It must be fifty years since
I visited your craggy heights
beside the majestic Rhine.
It was another life and time
on your now distant ridged rock,
where I thought I’d find
a mythical winged creature.
All I found was a twilight cave
with reptiles and spiders padlocked
in glass prisons, so easy to release,
but too reckless and dangerous.
Kim M. Russell, 1st September 2026
On this first day of a new month, at the dVerse Poets Pub, Dora is hosting Tuesday Poetics with lyric petrologies.
Dora says that she is hoping to tempt our poetic muses to “sing songs of stone, be the stone as small as a pebble in a macadam pavement and a gem set in jewelry, or as towering as a mountain and cavernous as a canyon.”
Dora has given us a comprehensive explanation of the word ‘petrology’ and explained the title ‘lyric petrology’ as a study of rocks that revolves around our relationship with them. She has also shared a list of examples of lyric petrology to get us started. I especially enjoyed the two poems by Gillian Clarke’s ‘Ichthyosaur’ and ‘Hearthstone’.
writing in north norfolk 
Such a gothic landscape (“our craggy heights/beside the majestic Rhine”) and so alluring to the imagination that it’s a disappointment no dragons or at least a Bronte character or two doesn’t stalk its heights. Love it, Kim.
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It’s not too far from the Lorelei, Dora, Thank you!
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I thought about Wagner in your poem… dragons or river-gods it sounds like this was a wonderful place to visit.
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There is indeed a connection to Wagner, Björn. There’s more than one legend of Drachenfels, including the hero of the Niebelunglied, Siegfried, who killed the killed the dragon Fafnir, who lived in a cave there, which is why it’s called the ‘Dragon’s Rock.’
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Kim, such a mystical place, where dragons have been known to frequent. Too bad you didn’t find one of their fossilized eggs. Creepy crawlies under glass is a great metaphor.
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Thank you, Lisa!
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You’re welcome ❤
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I was hoping you found a mythical creature, Kim! But I also love spiders, lizards, and creep crawlers…Beautiful photo and sounds like a magical place! 💜
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Thank you so much, Cara. It was very cold in the cave, I was with friends, and one of them was keen on busting those creatures out!
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Ha crazy friends, gotta love ’em! 💙
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That part of the Rhine is quite marvellous – as is your poem.
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Thank you very much, Kim!
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This is a great piece Kim – I can feel the poignant sense of nostalgia and lost youthful romanticism in your words ❤️
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Thanks Ange! I expected Welsh dragons when we visited North Wales last May! 🐉🐲
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Did you see any?😃
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Only the little red one on a key ring I brought home with me. 😊
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😅👌
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There is such a gothic feel to this poem, Kim! Wow! I love the image; “craggy heights beside the majestic Rhine.” ❤️❤️
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Thank you, Sanaa! 💕
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Love the mystical feel of this place. Oh, how I wish a dragon would appear. Caves have a special wonder of their own.
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Oh they do, Truedessa. This year, when we went to North Wales, whose national flag depicts a red dragon, I expected to see them flying over the mountains.
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I thought of Lorelei as I read your fine poem, Kim. I saw it on our Rhine cruise in 2019!
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Smiles
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it’s always, an interesting feeling, to revisit a place we’d already, visited, and we can, compared how we’d felt the time previous, with this current visit, to see how we’ve, grown.
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That is so true.
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I love the ominous hint of what lurks within – Jae
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Oh, me too, Jae!
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All I found was a twilight cave
with reptiles and spiders padlocked
in glass prisons
Love the close Kim! That is ‘progress’! Not just viewed as in the past but exhibited for future generation’s better viewing
Hank
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Thank you, Hank!
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is it disappointmen or awe, what you thought tofind and what you did find?
nice one
much love
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I want to visit this place, now that you’ve painted such an alluring, mysterious, enchanting picture with your poem. And tinged with something… lurking. My favourite mixture!
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