Matt Gilbert

@richlyevocative

Poetry bothering, blog tinkering, place pondering, musically promiscuous, book-loving freelance copywriter. Likely to moan & rail at the unfairness & absurdity of life. Poetry links

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Bluesky

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Matt Gilbert@richlyevocative· 2d

Greedy entitled bastards gonna greedy-entitled-bastard if you don’t stop them (Cue “it’s a tough job, the market has to attract the best talent” response)

Matt Gilbert@richlyevocative· 16d

I’m not one who sees Burnham as the messiah, but the guy’s been in less than a week. The accelerated hysteria & impatience, even in occasionally more sensible media, is insane. No politician of any stripe can achieve anything substantial at social media & emergency podcast reaction speed.

Matt Gilbert@richlyevocative· 24d

A Rat Decides to Change Its Place - up now at @inksweatandtears.co.uk Very pleased to have a poem on the excellent Ink Sweat & Tears inksweatandtears.co.uk/42469-2/

Matt Gilbert@richlyevocative· 27d

Wanted to be surprised. Wasn’t surprised. Gah.

Matt Gilbert@richlyevocative· Jul 9

Matt Gilbert@richlyevocative· Jul 2

Watched Eng Congo DR with my 16 year old son. Interesting contrast in perspective. For him England = WC Semi, Euros Final, WC QF & another Euros final. For me broken metatarsals, missed pens, disallowed headers, shock red cards, headless turkeys, hands of god & Bryan Robson’s shoulder falling off

Matt Gilbert@richlyevocative· May 17

Photo of graffiti tag which says Poets.

Electric Lane, Brixton

Matt Gilbert@richlyevocative· May 13

Just walking near a primary school when there was a huge thunder clap. A massive excited scream went out as if Olivia Rodrigo had turned up. Guess Nature’s still pretty exciting

Oak tree and grey clouds near housing estate

Matt Gilbert@richlyevocative· May 12

And the accidental UK politics metaphor of the week award goes to…

Matt Gilbert@richlyevocative· May 8

Apparently Reform voter hotspots map closely to heavily Brexit supporting areas. Wonder how it compares to areas associated with historic persecution of so-called witches? 😉

Matt Gilbert@richlyevocative· May 6

Saw my first South London swifts of the year: three over Curry’s in Brixton, prob needed USB C cables for their Bluetooth speakers, one over Crystal Palace. Here’s two Swift poems by me - Screaming Party first appeared in Cerasus Winter 2022, the other Forked, from Street Sailing. #swifts #poetry

A poem called Screaming Party by Matt Gilbert

A poem from Matt Gilbert’s Street Sailing about swifts, called Forked.

Matt Gilbert@richlyevocative· May 1

Happy May Day. Here’s a celebration of a hawthorn I used to know. The birthday boy in the poem is about to start GCSEs, but doesn’t seem too weighed down by the prospect. You can find The Nature Present in Street Sailing @blackboughpoetry.bsky.social @booksellercrow.bsky.social

The Nature Present - from Street Sailing by Matt Gilbert

Matt Gilbert@richlyevocative· Apr 23

My wonderful local indie bookshop @booksellercrow.bsky.social has re-stocked Street Sailing. So if you’re Crystal Palace inclined, get in there and buy a book - maybe even a signed copy by a local author such as me. And as Jon would say - Keep fighting evil @blackboughpoetry.bsky.social

Street Sailing by Matt Gilbert and other poetry books on a shelf in Crystal Palace’s Bookseller Crow.

Review quotes for Street Sailing - poems by Matt Gilbert

Matt Gilbert@richlyevocative· Apr 17

Suspect many would agree. Perhaps though not in the way KS thinks.

Guardian Headline about Kier Starmer’s reaction to Mandelson vetting news.

Matt Gilbert@richlyevocative· Apr 11

Artist Ieva Rubeze’s Ghost, which can be found near the Swedish Gate in Riga’s Old Town. What a city.

Photograph of a shrouded figure manifesting near a thick brick wall. It is artist Ieva Rubeze’s Ghost, which can be found near the Swedish Gate in Riga’s Old Town. What a city.

Matt Gilbert@richlyevocative· Apr 4

Sometimes a poem is serious but not po faced. The odd one makes you laugh out loud. Occasionally others make you wish you’d written them. Several in @betarish.bsky.social ‘s new collection do all of the above to me. Others may make you recall the poem about the friend whose poem won a competition.

Cover of Cherry Blossom at Nightbreak by Rishi Dastidar.

Matt Gilbert@richlyevocative· Mar 31

Poetry eh? (Or should that be B) I’m in a karmic rejection phase - as poems that were accepted a few months back are published, I’m getting a run of no thanks from autumn/winter subs. So from the outside on social media it looks great, but in the inbox it’s carnage.

A poetry bookshelf with authors beginning with B.

Matt Gilbert@richlyevocative· Mar 26

Just had interior monologue row after Detectorists was subject of R4 Thought for the Day. Gut reaction “ugh they’re not looking for God” Then thought “Holy Grail Christmas Special.” Had to concede one could see a spiritual/Judeo-Christian element in uncovering real love/treasure in everyday life. 🙄

Matt Gilbert@richlyevocative· Mar 20

Hello #fragmentsfriday @blackboughpoetry.bsky.social

Matt Gilbert@richlyevocative· Mar 16

An underground manifesto of sorts... richlyevocative.net/2026/03/16/a...

Bank and Charing Cross Branches of the London Underground turned into a poem.

Matt Gilbert@richlyevocative· Mar 7

What a way to describe an avid reader. From the excellent ‘O Caledonia’ by Elspeth Barker. It’s filled with brilliant, distinctive and memorable passages like this. 😀

Extract from a description of a character reading in ‘O Caledonia’ by Elspeth Barker.

Matt Gilbert@richlyevocative· Mar 6

Hello @matthewmcsmith.bsky.social @blackboughpoetry.bsky.social here’s something for 18 word #fragmentsfriday

An 18 word fragment of a poem.

Either, I’m an inept spy, or a pole-reversed St Francis.

Creatures scatter,
even gnats are scathing,
yet I’m certain
what I seek
is waiting,
somewhere in the trees.

Matt Gilbert@richlyevocative· Feb 26

Himalayan balsam is a symptom of a deeply sick, anti-Western ideology

Matt Gilbert@richlyevocative· Feb 20

Meanwhile, in further tone-deaf, entitled arsehole grasper news…

Agent sues over book about Andrew MB being dropped by US publisher.

Matt Gilbert@richlyevocative· Feb 20

Hello @blackboughpoetry.bsky.social @matthewmcsmith.bsky.social Here’s one for #fragmentsfriday

A short poem by Matt Gilbert

Revenant Legion

The mad parade
shambles out
from fetid rooms,
each lurching step
an obdurate attempt
to reverse our progress.

Matt Gilbert@richlyevocative· Feb 13

Apropos of something - first published last month here - morningstaronline.co.uk/article/harv...

Matt Gilbert@richlyevocative· Feb 13

Trump has just got rid of US anti population measures - see story below. This poem of mine, The Political Wing of the Weather, first appeared in The Lake, November 2023. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

A poem by Matt Gilbert - The Political Wing of the Weather

Matt Gilbert@richlyevocative· Feb 4

On this hill…

Matt Gilbert@richlyevocative· Jan 27

www.talkingwalking.net Me talking poetry, urban woods and blogging about place on Talking Walking

Matt Gilbert@richlyevocative· Jan 18

Issue 2 of new(ish) zine Urban scrawl is out now - including two poems by me. Great to be a part of it. www.urbanscrawlmag.co.uk/edition-2