Bluesky Quarterly Review (2026) #2

April-June 2026

 

A compendium of poems posted on Bluesky in the second quarter of 2026:

 

Eiji Ino - Album Vol. 16. Cape Inubo - 1

 

Only a faint echo

of itself –

this rural Eki stamp.

 

***

 

Pond

        ripple –

ribbit.

 

***

 

Waves roll

and repeat

roll and repeat.

 

***

 

Putting on a tea cozy

spouting

stuff and nonsense.

 

***

 

Morning meadow

dissolving slowly –

Spring mist.

 

***

 

All that’s left –

in the bottom of my glass

half a yellow sun.

 

***

 

Finding

a sweet spot –

alone in retreat.

 

***

 

Evening calm –

broken by a

blackbird.

 

***

 

Abiding alone –

rock pool crab

awaits the tide.

 

***

 

Windscreen wipers

battling the blur

of rain on the road.

 

***

 

the earth –

unsteady

under my feet.

 

***

 

New leaves –

so small

so soft.

 

***

 

Fixed in time –

all a butterfly’s dreams

pinned.

 

***

 

(a lag) reflecting

then/now –

starlight.

 

***

 

Once window-shaped

a bright light –

winks out.

 

***

 

Gaudy day denied

a mellow light –

her eyes, walk on.

 

after Byron.

 

***

 

Covered

in cat hair –

discarded winter coat.

 

click here for commentary

 

***

 

Bouncing back

beneath bare feet –

fallen leaves.

 

***

 

Matching her hair

her mood –

raven black.

 

***

 

The night he died

his voice –

checking all’s alright.

 

In memory of Ralph Jackson.

 

***

 

Magnified –

the scent of leaf mulch

around its roots.

 

***

 

Moon rise –

raindrops dot

the windowpane.

 

***

 

MONET EXHIBITION

 

Sound of people

taking pictures

of pictures.

 

***

 

Needle spinning

twixt north & south –

umbrella struggles.

 

***

 

All the wrong way

about it

we went.

 

***

 

All week

just out of reach –

my foggy memory.

 

***

 

Names but not faces –

using half the head space

I used to rely on.

 

***

 

Day dreams –

the complete man

I meant to be.

 

***

 

Ad Infinitum …

always urging you to click

before you’ve seen.

 

***

 

The Speleologist –

wriggling through

a gap in time.

 

***

 

Whittling away –

same old stick

in the mud.

 

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***

 

A butterfly

on a bear skin –

changing the guard.

 

***

 

Rose tinted

on the porch –

a pint of milk.

 

***

 

Selling a world

that once was –

rusted shop sign.

 

***

 

Ruffled plumage

shivering with the wind –

broken umbrella.

 

***

 

Watching –

the echo of clouds

drifting.

 

***

 

Tinfoil-lined nest –

magpies chattering

conspiracy theories.

 

***

 

Taking fright

a partridge poops

taking flight.

 

***

 

Red petals

soft furled

within …

 

***

 

A full 180 –

future hopes

fade into the past.

 

***

 

A rumble of thunder –

heading home

for tea.

 

***

 

Stewed fruit –

disliking a dose of

my own medicine.

 

***

 

Another day

holding it together –

my frayed shoelace.

 

***

 

Busier than usual –

the bus

into town.

 

***

 

Keeping the

conversation flowing –

a fresh pot of tea.

 

***

 

She keeps

a constant tally –

withered grass.

 

***

 

Spending the best

part of the day

in pyjamas.

 

***

 

As long as it lasts –

double rainbows

singing a duet.

 

***

 

Not my name but

addressed to me:

Dear John …

 

***

 

First open window of

summer, welcoming in

sparrow song,

 

***

 

Another leap of faith

falling short again –

squirrel vs. bird feeder.

 

***

 

John Duffin - Recent Past [Waterstones Piccadilly] (2004)

 

All the new books

I bought back then

– yellowing.

 

click here for commentary

 

***

 

A taste of times

unchanged –

tinned rice pudding.

 

***

 

I am an eye –

amid a swirl

of snowflakes.

 

***

 

Clock chimes –

melodious but

meaningless today.

 

***

 

Twittering swaying

unseen –

green reeds.

 

***

 

Grubby mittens –

scooping up all

the pick n mix.

 

***

 

Adjusting for inflation

empty rhetoric …

again.

 

***

 

Morning light –

humming a half-

remembered melody.

 

***

 

Teaching patience –

a glass of Turkish tea

too hot to drink.

 

***

 

Cotton wool

between her toes –

Ferrari red again.

 

***

 

All that’s left –

a snapshot

in my mind.

 

***

 

Withering

where we left it –

cut flowers.

 

***

 

Orbiting the peony –

bumblebee attempts

a moon landing.

 

***

 

Swinging in time

with the bus –

omomori on her bag.

 

***

 

Hanging

by the door –

a cicada’s cloak.

 

***

 

Her eyes

over her mask –

smiling.

 

***

 

Watching a curl

of incense

easily ascend.

 

***

 

Carried by the wind –

pine needles

sea scented.

 

***

 

“Truth

         beauty –

                  that is all.”

 

after John Keats

 

***

 

Green tea

and honey –

before she sings.

 

***

 

Watching the world –

another opportunity

another arms deal.

 

***

 

Circling back –

hawks gloating

over the battlefield.

 

***

 

Sleet persists to swirl –

interfering with

my eyes.

 

***

 

Sun sweltering heat

shimmering

off hot stone.

 

***

 

Buzzing about

the snapdragons

and hollyhocks.

 

***

 

World under

the waterfall –

Tokyo typhoon.

 

***

 

Short day –

demanding a refund

from the clouds.

 

***

 

Remembering how

grandfather peeled

a tangerine.

 

***

 

Pomade –

or oil paint

and turpentine?

 

***

 

Bikini –

barely covering

such self-belief.

 

***

 

Wife away –

I sleep

diagonally.

 

***

 

A dollar bill

folded into

four quarters.

 

Four quarters

folded into

a dollar bill.

 

***

 

Kilometres

counting a steady beat –

autobahn.

 

***

 

After the doorbell

echoes dog

barks.

 

***

 

Making the most

of a shared joke –

marriage ties.

 

***

 

I have

no interest –

in deference.

 

***

 

A new tune drops –

skylark falls

from the top spot.

 

***

 

Aroma of cut grass

enjoying

my mochi.

 

***

 

All that remains –

a lens of blackened

earth.

 

***

 

Second day of tsuyu –

the birds have a lot

to talk about.

 

***

 

Singing a seasonal song –

parsley, sage, rosemary

and thyme.

 

***

 

An honourable discharge –

waiting for

the ricochet.

 

***

 

Moonless night

deepening the dark

far from home.

 

***

 

In the boardroom –

daydreaming he’s

Bruce Wayne.

 

***

 

Making the most

of two cups

of tea.

 

***

 

Snow mountains –

melting into

the view.

 

***

 

Two men

dining together

pomme frites.

 

***

 

Maple Drive –

lined with

plane trees.

 

***

 

Sly fox

slinking

out the back.

 

***

 

Orange-

  blossom

      petals

           fall.

 

***

 

Eating sunflower seeds –

her smile gifting

the light within.

 

Neon Mary - Lemon Tree by the Swimming Pool