John North
@johnnorthwrites.bsky.social
Tea and haiku...
Based in Cumbria UK.
Poetry & links at johnnorthwrites.blogspot.com
Co-owner at theherbfarm.co.uk
Based in Cumbria UK.
Poetry & links at johnnorthwrites.blogspot.com
Co-owner at theherbfarm.co.uk
Pinned
Publishing later this month!
My new poetic translation of Lu Yu’s Classic of Tea, the earliest known extant text devoted to tea.
#poetry #translation #tea #books
My new poetic translation of Lu Yu’s Classic of Tea, the earliest known extant text devoted to tea.
#poetry #translation #tea #books
Another early morning wee small hours before dawn thought: I've come to think of God as a heart. A beautiful, leafy heart, gently beating — the way a canopy seems to breathe, a green lung in a summer wind so light you can barely tell it apart from the feeling on your skin of simply existing. 💚
February 9, 2026 at 6:44 AM
Another early morning wee small hours before dawn thought: I've come to think of God as a heart. A beautiful, leafy heart, gently beating — the way a canopy seems to breathe, a green lung in a summer wind so light you can barely tell it apart from the feeling on your skin of simply existing. 💚
I've often thought the practice of seeking to write poetry leads eventually to prayer. And that the practice of seeking to pray leads eventually to Lao Tzu. And I suppose then one stops seeking. And starts writing poetry.
February 9, 2026 at 6:14 AM
I've often thought the practice of seeking to write poetry leads eventually to prayer. And that the practice of seeking to pray leads eventually to Lao Tzu. And I suppose then one stops seeking. And starts writing poetry.
Thank God for Bad Bunny ✊ Viva la revolución! #superbowl
February 9, 2026 at 1:30 AM
Thank God for Bad Bunny ✊ Viva la revolución! #superbowl
Only then did I realise fate had lined it up like bloody magic #superbOwl
February 9, 2026 at 1:17 AM
Only then did I realise fate had lined it up like bloody magic #superbOwl
I guess I should be drinking a Bud Light or something but as kick off approaches I'm actually still enjoying a pretty wonderful 2008 Ye Yun Mi Xiang Liu Bao from a tea friend @path-less-taken.bsky.social #superbowl #tea 😹
February 8, 2026 at 11:42 PM
I guess I should be drinking a Bud Light or something but as kick off approaches I'm actually still enjoying a pretty wonderful 2008 Ye Yun Mi Xiang Liu Bao from a tea friend @path-less-taken.bsky.social #superbowl #tea 😹
Late night Superbowl! It's become something of a tradition, although I boycotted last year. I don't want to boycott this year. Americans I know and the America I've been to is a wonderful place and I pray it gets through this truly horrendous situation. Bless you guys, keep up the fight #superbowl
February 8, 2026 at 11:35 PM
Late night Superbowl! It's become something of a tradition, although I boycotted last year. I don't want to boycott this year. Americans I know and the America I've been to is a wonderful place and I pray it gets through this truly horrendous situation. Bless you guys, keep up the fight #superbowl
Reposted by John North
My wife and I's book for children is on Amazon!
It uses familiar Cumbrian places and animals to tell a story about environmental destruction, sadness and hope.
amzn.eu/d/08BCapiS
It uses familiar Cumbrian places and animals to tell a story about environmental destruction, sadness and hope.
amzn.eu/d/08BCapiS
February 6, 2026 at 11:07 AM
My wife and I's book for children is on Amazon!
It uses familiar Cumbrian places and animals to tell a story about environmental destruction, sadness and hope.
amzn.eu/d/08BCapiS
It uses familiar Cumbrian places and animals to tell a story about environmental destruction, sadness and hope.
amzn.eu/d/08BCapiS
The talkative steam
of cup warming to the task,
its mouth breathing ghosts.
#poemsabout #mouths
@alanparrywriter.co.uk
@thebrokenspine.co.uk
of cup warming to the task,
its mouth breathing ghosts.
#poemsabout #mouths
@alanparrywriter.co.uk
@thebrokenspine.co.uk
February 7, 2026 at 9:31 AM
The talkative steam
of cup warming to the task,
its mouth breathing ghosts.
#poemsabout #mouths
@alanparrywriter.co.uk
@thebrokenspine.co.uk
of cup warming to the task,
its mouth breathing ghosts.
#poemsabout #mouths
@alanparrywriter.co.uk
@thebrokenspine.co.uk
Reposted by John North
tethered to the sky
the pulse you heard before birth
beats in you always
the pulse you heard before birth
beats in you always
February 6, 2026 at 10:20 PM
tethered to the sky
the pulse you heard before birth
beats in you always
the pulse you heard before birth
beats in you always
Reposted by John North
A belated Happy New Year — and perhaps a more seasonally apt one, with early February and the lunar new year close at hand
Poetry - December 2025/January 2026 - The Way of Tea
John North. Writer. b.1990. Based in Cumbria
johnnorthwrites.blogspot.com
February 4, 2026 at 3:50 PM
A belated Happy New Year — and perhaps a more seasonally apt one, with early February and the lunar new year close at hand
Reposted by John North
I recently designed 3 tea blends for a private spa. They specialise in TCM and seem really serious about herbs and teas!
We've hand-packed 360 teabags this week. One of the blends was pretty ambitious with five ingredients. Here's four of them; there's two in each bowl. Can you guess what they are?
We've hand-packed 360 teabags this week. One of the blends was pretty ambitious with five ingredients. Here's four of them; there's two in each bowl. Can you guess what they are?
February 6, 2026 at 11:39 AM
I recently designed 3 tea blends for a private spa. They specialise in TCM and seem really serious about herbs and teas!
We've hand-packed 360 teabags this week. One of the blends was pretty ambitious with five ingredients. Here's four of them; there's two in each bowl. Can you guess what they are?
We've hand-packed 360 teabags this week. One of the blends was pretty ambitious with five ingredients. Here's four of them; there's two in each bowl. Can you guess what they are?
Reposted by John North
Statue of Ieyasu Tokugawa in Nikko, Tochigi prefecture, Japan. Photographer Bernard Languillier of Flickr. Ieyasu Tokugawa was the founder and first shōgun of the Tokugawa shogunate.
February 6, 2026 at 4:20 AM
Statue of Ieyasu Tokugawa in Nikko, Tochigi prefecture, Japan. Photographer Bernard Languillier of Flickr. Ieyasu Tokugawa was the founder and first shōgun of the Tokugawa shogunate.
February 6, 2026 at 4:48 PM
I've been blending herbs and teas for about a decade. In December I started to share them with the world! You can check out what I do at theherbfarm.co.uk
February 6, 2026 at 3:24 PM
I've been blending herbs and teas for about a decade. In December I started to share them with the world! You can check out what I do at theherbfarm.co.uk
Reposted by John North
Ewe looking at us? Because we’re definitely looking at ewe..
February 6, 2026 at 6:02 AM
Ewe looking at us? Because we’re definitely looking at ewe..
I recently designed 3 tea blends for a private spa. They specialise in TCM and seem really serious about herbs and teas!
We've hand-packed 360 teabags this week. One of the blends was pretty ambitious with five ingredients. Here's four of them; there's two in each bowl. Can you guess what they are?
We've hand-packed 360 teabags this week. One of the blends was pretty ambitious with five ingredients. Here's four of them; there's two in each bowl. Can you guess what they are?
February 6, 2026 at 11:39 AM
I recently designed 3 tea blends for a private spa. They specialise in TCM and seem really serious about herbs and teas!
We've hand-packed 360 teabags this week. One of the blends was pretty ambitious with five ingredients. Here's four of them; there's two in each bowl. Can you guess what they are?
We've hand-packed 360 teabags this week. One of the blends was pretty ambitious with five ingredients. Here's four of them; there's two in each bowl. Can you guess what they are?
My wife and I's book for children is on Amazon!
It uses familiar Cumbrian places and animals to tell a story about environmental destruction, sadness and hope.
amzn.eu/d/08BCapiS
It uses familiar Cumbrian places and animals to tell a story about environmental destruction, sadness and hope.
amzn.eu/d/08BCapiS
February 6, 2026 at 11:07 AM
My wife and I's book for children is on Amazon!
It uses familiar Cumbrian places and animals to tell a story about environmental destruction, sadness and hope.
amzn.eu/d/08BCapiS
It uses familiar Cumbrian places and animals to tell a story about environmental destruction, sadness and hope.
amzn.eu/d/08BCapiS
A belated Happy New Year — and perhaps a more seasonally apt one, with early February and the lunar new year close at hand
Poetry - December 2025/January 2026 - The Way of Tea
John North. Writer. b.1990. Based in Cumbria
johnnorthwrites.blogspot.com
February 4, 2026 at 3:50 PM
A belated Happy New Year — and perhaps a more seasonally apt one, with early February and the lunar new year close at hand
Publishing later this month!
My new poetic translation of Lu Yu’s Classic of Tea, the earliest known extant text devoted to tea.
#poetry #translation #tea #books
My new poetic translation of Lu Yu’s Classic of Tea, the earliest known extant text devoted to tea.
#poetry #translation #tea #books
February 4, 2026 at 3:05 PM
Publishing later this month!
My new poetic translation of Lu Yu’s Classic of Tea, the earliest known extant text devoted to tea.
#poetry #translation #tea #books
My new poetic translation of Lu Yu’s Classic of Tea, the earliest known extant text devoted to tea.
#poetry #translation #tea #books
Somewhat grim
2026 Doomsday Clock Statement - Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists
It is 85 seconds to midnight.
thebulletin.org
February 1, 2026 at 6:36 AM
Somewhat grim
Reposted by John North
A dream of the hills,
bursting into leaf:
trees like bamboo,
vast in the mountains;
flowers of white rose,
the waking mist: cha,
jia, she, ming, chuan —
tea upon the slopes...
(Opening lines from my in-progress translation of Lu Yu’s Chájīng (8th Century), the earliest known extant book on tea!)
bursting into leaf:
trees like bamboo,
vast in the mountains;
flowers of white rose,
the waking mist: cha,
jia, she, ming, chuan —
tea upon the slopes...
(Opening lines from my in-progress translation of Lu Yu’s Chájīng (8th Century), the earliest known extant book on tea!)
January 29, 2026 at 12:03 AM
A dream of the hills,
bursting into leaf:
trees like bamboo,
vast in the mountains;
flowers of white rose,
the waking mist: cha,
jia, she, ming, chuan —
tea upon the slopes...
(Opening lines from my in-progress translation of Lu Yu’s Chájīng (8th Century), the earliest known extant book on tea!)
bursting into leaf:
trees like bamboo,
vast in the mountains;
flowers of white rose,
the waking mist: cha,
jia, she, ming, chuan —
tea upon the slopes...
(Opening lines from my in-progress translation of Lu Yu’s Chájīng (8th Century), the earliest known extant book on tea!)
Reposted by John North
That night, he didn't
Bother to wrap up, just lay
Down, passed peacefully.
#Haikufeels #bother #haiku #senryu #poem #writing #writingcommunity
Bother to wrap up, just lay
Down, passed peacefully.
#Haikufeels #bother #haiku #senryu #poem #writing #writingcommunity
January 29, 2026 at 11:35 AM
That night, he didn't
Bother to wrap up, just lay
Down, passed peacefully.
#Haikufeels #bother #haiku #senryu #poem #writing #writingcommunity
Bother to wrap up, just lay
Down, passed peacefully.
#Haikufeels #bother #haiku #senryu #poem #writing #writingcommunity
A dream of the hills,
bursting into leaf:
trees like bamboo,
vast in the mountains;
flowers of white rose,
the waking mist: cha,
jia, she, ming, chuan —
tea upon the slopes...
(Opening lines from my in-progress translation of Lu Yu’s Chájīng (8th Century), the earliest known extant book on tea!)
bursting into leaf:
trees like bamboo,
vast in the mountains;
flowers of white rose,
the waking mist: cha,
jia, she, ming, chuan —
tea upon the slopes...
(Opening lines from my in-progress translation of Lu Yu’s Chájīng (8th Century), the earliest known extant book on tea!)
January 29, 2026 at 12:03 AM
A dream of the hills,
bursting into leaf:
trees like bamboo,
vast in the mountains;
flowers of white rose,
the waking mist: cha,
jia, she, ming, chuan —
tea upon the slopes...
(Opening lines from my in-progress translation of Lu Yu’s Chájīng (8th Century), the earliest known extant book on tea!)
bursting into leaf:
trees like bamboo,
vast in the mountains;
flowers of white rose,
the waking mist: cha,
jia, she, ming, chuan —
tea upon the slopes...
(Opening lines from my in-progress translation of Lu Yu’s Chájīng (8th Century), the earliest known extant book on tea!)
Reposted by John North
to the old cat
the sun on the sofa
is Mount Fuji
the sun on the sofa
is Mount Fuji
January 28, 2026 at 1:17 PM
to the old cat
the sun on the sofa
is Mount Fuji
the sun on the sofa
is Mount Fuji
Reposted by John North
Please spread this far and wide, as stories don't get much bigger than this. When the government blocks even the intelligence services from telling us we're heading for environmental catastrophe, you know we have a problem. A very big problem.
Thank you.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Thank you.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
The UK government didn't want you to see this report on ecosystem collapse. I'm not surprised | George Monbiot
It took an FOI request to bring this national security assessment to light. For ‘doomsayers’ like us, it is the ultimate vindication, says Guardian columnist George Monbiot
www.theguardian.com
January 28, 2026 at 7:18 AM
Please spread this far and wide, as stories don't get much bigger than this. When the government blocks even the intelligence services from telling us we're heading for environmental catastrophe, you know we have a problem. A very big problem.
Thank you.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Thank you.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...