Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Glenn Barker

@rotherwrites.bsky.social

870 followers 830 following 1.5K posts

[My words] "are shut up tight inside themselves like boxes, yet they would open up, unfolding quite wonderfully, if only" [I could interest them], Sylvia Plath

Posts Media Videos Starter Packs

Pinned

Glenn Barker @rotherwrites.bsky.social · Jul 14

Have you got your 'Beautiful Little Fools: Poetry of Glamour Obsession and the Gilded Age' yet?

tinyurl.com/4t867sfa

Thank you @thebrokenspine.co.uk editors @alanparrywriter.co.uk and @karenpgonzalez.bsky.social for selecting 'Beautiful Untouchable' and 'Let's Pretend' in superb hardback format.

6 24

Glenn Barker @rotherwrites.bsky.social · 13h

This is a heartfelt and raw portrait Lin. From the recovery community I work with I see how your poem narrator, through the refrains, shows how she took back control, how she regained herself, who she has always been. 💚

Reposted by Glenn Barker

Lin Hart @poetry-with-hart.bsky.social · Sep 1

Yeah... I'm not saying anything about this one. Thought hugs and best wishes all around 💙

#emoetry #naked #vssmagic #flesh #poem #poetry #sobriety #recovery #onedayatatime

I stand before the mirror naked,
no shadow of deception in my gaze
no persuasive smile graces my cheeks,
no walls to hide my Self behind.

Just me,
the mirror
and my flesh.

My scars have begun to fade,
crows feet dance around my eyes
some places gravity pulled less taut,
ten extra pounds, all courtesy of time.

Just me,
the mirror
and my honesty.

I can't ever seem to say anything nice
to the woman looking back at me,
Mouse brown hair scraggle-short
gracing a small pale frame.

Just me
the mirror
and my self hatred.

I sink my head down and sigh,
letting the weight of my ego
my high expectations, my overwhelming fears
drop into the sink, to flush down the drain.

Just me
the mirror
and my acceptance.

The naked Self staring back,
I reflect on how long it took her… me…
to reach a week of sobriety again,
and for once… I love her for it.

Just me,
the mirror.

9 7 28

Reposted by Glenn Barker

Author Machelle Berglund -Follow Fairy Seasons on Backerkit @spookyxpickle.bsky.social · 23h

For my #WednesdayWIPs, I'm workshopping my #PoemsAbout poem. I can't decide what I want to focus. The beautiful flaws of my physical self? The mental struggles I have?

I am a body
with imperfections,
perfectly functional
in the most imperfect
of ways

I might lean more towards body.

The Broken Spine @thebrokenspine.co.uk · 1d

It’s Wednesday. Got a WIP?

Doesn’t matter if it’s raw or rolling. If it’s yours, it belongs.

Drop a line. Share a note. Let us know where you’re at.

#WednesdayWIPs #PoetsOfBluesky #BlueskyWriters #PoemsAbout

1 2 3

Glenn Barker @rotherwrites.bsky.social · 23h

In the sense that our bodies and minds are one, each impacts the other. You will find an endless well of context and images to work from; how our physical bodies are altered by travails and trauma, and how we repair and smooth our edges. 💚

Glenn Barker @rotherwrites.bsky.social · 2d

Thank you for sharing this Eleanor. 💚

Glenn Barker @rotherwrites.bsky.social · 2d

To echo a recent post of yours Jaelyn: 'curiosity is everything'.
We write to share that curiosity. 💚

Reposted by Glenn Barker

Eleanor Holmes | Eliot North @eleanorholmes.bsky.social · 2d

Brian Patten’s ‘Love Poems’ was one of the first poetry collections I bought. His words carry such a gift of connection, seconding this #lifttothesky

Brian Patten ‘Love Poems’ front cover image

1 3 7

Glenn Barker @rotherwrites.bsky.social · 2d

Oh, wow Fidel! 🤩

1 1

Glenn Barker @rotherwrites.bsky.social · 2d

This week I want to #LiftToTheSky poet Brian Patten, who died September 29th; not so much for his poetry but this quote from him in a newspaper obituary, which goes to the heart of why we come together every week for #PoemsAbout #PromptCombo and others.

@thebrokenspine.co.uk
#PoetsInBluesky

Brain Patten, Poet, 1946-2025

Writing poetry was a kind of therapy
for him. “You think about things which
are in you and sensations that are going
through you and if you understand them
you can grow in that knowledge. That
is what poems are for”.

5 9 29

Glenn Barker @rotherwrites.bsky.social · 3d

All very unsettling and abnormal...

1 1

Glenn Barker @rotherwrites.bsky.social · 3d

Thank you for that endorsement Gary! The movement that has been created with #PoemsAbout is what drives that desire in everyone to turn up every week with something to share.
@thebrokenspine.co.uk
@alanparrywriter.co.uk
#PoetsOnBluesky

1 1

Glenn Barker @rotherwrites.bsky.social · 3d

Thank you Gary. Words never came easy to me; they still don't.

1 1

Glenn Barker @rotherwrites.bsky.social · 3d

Yes, a tragedy Carolyn. A tale of titillation for tourists, quickfire social media moments, the real stories omitted for easy consumption.

1 1 1

Reposted by Glenn Barker

Carolyn Thomas @carolynthomas.bsky.social · 3d

Hopelessly late but here’s another of the Ruth Ellis poems (this one’s a bit rough and needs tidying) for #PoemsAbout #Mannequins
@alanparrywriter.co.uk
@thebrokenspine.co.uk

9 6 21

Glenn Barker @rotherwrites.bsky.social · 3d

Yes, disturbing Carolyn. I don't like it either. One comment was about those who are silenced, coercive relationships being one of them.

1 1

Reposted by Glenn Barker

Marcelle Newbold @marcellenewbold.bsky.social · 5d

Lovely news last night of a nomination for Best of the Net from Gothic Keats Press for a poem in their Bryon anthology. Many thanks to Clay. Best of luck to everyone! 🌳🖊️🎉

www.gothickeatspress.com

6 7 25

Glenn Barker @rotherwrites.bsky.social · 4d

Yes, sometimes it works to remove the padding and leave the structure to punch for you.

Reposted by Glenn Barker

Karen Pierce Gonzalez @karenpgonzalez.bsky.social · 4d

So well-said my friend. The more we talk about it, the more aware we become, the more we are willing to change that painful dynamic. Thanks for your support!!!🙏 #poemsabout #mannequin @alanparrywriter.co.uk @thebrokenspine.co.uk #StayCreative #PoetsSupportPoets

1 1 1

Glenn Barker @rotherwrites.bsky.social · 4d

With you all the way. I work with a trauma recovery group (mainly women), effects which take decades for a new narrative to emerge, and a realisation of inner strength.

1 1 1

Glenn Barker @rotherwrites.bsky.social · 4d

Do we ever not write from the heart. I like your idea of it all as fiction, but also about ourselves.
I'm reminded of another: everything in this poem is true, though it may not contain the facts. 😉

1 1

Glenn Barker @rotherwrites.bsky.social · 4d

Of course, none of us are writing about ourselves Stace; we are but the narrators...

1 1

Glenn Barker @rotherwrites.bsky.social · 4d

Perhaps I went over the top there Emily with my imagination. I'm no horror/suspense fan

Glenn Barker @rotherwrites.bsky.social · 5d

...and yes, I should have said 'men and women who are slowly silenced in coercive relationships'

1 1

Glenn Barker @rotherwrites.bsky.social · 5d

It is rare, but whoever it is, the dynamic must be killing. The mannequin is a perfect allusion to that scenario.
I have written a few coercive control poems. Unprintable.

Glenn Barker @rotherwrites.bsky.social · 5d

After dark; yes, they will come alive and plot their revenge. Or will they just gather on food aisle corners and satisfy their hunger?

1 1