explore | Grilled Cheese

@irk-irwell.bsky.social Oct 15, 2026, 11:06 PM

#PoetsOfDoom #MurderMystery #Whodoneit #Blueskypoetry jenthorne.bsky.social phylogeneticsteve.bsky.social daveashleypoet.bsky.social

@jenthorne.bsky.social Oct 15, 2026, 4:08 PM

@sonnetsmith.bsky.social this is probably the most evil #PoetsOfDoom challenge you have ever done, and it's taken me bloody ages!

It is also long, so get a cuppa!

@daveashleypoet.bsky.social where is yours?

#MurderMystery
#Poetry

Who Killed Barbie?

When midnight chimed throughout the store,
The toys crept out across the moonlit floor.
The doors were locked, the lights were dim,
Yet something dreadful stirred within.

The teddy bears had gone to bed,
The toy trains settled in the miniature shed,
The dolls shared gossip from shelf to shelf,
While Barbie strutted and preened herself.

She wore her crown of plastic gold,
Confident in the fact, so I'm told,
That she was favourite in the store,
And would remain for ever more.

Then came a scream from aisle three,
A sound of shock and mystery.
The toys rushed out in wild-eyed dread,
To find poor Barbie lying dead.
Her glitter purse lay on the floor,
Beside her bright pink dreamhouse door.

A high heel boot was found nearby,
Discovered by Ken, who started to cry.
"I loved her!" Ken declared through tears.
"That's what he says!" Action Man sneered,
"And just what a guilty toy might claim!"
He shouted, envious of Ken’s fame.

Detective Rabbit, with his velveteen fur,
Looked for clues about what happened to her.
He studied her body in the subdue light
And declared ‘I will find out what happened tonight!”
He questioned all the toys with utmost care,
From the red race car to the dancing bear.

The Robot said, "At half-past ten,
I saw her arguing with Ken."
But Ken replied, "That much is so,
But what happened after, I do not know."
Dinosaur then piped up with a roar:
"I heard strange footsteps cross the floor!"

The toy drum banged to show it agreed,
"I heard the skittering of a fake centipede."
The centipede wiggled out from its nest.
“Barbie was my friend, I liked her best,”
The poor insect chittered in hasty alarm,
“And I’m too small to have caused any harm.”

Then Rabbit found a curious thing,
A small plastic shard dangling off a short string.
A makeshift weapon used in the attack?
Or the cord from a firearm slung over a back.
It matched the gun that was carried by…
Action Man – the jealous guy!

The solider stood tall, his jaw set tight.
"My gun's been damaged, that is right,
But I was in the stockroom practising tai chi,
I was nowhere near – it couldn’t be me!"
Still the clues and motive all pointed to him,
And his alibi seemed rather thin.

The toys closed in as the rumour spread,
But Rabbit twitched his nose and said,
"The killer isn't who you think.
Before you leap, before you blink,
Consider who could move unseen,
Between the shelves so neat and clean."

He picked up Barbie's fallen shoe
And turned it so the toys could view
A tiny wheel mark on the heel,
A clue that made the truth seem real.
As one their eyes moved up to the start of the plummet.
Revealing the solution of this whodunnit.

Above them ran a narrow track,
Where the old toy train rattled forth and back.
Quaking the tin toy moved forward itself
On the little metal rails that snaked across the shelf
“Barbie stepped upon my track,
I ran over her foot and she fell with a whack!”

She crashed down into the dollhouse roof,
It was a tragic accident and that was the truth.
No murderous intention, no evil scheme,
Just poor luck in a children’s moonlit dream.
To this day the toys remember Barbie's tale,
And at night warn each other to mind the rail.

@brendafromia.bsky.social Oct 13, 2026, 1:40 AM

#PoetsOfDoom #MurderMystery #WhoDoneIt #tanka

Feathered wings flapping,
Carrion lies rotting; the
Mystery unfolds;
A black feather left behind;
Guilty as charged; fly away

@rock-rex.bsky.social Oct 11, 2026, 8:47 PM

Who Killed Cock Robin?"

#poem #poetry #skypoets #blueskypoets #poetsofbluesky #poetrycommunity #writingcommunity #poetsofdoom #murdermystery #whodoneit #blueskypoetry
@sonnetsmith.bsky.social
@jenthorne.bsky.social
@phylogeneticsteve.bsky.social
@daveashleypoet.bsky.social

The body’s found,
a limp and bloody ball of ragged down,
eyes dulled, claws torn.

Some choughs are sent
to make a beak-tip search around the scene,
but come up blank.

The victim was,
by all accounts, well liked, so suspects will
be hard to find.

A bluebottle
was witness to his fall, but didn’t see
the murderer.

We don’t know why
he died, then, nor who foully took his life,
but we know how:

a clothyard shaft
that pierced his heart, and sent him tumbling
from air to earth.

And now routine:
the trawling through of records and the like,
until success —

the killer’s found:
the sole toxophilite around the place,
and envious

of Robin’s fame
and fortune gained from Christmas cards and songs
and biscuit tins.

He tries to fly,
but Sparrow is no match for D.C. Hawk,
is brought to book.

Cock Robin’s mourned
by every bird that flies; with sighs and sobs
he’s laid to rest

while in a cage
his killer flutters helpless wings and rues
his jealous rage.

@rock-rex.bsky.social Oct 11, 2026, 7:31 PM

"Incident".

#poem #poetry #skypoets #blueskypoets #poetsofbluesky #poetrycommunity #writingcommunity #poetsofdoom #murdermystery #whodoneit #blueskypoetry
@sonnetsmith.bsky.social
@jenthorne.bsky.social
@phylogeneticsteve.bsky.social
@daveashleypoet.bsky.social

there is
above the high-tide mark

into a stain
that glistens darkly
holds its shape

where

has been blown
by the light north-easterly.

a roving Airedale

grasps a piece of driftwood
in its jaws

later
there will be

striped plastic tape
to ward off ghoulish eyes
blood on the beach

clumping the silicate
grains the microscopic
shards of shell

raised slightly
the drier
sand
around it
off

snuffles
at the patch
and sneezes

and runs away.

a white tent
covering the find

@thomasfortenberry.bsky.social Oct 11, 2026, 5:03 PM

The morning was gray, overcast
Little gray cells of mourning
Adrift in a sky looming with portent
A storm ready to break, about to pour
Sirop de Cassis—“By Jove!
The answer, ah, oui!
So clear now. Hastings!
Gather them all. I shall explain.
Yet, one. One will remain…
Ever-fallen.”

#PoetsOfDoom

@sonnetsmith.bsky.social Oct 11, 2026, 2:43 PM

My entry to the #PoetsOfDoom #murdermystery challenge.

And Then... Were There None?

Can you work out who did it?

@jenthorne.bsky.social
@daveashleypoet.bsky.social
@phylogeneticsteve.bsky.social

Ten strangers gathered by an unknown host
Hiding secrets from their painted pasts
Each one plays nice to keep their shadows close
But pleasantries are not allowed to last

Unsettled by a shrill and sudden scream
Ten strangers have been whittled down to nine,
Lights go out and darkness fills the scene
Enhancing all the chaos of the crime

Returning of the light shows six more gone
Death has called again, just two remain
Inside a room of corpses, neither one
Dares trust the other, both die all the same.

If all the guests invited are now dead
Then who is left with hands awash in red?

@kokopellibfree.bsky.social Oct 11, 2026, 1:59 PM

5/6

...have kept her
In a cage too

That's what you get
I think
Look at the light
And blink
Trust is like using a sieve
As a safety net

-
#poetry #horrorprompt #BraveWrite #WeirdMicro #PoetsOfDoom #WildWalkPrompt #firewords280 #BSPP58 ...

@rock-rex.bsky.social Oct 11, 2026, 9:39 AM

"Post Mortem".

#poem #poetry #skypoets #blueskypoets #poetsofbluesky #poetrycommunity #writingcommunity #poetsofdoom #murdermystery #whodoneit #blueskypoetry
@sonnetsmith.bsky.social
@jenthorne.bsky.social
@phylogeneticsteve.bsky.social
@daveashleypoet.bsky.social

When it is hauled – dissolving, hard to see
as what was once a human being –
out of the winter lake,
they gape in silence:
puffs of vapour stand for voices.

Brought to shore, it lies upon a canvas sheet;
the brightly painted rowing boat
is dragged up on the freezing mud,
and those with jobs to do leave in relief.
The rest look anywhere but at their dripping catch,
and wait until the surgeon comes
to certify the thing is dead.

It’s whisked away,
laid out upon a table, stainless steel —
and then the slicing and the sawing,
and the grim performance
of the modern haruspectic rite
that seeks for omens, not of things to come,
but of the past.

Here, trapped within the folds of grey,
a bullet’s found, striations mapped;
upon the wrists and ankles, barely visible,
abrasion marks.
The organs bottled, tissues laid on slides,
and dental work recorded...
finally the closing, crudely stitched.
The corpse is slid into a chilly drawer,
the table’s sluiced,
and there’s just time for sandwiches and tea
before the next one’s wheeled along.

Examining the entrails, though, brings no success;
the days drag past, then weeks,
and after months the clockwork of investigation
slows, winds down, and other cases
take its place.
The human jetsam – missing
certain bits and pieces – is reduced
to smoke and ash, unmourned, unmarked.
From water into air, then fire,
and finally it’s laid in earth.

published in Oatleaf Poetry Magazine, June 2025
(nominated for Pushcart Prize)

@jenthorne.bsky.social Oct 11, 2026, 8:58 AM

Oh wow @sonnetsmith.bsky.social has set a tough one this week. Time for all #PoetsOfDoom to get their brains into gear!!

Can't wait to see what comes out of this!!

@rayhourigan.bsky.social Oct 11, 2026, 8:21 AM

When the lights went out,
It was anybody's game,
Following the clues.
#PoetsOfDoom #MurderMystery #haiku #senryu #poem #writing #writingcommunity
@sonnetsmith.bsky.social
@daveashleypoet.bsky.social
@jenthorne.bsky.social
@phylogeneticsteve.bsky.social

@sonnetsmith.bsky.social Oct 11, 2026, 8:10 AM

As always don't forget to tag me and the rest of the #PoetsOfDoom Crew
@jenthorne.bsky.social
@phylogeneticsteve.bsky.social
@daveashleypoet.bsky.social

@sonnetsmith.bsky.social Oct 11, 2026, 8:10 AM

Watz Up #PoetsOfDoom people!!!!???
I'm working in a murder mystery event this weekend! All very fun and exciting! (The butler did it... But don't tell anyone...)
So I want to see if you can write me some murder mystery #poetry...
Good luck...
#MurderMystery
#Whodoneit #Blueskypoetry

@daveashleypoet.bsky.social Oct 10, 2026, 4:34 PM

Tomorrow #Poetsofdoom host is the uncompromising and all round disco dancing champion

@sonnetsmith.bsky.social

@pvcannon.bsky.social Oct 10, 2026, 12:40 PM

For #PoetsOfDoom #Sky

With much thanks to the Doom Team:

@daveashleypoet.bsky.social
@jenthorne.bsky.social
@sonnetsmith.bsky.social
@phylogeneticsteve.bsky.social

@suzydobie.bsky.social Oct 8, 2026, 4:56 PM

One size fits all. 🌆💙💀

#AcrosticOctober 8 October
#INDIGO
#PoetsOfDoom #Sky
#WildWalkPrompt #Death

#poetry #poetrycommunity
#writing #writercommunity
#prompt

@daveashleypoet.bsky.social
@sonnetsmith.bsky.social
@jenthorne.bsky.social
@phylogeneticsteve.bsky.social

@morganrrhaze.bsky.social Oct 8, 2026, 2:27 AM

#bionicanadian #PoetsOfDoom
Glowing Twilight Skies
Orangey pink clouds
A contrast
To the pale blue
A white cresent adding bling
My own image
@FoxProse @bionicanadian

A sunset of peach colored clouds below A crescent moon

@brendafromia.bsky.social Oct 8, 2026, 2:15 AM

#PoetsOfDoom #Sky

Promised skies always blue,
grass always green,
rainbows with pots of gold
plus a $5,000 check if I vote GOP;
I do not hesitate for even a second,
My answer is a resounding NO!