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.

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Prose and poetry

Poems and prose published on the website from start to finish.

Ken Cumberlidge

      Blonde On Blonde : Side 4 In spite of never having tried to learn it, you find yourself word-perfect on Sad-Eyed Lady Of The Lowlands. The whole eleven minutes 22. And where you...

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Kerry Darbishire

    Triptych The couple at a nearby table discuss the drapes, tartan wallpaper the pastiche highland paintings.  She barely smiles, he – a sorry picture wearing the morning like a shabby...

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Poppy Kleiser

      The Cut I inked the inside of my heart that day on Rosie Ward where the whole clean grid was a whitewashed board and everywhere ideas were being born to women with soft arms and...

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David Mac

  Spotting Socrates at a Wetherspoons Socrates drink your wine at the other end of the bar away from me Socrates go drink your wine in the ancient sun Don’t you know we came here for beer and...

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Nick Allen

      midnight poem his blood was black he climbed to the highest branches that would hold him in the end of the world start of the world   corvid tree featherless   plucked and clean...

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R. S. Stewart

      Inside a Clock I peered inside a clock and wish I hadn’t. Taken apart it was emptied out on a counter for repair, the owner claiming it ran slow, a minute later ticking too...

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Robert Beveridge

  Train Kept a-Rollin' Elvis has been reincarnated as a lizard and suns himself on rocks in the Gobi Desert loses his drug-soaked tail once every new moon he is a female lizard    ...

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Gareth Writer-Davies

  Priesthole to hide a priest like a fox was a risky business (pursuivant) in the large double room, I am stretched upon the bed working the cradle of a line covert he says his prayers whilst I...

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Terry Barr

  The Informer I’ll never forget Chip’s enormous right thumb, directed toward me, as he turned in response to Mrs. Laird’s question about my desk mate, Robert: “Who told him the answers?” I’ll...

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Poetry Picks

Our favourite poems and ‘best of’ chosen from each month between 2007 and 2019

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Haibun, Tanka, Haiku, & Haiga

Haibun, Tanka, Haiku, & Haiga reviously published on the website.

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12 Days of Christmas

All the poems from our regular 12 days of Christmas feature.

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Words & Images

Words with images previously published on the website.

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Blogs and news

Blogs and archived news from 2007 to 2020.

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Reviews

Archived reviews from 2007 to 2020.

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Interviews

Archived interviews from 2007 to 2020.

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