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Hello friends, here in Stockholm it doesn’t really feel like spring yet, but when I passed the cherry-trees downtown they had already started to bloom.
The joy of spring is unfortunately marred with the constant events of the news cycle which brings me to the topic of the anthology we have now started to receive entries for. Many scholars I have followed and read are saying that a pivot point will come due the complexity of the metacrisis which really means the complex web of connected problems humanity needs to phase sooner or later. In other words we are at a crossroad (or maybe a set of different crossroads). I think that the rapid changes that are happening right now are speeding up the time until that pivot point, when the world as we know it will change.
Changes are irreversible, but we as poets need to write down what we feel, what we can do or maybe even what we cannot do. Do we have a vision for the future? Will we need to fight even more wars? Will there be starvations or plague or will we just sail into the future unaffected.
I will not provide a mini-prompt today as this is an excellent opportunity to write something based on the announcement you can find here. There is also a reading list with poems there that might inspire you. Maybe you even have a poem already written that you may rewrite for the occasion.
Of course you are also welcome to link up any one poem as usual. Do not forget to take part in the discussion below. Me and the team are happy to answer any questions.Please also read and comment, as many may want to use your input to rewrite before submission.
Last time we wrote an anthology it took us to the moon, where should it take us next time.
And lastly, this OLN is also combined with a live session at 10 AM on Saturday April 12 New York time, which is 4 PM in Stockholm where I live.
Click on the link below to join the event dVerse Open Link Live session
Video call link: https://meet.google.com/fao-fuyw-qwu
dVerse 
Welcome to Open Link Night, everyone
The bar is fully stocked and ready to serve you – let me know what I can get you 💜💜 Bjorn will join us shortly 🙂
Thank you Sanaa… little late to the pub, and I hopw you serve it well.
No worries, Bjorn! My pleasure 💜💜
Björn, that’s such a lovely photo!
Hi Sanaa. Thanks for opening the bar. 💕
Hey Punam! So nice to see you! 💜💜
Thanks… cherry blossoms are always wonderful
So they are! And you look happy too. 🙂
A bit late, to the pub… I was happy to see the first submissions coming into the mail… I hope we may find a path towards something better…
Little Miss Sleepless here, looking for some good dreams. Anything behind the bar?
We do have some sweet treats that may put you to sleep… does that sounds good?
I love the selfie too. 🙂 Nothing cheers like cherry trees in the spring! Time for a picnic, I think. What would you take along for an outing in Stockholm?
The cherry area are not that good for picnics actually… but there are plenty of cafées and restaurants around… so that woul be my choice.
What a great photo! We’re also late here in Wyoming, USA☺️
We are not so very late, I think it is quite normal for Stockholm… not to warm at the moment, but we’ve had a few warm days already.
I missed Dora’s prompt so I put my poem here.
Perfect place to catch up
Thank you, Bjorn.
Bedtime here… I will back to read tomorrow
Bjorn, I love your photo. We are still weeks away from spring as we even got snow today. I look forward to our new project and I cannot wait to read the poems. I have been busy lately selling and buying a home, so can only appreciate the poems I am reading. And I can relate about the many changes happening at once. Need to reflect and write about it. Enjoy the spring season.
Spring in itself is a time of change, so it could be a good time to reflect.
hi bjorn! lovely photo. thanks for hosting. i’ve uploaded my poem to mrlinky. will be back tomorrow morning to visit/comment on other’s poetry. xx, ren
Thank you, I look forward to read them
Lovely photo of you and the Cherry Blossoms! I am excited about the anthology. Lots to think about these days, It is definitely a chaotic time and where do we go from here?
Were and how…. will there be something less chaotic down the line…
I have been absent the last month but for reasons I explain in my post, I had a poem suitable for /dora’s post but missed the prompt – so OLN it is! I have missed the cut and thrust of Poesy with you guys but hope to see you tomorrow – meantime I am ready for a breakfast cup of coffee please…
Hello, I am eager to look and read what you have come up with… hope to see you on Saturday.
I heard E. L. Doctorow once say in a lecture that the writer’s job is to bear witness to a magnitude, and the crossroad humanity now faces I suspect was arrived at by taking the easier shorter more seductive choice at so many crossroads before, all the way back to Prometheus stealing fire so the local could barbecue their kills. My personal crossroads are collective ones, too — or so the magnitude awfully, awesomely insists.
I agree to some extent… so many wrong choices (but also many correct ones taken)… what I fear is that we are now in a much wider crisis, and we do not know how we will come of it (if we even will)….. the reasent set of changes though I think has made it go so much faster….
LOVE the photo, Bjorn! Very late to the pub….time just seems to disappear. So very sorry to miss the LIVE session tomorrow but have tickets to an amazing event here in Boston that will explore Boston as the home of Black writers in its early days. Say hello to everyone for me!
Nice to have you here…. better late than never… I hope the event provide inspiration for new poetry
Thank you for hosting us tonight Bjorn 🙂 I will be absent tomorrow night from the Live Edition.
Sorry to hear that – nice of you to linkup
Travelling in the outback beyond the internet 🙂
That actually sounds nice
How can you keep from smiling when you see those trees popping with color? What a great photo.
Thanks for sharing all the links to the poems. Very inspiring.
Sending wishes for wellness and peace to all.
Ali
It was a great experience to see those cherry blossoms….
I got to the point where you talked of us poets needing to write what we feel about the Change that will come. This is something that is very much talked about in the world of Permaculture where folk are working towards positiv sustainble change. And suddenly a poem came to me.
It’s now on Mr Linky!
I am glad that I can contribute, maybe what it boils down to is nudging.
Setting off a nascent idea and that scrabble for pen and paper. What did you think of my poem?
Thanks, Björn, and hello again, everyone,
won’t be able to join as I’m at a chess tournament with my son. But therefore, I’d appreciate a good espresso. 😋
Hope to see you next time!
An espresso coming up… and good luck for you and your son
I’ve added my poem, so those who heard me read it will understand the blackbird reference and song.
Thank you for hosting, Björn!
I loved listen to you reading yesterday… I will get back and read soon
Thank you, Bjorn. No rush. I’m WAY behind on reading!
That sounds great Anna, I will get there and read now.