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Pink Floyd fans will immediately recognise the title of this post as a lyric from The Wall. Writing poetry can sometimes be thought of as rather a dark art, even by those who regularly write prose. Although I enjoy writing, it’s not an area I’ve moved into – even though I’ve wanted to. I love reading poetry, appreciating the well-chosen turn of phrase that paints a picture that sends the mind into the wonderful world of the imagination. Come to think of it, isn’t that what all art seeks to do? The creators of music, paintings, sculptures (and the like) all seek to evoke responses in the mind and of the imagination!

Twitter (with its limit of 140 characters) lends itself to a genre of poetry identified by the hashtag #micropoetry – and today I was inspired by someone I follow on Twitter (whose poetry I find fascinating) to have a go. They are written quickly and can be composed anywhere – my first attempt was in the shower this morning:

The warm embrace of the water/the tingle of the shower gel/ready to face the day.

The others were composed while I was out and about, and posted online from my BlackBerry. Here they are (slight changes have been made so they scan better), do let me know what you think. You can use or reproduce them in the terms of my Creative Commons licence. Thanks.

Music blaring/lights flashing/shoppers rushing/tills ringing/people shouting/Jesus hiding.

Reindeer in a straw-filled pen/Skaters in an open rink/Salvation brass in a ring/…it must be Christmas!

Flowerbed of rubbish/discarded cardboard coffee cup/cigarette end in compost/acutely-angled ale can/symptomatic

Frozen penguins/hog roast/gourmet liquorice/mulled wine/Gregg’s pasty/random verse

xfactor/strictly/celebrity/bigbrother/ephemeral

An interesting hashtag appeared on Twitter today! In case you don’t know what a hashtag is, it’s basically a label to group similar topics together with clickable links. I had to find out what the hashtag #whatstigma was all about, especially because it was trending (a popular topic) in the UK. It turned out to be a campaign to end mental health discrimination, and you can find more about it on their site. People on Twitter who have mental health issues have been encouraged to tell the world today, with the hashtag #whatstigma at the end of the status update.

The website says: With hundreds of organisations and tens of thousands of individuals, Time to Change has built a movement for change that is having a real impact. Organisations across all sectors of society are getting involved.  Check out our new slideshow to see the organisations involved and what they have been up to! Whether you’re part of an organisation, or an individual who feels passionate about ending mental health discrimination, you can get involved today by setting up a campaign in your area or ordering free materials to help you spread the word.

There should be no stigma for those with mental health issues, millions of people cope with them every day and live perfectly normal lives. So I’m happy to add my voice: Yeah, I’ve got issues! #whatstigma

See also: Death of a Friend on Facebook