Marc Brightside

Big thanks to the Scottish Mental Health Arts Festival for exhibiting my poem, 'Who We Speak To When Our Eyes Are Closed', earlier this week: youtube.com/watch?v=QJ5lfX… #poetry #poem #poetrycommunity #poets

Pamphlet submissions open until July 31st (To give you plenty of time) We have introduced a £3 submission fee to help sustain the press this year. Not ideal but the best of limited options. Please see our website for more info. Thanks for your support.

@DillyDilworth As a longtime fan, I was admittedly disappointed to see you take that direction, but I'm glad to see you respond so openly and address the feedback directly rather than hide away in the shadows like some do. Thank you.

You are a beautiful group of fans. You don’t want Courage to be part of the crypto space. I'M OUT! I’ll find other funding for my movies. Thank you!

i don't know who needs to hear this but in order to become a better person, you must first realize how horrible you really are. not in the dramatic sense, but in the quiet ways you sabotage yourself, repeat unhealthy patterns, hurt people who care about you, or tolerate what wounds you. you cannot grow if you keep pretending you’re innocent in the story you created

THE BETHS Man of culture.

You don’t really understand this until you’ve had a few almosts A few dates where the conversation was fine, the food was decent, they laughed at the right moments, you nodded, you smiled, you did all the human things, and then you went home and felt nothing. Not heartbreak. Not excitement. Just this blank, polite calm like you finished a meeting. You lay in bed at 00:26 scrolling for a little dopamine hit because the whole night didn’t land anywhere in your body Or you meet someone who is objectively great on paper and your brain keeps trying to force it. They’re kind. They show up. They text back. They’re stable Your friends approve. And still, when you’re alone with them, something in you stays locked. You can’t explain it without sounding insane. “They’re perfect, I just… don’t feel it.” So you keep going for a while because you want to be normal and grateful and adult. Then one day you realize you’ve been living on a mild sedation. Not unhappy, not alive. That’s when the math hits you. Real connection is not common. not even close We talk about it like it should be easy because there are billions of people and apps and “put yourself out there” and a culture that makes love sound like a buffet. Pick someone. Swipe. Upgrade. Repeat. But genuine click is not about access. It’s about alignment. And alignment is rare in a way people don’t want to admit because it makes the world feel colder. Think about what has to line up for it to happen Two nervous systems that don’t trigger each other into shutdown. Two senses of humor that match. Two levels of intensity that don’t leave one person feeling chased and the other feeling abandoned. Two life rhythms that can actually share air. Two people who find each other at the same time in their lives, not one ready and the other half asleep. Two sets of wounds that don’t hook into each other like velcro. Two people whose idea of “home” is compatible. That’s before you even get to attraction. Before you get to values. Before you get to sex. Before you get to the boring reality of laundry and bills and sickness and family and the way people change. then add the fact that we are all walking around with invisible histories. Old loves. Old betrayals. Childhood stuff. Self-protection habits we pretend are personality traits. Half the time you’re not even meeting the person. You’re meeting the version of them they think will be safe to show. when you genuinely click with someone, it feels like a miracle not because you’re dramatic, but because your body knows the odds. It knows how many conversations you’ve had where you were translating yourself. How many times you laughed a second late. How many times you edited your excitement so you wouldn’t seem like too much. How many times you didn’t say what you meant because you didn’t trust the room to hold it. Then one day you say something stupidly specific, like a childhood memory nobody else cares about, and they don’t just listen - they light up. They understand the joke inside it. They catch the tone behind the words. They respond like they’ve been waiting for that exact frequency. That moment is fragile in a way people don’t respect. Because it’s not just “we get along.” It’s “my nervous system recognizes yours.” And you can lose it so easily. Not always through some dramatic betrayal. Sometimes just through timing. Distance. Life getting heavy. People getting scared. Someone’s depression turning them into fog. Someone’s ambition turning them into absence. One bad season where you stop choosing each other and start surviving side by side. It doesn’t take a villain. It just takes neglect, which is so much more common. That’s why connection is beautiful. Not because it’s poetic. Because THIS improbable

I might add to this thread later, but never let it be said that poetry doesn't matter in the modern world. Poetry is needed more than ever, from the dodgiest ABABs to the experimental avant-garde. If you're reading this, wherever you are, take care. 7/7 #nationalpoetryday #poetry

There's also 'The Blue Envelope', the first poem I ever had published back in 2015, before I even fully committed to the idea of Writing Poems. It's a little shaky, one line in particular, but that confidence boost did wonders for me back in the day: wp.me/p3ioYp-cw 6/?

Happy #nationalpoetryday2025. For the occasion, I'd like to take the opportunity to recount a few noteworthy pieces published over the last few years and reflect on them with the benefit of hindsight and experience. 1/? #poetry #poetrycommunity #PoetryDay #poems

Thoroughly enjoyed the launch of @LukeKennard's wonderful new collection, The Book of Jonah. Fantastic work as always, looking forward to spending some time with this one over the weekend.

A wee birdy told me the issue is now available to read: gypsophilazine.com/v3-i8-the-ghos… #poets #poetry #poetrycommunity #poems #authorscommunity #Authors

@FromTheDepths88 Man, I love your work, I really do, but artists have bills to pay too. If you can't afford to pay for a commission, I don't think asking someone to do it for free--after having been justifiably called out for the use of AI generated imagery--is the correct response here.

Upon reflection, I can see how the use of an AI avatar in my latest video is off-putting. In the spirit of good faith, I’m willing to replace it with an artist commissioned avatar. I still can’t pay, but I will give credit. Just message me on here if you’re interested ✌️

Happy to report an acceptance in the next issue of Gypsophila Magazine, who don't seem to be on here anymore but deserve a mention anyway. The poem is 'Days Like These'. The issue is out August 31st. #writerslift #WritingCommunity #poetry #poetrylovers #poets #AuthorsOfTwitter

Over 160 calls for literary competitions & submissions including poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, art, photography, & more - contests, literary journals, residencies, bursaries etc - open or with deadlines in July 2025. Best of luck & pls share! thisiswordbox.com/wordbox-blog/w…

**Submissions open tomorrow, June 23!** Keep your eyes peeled at our guidelines page: matchbooklitmag.com/guidelines