Quill of Mnemosyne (@sonnetsmith.bsky.social)

@sonnetsmith.bsky.social Oct 11, 2026, 4:45 PM

Such a potent image of the miners blaming the canary for dying when they find it inconvenient

@acjuniper.bsky.social Oct 11, 2026, 4:43 PMReposted by @sonnetsmith.bsky.social

Trigger Warning: despair, helplessness, death This poem is really meant for a different target audience, and will be somewhat preaching to the choir. The canary choir, in this case. It is an expression of the human tendency to follow rules but forget why they exist and blame the prophet/victim.

@sonnetsmith.bsky.social Oct 11, 2026, 4:43 PM

The murder of a murderer by his victims is definitely a mystery that would perplex police. Great piece, I wish this really happened!!

@mother-poet.bsky.social Oct 11, 2026, 4:39 PMReposted by @sonnetsmith.bsky.social

Re-sharing for today's #PoetsOfDoom prompt #MurderMystery.

#poetry #horror #dreams

@sonnetsmith.bsky.social Oct 11, 2026, 3:44 PM

Happy Canadian #Thanksgiving!!!

@sonnetsmith.bsky.social Oct 11, 2026, 3:43 PM

It's always the butler! (Even if at first, there doesn't seem to be one there)

@sonnetsmith.bsky.social Oct 11, 2026, 3:11 PM

🤣 Not this time

@sonnetsmith.bsky.social Oct 11, 2026, 2:49 PM

I think this one is stronger with the reveal!

@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?

@sonnetsmith.bsky.social Oct 11, 2026, 2:13 PM

It's always the one you least expect!

@kokopellibfree.bsky.social Oct 11, 2026, 1:59 PMReposted by @sonnetsmith.bsky.social

#WritingCommunity #vss365
@ourpoetryx.bsky.social
@darkxfer.bsky.social
-

Canned

This darkly luminous limbo told me
Something was not right
I looked down at my body
Floored
Like a slough
Then up at the dazzling light
Steady
Not wanting to make
A haunted dwelling
I was not quite...

1/6

Canned

This darkly luminous limbo told me
Something was not right
I looked down at my body
Floored
Like a slough
Then up at the dazzling light
Steady
Not wanting to make
A haunted dwelling
I was not quite ready
To break
Away

Memories echoing like a dream

A banshee
Wearing a fuchsia-red sky
Stood by
The window -- cold scream

Was she the one who did this to me?

No.
They only ever announce
Don't bounce
Around and kill
At will

Calmly
I turn the pages
Of balmy
Memoirs

Bogeyman
Luring in shade
Behind doors
Creep hated me
'Cause I would not pee
My pants

The Count
Long in the tooth
Casket sleeping booth
Always thirsty
Aversion to garlic
My favourite food

Brainless Zombie Zed
Always wanted to get
Into my head
That sucker

Bugger

Following a pull
A look down reveals
A can opener
Rammed into my skull

See!
It must have been Zed
Gave me death's kiss

On the threshold a hiss
Kitty the Cat
Is staring at me
I watch her breakdown
In disbelief
"Why?"
I ask full of grief

"The stinking canned
Diet you kept me on
Should be banned"
She cries
"Boo-hoo..."

I should 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

© Stefanie Neumann - @KokopelliBFree

@sonnetsmith.bsky.social Oct 11, 2026, 2:10 PM

Quite the dubious sounding place .. I imagine the Addams family are regular customers

@madp03t.bsky.social Oct 11, 2026, 1:10 PMReposted by @sonnetsmith.bsky.social

#poetsofdoom #murdermystery
#ampersandafterdark "six inches of black thread"
#vss365 #calm
#vssdaily #cement

#poetry #writing #creativewriting #blueskypoets #skypoetry

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

@sonnetsmith.bsky.social Oct 11, 2026, 2:08 PM

🤣🤣

@sonnetsmith.bsky.social Oct 11, 2026, 11:59 AM

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

@mulvennyprospectus.bsky.social Oct 11, 2026, 11:40 AMReposted by @sonnetsmith.bsky.social

@sonnetsmith.bsky.social #MurderMystery
#Whodoneit #Blueskypoetry #PoetsOfDoom

This is precisely the sort nonsense I was brought up to know better than, and I present it in that spirit.

Nietzsche, in the kitchen with a crowbar bludgeoned god,
or was this a case of a fingerpointing to hide assurance fraud?
Perhaps take a look at the monstrous, the heinous,
the falsely held up proofs of Thomas Aquineas,
or maybe for the detective it may be more worth it,
to look at Mr Descartes, who has an alibi that's perfect,
is there any way to settle this divide, this awful schism,
other than to think up a fiendish, a devilish syllogism?
I'm aware this poem may to some seem a rant,
a tiresome pompous piece of tedious Kant,
Was there even a muder? I cannot even assume,
and with that I'll retire to read some David Hume.

@sonnetsmith.bsky.social Oct 11, 2026, 11:58 AM

🤣🤣🤣 quite the amalgamation of philosophy and murder mystery tropes there!

@talk2blb.eurosky.social Oct 11, 2026, 11:03 AMReposted by @sonnetsmith.bsky.social

A HaikuChain from me - hope its amazing for the attendees. Picks? 🖖

#WhoDoneIt #MurderMystery #PoetsOfDoom
@phylogeneticsteve.bsky.social

the jig now is up
this corpse did not merc itself
we must solve this crime

motives abounding
persona innocence masks
savvy mind needed

do we have butlers
always they are a suspect
must be a wage thing

listen carefully
don't believe all you may see
piece together clues

our play this night yours
a feast delivered by rhyme
catch this criminal

@daveashleypoet.bsky.social Oct 11, 2026, 9:00 AMReposted by @sonnetsmith.bsky.social

#AcrosticOctober a beautifully blue clear sky, whimsical clouds and a cuppa. Heaven!

Your prompt is

#SERENE

@sonnetsmith.bsky.social Oct 11, 2026, 11:39 AM

Brilliant piece Peter! A murder mystery without a solution, as so many sadly are. Great commentary on the unfeeling nature of the system!