From the melting mist on a distant hill,
In a welter of water, there’s overhead whiffling.
Then from unknown skies, skeins of geese arrive,
twisting and turning, climbing and falling.
There’s a green wave of a distant hill,
It’s an ocean of grass where the breezes sing,
And from unknown skies skeins of geese arrive,
Twisting and turning, climbing and falling.
They have crossed over flounces of indigo water,
An incredible scent of autumn on wings:
From unknown skies skeins of geese arrive,
twisting and turning, climbing and falling.
There’s a whiffle of air on feathers as white
As the Arctic snow and the frost they bring,
And from unknown skies skeins of geese arrive,
Twisting and turning, climbing and falling.
Kim M. Russell, 23rd July 2026
This Thursday at the dVerse Poets Pub we are writing form with meter and rhythm with Björn.
He says meter and feet bring rhythm to a piece of poetry and make it possible to sing, especially a ballad, which was often how songs were known in the past. Many well-known songs we have today were written to melodies already known. He says “the topic was often newsworthy and published as broadside ballads. That way they could be sung for an audience and with a story to tell. A special subcategory are the so-called murder ballads telling stories of gruesome deaths and murders.”
He has shared a ballad he wrote a year ago as an example and highlighted in bold in the first stanza the words that create rhythm, illustrating 4 and 3 beats.
We could write our ballads purely with iambs, but we may choose any type of feet. Björn will give us extra points for writing with anapests. As for rhyme scheme we may either rhyme it as x-a-x-a or as a-b-a-b.
I was lost for a theme or story, and then I reworked a poem I wrote a while ago and turned it into a ballad.
writing in north norfolk 
I love it with the repetetions and so, and as you mentioned in your comment on mine it is not really a ballad as described… but lovely nonetheless
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Thank you, Björn. It can be set to music, though.
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exactly…
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Superior content and construction, Kim. Salute
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Thank you very much, Ron.
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So beautiful and I felt like I was watching them as I read. I’m glad they can congregate in places where they have sanctuary. The repeating line really brings them to life, Kim.
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I’m so pleased ,y poem had this effect on you, Lisa.
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❤
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Well done Kim!, loved all the images this created in my imagination…i still have feathers falling in my head…i like the repetition and flow of this, beautifully crafted! 🩵
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Thank you very much, Cara. This poem has gone through several incarnations.
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Picasso said his paintings were never finished, I feel that way about poems ive written and constantly rework. This is a lovely incarnation 🩵
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Luv the alliteration
Nice one, Kim
much love
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Thank you, Gillena, and much love to you.
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There is an app, Suno (there as an app for everything) that can put anything to music and it would be fun to see what it made of this Kim…
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Thanks Andrew. I’ll check it out.
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