It begins to swell, the hollow brassy knell a ponderous tune in the forest gloom. An elephant bull strives in limited room: first his shoulder lifts, and the bell rumbles; then his body shifts and the bell tumbles around his neck, an extra burden, a distraction the bull can never quell. Kim M. Russell, 11th […]
Month: April 2022
Azure
You took me for a drive and we pointed out the places where something added colour and texture to our life. And here we are, growing older by a river, surrounded by trees and wildlife; only yesterday, you pointed out a heron flying by. This morning, the sun is shining; I can see wood pigeons […]
A Fresh View
after the drumming of last night’s stormthis morning’s view from the windowis silvered with rain, colourshave faded – no rainbowjust gossamer threadson leaf and boughglisteningcrystalsfresh Kim M. Russell, 9th April 2022 On NaPoWriMo Day 9, I am delighted that my poem is featured as daily participant with my “breezy interpretation of Day Eight’s alter-ego prompt”. […]
Words in the Wind
I am the woman of the wind,mistress to the Aeolian king,sometimes just a sighing breeze,a Zephyr tantalising trees,or a warm-breathed siroccofresh in from Morocco,and sometimes a gale,with a strident wail,I wuther over moors and Isquabble in the sky. My vocal range is wideto suit all weather,to dissipate cloudsor gather them together. Kim M. Russell, 8th […]
Birds-Eye
Why should a journeyof a thousand miles beginwith a single step,when all I want to do is land? Why can’t I rise like a lark,swoop like an owl in the dark,or skitter like a turnstoneamong limpets and cuttlebone,dashing up and down the shoreand taking off in salt-washed air? I don’t want to use my feeton […]
A Saucer of Rain
Even as it falls from a rowan’s red berries,a ripening myth of the goddess Hebes,saucer ready to collect each dropof liquid life, I smile while I am sopped. Rain in my hair and on my neck, fallingin cool cascading rivulets, soakinga sweater you once lent me in yourgarden in an unexpected downpour. At supper time […]
The Gorgon’s Wedding
A hiss of hair uncoils from its lavish cageof silk and lace. She guards her stare,lowers turquoise lids, coated lashes brushpale powered skin. Friends and familygather, and then he’s standing therewith his best man, in matching corsagesand the darkest sunglasses. He turns to herwith a smile and love lights up her eyes.The murmur in the […]
Arboreal
Look for a well-endowed oak; leafless oaks feign death. Collect as many beautiful leaves as you can find. They will be your pages. Look out for a great spotted woodpecker, cocking his red-capped head and hammering the bark. That is your meter. Hug your tree. Like humans, trees find safety in numbers, and they flourish […]
Sounding Out Spring
Vowels ploughed into other: opened ground.The mildest February for twenty yearsIs mist bands over furrows, a deep no soundVulnerable to distant gargling tractors. Seamus Heaney In the north, the Ploughis ridden by the moonand frost continuesto clench the earth.Early morning walkingwakens words,enlivens lines from puffsof frozen breath,vowels ploughed into other: opened ground. Punctuated by stoneand root, […]
Illatebrating
Hidden in a corner filled with the the dusty smell of old books and lingering yawns the weight of paper, I am nonplussed at the heaviness of words on paper held down by a paperweight and, when I fold them into corners, they gain in weight, treasures in my ink-stained hands while I illatebrate. How […]
writing in north norfolk 