Me Today', we are taken to the sea for balance and to 'reassemble', and come away with more.

Read it here: inksweatandtears.co.uk/sandra-noel-2/

#InkSweatandTears #PoetryCommunity #Submission

Image of hard rain upon a dark sea with darkening clouds.

The sea happens to me today

not because I’m the woman in the bakers
brusque turned rude
or the peaches still hard in the bowl

Sandra Noel©

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Ink Sweat & Tears @inksweatandtears.co.uk · 21d

We are extending our Pick of the Month vote for another 24 hours, until 6pm tomorrow, Friday 19 September. We share a selection of your comments with the shortlisted poets, so do please vote if you haven't already!

Ink Sweat & Tears @inksweatandtears.co.uk · 24d

Which poem is your IS&T August 2025 Pick of the Month? Choose from @benbanyard.bsky.social, John Bartlett, Cindy Botha, Liz Byrne, Jeff Gallagher or Esha Volvoikar, and vote at inksweatandtears.co.uk/august-2025-...

#InkSweatandTears #PoetryCommunity #PickoftheMonth

Full August moon in a vivid cloud filled sky at dusk.

Text:

The IS&T August 2025
Pick of the Month

Ben Banyard
John Bartlett
Cindy Botha
Liz Byrne
Jeff Gallagher
Esha Volvoikar

Vote Now

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