Have you seen they’re up by the moon?

There's no way of knowing obviously, but I've always thought that this poem by Rosie Breese might realistically depict a mind's final moments: flitting, disordered and incomplete. And for that reason the last line ending on a comma gets me every time.

DEATH COMES TO ME AS AN ARGOS VAN The stupid thing is that as it broadsides me with turquoise and scarlet and steel all I can think of is that dog someone read us a story about in primary school and finding it funny that someone would call their dog Argos, even if it was in Ancient Greece and sad that he died waiting but this only lasts a second because my bike is in freefall towards a shining road and my day is spooling like wet videotape: tea, tea, internet, invoices, the chimes of Tibetan bowls in my ears like raindrops. A multi-tasker, one eye always wandering on its stray root after water. A fetcher and carrier, a taker of minutes. The one who makes sure there is milk in the fridge, the bins are out, the doors are double-locked so nothing exciting can happen, but at least things will be coherent. Spinning back, I replay Attenborough last night narrating the lives of rainforest plants, explaining how even the passive are fighters, elbowing others out of the way in their bloody-minded pursuit of light, of water to bend light through, of vision. And how, patient and unseen, rainforests carry 50% of the world's species. And I remember how this morning I just said goodbye and I love you and lacked the imagination to do anything more than be clear. I didn't write you a poem today or even any good texts. It's impossible to write a rainforest down, – Rosie Breese

Do you have a favourite poem featuring an Argos van? This is mine.

Me wearing a green cardigan over a red Welsh football shirt. On the cardigan are leek and daffodil brooches, while on the football shirt are two stickers of cartoon dogs Chilli and Bingo from the kids’ show ‘Bluey’.

Me wearing a green cardigan over a red Welsh football shirt. On the cardigan are leek and daffodil brooches, while on the football shirt are two stickers of cartoon dogs Chilli and Bingo from the kids’ show ‘Bluey’.

Dydd Gŵyl Dewi Sant Hapus! The traditional leek and daffodil joined by more unconventional adornments this year 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

Sometimes you see a murmuration of starlings above an InPost locker at dusk and just think “oh god, not another poem”

Framed art print on a cream wall beside wooden floating bookshelves. The print shows a dark blue sky over a stylised sea with the silhouette of a distant ship, overlaid with the text, ‘That lone ship on the horizon arriving or leaving?’ On the shelves are stacked books, a small owl figurine and a ceramic seagull ornament.

Love seeing your poetry prints framed and up on walls! They’re still on sale here if you want one (or just send me a DM): ko-fi.com/rhysowainwil...

A stack of seven books from Seth’s Ghost Story for Christmas series, placed in front of other paperbacks on a wooden shelf. The titles are: The Open Door, The Morgan Trust, Christmas Eve on a Haunted Hulk, One Who Saw, The Diary of Mr Poynter, The Toll House and The Crown Derby Plate.

Here are the books I read during previous Christmases. Anyone read any? Think my favourite is ‘The Morgan Trust’ by Richard Bridgeman – I still think about that story a lot whenever I’m driving around the Upper Swansea Valley and beyond.

A copy of ‘The Captain of the Pole Star’ by Arthur Conan Doyle, published in Seth’s Ghost Story for Christmas series. The book is resting on the branches of a Christmas tree and is lit by multi-coloured LED lights.

This year’s Ghost Story for Christmas. Another solid short story from the series, though I don’t love that Penguin have taken over from Biblioasis and made the quality of the materials used to make these stocking-filler books worse.

A page from the children’s picture book ‘Goodnight Moon’, showing a bowl of porridge and the words ‘goodnight mush’.

Saying bonne nuit in Swansea:

If you’re looking for a last-minute poetry gift, today’s the last day to order in time for Christmas delivery! 🎅📦

25% off with discount code ISAWONESHIP

I’m desperately searching my shelves for the slimmest books possible to get closer to my 30-book reading goal for this year. Currently on 10…

Another month, another #Substack post. There's some helpful articles linked here about existing online as a #writer (or anyone trying to 'build a brand.')

open.substack.com/pub/marielli...

#Rest #Christmas #AmReading #AmWriting #BookSky #WritingSky

Issue 71: Fall 2025 Issue 71: Fall 2025 has arrived! This edition​ features yet another incredible array of fiction, poetry, and non-fiction representing the best new and established Canadian writing.

Issue 71 features poems from Yan Zhang, Maryam Ghafoor, @rhysowainwilliams.bsky.social, E. M. Palitha Edirisooriya (translated by samodH Porawagamage & Kasun Pathirage), Drew McEwan, and Nicole Boyce. You can read their work at ex-puritan.ca/issue-71-fal...

A framed blue and white print of a ship on the horizon sits on a blue and green Welsh blanket, with a copy of the book That Lone Ship by Rhys Owain Williams placed on one side, and a postcard featuring the cover on the other. A red circle in the top right corner reads '25% off all Ko-fi Shop items with discount code ISAWONESHIP'

🎅 Looking for a gift for the poetry reader in your life? 📚

Everything in my Ko-fi shop is 25% off until 25th December when you use discount code ISAWONESHIP ko-fi.com/rhysowainwil...

Books can be sent signed or unsigned, and if you let me know the person's name I'll write a dedication to them ✍️

Autumn as a Lo-Fi YouTube Video Read Rhys Owain Williams's poem "Autumn as a Lo-Fi YouTube Video" in Issue 71: Fall 2025 of The Ex-Puritan, then check out the Austin Clarke Prize in Literary Excellence!

For anyone out there who’s still holding on to autumn despite the encroachment of our winter celebrations, I’ve got a new poem published in @ex-puritan.bsky.social’s Fall Issue. Diolch to editor Sanna Wani for choosing it! ex-puritan.ca/autumn-as-a-...

Issue 71: Fall 2025 Issue 71: Fall 2025 has arrived! This edition​ features yet another incredible array of fiction, poetry, and non-fiction representing the best new and established Canadian writing.

We’re excited to release Issue 71: Fall 2025! Get cozy with vibrant new fiction, poetry, essays, interviews, and reviews, along with the winning pieces of the 2025 Austin Clarke Prize in Literary Excellence:

Thanks Claire! Definitely one of my weirder poems haha

Thanks Mari! 💼🔪

A framed print stands against a concrete wall. The print shows a stylised seascape with a dark blue sky, a white band of cloud and rippling blue water. On the horizon is a simple blue silhouette of a ship. Text in the sky reads: ‘That lone ship on the horizon / arriving or leaving?‘ The book That Lone Ship by Rhys Owain Williams leans against the frame, featuring a dark cover with a blue title and a white ship.

Hoping to be able to share some exciting book news in the New Year. Until then I’m still flogging the first collection, and I’ve also added this brand new digital art print featuring the title poem (made by me, no AI) to my Ko-fi shop. UK & international postage available. ko-fi.com/rhysowainwil...

As you can probably tell from the explanation above, it's a bit niche! But it turned out to be a good fit for Vernacular, who have a submission request of 'the weirder the better.' Cheers to their editors for choosing it!

Richard Hillman Drives Gail, Sarah-Louise, David and Little Baby Bethany into the Weatherfield Canal — Vernacular Journal Richard Hillman Drives Gail, Sarah-Louise, David and Little Baby Bethany into the Weatherfield Canal Rhys Owain Williams It’s almost 9pm on a Wednesday...

I’ve got a poem in Vernacular’s latest issue: a slasher-inspired prose poem featuring characters from Coronation Street – part of a sequence of poems I'm writing about depictions of stepfathers in fiction. vernacularjournal.com/Richard-Hillman-Drives-Gail-Sarah-Louise-David-and-Little-Baby

20 years ago we were suing teenagers for millions of dollars because they were torrenting a single Metallica album and now billionaires are demanding the free right to every work in history, so that they can re-sell it.

The law only ever serves capital.

Lore update: my 3-year-old says Garfield doesn’t love lasagne he loves sushi. It makes more sense I suppose.

Wild running gives me freedom, but I’m always looking over my shoulder In this abridged extract from award-winning poet and writer Natalie Holborow’s new book ‘Wild Running’, she follows a trail around the Brecon Beacons in South Wales while reflecting on women’s safety

A little extract of Wild Running in The Independent this morning, exploring Pen Y Fan and focusing on women's safety in running 🏃‍♀️ @serenbooks.bsky.social

www.independent.co.uk/life-style/w...

Couple of short writing sessions yesterday and today. The middle of the poem as it stands is a complete mess, as I try my best to rework existing lines that I'm fond of but now no longer fit. Need to chuck all the square pegs out at this point I think, understand I'm now working with round holes.

Back on it today though, pulling it apart and trying to put it back together again with minimal rewriting. It's not looking very healthy at the moment. Every reworked line is weaker. My love of the sestina form is weakening too. Might just go binge watch The Osbournes and eat knockoff Oreos instead.

Might not surprise you to learn that they were premature celebrations. Reading over that first draft on Saturday evening, I realised I'd put some end words in the wrong places, knocking the whole poem out. Haven't been able to think about it since, let alone work on it haha.

Stairwell with beige tiled walls featuring vertical blue and brown stripes. A wooden handrail with black metal supports runs along the stairs, which are covered in light gray flooring with black stair edges.

Stairwell with beige tiled walls featuring vertical blue and brown stripes. A wooden handrail with black metal supports runs along the stairs, which are covered in light gray flooring with black stair edges.

Stairwell with beige tiled walls featuring vertical blue and brown stripes. A wooden handrail with black metal supports runs along the stairs, which are covered in light gray flooring with black stair edges.

Best stairwell in Wales (if there is such a thing)

Not always productive of course, but I usually at least get *something* down on the page that I can later use/edit/rewrite/turn into something else. This morning it’s a completed first draft of this sestina. Now to celebrate with a turn around the shelves of the Waterstones around the corner!

Every Saturday morning I go to a coffee shop between 7am–9am and just write. Started at the beginning of this year and it’s been the best thing I’ve done to cultivate the writing routine that I’ve never had but always wanted. Even if I don’t write during the week I have these 2 hours as a baseline.