Neat and tidy, they played together,pouring invisible tea from a tiny teapot,serving imaginary sandwiches to dolls. I sit on the staircase of memory, digdeep into the toybox of the past and pull outbooks and a snot-filled tissue of lies. My sisters’ childhood was free of tears and worry.They never saw my mother’s bloody nose, nevercame […]
April Fools
i sun-sprinkled birdsongcracked joke of an empty egga fledgling’s first leapblown off course by spring wind’s roarmorning’s still dust-tongued with frost ii a purple floweramong drooping daffodilsstirring frozen heartsskin like petals unfurlingfeels the cold brush of winter Kim M. Russell, 1st April 2026 It’s the first day of the month and NaPoWriMo begins its poem […]
Doughty
Among globules of hail a single purpleflower stands resilient to the chill: a grape hyacinth shivering amongdrooping daffodils. They bloomed too soon, their yellow hurrahs loud and blatant,nodding and dancing in March winds. When the sun arrived, stirring our winter-frozen hearts, we peeled off a few layers, exposed skin like petals unfurling,only to feel the […]
Coffee and Sachertorte
Do not write in words sea-sickon a postcard but paint mewith a damp brush on a warm canvas,like all your other women.I sit here in this Viennese cafédrinking bitter coffee, sweetenedwith bites of Sachertorte,enveloped in the pungent smoke of cigars,reading postcards from Klimt,and all I can think of are poplars,beech forests and lakes.You hide from […]
As a March Hare
We’ve had such a mixture of weather all through March that I don’t know whether I’m coming or going. One minute the sun shone and I left off my jumper, the next I was shivering and cursing wind and hail. No wonder the wildlife is confused. Luckily, it hasn’t affected the blossom and flowers in […]
Spring Reversal
Despite tender green leavesand a proliferation of flowersthe world is upside down. Hills rise over the sun, abovethem rivers run, bombsand drones darken skies. Blinkered men are intent on killingone another until Earthstops spinning. Why can’t they stopand smell the scent of springpermeating everything? In this spring reversal, innocent civiliansbecome corpses and tragic orphans. Kim […]
Waking Silence
In night’s well, the moongreets dawn, and drownsin poems that ebband flow,a quiet heartbeat. From the depths of dreams,the muffled tickof a clockanchors me to morning. Your waking smile is silentyet I hear its messageclearly. Kim M. Russell 23rd March 2026 It’s Monday and, at the dVerse Poets Pub, we are writing silent quadrilles, poems […]
Daughter
Golden haired and violet eyed,Running and jumping by my side,A happy child, with a smile so wide. I missed her when she left our home,New life, new friends, her childhood done,Nervous that my bird had flown. Excited that she found her man; pride,Elation when she became a bride,Laughing and beaming at her husband’s side. Lovely […]
Padraig’s Snake
What ifa green snakehas lived inthe green grass all these years, despite changes to climate, hidden in the richness of its own colour,even whenfamine struck? Emerald,undulating and coiling but never striking, living its best life while Paddy is celebrated – he didn’t do a proper job. Perhaps he knew,thought he’d test faith, spice up mythology […]
Back from the Front
The war was over and railway stations in London were flooded with soldiers: the walking wounded, shell shocked and confused. After years in the trenches, it was commonplace to see young men dazzled by gas lights or cringing at a blast of steam from a train. I have waited every day, desperate to catch a […]
writing in north norfolk 