steph percival

@stephpercival.bsky.social

182 Followers 298 Following

Mom, poet, sheepadoodle walker 🐾, heart health advocate. Always reading, often writing, otherwise faffing about. @thismanywords on IG. At play, I natter on about books 📚, poetry ✍️ , nature 🌱, and random nerdery 🤓. At work I design stuff. 💙

Photograph of the novel entitled Bear by Julia Phillips. The cover of the book is of a forest with eyes subtly peeking out from between trees, with text in white font.

Sign post set amongst foliage. The sign reads ‘May Peace Prevail On Earth’.

A photograph of Claudia Dey’s novel, Daughter.

An outstretched hand, wrist resting on knees clad in a dark green dress, holds an open book. Its owner is reading the last few pages of On Earth It’s Briefly Gorgeous outside on a sunny day with kids playing in the background.

A poem written by Steph Percival:

I’m no ChatGPT doll

Sure, I could write a prompt:

Hey ChatGPT, how 'bout
one of those dollies?
Here’s a photo of me.
I read, write, and hug trees—
is that all you need
to make a faux Barbie me?

For you to trivialize me
into a token existence
encased in a screen
behind fake plastic I
cannot break in case
of emergency?

Hey ChatGPT, actually
I think I’ll skip this trend,
pass on trading in a photo
and a few facts about me
for this fundamentally
flawed facsimile.

Simply enjoy the opportunity
to change my accessories,
to redefine the real me,
to stretch out my arms freely
with all the flexibility needed
to be flawed, naturally.

Poem written by Steph Percival

NaPoWriMo

I adore poetry prompts that
invite the poet to pick
at another poet’s poem,
pluck at the words that
are already there,
string out a new tune
from an existing melody,
a new song to accompany
the perfect pitch
of those visceral chords.

28 books by Black authors, selected to celebrate Black poetry and literature for Black History Month.

Sun shines on a snowy forest

A photo of 25 books with covers facing up, shared because I plan to read these 25 books, among others, in 2025.

My Dungeons and Dragons character, Aneira, a Dragonborn Druid. Image made using AI.