everything is hushed
in ominous silence
another blizzard waiting in the wings
street and house lights
pierce night-black
gilding the frozen blanket
throwing long shadows on snow-crust
that crunches underfoot
the only sound
not even a puff of breath
that freezes as soon
as it’s exhaled
not even clumps that drop
from eaves and branches
welcomed by the snow below
all is still
Kim M. Russell, 26th February 2026
It’s the final Thursday in February and Lillian is hosting Open Link Night at the dVerse Poets Pub, when we can link up any one poem of our choosing or write a poem inspired by an image. This time, Lillian has chosen ‘Hushed and Still’, painted by Simie Maryles, an artist from Cape Cod.
writing in north norfolk 
So happy you posted to Simie’s painting! I’ll be sending her the dVerse link in a bit and know she’ll enjoy reading this!
I especially like these lines:”snow-crustthat crunches underfootthe only sound
not even a puff of breaththat freezes as soonas it’s exhaled”
You’ve truly caught the title she’s painted for us here. This is very similar to one of her paintings we have at home. 🙂
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Thank you for the lovely comment and for sharing the image. As soon as I saw the title the poem started to form in my head, and the image reinforced it.
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Clumps silently dropping into welcoming snow is a very cool image.
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Thank you!
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This is gorgeously rendered, Kim 😍 I love; “street and house lights pierce night-black gilding the frozen blanket throwing long shadows on snow-crust.” ❤️❤️
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beautifully and effectively rendered, Kim, thanks
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Thank you, Ron.
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I really like how you put sounds into the stillness of this ekphrastic
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Thank you, Laura.
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An odd, plush hush, that silence after a blizzard,best as I can remember from my childhood up in Chicago. As you write it, the walker in the painting is a snowglobe of mysteries stilled.
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