This is a daywhen corpulent clouds,pregnant with rain,screen the sky, grey outthe blue, puddle the earthand quench its thirst. Children in colourfulwellies stamp and splashin leaf-filled puddlesand domed umbrellasrepel plump dropsthat bounce and plop. Kim M. Russell, 19th October 2026 It’s Quadrille Monday at the dVerse Poets Pub and Lisa is hosting with Q 258 […]
A Taste of October
1.The day is crisp and russet as an apple,an invitation to crunch into autumn,to eat the season. 2.Chilling air echoeswith skeins and vees of geesehogging the sky for just a minute. 3.Stars stud the night, twinklingmessages to the gas rigsout at sea. 4.A kiss in the dark,tinged with alcohol and wood smoke—two figures alone, together […]
I Put a Spell on You
Time has wound down to a stop—just like your heart, no ticking clock.Lightbulbs flicker,the air vibrates,becomes viscous,until you cannot breatheand heat burns scarlet on your face.Outside on the street, life is a race,while inside, everything has s l o w e dright down.Thoughts buzz frantically, like a beeand you’re trapped in amber honey. I put […]
Graveyard Shift
I don’t know what you think, but Halloween is becoming like Christmas, starting earlier every year. I’ve only been dead for a short time and enjoy the peace of the graveyard; it’s different for corpses like Rip Van Winkle, who slept for twenty years when he was alive and missed the American Revolution—he likes to […]
Weary Waders
We are filling the air with everything:our piping calls, the feathers welose on our weary flight. Seehow overhead cloud hidesus from one another,as we herald the arrival of autumn. One thingyou must remember is that we return from our northern nests alwaystogether, while some just wantto stop off on the way south, others long tostay […]
Mother’s Love
My mother’s love is red and gold,the vibrant love of sunset,a kiss before I bid the worldgoodnight. Under the silhouetted tree,the sky the colour of her heart,holding me close, she says to me,“Sleep tight!” Kim M. Russell, 6th October 2026 It’s Tuesday and, at the dVerse Poets Pub, our host for Poetics is Lillian, with […]
Hands in Pockets
Autumn has arrived,with winter close behindand the cold is creepingcloser every day. But I have my cosywoollen winter coat. I plan to walk about,through wind and rain,fog and snow,hands in deep pocketsuntil spring comes around again. Kim M. Russell, 5th October 2026 This Monday at the dVerse Poets Pub we are writing quadrilles with De, […]
Broken Landscape
September’s come to its inevitable endingand the light is bending. Late afternoon sun puts the moon to shame,setting leaves aflame, sparking rosehip, hawthorn and rowan berries—winter’s emissaries. Soon russet and gold will turn to muddy brown,and leaves fall down. October echoes in a jackdaw murmuration;for them, no migration. Twilight seeps through naked branches early.The moon’s […]
Boar Lane by Lamplight
The evening has already drawnacross the town moon-silvered cloudslike a sky-filled eiderdown.Boar Lane is coming to life, crowdstread cobbles that seemto hold on to sunset with the lightstreaming from windows. Like a dream,gas lamps, candles and lanterns brightentice carousers and romancersinto the pubs to escape the long haulof the working day, while dancersand singers are […]
Vision
I admire my daughter’s vision. After weeks of cooking in a gazebo outside in the garden, carrying bowls of dirty dishes upstairs to the bathroom to wash up, no washing machine, a fridge in the living room, and hardly any space to swing a cat, she is still able to picture her finished kitchen. There’s […]
