Andy Williamson

@andywilliamson

Writer, poet, creative thinker & architect for democracy / Sgrìobhadair, bàrd, neach-smaoineachaidh cruthachail agus ailtire airson deamocrasaidh | Aotearoa & Isle of Skye

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Bluesky

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Andy Williamson@andywilliamson· 12d

Good morning everyone, still not much writing time but always good to write something about trains, so here's a wee draft for #PoemsAbout #LastTrain. Thanks @alanparrywriter.co.uk @thebrokenspine.co.uk as always! #poem #poetrycommunity

Late train to Dundee

I run for a seat as
the day slides shut.
Ticket gates, the noise,
wheels feeling for grip.

A coal-black city evaporating,
tenement stone, brick, darkness,
the bridge where the city is lost.
And you.

Steel and diesel, dark fields blur.
My palm on the cold glass.
At Inverkeithing the line forks,
as the land begins to open.

Through salt-hardened towns:
Dalgety Bay, Aberdour, Burntisland.
Shuttered fronts,
sea-worn stone.

Then harbour lights, iron hush.
This river holds no shape
until the final curve,
and you.

Andy Williamson@andywilliamson· 19d

Had a bit of fun with #PoemsAbout #BadHabits, not my usual stye at all! With thanks to @alanparrywriter.co.uk / @thebrokenspine.co.uk! #poems #poetry #writingcommunity

The good glass

she reaches for the good glass
ice dropped in for the sound effect
keeps pouring
a nightcap, a tonic
a well-earned reward

second glass, she’s luminous
she’s who we agreed to remember
third and fourth now
the house holds its breath
and waits for morning

she’ll say the day got away from her
we let her, we always let her
only the bottle keeps its word
the one thing
in her world that doesn't lie

Andy Williamson@andywilliamson· 27d

A bit early I know, but I'm travelling tomorrow and been rubbish at posting poems lately 😀 Here's a wee contribution for #PoemsAbout #ExitWounds I wrote in the tiny spaces of the week. Hope you like it and thanks to @alanparrywriter.co.uk @thebrokenspine.co.uk! #poems #poetry #writingcommunity

Southwesterly gale eight

you watch water
spit
from the kettle

hissing
as it hits
the stove

a tap
dripping
into silence

salt spray on windows
darkness past colour
and you
sit
alone

the bed unmade
drinks gone cold
words
scalding
scarring

Andy Williamson@andywilliamson· 28d

Apologies for the radio silence on here - no #poems, no posts! Been busy with start of school holidays and visitors. The weather this week in #Skye is magical. It wasn't last week but that was good for a moody sea and sky pic on a deserted Skye beach (I'm not telling you where!)

Moody sky and a calm sea from a very stony beach on the Isle of Skye

Andy Williamson@andywilliamson· Jul 6

My #poem for #PromptCombo #Bestiary this week; Each-usige, a kelpie or waterhorse. Not a friend of any young girl by the side of the loch... Thanks @janpsolivagant.bsky.social ant.bsky.social for a challenging theme! #poetrycommunity #poetry

Each-uisge

you sit and watch me
from under the water
follow my movement
the way my hair
catches on sunlight
you cannot embrace

I see you
know you are there
feel the cold of the loch
a shape
waiting to ride out
across the land

I sit and watch you
you have tried this before
I did not fall
fail or falter
and will not now

Andy Williamson@andywilliamson· Jul 3

Good morning everyone, here's my offering for #PoemsAbout #CheapMotels. Thanks as ever to @alanparrywriter.co.uk @thebrokenspine.co.uk for the prompt! Will duck back later to read everyone else's #poems! #poetry #writingcommunity

Broke

the weekend we drove
south, hard
across the border
dust on the dashboard
cheap gas, cold beers
the radio spitting
bad news and love songs

a low bar,
half‑lit, half‑legal
above the slow, grey sea
a cheap motel in Ensenada
thin walls, neon bleed
salt in the sheets
sirens inland
dogs barking at nothing

broken glass
broken souls
broke / drunk / certain
by the time
we hit the 805
iceplant flowering
in the cracked verge

Andy Williamson@andywilliamson· Jun 29

Here's a very quick something for #promptcombo #monument. Such a great first prompt, @jenthorne.bsky.social! Not had much time for writing (or socmed!) the last few weeks but reading about native tree seed collection (we have some of them planted here) and thought it was perfect for the prompt!

Monument

the bleak mountainside
straining to reach
holding out a hand
to find this fallen harvest
holding out for the hope
that what they find
will grow
the next generation

as the world collapses
from greed and selfish acquisitions
these tiny seeds
become a new start
journeying
to our hillside
for my son to know
when he grows old

Andy Williamson@andywilliamson· Jun 19

Friday already and another challenging #PoemsAbout #OutAfterMidnight. Thanks @thebrokenspine.co.uk, hope you like my reminiscence of Manchester in the mid-80s! #poetry #writingcommunity

Bloom Street

no curfew, no plans
look around, look away
night in a rainy city
bus station shadows

sodium lights
voices crack
down steep stairs
dissolving into spaces

where we hide
in plain sight
from those people
who never understand

push open doors
they lead us
to our selves

Andy Williamson@andywilliamson· Jun 12

Genuinely struggled to do anything with this week's #poemsabout #WrongBody, but finally came up with this! Thanks @alanparrywriter.co.uk as always for the prompt! Will look forward to reading others later! #poems #poetry

Issue

my father’s hands
that thing he did
when words failed him

I catch myself
mid-gesture

the mirror shows
his shoulders
his jaw
how loss settles
in a face

I wear this body
like a coat
left at the door
by someone
my father never knew

Andy Williamson@andywilliamson· Jun 8

Another fantastic #promptcombo this week - #NothingMakesSenseNowadays. Thanks for this one Paul @thewombwellrainbow.bsky.social and the chance to channel some grumpiness! #poetrycommunity

Lineage

the grandchildren of men
who died fighting nazis
raise an arm
and hiss at difference

their hatred charged
by those who prey
on ignorance
and the grievances

of the children who voted
for Margaret Thatcher
who promised them
a better world

she lied
as this new lot do
when they pretend
they’re on your side

Andy Williamson@andywilliamson· Jun 5

Here's something for #FragmentsFriday that I've been playing around with for a while... @blackboughpoetry.bsky.social @matthewmcsmith.bsky.social #poems #poetry #poietrycommunity

Fraying

Unravelled threads;
wind-snagged, pulling
at the weft, the selvedge
disrupting
our own existence.

Andy Williamson@andywilliamson· Jun 4

Genuinely don't know if the wee man is called IrnBru, Whisky or Buckfast...

Andy Williamson@andywilliamson· Jun 1

Another great #PromptCombo prompt this week - #MaidenVoyage from @janpsolivagant.bsky.social, thanks Jan! Here's something new to share for it! #poems #poetrycommunity

Landfall in heavy seas

sailing out of the storm
I make for landfall
in heavy seas
finding your shore lush

with green inland valleys
the fjords deepening
bottle-blue waters shimmer
beneath the keel

I lean into the wind
following the flight
of birds
drawing me closer

drawing us
together
as we become
our own safe harbour

Andy Williamson@andywilliamson· May 29

Here's something for #fragmentsfriday that popped into my head the other day @blackboughpoetry.bsky.social #poetry

I want to live
in a house by the sea,
with a garden
where lemon trees grow.

Andy Williamson@andywilliamson· May 29

Another tricky prompt for #PoemsAbout #EarnTheRight, hoping this hits the mark! Thanks @thebrokenspine.co.uk & @alanparrywriter.co.uk. #poetry #writingcommunity

The distance between arrival
and belonging

I have crossed the ocean
lost the map
called out your name
waiting
on the platform
for the moment
for us to be together

I gave up
black sand under my feet
the tūī’s cry
the smell of mānuka
on a summer day

together
forever
or alone

Andy Williamson@andywilliamson· May 25

Thanks very much @dragonslayerma.bsky.social for this week's #PromptCombo #Pray - it feels like rich earth to be digging! Here's a very quickly written offering! #poetry #poems

Pray

for hope
for redemption
to save
your ravaged soul

your gods
are not mine
your gods
are corrupt

their mortal intermediaries
in it for themselves
lives of luxury
bigotry and control

small people
scared
of who we might
become

Andy Williamson@andywilliamson· May 22

Still a but time-constrained this week, so here's something I wrote earlier that feels like a good fit for #PoemsAbout #BearingWitness. Thanks @alanparrywriter.co.uk for the prompt and I'll try and read others later! #Poetry #Poems #WritingCommunity

Sunday morning

a knock at the door
my father downstairs
my brother and I
peer over the banister

in the hall below
a policeman
has taken off his helmet
is telling my father

that she is dead

Andy Williamson@andywilliamson· May 18

Catching up after a week away and sharing a poem from my latest collection (link in bio) for #promptcombo theme #home this week. Thanks @rfsmith.bsky.social for the prompt and look forward to reading others! #poetry #prompt #writingcommunity

The kitchen

the old formica table
washing hanging on a winter’s day
shelling peas on the back steps
this room did not change
with the passing years

it was a place where we would meet
at dark of dawn and
dimming of the day
to listen and to talk
to feel quietly loved
Radio 4 and the Archers a constant
morning paper scattered

it is a room I have not seen
for many years
and is like you
a part of who I am

Andy Williamson@andywilliamson· May 14

Captured in full working plumage (in the Italian Chamber of Deputies)…

Andy Williamson@andywilliamson· May 8

Been thinking about #PoemsAbout #NamesNotNumbers for a few days and came up with this (title paraphrases a certain politician of the time). Not my usual! Thanks @thebrokenspine.co.uk @alanparrywriter.co.uk! Driving south now so will catch up! #poems #poetry #poetrycommunity

There was no alternative

unemployment grew
by six-hundred thousand
but numbers hide the journey
it was much worse in between
a million and a half jobs gone
in manufacturing alone

child poverty more than doubled
taxes helped the high earners
benefits languished
then disappeared
factories silenced
strikers beaten

look around
the dole office queue
mates from school
standing in line
work boots and cash in hand
a few hours when you could

sign on when you’re told
wait for your giro
sixty quid a fortnight
that’s what you got
don’t spend it all at once
a pound a pint
and the bus fare home

Andy Williamson@andywilliamson· May 4

Wow, @victoriaspires.bsky.social, that's quite a #PromptCombo, #InTheStyleOf has to be the trickiest yet! I've no idea if I've even got close to the brief with this one but it was fun trying! Looking forward to reading everyone as the week goes on! #poems #poetry #blueskypoets #writingcommunity

Kei te toe tonu te whenua (The land remains)

I feel some days
caught in
a poem, a story
where you exist
alone in memory

the main protagonists
(you know who you are)
linger on high hills
on open moorland
echo in the slow drip of the bush

a city street in a place
I had almost forgotten
and here
in the briefest
of poems

ka ngaro atu i te tirohanga
engari kei te mau tonu te whenua
(we disappear from sight
but the land remains)

Andy Williamson@andywilliamson· Apr 28

Hello #PromptCombo #BlueskyPoets, here's my #TotemTree offering for this week - took a while to get anything! Thanks @janpsolivagant.bsky.social for the challenge! #poems #poetrycommunity

I wish for a forest

you have an anchor
a tree you call
your own
somewhere
you return

there is no forest
holding my dreams
only the blank pages
of a life lived
in motion

Andy Williamson@andywilliamson· Apr 24

Here's a quick offering for #PoemsAbout #SignalLoss (Ruru/Morepork is a New Zealand owl, a guardian between this world and the other). Thanks to @thebrokenspine.co.uk for the prompt - aa busy morning here so will read others later! #poems #poetry #poetrycommunity

Hine ruru

last night
dreaming
you were lost
I was alone

as the morepork
rhythmically offered
condolences
her presence

kaitiaki on the bridge
between two worlds
speaks
to the living

and to me
as she becomes
the only voice
I hear

Andy Williamson@andywilliamson· Apr 20

Good morning @dragonslayerma.bsky.social, what a great #PromptCombo - #NatureHasWeapons. This true story came to mind so sharing it before diving into meetings. Slightly less serious than my usual poems! #poems #poetry #poetrycommunity #writingcommunity

The dog encounters a hedgehog for the first time

it was…
the size of a bear
a large bear
teeth
glinting in moonlight

spikes…
everywhere
like knitting needles
only longer
sharper

I saw it off
chased it away
well
I would have
if it hadn’t
prickled my nose

…ouch

Andy Williamson@andywilliamson· Apr 17

Here's my offering for this week's #poemsabout on #gravity. Thanks @alanparrywriter.co.uk / @thebrokenspine.co.uk for the prompt! Looking forward to reading everyone elses! #poems #poetry #poetrycommunity

Inertia

I fall
for you
in ways
not explained
by Newton’s apple

I fall
out of
my senses
eventually
falling out of love

descending
from your orbit
until the
gravitational force
decreases

inevitably
returning
to the hard earth
bruised
but not abashed

Andy Williamson@andywilliamson· Apr 13

In these parts, there is less distance between this world and others. Many thanks @rfsmith.bsky.social for the excuse to write about it for #PromptCombo #Visions, inspired also by this morning's encounter with one of our resident woodcock! #poems #poetry #poetrycommunity #scottishpoetry

She returns

familiar bass beats
of woodcock wings
low across heather

where earth
meets rock
meets the sky
where the air shimmers
separates

where voices carry
from the earth below
the sky above
in the vibration
of this land

she returns
as the world
quiets

Andy Williamson@andywilliamson· Apr 12

A bleak, black-and-white kind of day on Skye, what you can feel from the photos is the wind!

Cuillin hills from Sligachan, Isle of Skye on a bleak wind-swept day

Red Cuillin from Sligachan, Isle of Skye on a bleak wind-swept day

Andy Williamson@andywilliamson· Apr 10

Turns out the #FragmentsFriday I posted last week was the perfect opening to this week's #PoemsAbout #EdgeOfKnowing! So now I do know where that was going! Thanks @alanparrywriter.co.uk / @thebrokenspine.co.uk for the prompt! #poems #poetry #blueskypoetry

Stepping stones

I put you on a shelf
with the other saints
ready to forget
your transgressions

all the shadows
the silence
your stories
your lies

tomorrow
we will cross the river
on stepping stones
made of broken promises

Andy Williamson@andywilliamson· Apr 3

As we've no #PoemsAbout this week, I'm going to share this little starting piece for @blackboughpoetry.bsky.social #fragmentsfriday instead... sprang into my head walking the hound this morning, I wonder where it's going to go... #poems #poetry #blueskypoets #poetrycommunity #wrtingcommunity

I put you on the shelf
with the other saints
ready to forget
your transgressions
but not forgive

Andy Williamson@andywilliamson· Mar 30

Going minimalist for this week's #promptcombo #allowed, hope you like it! Thanks to @thewombwellrainbow.bsky.social for another excellent prompt #poems #poetry #poetrycommunity #writingcommunity