bashful branches hide bare behind a shroud of mist cold comfort © Kim M. Russell, 2016 My response to Carpe Diem #1069 leafless trees This is the last episode of our tribute to Jane month, which concludes with the last modern kigo of winter from Jane’s “A Dictionary of Haiku”. Today ‘leafless trees’ is the prompt, for […]
Month: September 2016
Seasonal Perspectives of a Corkscrew Willow
1 Winter willows throw dramatic and distorted geometric shapes. 2 Naked trunks rise cracking from brittle grass, shedding frost and ice. 3 Intricate lace of charcoal branches is pinned to pale winter skies. 4 Lemon catkins, wriggling with new growth and warmth, anticipate spring. 5 Tousled corkscrews are teased into a tangle, wind-willowed. 6 Leaves […]
In Honour of the Moon
The sky is shattered glass in dead of night, Crackling and pulsating with splintered light; A mass of constellations burning bright And scintillating in shimmering white, In honour of the moon, Earth’s satellite. © Kim M. Russell, 2016 My response to Jane Dougherty Writes Poetry challenge #50: Fifty For the fiftieth challenge, Jane has given us […]
Canal Reflections
Firefly reflections splash Inky canal water, Citric paint rinsed From the badger brush Of a Dutch master. Against the interplay Of twilight and shadow, Charcoal scratches Of lacy willow Veil a violet sky. Framed by a coal-black arch Like the lens Of the tow-path walker’s eye, A masterpiece unfolds Beyond the damp echoes Of the […]
After Reading Ozymandias
After reading Shelley’s ‘Ozymandias’ in bed, My lashes fluttered, eyelids closed, So I lay down my weary head. In vivid dreams the poet took me by the hand: I was the traveller in an antique land. He led me across the expansive desert, showed me In a distant place two vast and trunkless legs of […]
Lady of the Camellias
pink camellia among muted browns and greens a flounce of petals © Kim M. Russell, 2016 My response to Carpe Diem #1068 camellia Today’s prompt is camellia and we have a series of haiku from “A Dictionary of Haiku” by Jane Reichhold for inspiration: a camellia floating in our conversation unspoken thoughts curved petals from the camellia-scented candle […]
The Story of the Bench
Many of the people who have sat on the bench and worn smooth its hand-crafted surface have been bone-weary and hungry. How often have walkers lifted their heads from loosening the laces in their boots or removing their shoes to inhale salt on the breeze and drink in the many shades of sky and sea […]
Setting Poetry Free
page of poetry words are pinned like butterflies until they’re spoken © Kim M. Russell, 2016 Image found on Pinterest My response to Carpe Diem #1067 poetry reading Today the prompt is ‘reading poetry’. Chèvrefeuille has reminded us that reading haiku is different to the usual way we read poetry as haiku or tanka are […]
Fragility of Arrangements
They had made the arrangements. She walked away on blown out Egg shells, spearing embryos On her Manolo Blahnik stilettos, Whipping up meringue in her wake, Its dull crunch a reminder Of her empty womb. How easy it was to suck From a relationship all the smooth Creaminess and leave The fragility of arrangements To […]
A Breath of Fresh Air
After the claustrophobia of curtains closed before dusk, she feels like a smudged shadow tucked in her bowl of cardboard cornflakes. Stepping into the smoky light of a milky autumn morning, she pegs out her washing, a stronger penumbra, inhaling deep into her marrow the aroma of damp meadow flowers and grass crushed underfoot and […]
writing in north norfolk 