You always said to tryto do my best, togrow into the person I wanted to be. You come to me as words, arevenant, urging me to be good,and remain in my heart as a guest. In owl-light, I have learnt to treadcarefully, my feet landing lightlyon the right side of memory. Remember – nothing is […]
Category: Poems Inspired by Artists, Music and Other Writers
Houses with Laundry
In the suburbs, the sky is muted greys;layered clouds merge with beigepost-harvest fields – a train passes by.Houses are prominent, earthy, weak lightreflecting in windows, the inhabitants’washing strung out on lines like brightbunting criss-crossing the landscape.This is life outside the city, awayfrom Viennese high society, an escapefrom pressures and scandal. The dayis almost over, laundry dances […]
Tiger in a Tropical Storm (Surprised!)
They brought brushes, paints and canvas,so that he could spend his sacred leisurein the light, truth and happiness of paintinga surprised tiger and other wonders of nature.When I extend my gaze beyond the vivid huesof yellow, orange, red and tropical verdure(I’ve looked and found hardly any blue),I am thrilled by the way Rousseau capturedthe movement […]
Asking the Right Question
Three letter questions, like how,who and why, dosend me off on a tangent. Have youmeandered among those words? Have you everbeen lost in a how? We will never knowif we have been taken forfools, but it is certain,in the world in which we live today, thatthe rich and powerful do not care what youthink, how […]
A Candleworth of Love
There was a magical time whenyour mother would carry youon her hip all day. You weredemanding of her love, smallbut large as life, full of life, with yourfairy eyes and curly hair, chin cuppedin your hands. She tickled your palms,walking round the garden like a teddy bear, eachevening before bathtime. She heldyou close when she […]
Midsummer Dancing
Sun glints off a windowin the red painted house,while the dark wooden barnoffers quiet coolness,respite for the serious dancers,and those who like to chat,catching up with friendsand neighbours, thirstyfor beer or schnapps,in preparation for singingand more dancingaround a flowery maypoletied with ribbonsinto the long night. Kim M. Russell, 18th June 2026 This Thursday at the […]
Stubborn Words Fight Back
I – not thinking of youthis pronoun’s focus is meegotistical write – purple ink flowingwith the movement of a penstubborn words fight back on – what lies betweenthe switching of on and offno prepositions these – not those this or thatmaterialist humansalways possession spindrift – spat from cresting wavesLeucothea’s laundry’s […]
Bride with a Fan
The blueness is not sadness or regret,nor the colour of a teardrop. It is not a reflection, not the depth of her eye,nothing like the blue of the sky. The fan does not keep her cool,but hides the imperfect smile, the chipped tooth behind her lipsthat snags on words she does not say. Even the […]
A Room that Breathed in Stitches
Morning light streamedthrough roughly-woven curtain, glided across wallsand gilded the bed, picking out ochre stitchesin the knitted blanket and the lime green patternof the cotton pillowcases. A room of fabricsbreathing in stitches, stirred by the chilly breathof a breeze, a subtle alarm – a reminder to take advantageof the quietude, embrace the shadowslingering in corners […]
Sweet Buzz
It’s back again, thesoporific burr of beeshovering in the fruit trees thatmakes me want to sleep. I watch them burrowing insidespring blossoms. They ignore meas they take their fillof pollen. Lately, mytaste for honey has taken over my mindand I’m dripping withtheir sweet buzz. Kim M. Russell, 30th April 2026 This Thursday at the dVerse […]