C. Oulens

@owlnsquirrels1111

Poet, thinker, dreamer, scribbler… in ascending order For my recent posts: #Oulens Winner, 3rd Annual Poe-it Like Poe Poetry Contest 2025 by sixdegreesofpoe

1.717 Folgt2.334 Follower8.396 Posts

Bluesky

amateur

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C. Oulens@owlnsquirrels1111· 13d

For #PoemsAbout #LastTrain combined with #vss365 #brake @alanparrywriter.co.uk @thebrokenspine.co.uk @andyperrincycling.bsky.social Thank you for reading 🙏 #Oulens #poetry #poetrycommunity #writingcommunity

The Left Platform
by C. Oulens

The last train at 11:11 p.m.
has left the station
once again
The lone lantern, the broken bench & I
finally,
fare free in shadows of our memory
The eleven-eleven chiaroscuro
spreads unhindered
across the silence along the rails,
tick-tied, lying still until
the first train brakes
in
the
morning
at o-five-eleven
on the opposite platform
Perhaps tomorrow I’ll cross over
and it’ll take me to the verge
they call home

C. Oulens@owlnsquirrels1111· 20d

For #PoemsAbout, #BadHabits @alanparrywriter.co.uk @thebrokenspine.co.uk Will get back to others’ works late evening (I promise). Thank you for reading. 🙏🙂 #Oulens #poetry #micropoetry #poetrycommunity #writingcommunity

Will get it done, I promise
by C. Oulens

I’ve been thinking
of starting this poem
since last Sunday

Thinking has run into all

bylanes it has also met a

landscaped cul-de-sac I think it took a U-turn from a dead end it’s busy now tracing its steps back picking wild berries it missed while speeding onward but it seems I’ll have to extend my wait a wee bit longer the road-next’s blocked there’s a procession ahead.

Hang on—sparrows...

C. Oulens@owlnsquirrels1111· 20d

I wish too, for no #roads #vss365 #Oulens #road #writingcommunity

C. Oulens@owlnsquirrels1111· 23d

For host @rfsmith.bsky.social Thanks for the tag, wrote it real quick, hope you like it. #promptcombo #RealPeople #Oulens #poetrycommunity #writingcommunity #poetry

So, don’t drop dead, Fred
by C. Oulens

Fred had several names
They were all real
They chimed in the wind poured
on the leaves They echoed
in empty rooms with a mere whisper
The only one that was not Fred’s said: I’m more real than all reals I’ll mend your fence I’ll have your burnt cake I’ll dance with you when there’s no rain When the wind drops dead
I’ll run
my fingers through your hair
I’ll not
ask you to repeat
my name
again & again
& again
again
Funny, then, it didn’t sound surreal.

C. Oulens@owlnsquirrels1111· 23d

A poem out today in Tap into Poetry, issue29 @tapintopoetry.bsky.social Many thanks to the wonderful EIC Emily, for including my piece in this issue. #Oulens #poetrycommunity #writingcommunity #poetry #micropoetry Link: tapintopoetry.wordpress.com/2026/07/20/t...

C. Oulens@owlnsquirrels1111· 27d

#ExitWounds? Sure, but . . . For #PoemsAbout, an ekphrastic piece, #photographybyme @alanparrywriter.co.uk @thebrokenspine.co.uk Also for #PaintByWords #road #Oulens #senryu #haiku #haiga #poetry #micropoetry #poetrycommunity #PhotographersOfBluesky #scapes #streetscape

(The spacing may not come out here as in the image)

Conspiracy

by C. Oulens

. . . but the trees will bow and

lights will

bend

for a lorn star

to find

its lost lane

A night scene: a quiet lane winding through dense greenery. Tall palms arch toward one another, framing a single star between two of their trunks, low in a dark blue sky. Lights from a neighbouring building illuminates a part of the street and foliage, leaving the rest in shadow.

C. Oulens@owlnsquirrels1111· 28d

#UrbanLiving by #Oulens finding your niche in a nook ✨✨✨ #photographybyme #senryu #haiku #monoku #onelinepoems #poetry #poetrycommunity #writingcommunity #PhotographersOfBluesky #urbanimages

A close-up of an abandoned paper wasp nest tucked into a cavity (for internal writing) in a white concrete wall. The nest’s hexagonal cells occupy the cavity above a few exposed electrical wires

C. Oulens@owlnsquirrels1111· 29d

#SenseWrds Prompt 241: Stormy Daydream Improvised #Oulens #poetry #micropoetry #poetrycommunity #writingcommunity

now there,

that’s a raw deal
a fistful of words swells my page
for my head that gluts
unfulfilled, still
hankering

by C. Oulens

C. Oulens@owlnsquirrels1111· 29d

remember — every flyway has a slip lane for clouds #PaintByWords #road #photographybyme #Oulens #senryu #haiku #poetry #poetrycommunity #writingcommunity #PhotographersOfBluesky #scapes #urbanscapes

The photograph is taken from inside a car. A straight flyover ramp flanked by a row of trees disappears into the distance beneath expansive white cumulus clouds in a bright azure sky. A few vehicles visible at a distance, with a part of the dashboard in the foreground.

C. Oulens@owlnsquirrels1111· Jul 8

I chanced across this interesting prompt yesterday and because it tickled my mind, so unfortunately… Here’s my offering 😵‍💫🔮 for @zoomburst.substack.com 🙏🙏 #Oulens #poetrycommunity #writingcommunity

Will Spill Some

By C. Oulens

Your future will be tense is what my tomorrow’s horoscope page will say while I sip my cup of muscatel and try to recall tomorrow’s yesterday—no, not the tea—it will persist with its so many yesterdays’ habit—will be thinking of the horoscope page I will have already read on this coming yesterday—Today, you will let your heart lead the way.

(Your future will be tense
And
Today, you will let your heart lead the way
Are in italics)

C. Oulens@owlnsquirrels1111· Jul 7

My haiku in #TheZenSpace showcase and anthology, EIC Marie Marshall, curated (along with a great commentary) by Guest Editor Jerome Berglund. Many thanks to both for including my piece in this amazing collection. #Oulens #haiku #senryu #poetry The link: thezenspace.wordpress.com/experience/s...

XV

evening smog -
fireflies fill in
for the missing stars

- C. Oulens

C. Oulens@owlnsquirrels1111· Jul 4

#Stunning, isn’t it?— when the wind sweeps away the #supercilious and all that’s left is the passing. #vss365 #Oulens #poetrycommunity #writingcommunity

Dreamlike, blurred nighttime photo of people walking along a beach, with diagonal white light streaks across the dark sky and waves in the background.

C. Oulens@owlnsquirrels1111· Jul 3

Ohk, will try later. Meanwhile I clicked on the “view profile” in the error message and it takes me to this account… You think if I give this good old fella a follow, it’ll be resolved?

C. Oulens@owlnsquirrels1111· Jul 3

Anyone else having this problem?

C. Oulens@owlnsquirrels1111· Jul 3

This was a difficult prompt for me. For #PoemsAbout #CheapMotels and @alanparrywriter.co.uk @thebrokenspine.co.uk The #PoemsAbout feed is going weird for me. Can’t see anyone’s post. Will get back later. Thank you for reading 🙏🙏 #Oulens #BlueskyPoetry #poetry #poetrycommunity #writingcommunity

Housekeeping

By C. Oulens

Remember?
when our laughter settled
as easily
as dust on bedside tables
in those motels
on our countryside drives.

C. Oulens@owlnsquirrels1111· Jun 28

A poem by one of my favourite Indian female writers, Amrita Pritam www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazi... For #smallpoemsunday @tomsnarsky.bsky.social #Oulens #poetry #poetrycommunity #writingcommunity

C. Oulens@owlnsquirrels1111· Jun 28

Thrilled to have another short story in this issue of #SciFanSat Many thanks to Editor @jason-h-abbott.bsky.social , @scifansat.bsky.social for including my piece, despite the tech glitch (ironically). Congratulations to all contributors! Dazzling cover! Do download it. #Oulens #writingcommunity

A screenshot showing the opening of my story titled,
“Through the Door of Non-Contact”
by C. Oulens

The issue can be downloaded following the links in the quoted post.

C. Oulens@owlnsquirrels1111· Jun 26

…contd. #villains #horizons #insults #gloomy #shadows #broken #correspondence #vss365 #2WordPrompt #inkmine #BlueskyPoetry #BSPP54 #Oulens #writingcommunity

…contd.

Heck no! Need is what takes one to unknown #horizons, never mind #villains, never mind #insults.

Then, with the carefree, lost look of a forest brook, he leaned on the desk and implored: I’ve been advised to seek crystals to blur my #gloomy #shadows.

Ah! You should have clarified; you’ve been clearly misdirected. This—she said dropping her voice, elbows on the desk, and her crystal clear orbs returning his lost eyes as if a gesture for a #broken #correspondence—is not The Crystal Ship; this is The Crystal Palace, Sir.

Straightening herself back, she added unnervingly in a staid tone: But I’m glad you’ve arrived at an unknown horizon.

C. Oulens@owlnsquirrels1111· Jun 24

#crystal #pull #office #street #fading #continuity #vss365 #2WordPrompt #inkmine #BSPP53 #Oulens #writingcommunity

There’s no room, Sir.

You mean no rooms are available, he tried correcting her.

No, I’m #crystal clear about what I said.

How’s that possible? In this sprawling building? On the poshest #street?

We specialise in making impossibilities possible.

Oh, I see. Then perhaps you could #pull out a room from the current impossible.

That’s against #office policy. We do not revoke impossibilities. Once established, they are irreversible. They may, however, be reassigned to #fading #continuity. But I can help with your need… Would you like me to un-need it for you?

C. Oulens@owlnsquirrels1111· Jun 23

after Rumi an ocean . . . becoming . . . inside a lucent drop #inkMine #Oulens #writingcommunity #poetrycommunity #photography (by me) #micropoetry #onelinepoem #poetry

Waves glow softly as they break along a beach at night. A child in a patterned dress stands near the shore with her back to the camera (bottom right corner), while a line of footprints crosses the foreground and becomes muddled in the sand near where she stands. Faint lights dot the distant horizon beneath a dark night sky.

C. Oulens@owlnsquirrels1111· Jun 21

No, no… take me with you. I was never entirely terrestrial anyway.

Tilted frame of a city at night beneath a luminous sky.
A dramatic cloud shaped like a dragon and small scattered clouds seems to soar above the glowing horizon.

C. Oulens@owlnsquirrels1111· Jun 19

Hadn’t written for today’s #PoemsAbout #OutAfterMidnight but got inspired coming across this lovely artwork by Josiah @lessethereal.bsky.social Combining the two prompts. For @completethehaiga.bsky.social @thebrokenspine.co.uk #completethehaiga 155 #prompt #haiga #haiku #senryu #tanka #Oulens

A haiga with a line sketch by Josiah and the following haiku:

Kalí's dance-
she steps out
o' house of gods

- C. Oulens

C. Oulens@owlnsquirrels1111· Jun 12

for #fragmentsfriday #micropoem @blackboughpoetry.bsky.social #Oulens #BlueskyPoetry #micropoetry #poetrycommunity

flying fal-ly-ing

I’m not flying with you
I’m just flying You
just snuggled in-
side feathers pink feather pe-
tals and all

by C. Oulens

C. Oulens@owlnsquirrels1111· Jun 12

For #PoemsAbout #WrongBody, and @alanparrywriter.co.uk @thebrokenspine.co.uk Thank you for reading 🙏🙏 #Oulens #poetry #poetrycommunity #writingcommunity

—to return to

as if she were
that folded duvet
inside the summer bed-box
in naphthalene surfeit
until his winter—

as if she were
not that
he would consider
not—

as if she were not
That naphthalene ball Or
Too tall.

by C. Oulens

C. Oulens@owlnsquirrels1111· Jun 12

Had started writing a dragon story, after a small chitchat with @carolynthomas.bsky.social but you can trust me to digress. Really grateful to Editor @jason-h-abbott.bsky.social , @scifansat.bsky.social for publishing my first short story. #Oulens #writingcommunity scifansat.com/bibi/?book=S...

A screenshot showing the title and a part of my story. Can be accessed at the link in the post.

C. Oulens@owlnsquirrels1111· Jun 11

Many thanks to Editor @g-marie-milton.bsky.social, Literary Revelations and the team for this fabulous collection. A great honour to be included in this anthology. Congratulations to all contributors. Sharing a leaf…frm “Haiku for Soulmates” #Oulens #poetry #haiku #poetrycommunity #writingcommunity

Page showing haiku by C. Oulens

the same first
lucent leaf buds
lunette miles apart

springs confluence-
we sonder wordlessly
each other's weather

your sun emoji
greets my cherry moon
"Hi, sunshine!"

this p.m.
sun-weary, i text a joke
a tear roses

your
aki kure edge
ibises bear

shimmers
off your irises
my fuyu no tsuki

C. Oulens@owlnsquirrels1111· May 6

Since our kind host has rekindled my love of letters with a #dear prompt & no one irl could be trusted to write a letter to (without getting them spooked or concerned for my well-being, followed by a confirmation voice/ video call),a letter to my frens… #vss365 #2WordPrompt #inkmine #BSPP53 #Oulens

For the love of letters

Dear Owl, dear squirrels, dear rats, #dear nuts…

I hope you are living life to the full, not to be confused with fulfilled or fully filled. My apologies for introducing a human prejudicial terminology in between. Just plain ignore it. Like we used to ignore crazy cuckoos playing spoilsport in our quiet games. I don’t like strikethrough on my page.

I immensely, immersedly loved your last co-scribbled letter. It squirrelled me nuts. I’m still having laughter fits in spurts. Although I’m not spooked by your long letters (and thank you for vice versa) but you may occasionally practice brevity.

As I write to you on this glorious sunny Sunday morn, the sun shines in orange hues & tones on the small brook by the side of the tamarind tree where we used to play ghosts and host. Well, except that the brook is taken in by a ritzy hotel that sprung on us last year, as if it were lurking substratum to boo at the earliest opportunity.

But I hear its trickle from outside over here where I sit on wild weeds ‘neath an #overgrown #latticewood alone, and since the tamarind tree has met its no more, the host, I assure you, is safe and relaxed, minus ghastly ghosts. The sun, though, thankfully remains untaken and is dancing amorously with chickweeds & dandelions sunshinily, simultaneously. I’m soaking it full until someone comes up with a preposterous proposition of red-flagging its jazzy grooves.

Oh, did I tell you last time that I lost my letter? I might have missed to mention, since I found out it is lost after it got hopelessly lost. The ghosts can’t be blamed anymore, so my closest suspect is Mr. Gonzalez’s goat I found in an uncharacteristic #swag, gloating, tottering off-track back home. It has still not forgotten what you rats did with its beloved goatee, two Christmas summers ago. Some creatures will wear grudges forever, on their sleeves, whether or not they own one.

I’m so thankful to have friends like you, constantly evolving, learning from your camaraderie. Even you nuts don’t resent being cracked. But well, things are varyingly volatile like crocuses now and the only thing I intend to crack is mysteries. I really truly miss you dear gang, along with tang.

And Owl, I still hope you’d drop by sometime on #moonbeams, for I’m usually up late scattered in a #restless #seedfall of questions, sprouting more mysteries, even as mysteries having avowed to remain mysterious beneath #velvetmoss, or vanish mysteriously behind #humming #bramblefields or inside concretecracks.

Last but not least, please don’t forget to #serve my regards to uncle and aunty, belatedly (you know I could not do that in the vss, it doesn’t allow me my heart’s content). Eagerly awaiting your next letter.

With foreveringly love,
♥️/🖤/🧡 (#bonus… emojis are hot)
ringing off,
Oulens

C. Oulens@owlnsquirrels1111· May 3

From The Poetry of Rilke, Uncollected Poems (1909-1926) translated & edited by Edward Snow For #smallpoemsunday @tomsnarsky.bsky.social #Oulens #poetry #poetrycommunity #writingcommunity

Undeterrable, I’ll complete this course,
I'm frightened when something mortal holds me.
Once a womb held me.
Wresting free from it was deadly:
I wrestled into life. But arms—how deep are arms,
how fertile are they, what chance
that they through the inaugural agony of new birth might be escaped?

Paris, early summer 1925

C. Oulens@owlnsquirrels1111· May 2

Much grateful to Ed. Jack Caradoc for publishing my 3 poems in The Candyman’s Trumpet May issue. Previous versions of these poems posted here for promptcombo, fragmentsfriday, SenseWrds respectively. #Oulens #BlueskyPoetry #poetry #poetrycommunity #writingcommunity

A pale blue, softly textured background scattered with water droplets, like condensation on glass. Deep blue band on top with text: Three Poems ~ C.OULENS

Poem on left:

and sunset, yet

and
a sunset to remember
as I try to let go
all those zillion warm rays
I received from you

yet
in all my gathered wisdom
tears will still flow
you may not see them in my eyes
you’ve already averted yours

and
what feels not a long time ago
how in your infant’s wisdom
you’d lose yourself in trifles
every time I had to go

yet
my heart still wishes you’d glance back
as you move towards your sun
with a knowing smile
like I used to back then

as
I pretend to get busy
with a sapling
outgrowing the shade
in the setting light

Poem on right (top)

a threnody

the machine
feeds you dead air
that old joke I saved—
my parting gift
chokes in my throat

I would have
if I could
shaved your—
that strange beard
before they lit the pyre

Poem on right (bottom)

screaming silent brushstrokes

the pyre
crackling
hurling swirling

the smoke
heaving
curling seething

the wind
gnawing
stewing

the sky
a mere cloth
absorbing —
screaming strokes

Cover page of The Candyman’s Trumpet May issue: SPRING & GRIEF EDITION
TcT 11 Volume One

Includes the names of all poets in the issue.

C. Oulens@owlnsquirrels1111· Apr 28

A lukewarm sun, at the peak of its existential crisis, putting up a spectacle for a crumbling citadel. #Oulens #spectacles #NationalPoetryMonth #onelinepoetry #micropoetry #writingcommunity #poetrycommunity