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deemclachlan.bsky.social
I’m resharing a poem for my #fridaypoem this week for #poemsabout #haunted

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Ghosts By Dawn Mclachlan The Dead return on stealthy feet And in the quiet ways Not in the shrieks of myth Or the clanked chains of literature Not in spectral bloodied cloth And creaks of floor They require neither season nor reason Instead, they appear in the watch unwound The drawer jammed by a rusted penknife They rise from a homeless key And a half- remembered phone number They tumble from yellowed photo albums Slipping from unused tools In spider-webbed racks They linger in restless moments Passing through childhood towns They surprise us in the expression of a child Or the saying of a friend They return not in the fearful dread But in the sorrowful silence Or in a distant song that snatches breath And brings an unexpected smile
October 30, 2026 at 5:19 PM
deemclachlan.bsky.social
A #fridaypoem for the #poemsabout #poetryprompt from @thebrokenspine.co.uk
On the #hollow feeling of returning to a childhood home. This poem is in my book #junesomewhere
Link in bio

#poetrycommunity #poets #poetry #poetsofbluesky #poemsaboutlife #alttext #poemAltText
Promises By Dawn Mclachlan I came back for you And searched the ways of a child In the meanders of the river Where the pools ran deep and cold To where we dreamed of flying Down hills pitted with barbs Among the hollowed trees I walked with crooked gait The paths where I once flowed In the vastness of memory A place so shrunken now And hoped to rescue you still I dreamed I walked with you a while And silvered all the fading scars As if a bright constellation newly fallen All yearning scattered like dust In time I took a different turn The long road curved away and I lost you I promised to come back for you Relieved, I found you gone
October 23, 2026 at 10:19 AM
deemclachlan.bsky.social
Something for #tankathursday and @evecastle.bsky.social #poetryprompt #vote

#poetrycommunity #tanka #haiku #poems #poetsofbluesky #PoemAltText #UseAltText #AltText
Vote By Dawn Mclachlan You know what you did Despite the protestations And the evidence In the silence of the booth It is time to put it right
October 22, 2026 at 7:28 AM
deemclachlan.bsky.social
Something for the #AmpersandAfterDark #poetryprompt - “pennies beneath her tongue”
Thank you @madp03t.bsky.social

#poetrycommunity #poems #poetsofbluesky #poets
#useAltText #PoemAltText #AltText
Pennies By Dawn Mclachlan At the end of the road the red box there in the dark the golden glow of a way out of a world possible beyond all of this just a call a call away so far away a well for the coin Instead the bitten tongue and the penny taste beneath
October 19, 2026 at 7:50 AM
deemclachlan.bsky.social
Time for another #fridaypoem and this time it’s a #poemsabout #possessed
Thank you @thebrokenspine.co.uk for the #poetryprompt

#poemAltText #UseAltText #PoetryCommunity #poetsofbluesky #poets #poems #poetry
Possession By Dawn Mclachlan I saw in the distance an exalted castle where sadness had lost value and in the polished melancholy outpouring algorithms picked the bones of emotion like crows feasting on their kin. All possession lost in the cold creep of a eulogy prompted untouched by human heart and beyond the reach of flesh lying in the dusty boxes of their lives the things they once yearned for the things they once worked for once held dear in the ceremonies of life and death there was only code to hold that moment still because they no longer lurched along the brittle road learning from the curves the climbs the falls the rocks and the once broken hearts there, only the machines write love songs
October 16, 2026 at 8:27 AM
deemclachlan.bsky.social
A #fridaypoem for @thebrokenspine.co.uk #poemsabout #poetryprompt #deadletters

#sorrynotsorry
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Dead Letters By Dawn Mclachlan You said you said sorry but that’s not what I heard from words that struggled for air and writhed in the death of Meaning Words distorted in the telling as Reason chased its tail You said you said sorry but that’s not what I heard because I was watching high cirrus clouds smudge the perfect blue with icy veils and as sure as night follows I knew the rain would come
September 25, 2026 at 1:03 PM
deemclachlan.bsky.social
A wee beastie #haibun for this #fridaypoem for the #poetryprompt - #strays
Hosted by @thebrokenspine.co.uk and @alanparrywriter.co.uk with #poemsabout every week

#poetrycommunity #haibuns #naturepoems #shrews #poems #poets #poemAltText #UseAltText
Stray By Dawn Mclachlan I read once that shrews don't really understand that we exist. In their minds we are as vast and unknowable as mountains, as silent and slow moving as trees. Their hearts beat 1000 times a minute and to them we are glacial in our pace. Imagine living in a world where it's possible to stray wild beyond the comprehension of man. We once placed our tent Across the tracks of a shrew And still he ran through
September 18, 2026 at 8:32 AM
deemclachlan.bsky.social
A #poemsabout for @thebrokenspine.co.uk and @alanparrywriter.co.uk prompt #FaultLines

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Fault Lines By Dawn Mclachlan In silvered tracks on papery skin the past walked carrying all that went before defining describing the way the world worked back then before time began before the Flight But decades later in startled moments the vertigo of Fault Lines still cracked like ice "Look what you made me do"
September 12, 2026 at 10:37 AM
deemclachlan.bsky.social
Another #FridayPoem for @thebrokenspine.co.uk and @alanparrywriter.co.uk prompt #sheddingskins
#poemsabout

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Slough By Dawn Mclachlan I wake in scarred skin Behind the earned Lines Of a million expressions And hear again the incessant buzz That I should rid myself Of this shameful aging burden So that I too Might achieve a youthful allure And emerge freshly born To disguise the fact That I can only move through time In one direction I could spend my future Rattling with tablets Made from boiled hooves Sunshine in pill form Fresh air powders Dehydrated trees Concentrate of oranges And hope Or I won't I can't shed this skin Instead I shed the guilt Of a visible past Gently creasing with memories Of the years that made me
September 4, 2026 at 8:31 AM
deemclachlan.bsky.social
A poem from my latest collection - June Somewhere (see pinned post) shared for #vss365 #glove

#poetrycommunity #gloves #poetsofbluesky #poemsaboutlife #poemsaboutgrief #poetry #poets #UseAltText #PoemAltText #supportpoets #NoAI #poetrybooks #poems
Wear the Gloves by Dawn Mclachlan In those muddled days after When all was opened doors And emptied drawers I remember them Butter-soft and finest leather Stitching like the whisper of the needle Wrapped still in silvered tissue Faded tags of festive gifting Unworn Saved for a "best" too late to know So if you think me too showy With misplaced colours and gaudy cloth Fine jewellery worn for no good reason It is because I have learned to Wear the damn gloves
August 29, 2026 at 8:40 AM
deemclachlan.bsky.social
A #FridayPoem for @thebrokenspine.co.uk prompt #PoemsAbout #EndOfSummer

#poetrycommunity #poets #poetsofbluesky #poems #summerpoems #poemsaboutlove #lovepoems #PoemAltText #UseAltText #poetry
Butterfly Days By Dawn Mclachlan The lines around my mouth bracket the things I won't say on these our golden days Instead I watch butterflies grow sleepy on unpicked apples as the chaff of harvest slowly falls around us Here, feel the season change in salted mists Take my hand and we shall drift on the tides of the last barley waves Move steady because I'm filled to the brim with the sweetness of summer's end and today shall not waste a drop
August 28, 2026 at 8:13 PM
deemclachlan.bsky.social
A poem from my book - June Somewhere - for the @thebrokenspine.co.uk #poemsabout prompt #deepcuts

#poemsaboutlife #poetrycommunity #poetsofbluesky #fridaypoems #UseAltText #poemAltText #poetry #poems
Harm By Dawn Mclachlan I didn't recognise these wounds Their depth deep Their cause subtle But years later Tattooist ink replacing The lace of silvered lines I remembered ruby jewels Worn in secret And thought of you
August 21, 2026 at 7:50 AM
deemclachlan.bsky.social
I love a challenge and @thewombwellrainbow.bsky.social certainly brought one this week with this complex #promptcombo
Here’s my effort, and just to add an extra element it’s in the form of a #haibun How did I do?
#UseAltText #poemalttext #poetrycommunity #poets #poems #poetsofbluesky
Hello By Dawn Mclachlan The fireweed had almost gone over already when we met. Their long stems crowded the roadside like uninvited guests. The first seed fluff lifted gently with the breeze. Captivated by the elegant ballet of anemochry I stopped listening. The seeds stuck in your hair as we walked. I wanted them to be free. I'd never wished for a comb before but... The afternoon scrimmed the skirts of evening revealing all of the blues ever imagined. The shadows shortened and I wished for warm arms. I welcomed autumn With time to swap green for gold And our last goodbye
August 18, 2026 at 10:26 AM
jillhturner.bsky.social
Rug Rat by Robin Ince

The joy of being in the now 📖

#poemAltText #usealttext #poetrycommunity #poetsofbluesky #poetryforall
robinince.bsky.social Robin Ince @robinince.bsky.social · Oct 19
A poem about when you are small and each moment is everything #poem

Book available here cosmicshambles.myshopify.com/products/ice...
RUG RAT Right NOW The whole world is this rug All of space is here Two plastic cars propelled By my small hands Thoughts end at the tassels of the carpet Later and it's NOW again And only NOW The whole world is the mixing bowl Small strands of candied peel So orangey I taste the sweetened wood of the spoon Cake ooze drips and fingers licked NOW it is only night The world of always black Dark enough for monsters But shooed away by the hedgehogs in my nightlight All that NOW is now a then The rug has gone The oven's cold There's nothing in the mixing bowl The hedgehogs fell The dark is thicker I wonder who I was Before I became 'I am' When I was ever present Not constructed by a past Blurred photo of young md QR codes "I'm safe here behind the sofa..." A collection of instinctual poetry pursuing the psychological essence of personal and societal wellbeing, explored through experiential neurodivergence and humanism. "Choice words chosen wisely. Highly recommended for all humans who retain their humanity." Henry Normal "Robin's poems embody the bravery that comes with vulnerability and a reverence for being here and loving every moment of it." Josie Long "This is poetry to play and replay as each poem's colours change and layers of meaning glow." Dr Kathryn Mannix "Each of these poems is a treat. A brief moment of connection, slipped between the pages of a hectic world." Reece Shearsmith "Bright snapshots of where we are, our nature and humanity, our sensitivities, our rage and our happiness." Salena Godden
October 19, 2025 at 11:35 PM
deemclachlan.bsky.social
A #haibun #Fridaypoem for @thebrokenspine.co.uk #poetryprompt #LastTrain
Hope you like it.
#poetrycommunity #poetsofbluesky #poemAltText #UseAltText #haibuns #poems #poets
#poemsabout
Last Train By Dawn Mclachlan They missed the train, and then they missed another, and another. Every time the rails hummed at the approaching tide of arrivals and departures, their hands gripped tighter. Together on their bench all life seemed to flow around them. Breaking to part as if around their tiny island. I watched them for a while caught in the warm wake of their feelings, yet cold in the depth of them. As the last train heaved its great bulk to a standstill they rose together and parted as if swept away. When the train rolled out from the station I gave him a tissue, and took my seat. The journey is long Through the stations of our lives Always mind the gaps
July 31, 2026 at 6:00 PM
deemclachlan.bsky.social
A #fridaypoem for the @thebrokenspine.co.uk prompt #badhabits

#poetrycommunity #anaphora #poems #badhabits. #poems #poetsofbluesky #AltText #useAltText #PoemAltText
Speaking Back By Dawn Mclachlan She's so mouthy They said Never shuts up They said Brought it on herself They said Asking for it They said But in the silence that came after In the healing time There was a brewing Of words And when they returned They were all mouth And teeth And cold intent And knowing They carried ideas above stations Where the road ran fast and slick Like tongues Bringing horizons closer But she never forgot The time they said Her voice brought the blame
July 24, 2026 at 8:16 AM
deemclachlan.bsky.social
Something from my latest poetry book (see pinned post). I wrote this last year when I was working on a series of poems about women in historical storytelling. Giving Penelope’s view. #odyssey #poetry #poets #poetrycommunity #classics #PoemAltText #penelope
Penelope's Web By Dawn Mclachlan I am wrung out by fading hope and the cruel deceptions of Time Shall my husband live forever in the tapestry of sailors' rhyme? When the salted sails of rumour blow and the wind whispers his name As the lonely night falls like the rain I will dress my weeping hands again If he returns he'll find me aged Frayed by grief, unlaced by want bent and branch-like at the loom Shrouded by memories that haunt In the long and tangled hours Fingers oakum raw, bloodied and in pain As the lonely night falls like the rain I will dress my weeping hands again Safe here in our olive-boughed bed In the sweet blue blanket of eve Unthreading warp and pulling weft praying for a homecoming breeze I am slowly turning back this clock returning cloth to skein And when lonely night falls like the rain I will dress my weeping hands again © Dawn McLachlan
July 21, 2026 at 9:00 AM
deemclachlan.bsky.social
A #fridaypoem for the @thebrokenspine.co.uk #poetryprompt of #exitwounds
I strongly advise folk to look at the #Exitwounds tag today because this prompt is very powerful and the work coming from it is extraordinary.
Anyway, here’s mine. It’s okay. #PoemAltText #UseAltText #AltText
Exit Wounds by Dawn Mclachlan I expected more in the days after I expected the wound to feel raw and torn fire and brimstone I expected the pain to vice my heart with fear and loss I expected the horrific void to swallow me whole but in the numbness as I took my place settling in the rising tide of anticipated grief there was just a deep blue breath of cooling melancholia I expected more in the newness of the injury but there was just the light and i walked into it
July 17, 2026 at 9:53 AM
deemclachlan.bsky.social
A #fridaypoem for the #poemsabout prompt #powercut
Thank you @thebrokenspine.co.uk as always. Remember to check the hashtag - read, like, share the love.
#alttext #PoemAltText #PoetryCommunity #poetsofbluesky #poetry #poems
Power, cut By Dawn Mclachlan There were raised hands and voices Before she fell like wind-blown lines Into the evening blue And all the world forever changed With such rapid power loss She lay in fearful stillness Gathering dampness in her bones Later, when all was white And clinical brilliance They asked “did you see stars?” The words would not come but In silence she remembered The torn jasmine Casting scented constellations Across the summer lawn And nodded
July 10, 2026 at 8:35 AM
deemclachlan.bsky.social
A #haibun for @jenthorne.bsky.social and the #poetsofdoom prompt #happyplace - thanks for hosting!
I absolutely love writing #haibuns and this is one from my new poetry collection - June Somewhere. #poetrycommunity #poetsofbluesky #AltText #PoemAltText #poems
Blossom a haibun By Dawn Mclachlan We walked up the last hill. I knew the old man would say that it wasn't fair horses had to risk slipping pulling that weight just for him. He need not worry, they were steady and true, tossing their plumes with admirable grace and elegance. He always loved walking that road. The stubby trees garlanding the kerb with petals in late spring. He'd sing - "cherry pink and apple blossom white, the poets say..." as we ran and whirled around him beneath the windblown cascade at imaginary future weddings. The trees were heavy with their confetti that final day. It seemed fitting we should pass beneath them on our way. I wanted to stop and dance again, but it was far too late. The sky seemed too blue On a day that called for rain Petals in black manes
July 5, 2026 at 7:58 AM
deemclachlan.bsky.social
A #fridaypoem for @thebrokenspine.co.uk prompt #cheapmotels Thanks to poet and curator
@alanparrywriter.co.uk
#poetrycommunity
#poetryprompts #poetsofbluesky #poemAltText #UseAltText #AltText #poets #poems #poemsabout #poemsaboutlife #poemsaboutlove
Postcard By Dawn Mclachlan Beyond the yellowed net and sun-bleached curtains the river of the restless road flowed past a room too hot for sleep and too remote to leave Stranded on this island of fuel and Fate she waited In the drawer beneath torn Gideon verses she found a postcard curled and unsent crisped by age no one had ever wished they were here He said it was a beginning but all she felt was the end
July 3, 2026 at 8:48 AM
deemclachlan.bsky.social
A poem for @thebrokenspine.co.uk prompt - #TheLook

#poemsabout #poetrycommunity #poems @alanparrywriter.co.uk
#poetsofbluesky #AltText #PoemAltText #FridayPoems #PoetryPrompts #poets
The Look By Dawn Mclachlan I know it now as I knew it then the look that turned pleas into pebbles that gathered on my tongue and in my throat Muted by such cold stones pressed home with the glare of othering my words remained unsaid But here closeted in a space beyond sight they hung like winter coats waiting for the right season concealing the way beyond revealing another world
June 26, 2026 at 5:50 PM
deemclachlan.bsky.social
Time for another #FridayPoem
#poetrycommunity
#poetrysociety #poetsofbluesky #naturepoems #poets #poems #PoemAltText #AltText
Nocturne 26 By Dawn Mclachlan A storm broke the night into silver shards of jagged brilliance that pressed darkness back into the trees Before the downpour came we stepped outside and felt the air electric raising hair that only cool sheets could settle Rising from damp and fitful rest we found a bruised morning veiled in mist from the torn bellies of clouds still snagged in the forest canopy Far up the valley the storm lingered like an argument In the thin early light Tattered butterflies settled upon us seeking refuge from the rain
June 26, 2026 at 9:37 AM
deemclachlan.bsky.social
A #fridaypoem for #poemsabout #outaftermidnight curated by @thebrokenspine.co.uk and @alanparrywriter.co.uk

Something from my new book.
#poemAltText #poetry #poetrycommunity #poetsofbluesky
Nocturne 83 by Dawn Mclachlan Fast on slick black roads In a night that tasted Like lip gloss and bravery Don't let go Lean into the electric night Heartbeat like the static Of the tuneless radio Sodium light pulse Tearing out sleeping streets Into the endless deep blue Whipping stars in branches Above the hollow ways And the sweet cool wind Like a baptism
June 19, 2026 at 8:57 PM
deemclachlan.bsky.social
A #fridaypoem for #fragmentsfriday from @blackboughpoetry.bsky.social

#poetry #poetrycommunity #micropoem #poets #PoemAltText
Cautionary Tales By Dawn Mclachlan I walked on broken glass And hot coals Because the eggshells I'd already traversed Weren't enough for you
June 5, 2026 at 7:21 AM