The branches of apple trees are weighted with apples. Plums and quinces litter the ground and brambles are adorned with blackberries, all at different stages of ripeness: emerald, ruby and obsidian. There’s a squirrel foraging in the shade of the willow tree; it hops a short way, its tail an unfurled flag, and then stops […]
Month: August 2016
The Full Moon of Brighton
In the whining draughts Of my grandparents’ house When I was very small, I’d sit on my potty by the open fire, Safe from the bathroom’s arctic chill. My grandfather would return from work With the offer of a cuddle and a smile; I’d jump into his arms, flashing a sighting Of my bare derriere, […]
Cascading Moonlight
Purest silver light cascades into darkest night; heaven’s lantern, constant but drawn by the tide, fades into black from a smiling face to a winking eye. © Kim M. Russell, 2016 Image found on Pinterest Taken from a previously posted cascading haiku and reworked for dVerse Poets Pub Poetics: Moon-muse, where Grace has asked us to write about […]
Summer Hare
In a late summer light circus, Shards of watery sunshine Moved in and out of focus. From my hide of grass I noticed, Unaware that I was there, A large-eared hare Lolling in the meadow. With twitching nose And whiskers trembling, It made a sudden spring; With lopsided gait it broke into a run, Burnished […]
Painting a Smile on the Moon
In the smeared window appears a sad silver face tangled in tendrils of willow, staring down from space through a veil of mist and cosmic dust. She rises ghostly, a pale apple in a tree, daring me to take up my brush, to paint a blush upon her cheek, a smile upon her mouth, to […]
Reminders of Snow
chill of autumn air silver rime and morning mist reminders of snow © Kim M. Russell, 2016 My response to Carpe Diem #1038 snow Today we have a quote from Alice In Wonderland by Lewis Carroll (1832-1898): “I wonder if the snow loves the trees and fields, that it kisses them so gently? And then it covers them up […]
The Leaving
Together, they inhaled autumn: foliage choreographed early morning lightshows of decomposing leaves; brambles snagging sleeves as they followed fallen acorns, until he found a perfect russet leaf for her to press between the leaves of sonnets to alleviate her distress at his autumn leaving. © Kim M. Russell, 2016 Image found on Pinterest Another poem in response […]
Autumn Quadrille
Summer hangs Tart apples on turning trees, Spinning into autumn, Disrobing leaves, Motley patchworks Of ochre and russet, Morning mist and muted Shades of sunset. Fanned by the wind With a kiss and a sigh, A mantle of fire, Then they fall and fly. © Kim M. Russell, 2016 My response to dVerse Poets Pub Quadrille #15 […]
Tangible Ghost
This rigid, ghostly stump is tangible. It is no longer quick and malleable, Green and thriving, satin wood. Drained of viscous lifeblood, Bare branches, angular and cleft, And coarse bark, bristly and bereft, Are a prickly pumice for cows and sheep. The lightning tree can no longer weep Feverish, waxy tears into sodden earth To […]
North Norfolk Mammoth (reprise)
Amongst mounds of stones and sand at the foot Of crumbling cliffs, where Norfolk juts its chin, Stubborn and defiant as King Canute Watching the waves roll out and crash back in On flat landscape from Yarmouth to King’s Lynn, A rich treasury of ancient fossils, Cached by glaciers in the primeval Landscape almost a […]
writing in north norfolk 