Alan McKean
@alanmckeanpoet.bsky.social
Grandad of 4
North West England
Trainee poet
website: https://alan-mckean.co.uk
“Taking the Mic” is now on Amazon https://amzn.eu/d/0dwRk6qt
North West England
Trainee poet
website: https://alan-mckean.co.uk
“Taking the Mic” is now on Amazon https://amzn.eu/d/0dwRk6qt
Reposted by Alan McKean
ancient fence leaning
morning glories climb through cracks
decay learns to bloom
#haikufeels #Decay #Senryu #Haiku #Poetry #Micropoetry #JustWrite #WritingCommunity #BlueskyPoets
morning glories climb through cracks
decay learns to bloom
#haikufeels #Decay #Senryu #Haiku #Poetry #Micropoetry #JustWrite #WritingCommunity #BlueskyPoets
October 7, 2026 at 1:04 PM
ancient fence leaning
morning glories climb through cracks
decay learns to bloom
#haikufeels #Decay #Senryu #Haiku #Poetry #Micropoetry #JustWrite #WritingCommunity #BlueskyPoets
morning glories climb through cracks
decay learns to bloom
#haikufeels #Decay #Senryu #Haiku #Poetry #Micropoetry #JustWrite #WritingCommunity #BlueskyPoets
Reposted by Alan McKean
Great to see Andrew’s book in @thebookvault.bsky.social ! Support your local bookshop!
October 9, 2026 at 9:22 AM
Great to see Andrew’s book in @thebookvault.bsky.social ! Support your local bookshop!
Reposted by Alan McKean
October 9, 2026 at 6:59 AM
Reposted by Alan McKean
Whitby Rooftops, by Yorkshire artist Clare Caulfield.
October 9, 2026 at 7:14 AM
Whitby Rooftops, by Yorkshire artist Clare Caulfield.
second cup of tea
camellia sinensis
shares a steamy dream
☕☕
camellia sinensis
shares a steamy dream
☕☕
First cup of tea:
Steam’s
Dream
Fulfilled
Steam’s
Dream
Fulfilled
October 9, 2026 at 6:38 AM
second cup of tea
camellia sinensis
shares a steamy dream
☕☕
camellia sinensis
shares a steamy dream
☕☕
Reposted by Alan McKean
#poetry #poems #poet #creativewriting #poetryisnotdead #poetrycommunity #edwardleepoetry #poetryblogger #wordsofwisdom #writer #stars
October 9, 2026 at 5:52 AM
Reposted by Alan McKean
Fear of blockages
Depression rages
In blank, dank
Pages, each dread
Canvas, rough
With rabbit skins
Doleful as frets
Where fear begins
Place your bets
The odds rise
I’m a magician
Before tired eyes
The heart cut out
The secret lies
In turning white
To colours wise
Morn @imcmillan.bsky.social
Depression rages
In blank, dank
Pages, each dread
Canvas, rough
With rabbit skins
Doleful as frets
Where fear begins
Place your bets
The odds rise
I’m a magician
Before tired eyes
The heart cut out
The secret lies
In turning white
To colours wise
Morn @imcmillan.bsky.social
October 9, 2026 at 5:17 AM
Fear of blockages
Depression rages
In blank, dank
Pages, each dread
Canvas, rough
With rabbit skins
Doleful as frets
Where fear begins
Place your bets
The odds rise
I’m a magician
Before tired eyes
The heart cut out
The secret lies
In turning white
To colours wise
Morn @imcmillan.bsky.social
Depression rages
In blank, dank
Pages, each dread
Canvas, rough
With rabbit skins
Doleful as frets
Where fear begins
Place your bets
The odds rise
I’m a magician
Before tired eyes
The heart cut out
The secret lies
In turning white
To colours wise
Morn @imcmillan.bsky.social
Reposted by Alan McKean
View from the kitchen window of a Maryhill tenement, Glasgow, 1970, photo by Nick Hedges.
October 8, 2026 at 4:39 PM
View from the kitchen window of a Maryhill tenement, Glasgow, 1970, photo by Nick Hedges.
Reposted by Alan McKean
Down and down it fell
like coins in a wishing well,
my enamoured heart.
#bspp58 #haiku #senryu #micropoem
like coins in a wishing well,
my enamoured heart.
#bspp58 #haiku #senryu #micropoem
October 8, 2026 at 6:11 PM
Down and down it fell
like coins in a wishing well,
my enamoured heart.
#bspp58 #haiku #senryu #micropoem
like coins in a wishing well,
my enamoured heart.
#bspp58 #haiku #senryu #micropoem
Reposted by Alan McKean
Face punctuation:
Ears as brackets. Full stop nose.
Mouth as an em dash
Ears as brackets. Full stop nose.
Mouth as an em dash
October 9, 2026 at 4:07 AM
Face punctuation:
Ears as brackets. Full stop nose.
Mouth as an em dash
Ears as brackets. Full stop nose.
Mouth as an em dash
Reposted by Alan McKean
A very special moment that's been a few years in the making.
Deepest thanks to all at @greenbeltfestival.bsky.social , Beam Publishers and my dear friend Pádraig for weaving a divine magical and sacredly human words within and around the imagery.
If you can help...
Deepest thanks to all at @greenbeltfestival.bsky.social , Beam Publishers and my dear friend Pádraig for weaving a divine magical and sacredly human words within and around the imagery.
If you can help...
To celebrate our years at Boughton we’re publishing A Portrait of Greenbelt: a gorgeous new book of @paulwchambers1970.bsky.social’s stunning wet-plate portraits of Greenbelters, and filled with Pádraig Ó Tuama’s poetic prose. Order your copy: www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/a-portrait...
October 3, 2026 at 6:33 AM
A very special moment that's been a few years in the making.
Deepest thanks to all at @greenbeltfestival.bsky.social , Beam Publishers and my dear friend Pádraig for weaving a divine magical and sacredly human words within and around the imagery.
If you can help...
Deepest thanks to all at @greenbeltfestival.bsky.social , Beam Publishers and my dear friend Pádraig for weaving a divine magical and sacredly human words within and around the imagery.
If you can help...
Reposted by Alan McKean
October 8, 2026 at 5:06 PM
Reposted by Alan McKean
Gulls of a feather. Pastel on cartridge.
October 9, 2026 at 5:19 AM
Gulls of a feather. Pastel on cartridge.
Reposted by Alan McKean
Time's like the sun
how it burns
through my dreams
evaporating them
one by one
til clouds rest
over my head
where blue skies
used to sit
but in this anticlimax
my life has become
there's a storm brewing
& when it breaks
I'll stand in the rain
& reclaim every dream
I haven't lived
yet.
#mpprompt
how it burns
through my dreams
evaporating them
one by one
til clouds rest
over my head
where blue skies
used to sit
but in this anticlimax
my life has become
there's a storm brewing
& when it breaks
I'll stand in the rain
& reclaim every dream
I haven't lived
yet.
#mpprompt
October 8, 2026 at 8:29 PM
Time's like the sun
how it burns
through my dreams
evaporating them
one by one
til clouds rest
over my head
where blue skies
used to sit
but in this anticlimax
my life has become
there's a storm brewing
& when it breaks
I'll stand in the rain
& reclaim every dream
I haven't lived
yet.
#mpprompt
how it burns
through my dreams
evaporating them
one by one
til clouds rest
over my head
where blue skies
used to sit
but in this anticlimax
my life has become
there's a storm brewing
& when it breaks
I'll stand in the rain
& reclaim every dream
I haven't lived
yet.
#mpprompt
Reposted by Alan McKean
Now open the box
A well known phrase or saying
Many remember.
A well known phrase or saying
Many remember.
October 8, 2026 at 10:01 AM
Now open the box
A well known phrase or saying
Many remember.
A well known phrase or saying
Many remember.
Reposted by Alan McKean
Hey folks. In total honesty my tour is NOT selling well. I’ve sold 30 tickets in a 400 seater in Birmingham, and not much more elsewhere. If you like musical comedy, if you like standup, then please come see my show! And spread the word! The Rachel Parris Songbook tour starts in Nov! Link in bio! 🎶
October 7, 2026 at 4:40 PM
Hey folks. In total honesty my tour is NOT selling well. I’ve sold 30 tickets in a 400 seater in Birmingham, and not much more elsewhere. If you like musical comedy, if you like standup, then please come see my show! And spread the word! The Rachel Parris Songbook tour starts in Nov! Link in bio! 🎶
Reposted by Alan McKean
It's publication day for A Scrap of Moss & Magick! Officially out in the world, with @dfbstoryhouse.bsky.social. It feels at once wildly thrilling & strangely distant.
(Alt Text for extended thanks! Links in bio!)
Good luck, little book, out in the world! Go well!
#ukkidlit #kidlituk #middlegrade
(Alt Text for extended thanks! Links in bio!)
Good luck, little book, out in the world! Go well!
#ukkidlit #kidlituk #middlegrade
October 8, 2026 at 8:49 AM
It's publication day for A Scrap of Moss & Magick! Officially out in the world, with @dfbstoryhouse.bsky.social. It feels at once wildly thrilling & strangely distant.
(Alt Text for extended thanks! Links in bio!)
Good luck, little book, out in the world! Go well!
#ukkidlit #kidlituk #middlegrade
(Alt Text for extended thanks! Links in bio!)
Good luck, little book, out in the world! Go well!
#ukkidlit #kidlituk #middlegrade
Reposted by Alan McKean
Manchester, 1961, photo by Shirley Baker.
October 8, 2026 at 7:15 AM
Manchester, 1961, photo by Shirley Baker.
Reposted by Alan McKean
Nuggets
A spindrift clump
A wisp of fine nothings
An arrow on a cast-aside card
Each scrap a way in
My project projects fear
Fear controlled by art
I’ve no way of knowing
Where a shard is going
Glue fixes problems
Peel the skin away
I’m only mortal
Each picture a portal
M @imcmillan.bsky.social
A spindrift clump
A wisp of fine nothings
An arrow on a cast-aside card
Each scrap a way in
My project projects fear
Fear controlled by art
I’ve no way of knowing
Where a shard is going
Glue fixes problems
Peel the skin away
I’m only mortal
Each picture a portal
M @imcmillan.bsky.social
October 8, 2026 at 4:49 AM
Nuggets
A spindrift clump
A wisp of fine nothings
An arrow on a cast-aside card
Each scrap a way in
My project projects fear
Fear controlled by art
I’ve no way of knowing
Where a shard is going
Glue fixes problems
Peel the skin away
I’m only mortal
Each picture a portal
M @imcmillan.bsky.social
A spindrift clump
A wisp of fine nothings
An arrow on a cast-aside card
Each scrap a way in
My project projects fear
Fear controlled by art
I’ve no way of knowing
Where a shard is going
Glue fixes problems
Peel the skin away
I’m only mortal
Each picture a portal
M @imcmillan.bsky.social
second cup of tea
teasing tonsils with velvet
bloody crackin' brew
☕☕
teasing tonsils with velvet
bloody crackin' brew
☕☕
First cup of tea:
This
Liquid kiss
Is
Bliss
This
Liquid kiss
Is
Bliss
October 8, 2026 at 6:32 AM
second cup of tea
teasing tonsils with velvet
bloody crackin' brew
☕☕
teasing tonsils with velvet
bloody crackin' brew
☕☕
Reposted by Alan McKean
October 8, 2026 at 6:20 AM
Reposted by Alan McKean
long october lane
shadowy with ghost parsley
half-remembers spring
shadowy with ghost parsley
half-remembers spring
October 7, 2026 at 9:46 PM
long october lane
shadowy with ghost parsley
half-remembers spring
shadowy with ghost parsley
half-remembers spring
Reposted by Alan McKean
Open the package:
A folded note from Thursday
Welcoming me in.
A folded note from Thursday
Welcoming me in.
October 8, 2026 at 4:02 AM
Open the package:
A folded note from Thursday
Welcoming me in.
A folded note from Thursday
Welcoming me in.
Reposted by Alan McKean
More reader comments on THESE ISLES:
'Great read!! Cracking book as all your books Brian.'
'"These Isles" well worth reading if you want to know more about the history of Britain and Ireland.'
'Read that and Northerners, lovely books!!!!'
'Great read!! Cracking book as all your books Brian.'
'"These Isles" well worth reading if you want to know more about the history of Britain and Ireland.'
'Read that and Northerners, lovely books!!!!'
October 7, 2026 at 7:43 AM
More reader comments on THESE ISLES:
'Great read!! Cracking book as all your books Brian.'
'"These Isles" well worth reading if you want to know more about the history of Britain and Ireland.'
'Read that and Northerners, lovely books!!!!'
'Great read!! Cracking book as all your books Brian.'
'"These Isles" well worth reading if you want to know more about the history of Britain and Ireland.'
'Read that and Northerners, lovely books!!!!'
Reposted by Alan McKean
I’m keeping the flag flying, trying to #SaveSquareChapelArts
🙌🙏🏻✊
#Halifax
www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/arts-and-cul...
🙌🙏🏻✊
#Halifax
www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/arts-and-cul...
Emmerdale and Coronation Street star backs campaign to save theatre for the arts
A man with a long career in showbusiness with the National Theatre and shows such as Emmerdale and Coronation Street, Reece Dinsdale, is using his connections to save one of the gems of the arts in We...
www.yorkshirepost.co.uk
October 7, 2026 at 10:20 AM
I’m keeping the flag flying, trying to #SaveSquareChapelArts
🙌🙏🏻✊
#Halifax
www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/arts-and-cul...
🙌🙏🏻✊
#Halifax
www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/arts-and-cul...