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Your Poetic Voice, Bristol (2026)

17/09/2020

Yo there.

Having a lovely Thursday evening, watching Des after a brilliant Live from my partner in rhyme .

She will be doing a live from her account for a writing challenge based on Self Care and Relaxation.

I've been taking stock of my own personal health, eating better, eating a little less and due to bad ankles going for walks in the hills of Bristol.

Part of my walk takes me behind the maternity hospital where I was born and there is an old giant stone wall that follows the road. Inset in the wall is this feature stone. It is the only decorative piece in the wall and possibly why I have never seen it before. The carving is of a centaur being followed by a satyr.

I have tried looking at the history of the road, wall but my limited research plus the road being named after a suburb of Bristol, skews the results. Plus the history of the Georgian houses in the area and the steep hilly streets they are on takes precedent on most websites.

But it is a random stone, depicting a random scene (again a quick Google search says nothing of any story with both centaurs and satyrs), on a random street found on a random route I walked on a random day.

I'm glad I found it, but leaves me more questions than answers.

I hope you enjoy it as well, and if you have found something as equally as random post a picture and tag us.

01/09/2020

Hello from Billy.

I've been unusually quiet the last few months, I have been taking a break from Instagram the last few months. I have been spending time either at Billy's penthouse or at my father' place where I came across this poem by the great Philip Larkin.

The photo was taken a few hours after reading this poem. The bowl of food is left out for a stray cat named Bob, he leaves the biscuits but later in the evening a family of hedgehogs come to take their fill of the cat food. They have been lovingly named NotBob and they haven't met their fate by the lawnmower and still visiting.

I hope you enjoy the poem and in this world of ever growing division, please remember to be kind to each other whilst we still have time.

29/05/2020

Good day to you all.

I know when I post a picture I go into a long-winded ramble why such and such a picture inspires me so much for whatever reason.

Not today. This was my view for breakfast this morning.

Stay safe and be kind.

Billy

23/05/2020

Hello

This poem, The Jaguar by Ted Hughes influenced a poem I recently posted, Heroine. The use of alliteration, assonance etc etc to link themes together within the poem. So Ted uses the word adore to lengthen the yawn. Lion as the last word of the first stanza and Lie as the first word of the second stanza links the theme of the nothingness that is happening in the zoo and the use of the letter S to go with the snake.

And all the Bs when introducing the jaguar in the poem.

Are there any poems that influence you in your writing?

Keep inspiring each other

Stay safe.

Billy

14/05/2020

Hello good people. Billy here, Tessy and I are hoping you are all staying safe, legally staying away from people and washing your hands.

Today's picture is called The Ambassadors by the German artist Hans Holbein the junior. He spent an awful lot of time with the Tudor Dynasty, especially with Henry 8th.

I first saw this painting in a book when I was a child. It was an educational book with lots of different things included from the types of birds, tongue twisters and this painting. One reason I love this painting is because of the anamorphic skull at the bottom, but I'll get to that later.

There is a lot going on with this painting. First of all the way the two men are dressed. One in secular garments and the other in religious robes. There is conflict throughout not just the scholar against the religious but also between the established Catholic church of Europe against the Lutheran church of the protestants (Holbein was German living in a country that will change the faith from one to the other) and the lute between the 2 religious texts has broken strings commenting on the disharmony between the two Christian sects.

But there is more. On the top shelf of the case the astrolabe and other objects represent the heavens. The second shelf with the globe, music, writing represent the living and the skull of course represents death.

And the reason the skull is anamorphic? Well for a starter it shows off the skills of the artist (he wants more commissions, there's only so many paintings of Henry 8th he can do) and also so it can be viewed at another angle. There is a suggestion that the painting was going to be hung on the wall of a staircase so when you are going up the stairs the position of the painting will let you see the skull so it is anatomically correct.

It's all about perception. You may look at a piece of art and see the story, but sometimes you need to look at something from a different point of view to get the whole picture.

I hope you enjoy this piece, please comment on your thoughts about the painting and your ideas of perception in art and poetry in general.

03/03/2020

Hello 🌷

Here's a snap I took of the entrance to train station yesterday, and here's a poem by Emily Dickenson.

I like to see it lap the miles,
And lick the valleys up,
And stop to feed itself at tanks;
And then, prodigious, step

Around a pile of mountains,
And, supercilious, peer
In shanties by the sides of roads;
And then a quarry pare

To fit its sides, and crawl between,
Complaining all the while
In horrid, hooting stanza;
Then chase itself down the hill

And neigh like Boanerges;
Then, punctual as a star,
Stop - docile and omnipotent -
At its own stable door.

by Emily Dickinson

21/12/2019

She ambushed me with a post of mine yesterday, so I can only return the favour.

Here is the Pixie Queen of Instagram poetry the amazing

Your Poetic Voice is &

support ~ encourage ~ promote
@ Bristol, United Kingdom

18/12/2019

A few weeks ago Tessy and myself went to a poetry evening hosted by Piranha Poetry with an open mic. The headline act was of course the most amazing Spikey Tim. I've seen him live in front of an audience a couple of times and it's an absolute joy to watch him.

The next best thing to watching him live is to listen to him whenever you want to. Tim kindly presented YPV with his CD of his work and I chuckle before I even press play.

So if you ever get a chance to see him perform, buy a CD from him. You'll not be disappointed. (My favourite poem is number 21 - "The Art of Showing Off". But that is like trying to pick a favourite nephew)

Going to listen to it again and have a laugh.

Billy

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@ Bristol, United Kingdom

26/11/2019

Today at YPV towers we are delighted to bring to you the amazing Sarah aka . Beautifully written long form poetry written to be read out loud and proud at her open mic night.

Please give her a follow and check out her page, website and books.

We love your work Sarah

Billy

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For a chance to be featured on our page or our lives use

Your Poetic Voice is &

support ~ encourage ~ promote
@ Bristol, United Kingdom

25/11/2019

This is a brilliantly angry piece by Paul aka . Based on the tragedy of the Grenfell Tower fire and the incompetence of the government not willing to take any responsibility for their own citizens. These servants of the electorate rule like masters leaving it's poor to battle through the injustices of bureaucracy, and seeing services like the NHS being asset stripped by private companies.

Brilliant Poem Paul, and a gentle reminder that there is a General Election on the 12th December in the UK (we may get our 4th Prime Minister in as many years...hopefully) so is are eligible to vote but have not done so, go to https://www.registertovote.service.gov.uk/register-to-vote/already-registered?src=schema and register. Get your voice heard and your vote could make a change. You do have until November 26th 11.59pm and it takes 5 mins. You have just over 24 hours to do it. Whether you are voting Red, Blue, Yellow, Green or an independent, that's up to you. But make your voice heard.

Thank you Billy

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For a chance to be featured on our page or our lives use

Your Poetic Voice is &

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22/11/2019

It gives me great pleasure to bring you the poetry of this brilliant poet Jai Thoolen aka . At this moment of writing he is just over a month away in completing a poem a day for a whole year and the quality of this amazing wordsmith never falters, in fact it gets better and better. He can tongue twist you with the best of them, no subject is off limits and every poem I read of his brings a smile to my heart.

If you are a lover of word play then please go through his page, lap up his poetry and give him a follow. You will not be disappointed.

Billy

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For a chance to be featured on our page or our lives use

Your Poetic Voice is &

support ~ encourage ~ promote
@ Bristol, United Kingdom

02/11/2019

As you know Tessy and I do like to find new poets that roam around these poetic corridors of Instagram, and it's equally nice to find poets that live a bit closer to home. To look around the same streets and see something different about them.

This poem by today's feature is part of a larger piece called "The Ballad of Stokes Croft" (an area I live in) which will be available as a free PDF download on Sunday.

The accompanying picture is the influence behind this poem.

Please visit his page, there is a link to his blog on his bio.

Brilliant William

Billy

Copyright belongs to

For a chance to be featured on our page or our lives use

Your Poetic Voice is &

support ~ encourage ~ promote
@ Stokes Croft

Your Poetic Voice

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