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Josh Stone @joshstonepoetry.bsky.social · 5d

Josh Stone @joshstonepoetry.bsky.social · 11d

Josh Stone @joshstonepoetry.bsky.social · Oct 1

Excited to have three poems in this anthology. Currently sitting at #3 on Amazon’s best selling poetry collection, just behind Matthew McConaughey’s new book 😎

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Josh Stone @joshstonepoetry.bsky.social · Sep 30

when my faith runs dry
like ink, like sand
I lay my head on your chest
and your heartbeat retells the story
again and again and again

#poetry #KYpoet #love

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Josh Stone @joshstonepoetry.bsky.social · Sep 29

when all I had was a pen
and everything looked like a page
you held out your hand and let me
write love on your arm

the pressed black ink
now pulses under your skin
your veins filled with
words I could not speak

#poetry #KYpoet #love

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Josh Stone @joshstonepoetry.bsky.social · Sep 28

the yard feels larger now without you
wildflowers have laid down in the grass,
branches hang heavier with silence
I’ve put the feeders away

with each departure
wings and words fold into the air
I stand in the ache you left
slowly learning to let go
without calling back

#poetry #KYPoet #grief

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Josh Stone @joshstonepoetry.bsky.social · Sep 27

at least losing you
has helped me understand
why the songbirds scatter
when I get too close
though I’ve only ever fed them
and shared dreams of taking flight

they do not see my open hand
only the shadow that falls before it
and though I walk as softly as I know how
the earth still trembles
#poetry

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Josh Stone @joshstonepoetry.bsky.social · Sep 23

Tonight, I almost told her. I almost whispered it into the dark, into the space where we usually laid down the small truths of our lives. The words pressed against my teeth like glass— sharp. But I swallowed them.
She stirred. “Are you okay? You seem tired.”
“Yeah,” I said. “Just tired.”
#Poetry

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Reposted by Josh Stone

Kimberly Vanderhorst @kymburlee.bsky.social · Sep 18

there’s thunder
brewing on her tongue
her bones are beating
drum, drum, drum
all their training’s
come undone
there’s rage
in her ribcage
and lightning
in her lungs

#poetry

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Josh Stone @joshstonepoetry.bsky.social · Sep 17

Just signed my first author contract.
👏 Clap for me! 👏

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Josh Stone @joshstonepoetry.bsky.social · Sep 16

forms.gle/VUpKfM84dUJcDzYH8

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Josh Stone @joshstonepoetry.bsky.social · Sep 14

Yesterday, I almost said what was on my mind.

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Josh Stone @joshstonepoetry.bsky.social · Sep 14

♥️

Josh Stone @joshstonepoetry.bsky.social · Sep 14

when the world erupts and ash-black skies spew flame and fury remember, your skin was never meant to swallow it whole
hold your pain with open hands and fill your pockets
with the promise of dawn

#poetry #KYpoet

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Josh Stone @joshstonepoetry.bsky.social · Sep 14

Which news channel does your father watch?

Not what kind of books does he read
Not who is his favorite poet
Not who or what inspires him
Not whether he prefers Monet or O’Keeffe
Not Rock n roll or Jazz or Classical top 10s
Not his thoughts on existentialism
Not his wildflower garden
#poetry #KYpoet

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Josh Stone @joshstonepoetry.bsky.social · Sep 13

♥️

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Josh Stone @joshstonepoetry.bsky.social · Sep 12

don’t talk to me about expectations
just tell me how deep the water is before I dive in
is this love going to break me in half
or plunge me
into the most beautiful unknown

#poetry #KYpoet

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Josh Stone @joshstonepoetry.bsky.social · Sep 8

❤️

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Josh Stone @joshstonepoetry.bsky.social · Sep 7

being wanted as I am
unravels the north wind:
first cracks, then rivers,
then marigolds again
from puddles
I hoped were frozen forever.
freezing and thawing
never leaving winter
never finding spring

#poetry #KYpoet

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Josh Stone @joshstonepoetry.bsky.social · Sep 6

winter arrives too soon,
and glacial air fills my lungs
I start the car
and drive away
shaking
too cold to speak,
too cold to shape sound into a plea.

#poetry #KYpoet

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Josh Stone @joshstonepoetry.bsky.social · Sep 5

I’ve never been enough—
your uncharted mind,
your body, your wild spirit
keep me dismantling myself,
chipping at the ice,
stacking blocks
carving a figure from frost,
praying it would breathe,
and resemble someone
you could hold
even if for a fleeting moment

#poetry #KYpoet

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Josh Stone @joshstonepoetry.bsky.social · Sep 5

♥️

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Josh Stone @joshstonepoetry.bsky.social · Sep 4

I freeze
tongue-tied,
like a boy rehearsing your name
until sound collapses into breath,
throat filled with snow,
a silence only the winter knows.

#poetry #KYpoet #winter

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Josh Stone @joshstonepoetry.bsky.social · Sep 2

I wish I knew how to
steady myself
for the moment you could love me,
but you arrived like an early frost,
marigolds burning in their own mouths,
petals whispering heat,
the worst parts of me
refusing to surrender
to a tumbledown season.

#Poetry

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Josh Stone @joshstonepoetry.bsky.social · Aug 30

roots stitching
seeds splitting
petals unfolding
branches bending with fruit
rain pooling in the leaves’ cupped hands
damp moss breathing forgiveness
all of it trembling
with the quiet insistence of life

and in the center
the sun rises
over this broken earth
washing the world
in deep
green

#poetry

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