On reading Heaney’s ‘Gifts of Rain’

The recent rain has left puddles,cars shower walkers with chilly wavesand tractors churn up mud. Burst riverbanks leave us in a muddle,fields and gardens lost, animals to save,as we wrangle with the flood. On the other side of the world it’s dry,all moisture wrung out, no dripping taps,just an arid cough of dust. There’s not […]

Survivors in a Ruined City

We hide while bombs destroy our homes,mothers and children hunkeredin the dust of a city reduced to its bare bones. Men came, destroyed and, conscienceless,fled the scenes of devastation; they aregone while we survivors are hopeless, watching the afterbirth of jet contrailsstill fading in the silent sky.It will take years to clear the city of […]

Certainty

How can we be sure that our                             two hearts beat as one;that our two planets orbit                             around the same sun;that our footprints travel                             in the same direction?Do we share the same emotion?                             And how do we know? Kim M. Russell, 19th October 2023 Image by Filipp Romanovski on Unsplash It’s Thursday and at the dVerse […]

Grief Crows

The last of the wildflowershas faded, the air is pregnant           with the first breath of falling          leaves, and long grass is meshed with violet splashes, commonknapweed on common ground.           A glance overhead reveals          something flapping, a black glove or a hand, waving, first oneand then another, keeping close,           mime artists skittering – […]

Stance

She folds her arms,just like her mother,tries to look stern, lipsfirmly pressed together,eyes blazing. Her mothersuppresses a giggle,hands now on hips,gives her forefinger a wiggle –and they both fall aboutlaughing at a curly–hairedthree-year-old’s cheek. Kim M Russell, 16th October 2023 Free image found on Freepik It’s Quadrille Monday at the dVerse Poets Pub, where we […]

Gratitude

Up before the birds,slave to emphatic vatic,I’m tired but thankful,inspired by the symphonicdawn chorus now the sky’s full. Kim M. Russell, 12th October 2023 Image by Rhys Kentish on Unsplash Sherry says that this past Monday was Thanksgiving in Canada. She also reminds me that many of us are in the time of life when […]