Dreading #Slam, #OpenMic Poetry Competition returns to the Rising Sun Arts Centre (RG1 2ST) at 7:30PM (Doors 7:15) on Sunday May the 4th
#Free entry to Watch or read.
Dreading Slam is a friendly, open mic #poetry competition
The winner gets the opportunity to compete in the Grand Slam in January 2026
Join the audience or take part an evening of live poetry entertainment.

In addition the chance to read the works of any poet (max 3 mins) outside competition

There is also a lively quick fire round of short poems this is up to 5 lines long, won by the loudest cheer May theme is Days
If you wish to take part in the Poetry Slam, please bring 3 poems of your own work.
hosted by The Legend that is Richard Stephenson.

#PoetryMastodon #RdgUK #Berkshire

delusion

"You made me up to make yourself less lonely."
The accusation feels unfair enough to be true.
If I could fold the world, twist and warp it by my will,
how could what I make be anything but you?

No gods but the inchoate firmament,
no masters but the spark of genius in us all.
No truth but what's invented, no permission granted;
none sought, no grace from which to fall.

But if I could tear down the stars
and rip the sky asunder to feed my blazing forge,
What shape would I give to my creation,
what name, what face, what mind but yours?

Are you, then, a monument to cruelty,
wrought in flesh and soul to fill my aching need?
What must I be to have raised you in pain from chaos,
the swelling tide from which I bleed.

And if my ability to shape the world is limited
only by the razor-edged intention of my mind?
No kind god would spark life to only have it suffer,
and I fear that I am far from kind.

#poetrymastodon #poem

I HAVE NEWS! 🥳

The Winter 2023 issue of The LLP Magazine is now out! Features two poems written by yours truly, entitled 'Eight Hearts, Down a Path…' and 'The Illusion of Virtue'.

Fans of Sherlock (BBC) will love this issue! It celebrates the life of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. An illustration of Benedict Cumberbatch's incarnation of Holmes adorns the cover.

Grab your copy here: https://www.learningliteraturewithpurba.com/product-page/the-llp-magazine-winter-issue-2023

Kindle link: https://www.amazon.in/dp/B0CQXM16PC

Fun fact! I got my inspiration for 'Eight Hearts, Down a Path…' from a certain RPG video game by Square Enix. Not hard to guess which one, right? 😉

Tags: #Poem #Poetry #PoetryCommunity #PoetryMastodon #Poet #Writer #Literature #OctopathTraveler #SquareEnix #VideoGames #BBCSherlock #Sherlock #SherlockHolmes

As new associate editor of Frontier Poetry, I have the pleasure of writing their exceptional poetry column every month! My first one just came out; in it, I look at poems featuring #disability , #pluralsystem , #reproductivejustice and more. Check it out below.

https://www.frontierpoetry.com/2023/08/29/exceptional-poetry-from-around-the-web-august-2023/

@litodons @writing @poets #litodon #poetrymastodon #writingcommuinty #disabilitycommunity @disability

A short poem on unrequited feelings.

#poetry #poem #poetrycommunity #poetrymastodon #poetrykolektiva #love #lovepoems

First sighting of my book in the wild. @blackwells in Oxford, apparently.

#poetry #books #bookstodon #bookshops #bookstores #poetrycommunity #PoetryMastodon
@saltpublishing

It's World Book Day please buy my book

https://www.saltpublishing.com/products/the-meanwhile-sites-9781784632694

#worldbookday #books #mybook #poetry #PoetryMastodon #themeanwhilesites #perfunctorysalestoot @saltpublishing

again, again the pattern repeats.

like little flowering daisy's
down a desolate forgotten street.

again the world requests another
show to show each other

once again the world renews
the actors set to take the stage

year in and year out

while everyone is acting
the world delights about

#poem #poetry #PoetryMastodon

weather chills inky clouds swirl
icy snowflakes gale
flicker in the soupy night
mist and fog, shimmery miasma

#poem #poetry #PoetryMastodon