When I was about nineteen and living in Cologne, after repeated ferocious tonsillitis my tonsils were finally removed. A hike in the Moselle Valley had been planned by some male friends of mine and they insisted I come along, post-operative or not. It was late autumn, frosty and cold. The ancient hotel we were staying […]
Month: August 2020
Lazarus
Mynamecrumblesfrom my mouth,a piece of coral. You might think I’m smiling but it’s rictus –I’m as terrified of youas you are of me. If you could seeinto my spine,you’d find it’s hollow,encased in an armoury of external teeth –all the better to eat – and my eyes are even bigger than my mouth –all the […]
Ox Head
They said he was untameable and afraid of his own shadow,branded skittish with an ox head,none could soothe his rodeo. The gentling of Bucephalus began with the gentle whispersand flourished into fraternitywithout saddle, reins or spurs. They camped under starless skies,future king and Thessalian steed,faced the sting of metaland watched men bleed. Too many men and horses […]
Storm Drain Rainbow
Pondering words, the storm drainof my mind, raw,breaks openan augury of rainbows,impossible to reach. Ghosts endure the interfaceof despair and hope, the turningpoint, where darknessis exhausted and lightbegins its return. All we need is a song. Kim M. Russell, 29th August 2020 A found poem for earthweal open link weekend I wanted to go back […]
Quadrilling a New Day
Yesterday was libraried, catalogued and fairystoried, night had diamonded while we were still in bed. Buttercupped beyond the shed, new morning mangoed into being, the dormoused sun almost refusing to shine and cupcake in the sky – and another new day began to dragonfly. Kim M. Russell, 27th August 2020 My response to dVerse Poets […]
Starting Point
So varied is the starting point,the foundation of a poem:sometimes a thought, a word,image, phrase, feeling, sound,or something you have foundin a different writer’s wall,the brickweave of their soul. Kim M. Russell, 27th August 2020 My response to Poets and Storytellers United Weekly Scribblings #34: Foundation This Wednesday, Rommy asked us to consider the word […]
Wheatfield with Crows
His paint oozed solitude and sadness. The turbulent brush almost fell from his hands. He knew it so well, this field of rude life and death, its diverging blood-rusted paths leading to the same horizon. The violent polarity of yellow field of wheat daubed in rows and blue sky smudged with clouds erupts with black […]
This Summer is a Bummer
I never wanted a behindlike Kim Kardashian’s,no uninvited fussabout my gluteous maximus.I recently discoveredsuperfluous flesh,and am afraid to go uncoveredor wear a clingy style of dress.I long for autumnand a coat to hide my bum. Kim M. Russell, 24th August 2020 My response to dVerse Poets Pub Quadrille: Shall we bum around a bit? De […]
Rainbow Child
The humid heat had spread like crude oil on a seashore; it prickled and burned skin red, thick and sticky in every pore. A parasol and paddling pool were perfect for the chore of cooling and amusing you: buckets of water, nothing more. Sudden storm clouds above the trees gathered with a growl of thunder, […]
Rewilding a Soul
When she opened the cage, she felt bars beneath her fingers, a metallic chill that lingers and almost stops the heart. Her soul perched on the edge among shadows of danger, liberty felt so much stranger and the landscape was stark. The taming had taken its joyfulness, silenced its song and left it helpless. Its […]
writing in north norfolk 