Skip to main content

Submit Poetry

Submission Guidelines

  • Submissions are open to anyone in Suffolk, England, aged 16 or over
  • Poetry theme(s): (1) The Environment; (2) Positive Mental Health Recovery and Wellbeing; (3) Covid Reflections. Please indicate the theme(s) of your poem in your submission
  • Up to 52 lines in length
  • Do not use words, terms or phrases that are considered offensive, obscene, abusive, inappropriate or mention/infer self-harm
  • Submit by email, to artbranches@icloud.com either inserting your text within the email body or as an attachment
  • Indicate the name, initials, etc., to attribute as the author, or whether you wish to write anonymously
  • Submissions may be accompanied by an optional related image attached to your submission email.  Images must either be your own, have permission granted for you to use or be free-to-use commercially.  If required, a vast range of high quality, free-to-use images can be found at websites such as Unsplash, Pexels and Pixabay. If you do not wish to provide an associated image, the organiser may choose something appropriate or present the text without an image.

Notes & Further Information

The organiser, Art Branches CIC, is a not-for-profit community organisation specialising in inclusive creative projects for improving wellbeing in communities across the East of England.

Your name and email address will be used solely for the purpose of poetry collection and communication by the organiser and will not be shared with any other party.

By submitting your content (poetry and any associated image), you agree to the right of the organiser to publish it online and/or in hard copy form on a non-exclusive, royalty-free basis.  You still own the copyright on your content and are not transferring that to the organiser.

The organiser reserves the right to not publish a submission text and/or image or to remove a previously published submission.

For further information, contact us through the organiser's Contact page on the Art Branches website: https://artbranches.org/contact/

Currently Popular Poems:

Solitude of Pines

With a frail And uncertain future Breathing in rhythmical pines Calms my thoughts. Solitude I seek Within the forest Amorphous blankets of snow Covering crestfallen waves. Spirited wind Melancholy whispers A tear falls Past traumas relived. Ephemeral bird calls Wispy clouds and frost Revitalises lost energies I no longer feel lost.     Matthew  
View Poem »

Lone Stone

Stone, stone Oh who to be a stone? Don't moan We are all on our own Even as a stone! Josh
View Poem »

Dunwich

Dunwich, once second to London its bells still ring far out to sea when I was young I used to find skulls, ribs and femurs scattered down its cliffs, all now buried in my heart John
View Poem »

Ecocide II. Lost Madagascan Solitude

Sloping crystalline falling away skies nudge a luxuriant forested isle - wide-eyed tree-skipping lemur-strewn  - obediently it slides eastward, ever further distant from anchoring shores. A boat-less earth. Hunched up blood-licking apes locked into fruit-held rift valleys. Sharpening their flints. The sautéing sifaka, jitters, nervy, princely pirouettes. Esoteric treasure trove, trust-bound, assembled exotica anciently unfolds. In solitude, a jolly party contained together in pacific balance: reptilian bug-eyed chameleons sure and slow-footed, shy slinking Fossa, a lone long-fingered aye-aye absentmindedly tapping out dangerous omens in primeval morse code. Waves crash, anguished howls - one rogue boatful with hungry bellies and hatchets. Chameleons adjust multi-coloured jackets - to hide away fast. The island’s grizzled chains slip their moorings grind down Noah’s Ark of charms. Axes sear, slice, ricochet Malagasy’s pristine wonders slump - wounded, bloodied, defiled. The world’s ...
View Poem »

Insect Playground

Hidey holes and pockets of flowers Silhouetted with a lonely crow, watchful of artists. A jumble sale of geology, thoughts, and passers by; A granulated sugar platform Of sandy grains and apple pie. Abbey Tales Group  Poem
View Poem »

River Linnet

River Linnet, A chalk stream In Bury. Rubbish, Let’s bin it Instead of Filling it. Edith St-King
View Poem »

A Mindful Reunion

We meet in silence Clutching blankets brought from home, Holding memories from a year ago When scars were raw, Heads disguised by wigs And tears too salt to weep. I found words difficult then. ‘Body scan’ Was not a mindful exercise But a machine at the end of a corridor. There were places in my body I could not touch with thought. Like chrysalis we scatter the floor Each section of our being Revisited with childlike curiosity, Sensations magnified, the tickle of wool, the press of cotton. A forgotten ache from an ankle. Our teacher’s voice Both lesson and lullaby Returning to the breath Again and again We try to train our thoughts; Naughty as puppies With Baskerville bites I find peacefulness within the ordinary, Rest my head in the soft cushion of a second Savouring the beauty of this moment, Both rooted in earth and reaching for stars. Jacqueline Woods
View Poem »

King of the Woods

Soft green moss and arching brambles With desperate nettles shooting upright to light. Dense, strong and stable, yet soft delicate and gentle A squirrel runway extending arms, reaching limbs Of sun-drenched lime, mottled light barely touching. Fresh, yet decaying hands of friendship, A ladybird highway knitted together. Beneath a silhouette of darkness, A planet in itself.   by Jess and Stephanie A video showing how this poem was written can be found on the Resources page .
View Poem »

Patient Waiting

Waiting patiently, Post-covid chest In West Suffolk hospital every two months. Physical barriers To recovery I face, with mental and financial scars cutting past my breath. I seek reassurance From other patients, Stangers to me- To lessen my symptoms We laugh and recall. Conspiracy theorists I say, should live with my cough And pain to re-judge, I wish it was. Bryony
View Poem »

Abseiling Platform

A disorganisation of bumpy, stained stones, Sandy olives beneath Mossy pockets of flowers And ruptured mortar. A sun drenched lime backing Crumbling ruins, Abseiling platform Hosting a multitude Of alien life forms. Charlotte
View Poem »