Cate Haynes

a colorful hot air balloon flies through a cloudy sky ALT: a colorful hot air balloon flies through a cloudy sky

Submissions window opens in March for 2 weeks (1/3 until 14/3/2026) ... open theme.
JH x
#PoetryForChildren
#DirigibleBalloon

Question raised in this thread...I mean raised by me but thru discussion: Can anyone think of any UK sci fi middle grade dealing in government racism/immigration? #UKKidLit

Fragment of memory for #VSS365

‘This is how you #heel in a bare-root plant,’ he told me. ‘You can move it later - in spring or autumn - but for now make sure you get it into soil.’
I still have those raspberries and hear his calm instructions whenever I pick them

Tanka for #VSS365 prompt #space

A firefly starscape
fills this #space. Galaxies of
light whirl, undulate,
grow, poke holes in the night.
A firework display for one

Prose poem from prompt #realm for #VSS365

It is the shame of this #realm
that power is its altar
and the body and blood of mass are real.
Shrouds muffle whispers of love, kindness.
Humanity drowns in war

A Sunday #haiku not written from any prompt other than real life

A small white feather
curled on train floor. Just one white
feather. It’s perfect.

A view down Broadgate in Grasmere. The bookshop on the corner and a misty grey green fell in the distance. Red phone box visible next to the bus stop. Puddles on the road.

Today is the start of #IndieBookshopWeek, so why not call by your nearest indie bookshop, admire their bunting and help them unburden their bookshelves?

#haiku written for #VSS365 prompt #shed

As shed leaves carpet
and badgers slumber deep,
tears fall from grey sky

#senryu for #VSS365 prompt #scrape

And while they scour,
#scrape, wipe-out … we witness all,
remember all

#WeWontForget

This was like no other portal in the game. No magical tunnel crafted between far away places.

This looked like a rip. A tear in the #skin of the world. The effect looked fantastic, but Rory knew that, in the game, any great changes to the world held terrible consequences.

For everything.

#vss365

#senryu for #VSS365 prompt #skin

A #skin memory,
wrinkled, scarred, precious, of your
baby hand in mine

It’s similar to haiku, but whereas a haiku is 5 syllables, then 7, then 5, a tanka is 5,7,5,77

Deliciously, darkly funny

"Happy Monday 😀

Your #vss365 #prompt for June 9 is #small 🐜"

These words are small.
Only little breaths of vowels
And consonantal pauses after all.
And yet,
These tiny letters piled on top of each other in glorious multitudes
Can form ideas so big and far-reaching that they can remake the world

Unsent

i’m not looking for signs of love
returned—not really.

only mourning
the #small part of me
that once believed.
completely.

in that type of love.
it doesn’t come easily.

that’s all.
maybe—
that’s all.

last of the light
across the frost fence
my breath releases

#vss365 #haibun #prosepoem

where the light breaks thin
a #small leaf clings to the wind
neither near nor far

#vss365 #haiku #zen #poetry #blueskypoets
📸 D. Romanesi via Flickr

#tanka written for #VSS365 prompt #small

A hope-light rises
pushes against dark. The tide
gulps, swallows its prize.
A faint glimmer - #small against
might - remains. Push again. Push.

The machine will feed
and continue until none
remains not even
a #single one. Listen, the
weeping dark screams - calls to you

#tanka for #VSS365 prompt #single

When she laughed, it burst out of her as if kept coiled tight for too long in a dusty box. Its volume swelled like a #spring tide, ebbing in shushing waves, the rest of us left beached and floundering

Snippet written for #VSS365 prompt #spring

If you haven't read this yet (but you have used AI) then I would strongly recommend you read it. Super creepy.

What if we’re made-up from shards of the people we meet, a collection of good wishes, a kindness here, a thank you there, a good wish, a scowl?
What if we’re all walking bundles of #splinters of one another? Would that knowledge make us kinder?

Thoughts for the day from #VSS365 prompt #splinter

If we knew where each
honeyed #sunbeam would alight,
where each soft drop of
rain would meet the earth, we could
wash in rays, warm in water.

#tanka for #VSS365 daily prompt #sunbeam

Another #vision drenches her mind, pulls her under until she’s drowning in air. Reality bleeds into green skin, clawed fingers, a kiss of spite and anger.

#VSS365 #vision

#brine in my hair, on
the wind and salting my skin.
Toes plunged deep in sand

#haiku for #VSS365 daily prompt #brine

Slap Slap Slap The sounds of her feet Hitting the deck of the ship as she ran Thud Thud Thud Boots loud on the hard surface Hot breath of pursuit behind She hit the rail like a gymnast Vaulting over in one swift move Arms out to embrace the ocean Then together as if in prayer A grateful blessing as she hit Hands—head—body Slipping into the cool briny waters Pushing downwards Flicking hard Strong legs no longer needed Replaced once again By her beautiful blue tail Taking in great gulps of salty sea Letting the elixir purge her Lungs of the poison air They had forced into her Noxious toxins flushing out Cleanse her body Each inhalation taking her Further away from Sunlight—surface—Man

#vss365 #prompt Thursday, May 29th is #brine

Go ahead. Get salty today!

#Brine – Salty water or the ocean itself. Used for preserving food.

We only have a few days left together! I've so enjoyed this!
Starting June 1st @SeptimusBrown will be your new host. Beat the summer rush and follow him now!

I'm fundraising to support King's Children's Transplant Team! Help Charles Lawson raise money to support King's College Hospital Charity

He’s done it! Charles completed his 400km bike ride London-Paris 🥇
Please take a moment to read his story & donate here: www.justgiving.com/page/charles...

A honeyed #curse drips
from his lips. A poisoned kiss
ripened with spite. His
gaze pulls her close, hypnotised,
pinned. She draws from the deep - flees.

#VSS365 #curse #tanka

An animal that
hunts, rips, maims, kills. A person
who follows meaning
harm. Hunter. Ripper. Killer.
Victim blamer. #predator

#VSS365 #predator #tanka

#toxic words drip from
your sandpaper tongue. They burn.
I dissolve, erode

#VSS365 #toxic #haiku

Sea unicorn twists
tusks a greeting, click, whistle.
Silver bubbles rise

#VSS365 #narwhal #haiku