With the sarcastic percussion of fingers on the table top, my heart used to skip a beat. I longed for the comforting generosity of chimes in a summer garden instead of the irascible crash of cymbals, a teenage girl flouncing out the door; I don’t hear that any more. Kim M. Russell, 26th January 2019 […]
Month: January 2019
Storm
a threatening sky we wait for a rattling wind wrapped in silent snow Kim M. Russell, 25th January 2019 My response to Carpe Diem #1592 Storm Today we have a modern kigo from Jane’s Dictionary of Haiku: storm. We also have some examples of Jane’s haiku on this theme: after the snowstorm new paths to […]
Tumbledown Shed
Weighted with ivy, tessellated with lichen and moss, the roof has splintered and caved in. Perhaps something has settled among the long-forgotten tools and pots – now homes for mice and spiders. Our sentinel by the rickety gate sheds flakes of peeling paint. The padlock key is long gone and its treasures remain hidden. Kim […]
Falling
It’s falling – snow, white and bitter, blows in on biting winds perfumed with winter. Thickening flakes paint a pointillist monochrome landscape, a gift for the optimist, sled ready, hoping for a white-out, while a crowd of children starts a snowball fight. By late afternoon, everything’s silent and grey, even the snowmen have nothing to […]
Giants once roamed here… (revised)
in a mist that rolls along the North Sea coast. Looming through thousands of years, woolly mammoths weathered waves on a journey to extinction. Among mounds of stones and sand at the foot of crumbling cliffs, where Norfolk juts its chin, waves roll out and crash back in, devouring the coast from Yarmouth to King’s […]
This poet needs…
to ease the itch of words that wake her up at night; to sing in a different language, one with imagery and bite; to linger in lines where no other poet has been yet; to smile to herself when other people get where she comes from and what she needs. Kim M. Russell, 24th January […]
Quilt
cold nose and warm lap on a quilt stuffed with feathers a purring cat Kim M. Russell, 24th January 2019 My response to Carpe Diem #1591 quilt (futon) We are exploring classical and modern kigo for winter and today our classical kigo is ‘ quilt’ (or futon), with a few examples: waga hone no […]
Bean Soup
after ice and fog bowls filled with spices and steam rainbow coloured beans Kim M. Russell, 22nd January 2019 My response to Carpe Diem #1590 bean soup The modern kigo for today is ‘bean soup’, taken from Jane’s Dictionary of Haiku. W also have examples written by Jane on that theme: cold rain falling into […]
Shedding Skin
The first time I shed skin, my tongue probed the blade of a new language, tasted unfamiliar vowels and consonants, bled new words and poems. The second time I shed skin, the words were mine but the tune was new, lilting and green. The last time I shed skin, the landscape taught me everything I […]
A Handsome Duck
red-faced and whiskered dipping his beak water-deep handsome Mandarin Kim M. Russell, 21st January 2019 My response to Carpe Diem #1589 mandarin ducks (oshidori) Today is a reprise episode of ‘mandarin ducks’, which is a classical kigo for winter. We also have a few haiku with this kigo as examples: furu ike no oshidori ni […]
writing in north norfolk 