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thewritermike.bsky.social
@thewritermike.bsky.social
Poetry & prose from the edge of memory. Myth-soaked, grief-blooded, and liminal. Michael Bates writes what haunts & heals: raven feathers, ghost mirrors, forgotten names, and Sacred Woods.
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I think we sometimes love certain places as they reflect what we feel, but can't say aloud. There's an old Hookland phrase – to be tulled – meaning to be caught between two worlds and at home in neither of them. I feel that a lot and I'm sure my favourite places do as well. – Martha Twilling #VOH
November 10, 2025 at 5:01 PM
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BREAKING: The Supreme Court rejects a call to overturn its decision legalizing same-sex marriage nationwide.
Supreme Court rejects call to overturn its decision legalizing same-sex marriage nationwide
The Supreme Court has rejected a call to overturn its landmark decision that legalized same-sex marriage nationwide.
bit.ly
November 10, 2025 at 2:41 PM
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Music to my ears. Being booed by 20,000+ people! Good job DC!
November 9, 2025 at 11:42 PM
Coffee and Ghosts
A writer’s morning ritual in the company of the past

The foghorns told stories no one understood.
The ghosts weren’t happy with my words.
But when the fog burned off,
I was somewhere else—my own world,
coffee in hand.

#poetry #poems

Full poem: ⬇️
vocal.media/poets/coffee...
Coffee and Ghosts
A writer’s morning ritual in the company of the past
vocal.media
November 10, 2025 at 3:24 PM
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Project 2025 is at 48% complete. It's been stalled for about a month or so. In case you were wondering if these court cases are slowing down the progress, they are.
Also, fuck DJT.
www.project2025.observer/en
November 9, 2025 at 11:31 PM
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Moulton is a no
November 9, 2025 at 11:30 PM
The Poem That Knew
On the quiet triumph of writing anything at all

A small victory for anyone
who’s ever written something
imperfect and loved it anyway.

#poetry #poems #writingcommunity #amwriting

Full poem below: ⬇️
The Poem That Knew
On the quiet triumph of writing anything at all
vocal.media
November 9, 2025 at 5:07 PM
Carry On, Lady of the Cat
(a 70s elegy)

🎶 echoes of the 70s.
Roads hum, angels gather, thunder remembers your name.
Read the poem. Hear the decade breathe again.
#70s #FreeVerse #Music #Nostalgia

#poetry #poems #WritingCommunity

Full poem: ⬇️
vocal.media/poets/carry-...
Carry On, Lady of the Cat
(a 70s elegy)
vocal.media
November 9, 2025 at 4:24 PM
The Road Doesn’t Care
But the Journey’s Yours

The road is cold steel and dust.
It never loves you back—
but it shapes who you are.

#poetry #poems #WritingCommunity #road #trucking #truckers

Full poem: ⬇️
vocal.media/poets/the-ro...
The Road Doesn’t Care
But the Journey’s Yours
vocal.media
November 8, 2025 at 4:37 PM
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after millions of views and shares of my Portland Frog art. (thank you all🙏🏾) I got requests to highlight priests, and chickens, and Chicagoans, and T-Rexes, and more… all of us who refuse to bend the knee. so this is for US.
𝚂𝚝𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚃𝚊𝚕𝚕.
𝚆𝚎 𝚆𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚆𝚒𝚗.
October 10, 2025 at 9:11 PM
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This should get a Pulitzer. It's going to be an all-time classic.
incredible photo that's definitely worth at least 1,000 words from Andrew Harnik of Getty
November 7, 2025 at 7:53 AM
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youtube.com/shorts/05pUe...
US put down at the UN
for its rudeness and outrageous behavior.
#dc #newyork #news
#lemonde #media #tech
#headlines #paris #uk
#london
Trump official PUBLICLY HUMILIATED at United Nations
YouTube video by Brian Tyler Cohen
youtube.com
November 7, 2025 at 7:16 PM
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Trump's record in four photos: Cowardice. Collapse. Chaos. Corruption.
November 7, 2025 at 7:14 PM
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This Native American Heritage Month, California celebrates the first people of this land and those Native American peoples from across the nation who now call California home.

Basket: Victoria Chubb, Morongo Band of Mission Indians
November 7, 2025 at 6:28 PM
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Coming soon to a theatre near you 😏
November 7, 2025 at 1:04 PM
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November 7, 2025 at 8:26 AM
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Powered down
November 7, 2025 at 1:06 PM
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USA Photo of the year
November 7, 2025 at 3:45 PM
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November 7, 2025 at 2:42 PM
Thoughts of the Forbidden Place
Where the ball waits and the laughter is gone

They said not to go there.
Too wet. Too fun.
Too full of ghosts that still smelled like rain.
But the ball was waiting,
and some promises are meant to be broken.

#poetry

Full poem: ⬇️
vocal.media/poets/though...
Thoughts of the Forbidden Place
Where the ball waits and the laughter is gone
vocal.media
November 7, 2025 at 4:17 PM
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Makes more sense now
November 7, 2025 at 7:07 AM
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Ok. Who did this? 🤭😅🤣
November 7, 2025 at 6:59 AM
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This is a great one.
May 24, 2025 at 1:42 PM