I wish they’d told me about the sitting tenant
when I bought this fixer-upper. A permanent
presence, a silent moth of a housemate,
an old creeper, a late-
night slipper shuffler, who leaves the toilet seat
up, the tap running and messages writ
on the steamed-up mirror
with an icicle finger
and lingers on the stairs
like cat hairs.
I wouldn’t mind so much if he’d stop hogging
the bedclothes, and levitating
me when my boyfriend wants a cuddle on the settee
or when I have friends and family round for tea.
Kim M. Russell, 30th April 2026
Well that zoomed past! It’s the last day of NaPoWriMo and the final optional prompt, inspired by Russell Edson’s poem ‘Angels’. Edson “speaks of these spiritual warrior-messenger-guardians as if they were a type of endangered animal. Brief as it is, the poem is disorienting in its use of flattened diction, odd similes, and elliptical statements.”
Our challenge is to write poems that discusses a real or mythical being or profession (demons, firefighters, demonic firefighters) with the same sort of musing yet dispassionate tone. I couldn’t resist returning to a poem I wrote in 2019 and reworking it.
writing in north norfolk 
A nice piece to finish on! I think we might have all had to deal with such tenants at one time or another. Sometimes they become stalkers, if you don’t exorcise them.
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Thankyou, Chris!
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silent moth of a housemate—oh my! Great finish, Kim. I’m happy to have been in you company here. See you in the poetry pub when I see you. I appreciate you.
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Thank you very much, Selma. We’ve had a great crop of poems this year, and it’s been a pleasure to read yours. See you at the Poets Pub soon.
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You pulled out all the metaphorical stops on this one, Kim. A grand, creative (but creepy) end to a month of stellar writing! Congratulations. 🙌🙂🎉
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Thank you so much, Dora!
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My pleasure, Kim.
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Ingenious spooky finishing, Kim. Thank you for your company this year.
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Thank you, Gloria. If we don’t cross paths on the poetry trail, I’ll see you in the same place at the same time next year!
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What a delightful final poem. The “silent moth of a housemate” is such a perfect image, and the domestic haunting is both eerie and hilarious to me.
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Thank you very much!
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This is just funny and brilliant, Kim! You made me laugh out loud with:
“a late-
night slipper shuffler, who leaves the toilet seat
up”
😄
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Thankyou so much, Nina!
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A delightful final poem Kim. So many emotions–mirthful and spooky. Love “a silent moth of a housemate” and the final image. Wondering about boyfriend’s/visitors’ facial expressions. Ha! Ha! Thank you 🙂
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I’m delighted you enjoyed it, Arti!
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