From the egg-like membrane of her head to the crescent-mooned toes on her feet, her skin was yielding and not synthetic; soft and warm, it responded to my touch. She was programmed to be forever childlike but she possessed an adult logic, a precociousness lacking innocence, as if she knew my every thought; a hint […]
Month: October 2019
Beauty Beyond the Grave
The shadow of laudanum no longer stained her skin, in life and death her beauty spilled luminous, and green-blue eyes belied disease that once coiled within. Her glorious red hair had grown beyond eternal sleep, entangled in it, Rossetti’s book of poetry, penetrated by a single worm where damp and mould had seeped. Seven long […]
April in the Woods
between budding trees awash with lukewarm sunshine a wave of bluebells Kim M. Russell, 31st October 2019 My response to Carpe Diem #1772 Virginia Blue Bell In the last episode of Carpe Diem’s festive 7th birthday month, we have a beautiful small flower: the bluebell. I’m not sure whether mine is a haiku or a […]
Crystal Brook
crystal brook reflects the willow trees birds sing their song Yozakura a farewell to fallen leaves sacrificed to the river Kim M. Russell, 30th October 2019 My response […]
Your Voice
I have heard songbirds’ over- lapping whistles, the whisper of sparrow wings wheeling on the breeze, raindrops bouncing off dusty autumn paths, and the rattling somersaults of the last leaves from trees. I’ve listened to the sun sizzle into evening, bats flicker in cooling twilight air, snowflakes kissing a frozen window- pane, a cat purring […]
Fireflies
longing for the grass at the bottom of the pool those fireflies Buson longing for the grass chlorophyll and oxygen luminous bubbles at the bottom of the pool hidden secret world shadows and light those fireflies hovering deliciously surreptitious frog Kim M. Russell, 29th October 2019 My response to Carpe Diem #1771 Troiku Challenge: Firefly […]
Anticipating Hallows Eve
Living between sea and waterways, I love this time of year. Schools have celebrated harvest, clocks have gone back, and nights are drawing in with frost and spooky tales. Along the coast and above the marshlands, the sky is haunted, filled with the cries of wintering birds. In the woods, frills of fungus cling to […]
One small voice in the shift between October and November
For days, the steady pounding rain drowned out the poetry that bubbled in my soul; my small voice hobbled, stuck in the mud of an old-fashioned October. But this morning, on the cusp of November, bright stained-glass shadows dappled the sodden grass, where unexpected sun illuminated the willow in the garden disrobing yellow leaves before […]
Blue Tit on a Thistle
thistle barely bends buoyant with the blue tit’s song in every season Kim M. Russell, 28th October 2019 My response to Carpe Diem #1770 Tomtit In the last week of our festive 7th anniversary month, today we have another small creature, the blue tit. While the English word ‘tomtit’ can refer to pretty much any of […]
Autumn Sweetness
rain-soaked pilgrim’s quest sweetness of leaves and apples before grey sets in Kim M. Russell, 27th November 2019 My response to Carpe Diem Weekend Meditation #108 Turn Back Time (4) CD Imagination: Still Life Today we have a new weekend meditation episode, in which we turn back time to a special CD Imagination feature, a […]
writing in north norfolk 