David Atkinson
@davidatkinsonpoet.bsky.social
(he/him) Prize-winning Irish poet writing in English & Ulster Scots. Pushcart nominated. MA from MMU. Archival poetics: Islandmagee Witch Trial & Irish War of Independence
There is a stillness here, a meditation on memory and loss. Little autumn details carry feelings, hold a relationship in the mind
The speaker caught in today, caught between yesterday & tomorrow
"Forever will be a day like this / strung perfectly on the necklace of days"
#poetry
#poemoftheday
The speaker caught in today, caught between yesterday & tomorrow
"Forever will be a day like this / strung perfectly on the necklace of days"
#poetry
#poemoftheday
September 17, 2026 at 6:42 PM
There is a stillness here, a meditation on memory and loss. Little autumn details carry feelings, hold a relationship in the mind
The speaker caught in today, caught between yesterday & tomorrow
"Forever will be a day like this / strung perfectly on the necklace of days"
#poetry
#poemoftheday
The speaker caught in today, caught between yesterday & tomorrow
"Forever will be a day like this / strung perfectly on the necklace of days"
#poetry
#poemoftheday
Today is International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer
A magnificent poem railing against anti-fact, anti-truth, anti-science politics
Nature keeps speaking even when we refuse to listen
But eventually it will stop & we will be left with the silence of bees
#poetry
#poemoftheday
A magnificent poem railing against anti-fact, anti-truth, anti-science politics
Nature keeps speaking even when we refuse to listen
But eventually it will stop & we will be left with the silence of bees
#poetry
#poemoftheday
September 16, 2026 at 6:10 PM
Today is International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer
A magnificent poem railing against anti-fact, anti-truth, anti-science politics
Nature keeps speaking even when we refuse to listen
But eventually it will stop & we will be left with the silence of bees
#poetry
#poemoftheday
A magnificent poem railing against anti-fact, anti-truth, anti-science politics
Nature keeps speaking even when we refuse to listen
But eventually it will stop & we will be left with the silence of bees
#poetry
#poemoftheday
Today is International Democracy Day & in a week I will be in Athens, the Agora, the birthplace of democracy
The word translated means ‘the power of the people’ – not some people, all of the people
Oh, how the last 7 lines in this poem speak of the truth of democracy
#poetry
#poemoftheday
The word translated means ‘the power of the people’ – not some people, all of the people
Oh, how the last 7 lines in this poem speak of the truth of democracy
#poetry
#poemoftheday
September 15, 2026 at 6:49 PM
Today is International Democracy Day & in a week I will be in Athens, the Agora, the birthplace of democracy
The word translated means ‘the power of the people’ – not some people, all of the people
Oh, how the last 7 lines in this poem speak of the truth of democracy
#poetry
#poemoftheday
The word translated means ‘the power of the people’ – not some people, all of the people
Oh, how the last 7 lines in this poem speak of the truth of democracy
#poetry
#poemoftheday
I love the attention in Jackie Kay’s poem, if we look for stories in the landscape it will provide them – but not always the story we seek
Also, the idea of not looking hard for something but looking the other way - that thing that eludes us might find us when we least expect it
#poetry
#poemofday
Also, the idea of not looking hard for something but looking the other way - that thing that eludes us might find us when we least expect it
#poetry
#poemofday
September 14, 2026 at 6:14 PM
I love the attention in Jackie Kay’s poem, if we look for stories in the landscape it will provide them – but not always the story we seek
Also, the idea of not looking hard for something but looking the other way - that thing that eludes us might find us when we least expect it
#poetry
#poemofday
Also, the idea of not looking hard for something but looking the other way - that thing that eludes us might find us when we least expect it
#poetry
#poemofday
It’s that time of the year again
Blackberry picking this afternoon and jam making tomorrow. It’s starting to feel a lot like autumn
There really can be only one poem today
#poetry
#poemoftheday
#seamusheaneysunday
Blackberry picking this afternoon and jam making tomorrow. It’s starting to feel a lot like autumn
There really can be only one poem today
#poetry
#poemoftheday
#seamusheaneysunday
September 13, 2026 at 6:55 PM
It’s that time of the year again
Blackberry picking this afternoon and jam making tomorrow. It’s starting to feel a lot like autumn
There really can be only one poem today
#poetry
#poemoftheday
#seamusheaneysunday
Blackberry picking this afternoon and jam making tomorrow. It’s starting to feel a lot like autumn
There really can be only one poem today
#poetry
#poemoftheday
#seamusheaneysunday
There is something in the blending of ritual, memory, and a conversation that is almost a monologue
All of this bound up in mythological tragedy 'in the olny season of his life that mattered'
The prophetic ‘I know what's coming’. All it will take is a turn of the head
#poetry
#poemoftheday
All of this bound up in mythological tragedy 'in the olny season of his life that mattered'
The prophetic ‘I know what's coming’. All it will take is a turn of the head
#poetry
#poemoftheday
September 12, 2026 at 1:40 PM
There is something in the blending of ritual, memory, and a conversation that is almost a monologue
All of this bound up in mythological tragedy 'in the olny season of his life that mattered'
The prophetic ‘I know what's coming’. All it will take is a turn of the head
#poetry
#poemoftheday
All of this bound up in mythological tragedy 'in the olny season of his life that mattered'
The prophetic ‘I know what's coming’. All it will take is a turn of the head
#poetry
#poemoftheday
I wasn’t sure whether to post this yesterday for World Suicide Prevention Day
A conversation today with someone I know reminded me it can be hard to find the right words
If this poem encourages 1 person to check in, or to ask for help, then it may have done some good
#poetry
#poemofday
#asktwice
A conversation today with someone I know reminded me it can be hard to find the right words
If this poem encourages 1 person to check in, or to ask for help, then it may have done some good
#poetry
#poemofday
#asktwice
September 11, 2026 at 6:54 PM
I wasn’t sure whether to post this yesterday for World Suicide Prevention Day
A conversation today with someone I know reminded me it can be hard to find the right words
If this poem encourages 1 person to check in, or to ask for help, then it may have done some good
#poetry
#poemofday
#asktwice
A conversation today with someone I know reminded me it can be hard to find the right words
If this poem encourages 1 person to check in, or to ask for help, then it may have done some good
#poetry
#poemofday
#asktwice
I've been posting a daily poem for just over a year
In celebration I'm sharing the 10 most popular poems of the last 12 months
In 1st place we have Noor Hindi
‘Poetry is when an emotion has found its thought and the thought has found words’ – Robert Frost
#poetry
#poemofday
In celebration I'm sharing the 10 most popular poems of the last 12 months
In 1st place we have Noor Hindi
‘Poetry is when an emotion has found its thought and the thought has found words’ – Robert Frost
#poetry
#poemofday
September 10, 2026 at 7:27 PM
I've been posting a daily poem for just over a year
In celebration I'm sharing the 10 most popular poems of the last 12 months
In 1st place we have Noor Hindi
‘Poetry is when an emotion has found its thought and the thought has found words’ – Robert Frost
#poetry
#poemofday
In celebration I'm sharing the 10 most popular poems of the last 12 months
In 1st place we have Noor Hindi
‘Poetry is when an emotion has found its thought and the thought has found words’ – Robert Frost
#poetry
#poemofday
I've been posting a daily poem for just over a year
In celebration I'm sharing the 10 most popular poems of the last 12 months
In 2nd is Jay Hulme’s poem about grace & belonging, about being loved just as you are & accepting this truth
Conversion therapy - still legal in UK 😡
#poetry
#poemofday
In celebration I'm sharing the 10 most popular poems of the last 12 months
In 2nd is Jay Hulme’s poem about grace & belonging, about being loved just as you are & accepting this truth
Conversion therapy - still legal in UK 😡
#poetry
#poemofday
September 9, 2026 at 7:01 PM
I've been posting a daily poem for just over a year
In celebration I'm sharing the 10 most popular poems of the last 12 months
In 2nd is Jay Hulme’s poem about grace & belonging, about being loved just as you are & accepting this truth
Conversion therapy - still legal in UK 😡
#poetry
#poemofday
In celebration I'm sharing the 10 most popular poems of the last 12 months
In 2nd is Jay Hulme’s poem about grace & belonging, about being loved just as you are & accepting this truth
Conversion therapy - still legal in UK 😡
#poetry
#poemofday
I've been posting a daily poem for just over a year
In celebration I'm sharing the 10 most popular poems of the last 12 months
In 3rd place is Gwendolyn Brooks. I love the lines breaks, the jazz back beat, the pure music of this poem
How it elevates the heartbreaking narrative
#poetry
#poemofday
In celebration I'm sharing the 10 most popular poems of the last 12 months
In 3rd place is Gwendolyn Brooks. I love the lines breaks, the jazz back beat, the pure music of this poem
How it elevates the heartbreaking narrative
#poetry
#poemofday
September 8, 2026 at 8:47 PM
I've been posting a daily poem for just over a year
In celebration I'm sharing the 10 most popular poems of the last 12 months
In 3rd place is Gwendolyn Brooks. I love the lines breaks, the jazz back beat, the pure music of this poem
How it elevates the heartbreaking narrative
#poetry
#poemofday
In celebration I'm sharing the 10 most popular poems of the last 12 months
In 3rd place is Gwendolyn Brooks. I love the lines breaks, the jazz back beat, the pure music of this poem
How it elevates the heartbreaking narrative
#poetry
#poemofday
I've been posting a daily poem for just over a year
In celebration I'm sharing the 10 most popular poems of the last 12 months
In 4th – the question is not ‘is it better than Blake’s Tyger?’
But is it celebrating the escape of an incarcerated tiger, or a warning for us to run?
#poetry
#poemofday
In celebration I'm sharing the 10 most popular poems of the last 12 months
In 4th – the question is not ‘is it better than Blake’s Tyger?’
But is it celebrating the escape of an incarcerated tiger, or a warning for us to run?
#poetry
#poemofday
September 7, 2026 at 7:53 PM
I've been posting a daily poem for just over a year
In celebration I'm sharing the 10 most popular poems of the last 12 months
In 4th – the question is not ‘is it better than Blake’s Tyger?’
But is it celebrating the escape of an incarcerated tiger, or a warning for us to run?
#poetry
#poemofday
In celebration I'm sharing the 10 most popular poems of the last 12 months
In 4th – the question is not ‘is it better than Blake’s Tyger?’
But is it celebrating the escape of an incarcerated tiger, or a warning for us to run?
#poetry
#poemofday
I've been posting a daily poem for just over a year
In celebration I'm sharing the 10 most popular poems of the last 12 months
6th – has echos of Niemöller’s poem ‘First They Came’
The 1st houses are already ashes. Many still think the wind is blowing in the opposite direction
#poetry
#poemofday
In celebration I'm sharing the 10 most popular poems of the last 12 months
6th – has echos of Niemöller’s poem ‘First They Came’
The 1st houses are already ashes. Many still think the wind is blowing in the opposite direction
#poetry
#poemofday
September 6, 2026 at 12:58 PM
I've been posting a daily poem for just over a year
In celebration I'm sharing the 10 most popular poems of the last 12 months
6th – has echos of Niemöller’s poem ‘First They Came’
The 1st houses are already ashes. Many still think the wind is blowing in the opposite direction
#poetry
#poemofday
In celebration I'm sharing the 10 most popular poems of the last 12 months
6th – has echos of Niemöller’s poem ‘First They Came’
The 1st houses are already ashes. Many still think the wind is blowing in the opposite direction
#poetry
#poemofday
I've been posting a daily poem for just over a year
In celebration I'm sharing the 10 most popular poems of the last 12 months
6th - poignant in the week we lost Wendell
It's easy to point fingers. It's also important to ask what's my culpability, either directly or by apathy
#poetry
#poemofday
In celebration I'm sharing the 10 most popular poems of the last 12 months
6th - poignant in the week we lost Wendell
It's easy to point fingers. It's also important to ask what's my culpability, either directly or by apathy
#poetry
#poemofday
September 5, 2026 at 9:17 AM
I've been posting a daily poem for just over a year
In celebration I'm sharing the 10 most popular poems of the last 12 months
6th - poignant in the week we lost Wendell
It's easy to point fingers. It's also important to ask what's my culpability, either directly or by apathy
#poetry
#poemofday
In celebration I'm sharing the 10 most popular poems of the last 12 months
6th - poignant in the week we lost Wendell
It's easy to point fingers. It's also important to ask what's my culpability, either directly or by apathy
#poetry
#poemofday
I've been posting a daily poem for just over a year
In celebration I am sharing the 10 most popular poems of the last 12 months
In 8th place - Hanif Abdurraqib
My 1st Punk show was Stiff Little Fingers. Unlike the poet’s experience #punk in #Belfast united a divided city
#poetry
#poemofday
#SLF
In celebration I am sharing the 10 most popular poems of the last 12 months
In 8th place - Hanif Abdurraqib
My 1st Punk show was Stiff Little Fingers. Unlike the poet’s experience #punk in #Belfast united a divided city
#poetry
#poemofday
#SLF
September 4, 2026 at 6:35 PM
I've been posting a daily poem for just over a year
In celebration I am sharing the 10 most popular poems of the last 12 months
In 8th place - Hanif Abdurraqib
My 1st Punk show was Stiff Little Fingers. Unlike the poet’s experience #punk in #Belfast united a divided city
#poetry
#poemofday
#SLF
In celebration I am sharing the 10 most popular poems of the last 12 months
In 8th place - Hanif Abdurraqib
My 1st Punk show was Stiff Little Fingers. Unlike the poet’s experience #punk in #Belfast united a divided city
#poetry
#poemofday
#SLF
I've been posting a daily poem for just over a year
As a fitting birthday celebration I will be sharing the 10 most popular poems of the last 12 months
In 8th place is a counterpoint to the heroic narrative of The Odyssey
A meditation on war & the impact of paternal absence
#poetry
#poemofday
As a fitting birthday celebration I will be sharing the 10 most popular poems of the last 12 months
In 8th place is a counterpoint to the heroic narrative of The Odyssey
A meditation on war & the impact of paternal absence
#poetry
#poemofday
September 3, 2026 at 6:57 PM
I've been posting a daily poem for just over a year
As a fitting birthday celebration I will be sharing the 10 most popular poems of the last 12 months
In 8th place is a counterpoint to the heroic narrative of The Odyssey
A meditation on war & the impact of paternal absence
#poetry
#poemofday
As a fitting birthday celebration I will be sharing the 10 most popular poems of the last 12 months
In 8th place is a counterpoint to the heroic narrative of The Odyssey
A meditation on war & the impact of paternal absence
#poetry
#poemofday
I've been posting a daily poem for just over a year
As a fitting birthday celebration I will be sharing the 10 most popular poems of the last 12 months
In 9th place is this poem about resilience, about not to instinctually run from ‘an obesity of grief’, but to enter it
#poetry
#poemofday
As a fitting birthday celebration I will be sharing the 10 most popular poems of the last 12 months
In 9th place is this poem about resilience, about not to instinctually run from ‘an obesity of grief’, but to enter it
#poetry
#poemofday
September 2, 2026 at 6:21 PM
I've been posting a daily poem for just over a year
As a fitting birthday celebration I will be sharing the 10 most popular poems of the last 12 months
In 9th place is this poem about resilience, about not to instinctually run from ‘an obesity of grief’, but to enter it
#poetry
#poemofday
As a fitting birthday celebration I will be sharing the 10 most popular poems of the last 12 months
In 9th place is this poem about resilience, about not to instinctually run from ‘an obesity of grief’, but to enter it
#poetry
#poemofday
On the anniversary of #poemoftheday it would be ungracious not to mention the people who regularly engage with my posts.
Your likes, reposts, and comments mean the world to me.
Without you I would be reading poems to myself, which is kinda boring and a little bit weird!
Your likes, reposts, and comments mean the world to me.
Without you I would be reading poems to myself, which is kinda boring and a little bit weird!
September 1, 2026 at 10:47 PM
On the anniversary of #poemoftheday it would be ungracious not to mention the people who regularly engage with my posts.
Your likes, reposts, and comments mean the world to me.
Without you I would be reading poems to myself, which is kinda boring and a little bit weird!
Your likes, reposts, and comments mean the world to me.
Without you I would be reading poems to myself, which is kinda boring and a little bit weird!
I've been posting a daily poem for just over a year
As a fitting birthday celebration I will be sharing the 10 most popular poems of the last 12 months
In 10th place is this poem about hope & endurance, loss & renewal that sings like a little bird, rings sweet as a bell
#poetry
#poemofday
As a fitting birthday celebration I will be sharing the 10 most popular poems of the last 12 months
In 10th place is this poem about hope & endurance, loss & renewal that sings like a little bird, rings sweet as a bell
#poetry
#poemofday
September 1, 2026 at 6:54 PM
I've been posting a daily poem for just over a year
As a fitting birthday celebration I will be sharing the 10 most popular poems of the last 12 months
In 10th place is this poem about hope & endurance, loss & renewal that sings like a little bird, rings sweet as a bell
#poetry
#poemofday
As a fitting birthday celebration I will be sharing the 10 most popular poems of the last 12 months
In 10th place is this poem about hope & endurance, loss & renewal that sings like a little bird, rings sweet as a bell
#poetry
#poemofday
As we close out August and bring summer to an end I will leave you with this perfect little sonnet
I may spark some controversy with this statement, but...
I think this might be a better blackberry poem than Heaney’s
‘cramming the black honey of summer into my mouth’
#poetry
#poemoftheday
I may spark some controversy with this statement, but...
I think this might be a better blackberry poem than Heaney’s
‘cramming the black honey of summer into my mouth’
#poetry
#poemoftheday
August 31, 2026 at 8:53 PM
As we close out August and bring summer to an end I will leave you with this perfect little sonnet
I may spark some controversy with this statement, but...
I think this might be a better blackberry poem than Heaney’s
‘cramming the black honey of summer into my mouth’
#poetry
#poemoftheday
I may spark some controversy with this statement, but...
I think this might be a better blackberry poem than Heaney’s
‘cramming the black honey of summer into my mouth’
#poetry
#poemoftheday
I was at the Seamus Heaney Homeplace today for the @comartspartner.bsky.social Seamus Heaney Awards for New Writing, an extra poignancy on his anniversary
Delighted to have 1 poem longlisted & 1 placed 3rd
Huge congratulations to the winner Susan Gully
#poetry
#poemoftheday
#seamusheaneysunday
Delighted to have 1 poem longlisted & 1 placed 3rd
Huge congratulations to the winner Susan Gully
#poetry
#poemoftheday
#seamusheaneysunday
August 30, 2026 at 6:28 PM
I was at the Seamus Heaney Homeplace today for the @comartspartner.bsky.social Seamus Heaney Awards for New Writing, an extra poignancy on his anniversary
Delighted to have 1 poem longlisted & 1 placed 3rd
Huge congratulations to the winner Susan Gully
#poetry
#poemoftheday
#seamusheaneysunday
Delighted to have 1 poem longlisted & 1 placed 3rd
Huge congratulations to the winner Susan Gully
#poetry
#poemoftheday
#seamusheaneysunday
Looking forward to Paul Muldoon tonight at the Seamus Heaney Centre - ‘A History of Ireland in 12 Poems’
Hoping that this is 1 of the 12
A beautiful juxtaposition of a childhood memory & Irish politics. Its documentary style exercises great care not to romanticise or judge
#poetry
#poemoftheday
Hoping that this is 1 of the 12
A beautiful juxtaposition of a childhood memory & Irish politics. Its documentary style exercises great care not to romanticise or judge
#poetry
#poemoftheday
August 29, 2026 at 4:14 PM
Looking forward to Paul Muldoon tonight at the Seamus Heaney Centre - ‘A History of Ireland in 12 Poems’
Hoping that this is 1 of the 12
A beautiful juxtaposition of a childhood memory & Irish politics. Its documentary style exercises great care not to romanticise or judge
#poetry
#poemoftheday
Hoping that this is 1 of the 12
A beautiful juxtaposition of a childhood memory & Irish politics. Its documentary style exercises great care not to romanticise or judge
#poetry
#poemoftheday
Today 63 years ago at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington Dr Martin Luther King gave his ‘I Have a Dream’
This poem by Langston Hughes was written 13 years earlier.
76 years later both men’s dreams are still to be realised
#poetry
#poemoftheday
#IHaveADream
This poem by Langston Hughes was written 13 years earlier.
76 years later both men’s dreams are still to be realised
#poetry
#poemoftheday
#IHaveADream
August 28, 2026 at 7:18 PM
Today 63 years ago at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington Dr Martin Luther King gave his ‘I Have a Dream’
This poem by Langston Hughes was written 13 years earlier.
76 years later both men’s dreams are still to be realised
#poetry
#poemoftheday
#IHaveADream
This poem by Langston Hughes was written 13 years earlier.
76 years later both men’s dreams are still to be realised
#poetry
#poemoftheday
#IHaveADream
Today is the 21st anniversary of hurricane Katrina
The human impact was unprecedented. But this was compounded by an utterly abject federal response
This is from Patricia Smith's brutally honest and heart-breaking collection ‘Blood Dazzler’ that addresses the catastrophe
#poetry
#poemoftheday
The human impact was unprecedented. But this was compounded by an utterly abject federal response
This is from Patricia Smith's brutally honest and heart-breaking collection ‘Blood Dazzler’ that addresses the catastrophe
#poetry
#poemoftheday
August 27, 2026 at 6:51 PM
Today is the 21st anniversary of hurricane Katrina
The human impact was unprecedented. But this was compounded by an utterly abject federal response
This is from Patricia Smith's brutally honest and heart-breaking collection ‘Blood Dazzler’ that addresses the catastrophe
#poetry
#poemoftheday
The human impact was unprecedented. But this was compounded by an utterly abject federal response
This is from Patricia Smith's brutally honest and heart-breaking collection ‘Blood Dazzler’ that addresses the catastrophe
#poetry
#poemoftheday
Today is Women’s Equality Day
Here Annemarie Ní Churreáin’s poem become a ritual, weaving a spell of self assertion to reclaim voice, agency, and moral authority
She rejects silence and names harm precisely. Each transformational stage is testimony of resilience and refusal
#poetry
#poemoftheday
Here Annemarie Ní Churreáin’s poem become a ritual, weaving a spell of self assertion to reclaim voice, agency, and moral authority
She rejects silence and names harm precisely. Each transformational stage is testimony of resilience and refusal
#poetry
#poemoftheday
August 26, 2026 at 5:57 PM
Today is Women’s Equality Day
Here Annemarie Ní Churreáin’s poem become a ritual, weaving a spell of self assertion to reclaim voice, agency, and moral authority
She rejects silence and names harm precisely. Each transformational stage is testimony of resilience and refusal
#poetry
#poemoftheday
Here Annemarie Ní Churreáin’s poem become a ritual, weaving a spell of self assertion to reclaim voice, agency, and moral authority
She rejects silence and names harm precisely. Each transformational stage is testimony of resilience and refusal
#poetry
#poemoftheday
Today in 1914 German soldiers set fire to the library in Louvain
I am remined of the bombing of the Edward Said library in Gaza founded by the poet Mosab Abu Toha
Here, in an earlier poem, he speaks of his personal library but I cannot help but see the connection
#poetry
#poemoftheday
I am remined of the bombing of the Edward Said library in Gaza founded by the poet Mosab Abu Toha
Here, in an earlier poem, he speaks of his personal library but I cannot help but see the connection
#poetry
#poemoftheday
August 25, 2026 at 7:08 PM
Today in 1914 German soldiers set fire to the library in Louvain
I am remined of the bombing of the Edward Said library in Gaza founded by the poet Mosab Abu Toha
Here, in an earlier poem, he speaks of his personal library but I cannot help but see the connection
#poetry
#poemoftheday
I am remined of the bombing of the Edward Said library in Gaza founded by the poet Mosab Abu Toha
Here, in an earlier poem, he speaks of his personal library but I cannot help but see the connection
#poetry
#poemoftheday