Welcome to the Ink Sweat & Tears Poetry Archive
This archive is formed from all the posts from that original Ink Sweat & Tears website, it now consists of everything we have published up to the end of 2019. IS&T was founded by Salt author Charles Christian in 2007 as a platform for new poetry and short prose, and experimental work in digital media. Charles ran the site single-handedly, publishing new work every day till 2010, when now sole editor, poet and artist Helen Ivory came on board as Deputy Editor. The Ink Sweat & Tears website continues to run and can be found here.
You can either click on the poems below which run from most recent to oldest, or you can search for particular poem or poet, there is also a list of all the categories to click through. From Prose & Poetry to Words and Images, Haibun, Tanka, Haiku & Haiga, in addition we have all of the Poems of the month and Poetry picks, old blogs and news, award nominated, reviews and interviews.
Please do take a look.
Search the archive
Prose and poetry
Poems and prose published on the website from start to finish.
Rachel Fox has been watching Dad's army in the park
Dads armyIn combat trousersSome longSome shortThey wear the modern camouflageFor parks and play areasIt's a mustThe beige and grey and khaki greenNice modern men blend inAvoid unnecessary...
Mandy Pannett sends a postcard from Rajasthan
POSTCARD FROM RAJASTHANIf you could see me now at Pushkar Fair – though with thousands of tourists milling around I’m small as a bug in the hay.Can you imagine the smell of it – spices and sweat,...
Casey Quinn is thinking about a cactus man and sore muscles
the cactus man the cactus manhurts my soulwith thorns of lovepierces mewith blades of truththrives best whenlove has run drywhata prick. * * * * * muscles, soreness and...
John Irvine is wondering about the big gig in the sky
The Big Gig in the Skypondering today about the singers and songwriters of my timeand how many are now playingthe Big Gig in the Skythere aren’t all that manyleft alive, let alone performingthe rest...
Jon Tait's looking at birthday balloons
Birthday BalloonsThe first time I saw this girl I once knew she was blowing up birthday balloons for her sister’s surprise party in a fashionable bar all chrome and glass in a former bank building...
Two new podcasts by Helen Pletts
We're pleased to announce that we've got two new poems + accompanying podcasts by on of IS&T's staunchest supports Helen Pletts...The man who left this face on me The man who...
Alan Girling has a bottle of Suntory kept by
one lucky, café Japonaisin this cityat any dinner hourI’ll always havethe rows of albums these shelves this one lucky archive of the...
Sarah Hilary is looking at glass and rust
GlassThe desert marshals sandin warfare.Hustles itdust driven into the compressors of aircraftwhose engines eat heat.Fired, the sand becomesglass:a blown heart holding hot steel in its hollow...
Mark McDonnell remembers a meeting
MeetingHere we are on this sloping ground amongst the pine trees. Low cloud ingests the mountain tops. You, oblivious to the scree and the roots, the rivulets and the mud, in your usual black town...
Two prose poems by Katrina Naomi
For AA wasn’t one of the first, just one of the first to speak. A couldn’t say all of the words. I wasn’t a judge, A wouldn’t have one of those, but I believed the parts of A’s story she would...
Poetry Picks
Our favourite poems and ‘best of’ chosen from each month between 2007 and 2019
No Results Found
The page you requested could not be found. Try refining your search, or use the navigation above to locate the post.
Haibun, Tanka, Haiku, & Haiga
Haibun, Tanka, Haiku, & Haiga reviously published on the website.
No Results Found
The page you requested could not be found. Try refining your search, or use the navigation above to locate the post.
12 Days of Christmas
All the poems from our regular 12 days of Christmas feature.
No Results Found
The page you requested could not be found. Try refining your search, or use the navigation above to locate the post.
Words & Images
Words with images previously published on the website.
No Results Found
The page you requested could not be found. Try refining your search, or use the navigation above to locate the post.
Blogs and news
Blogs and archived news from 2007 to 2020.
No Results Found
The page you requested could not be found. Try refining your search, or use the navigation above to locate the post.
Reviews
Archived reviews from 2007 to 2020.
No Results Found
The page you requested could not be found. Try refining your search, or use the navigation above to locate the post.
Interviews
Archived interviews from 2007 to 2020.
No Results Found
The page you requested could not be found. Try refining your search, or use the navigation above to locate the post.