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rock-rex.bsky.social
GPH24: "A Bowl of Donkeys".

#poem #poetry #skypoets #blueskypoets #poetrycommunity #writingcommunity #wombwellrainbow #philhyde
@gphydeauthor.bsky.social
thirty-three acres of sky (more or less) form a bowl of abstract jasperware, and under it the coffled donkeys huddle, hunch against the easterly that slices from the Urals. low tide has pulled the sea to the horizon, barely visible from here. few children brave the chilly sands — few adults either; only (now and then) a hardy dog appears, reluctant owner hauling on the lead. both are careful not to stray too close to where the donkeys’ hind legs tense to kick impertinent intruders off to where the placid tide is on the turn.
April 26, 2026 at 8:10 PM
phylogeneticsteve.bsky.social
Day 11 of the #WombwellRainbow Ekphrastic Challenge 2026.

Incompatible we are, a chimera's misshapen body forced to coexist. Now a memory.

#poetrycommunity #writingcommunity #ekphrastic
GHP11, FHP11- 鵺 Nue, Chimera I know, futile we Were, a roller coaster of Incompatible Faces of parallel worlds And verses of conflicting words.
April 11, 2026 at 8:46 AM
rock-rex.bsky.social
GPH11: "Dragon Ride" (very much a first draft)

#poem #poetry #skypoets #blueskypoets #poetrycommunity #writingcommunity #wombwellrainbow #philhyde
@gphydeauthor.bsky.social
jade dragon frozen in the middle air and in the middle of a rictus, humourless, is stiffened in off-season rigor, promised riches nowhere to be seen. the sand around it’s rumpled by a thousand footprints, but its gaze is fixed inflexibly ahead. behind it helter skelter, wheel, and roundabout, still brightly hued though faded in the winter sun, stand in the selfsame state of hibernation, statues of their lively summer selves.
April 11, 2026 at 8:41 PM
rock-rex.bsky.social
GPH01: "Winter’s Snow by Cleethorpes Pier"

#poem #poetry #skypoets #blueskypoets #poetrycommunity #writingcommunity #wombwellrainbow #philhyde
@gphydeauthor.bsky.social
gelid ripples of the rising tide swirl slowly around rusted struts that rear above a grey-brown sunless sea they bear aloft a child of Aphrodite’s isle where long-remembered sunshine gleams in bubbles on the sizzling surface in a row of deep-fat fryers (extra-virgin olive oil deflowered sixty years ago) should the lovely child of Zeus set dainty foot upon this snowy beach she’d shriek and leap back to her shell and leave the pleasures of the winter coast to those of us whose frames are hardened to the eastern winds that saw our birth
April 1, 2026 at 5:31 PM
phylogeneticsteve.bsky.social
Day 5 of the #WombwellRainbow Ekphrastic Challenge 2026.

A self portrait.

You see who I am vs. how I see who I am.

Inspired by the album title 나는 나를 통해 우리를 보는 너를 통해 나를 본다 (I see myself through you who see us through me) by Madmans Esprit.

#poetrycommunity #writingcommunity #ekphrastic
April 5, 2026 at 8:30 AM
sonnetsmith.bsky.social
I went a little dark with the Wombwellrainbow #Ekphrastic challenge so far it seems...
Here is today's piece, check out the other responses (and the artwork that inspired them) here
The Smile Factory (GPH04 MO4) They painted fun on all the windows And hung toys around the door Then they advertised a service “Children watched whilst you ignore!” Yes their prices were extortion And the coffee cold and weak But there was no better option For a tired mum to seek A rest from all the shouting And the chaos of the home So they’d send their offspring packing Through the doors into the foam- Filled paradise Of the Smile Factory. And they’d sit around a table Drink a dozen pots of tea Not a thought to what might happen Through those doors marked No Entry! Yes, they all could hear the screaming And the shouting, and the cries ‘Cause the children were all playing, So of course there would be noise Then an hour or two later When the little ones would race back from out behind the curtains Grins spread wide across their face No one questioned what the tears Meant that trickled down their cheeks And instead they bought them all Right back there every other week to the joys Of the Smile Factory. And on it went, for many years, ‘Till one day, suddenly The newest Mum decided that She simply had to see What went on behind the curtain Why her children weren’t so wild When they came home every forghtnight And became so meek and mild, So she peeked passed the no entry And was greeted by a scene That her children saw bi-weekly And she screamed! All the others soon came running The police turned up to raid But a thousand lawyers failed to claim The money that they’d paid And they’d paid And they’d paid To the Smile Factory.
April 4, 2026 at 9:07 AM
sonnetsmith.bsky.social
Check out the #Wombwellrainbow #Ekphrastic challenge guys.
Loads of great poets writing one piece for every day of April.
(And me as well...)
This was my piece for the 1st

The picture of the pier reminded me of a place I used to often visit with my gran when I was younger.
The Old Pier I remember our trips To the Western pier The one penny cups that you’d saved all year So that we could play The arcades, and how you’d complain When we’d win That we’d only gone there To empty your shrapnel tin And now where Would you keep All the extra spare change That against odds We always seemed to bring back And I remember the stack Of plastic toy swords that you kept in the shed, Our favourite rewards from the prize counter hoards of the things that would shatter with every clatter But still, we’d never learn. How I long to return, but the pier has burned And nothing is left Of the arcade we knew, Just the as; of the pier, And of you.
April 2, 2026 at 10:05 PM
sonnetsmith.bsky.social
Day 5 of the #Wombwellrainbow #Ekphrastic challenge.

Here is my piece,

Go check out all the other fantastic contributions!
(And maybe even write one of your own)
My Father’s Box (GPH05 MO5) He had a box; A shed in fact, That sat somewhere Halfway between This place, and that. And people came, Cause people thought The treasure that They couldn’t find When he was caught Was hidden there Inside his box, Inside his shed, they’d wander up And break the lock To rifle through his bits of junk: Old newspapers, And bits of wood, A broken trunk. They always thought They’d got it then, As if that trunk Had not been seen Yet before them And then they’d leave And never find The treasure, just A figment of Their greedy minds, There was no Gold, Had never been The treasure that My father left Behind was Me.
April 5, 2026 at 10:24 AM
phylogeneticsteve.bsky.social
My entry for the Day 6 of the #WombwellRainbow Ekphrastic Challenge.

A modern retelling of the story of Perseus, but the results are dire and deadly. It's also my retelling of how my ab*ser changed me in the worst way possible.

#poetrycommunity #writingcommunity #BlueskyPoets
GHP08, FHP06, FHP11, MO2- Demigorgon I flew towards the skies To save someone who tried To save himself and the others Who held to him like mothers. Remember, the winged heels I wore to chase the heels And shield I bore to break the curse Inflicted on you to make you worse. I landed where I saw you Surrounded by larger monsters. A lifeline I threw at you, And told you to hang on to it. And yet when I pulled you out Too late I did find out, A demigorgon you had become, And frozen I became in time.
April 6, 2026 at 4:15 PM
phylogeneticsteve.bsky.social
Day 7 of the #WombwellRainbow Ekphrastic Challenge 2026.

Cautious hope, it's still hope. It's something I allowed myself to have.

#poetrycommunity #writingcommunity #ekphrastic
FHP7, GHP02- Forest The leaves crunch beneath my cold feet, And I flinch at the loud sound, they gave right off.. So soon, I forget and I got quite the cold feet And I run away again in the deep dark.. And so soon I entered the undulating dark, The snow crunching as well while I ran away. I ran towards the unknown and undulating night, I know I can’t risk it, but what do I have to lose? The promises to be strong, are sidelined by my own fears of the unknown— And I have to say goodbye, to the cowardice that’s building inside me. I can shake off the blue, and maybe even think about the sunrise. And hold all tomorrows closer to me.
April 7, 2026 at 9:01 PM
phylogeneticsteve.bsky.social
Day 12 of the #WombwellRainbow Ekphrastic Challenge 2026.

Double feature:

One about a final message,

One about faint hope within reincarnated cycles of a world aware of change.

#poetrycommunity #writingcommunity #ekphrastic
FHP12, MO10- Voicemail “Your call has been forwarded to voicemail. Please leave a message after the tone.” People walk past People walk through I am the last To get my brew. People walk past And they’re not you. Tall like a mast, Just a motley crew. I left a note On your old phone Don’t have to gloat— Or even to moan That no one talks to you Because deep down I knew You’re just too blue. GHP12, GHP05- Astrology The judgement tarot Invokes the finality Of the old transience— Where clouds dissolve Into grass leaves; Until the leaves are stored To read another moon, Or maybe the rising sun As the moon crosses Mercury And incorrectly draw Upon the Hierophant. But I do know this, Even distant stars are kept Until someone discerns What the skies would portray, And maybe in that permutation, Is a link towards us again.
April 12, 2026 at 6:36 AM
jude-brucemoll.bsky.social
Although it's hard to squeeze the time 😰 I'm enjoying the #ekphrasticchallenge set by #wombwellrainbow
There are some fab poems being put on the site so check them out..
thewombwellrainbow.com/2025/04/03/e...
Ekphrastic Challenge 2025. Day Three. Please join Debbie Ross, Matt Guntrip, Saraswati Nagpal, Alan McGinn, Anish Gupta, Phil Hyde, Donna Faulkner, Francis H Powell, Judy Smith , Sheikha A, Rituparna,...
SK3 SEB3 JZ3Jz3Eyes of DefianceNight gathers at her feet, murmuring secretsonly the forsaken understand.She moves like prophecy, carved from silence,a shadow against the neon glow of a world unrave…
thewombwellrainbow.com
April 4, 2025 at 10:09 PM