there is no dawn or dusk no proper time of day like the depths of the dark forest we navigate November running fingers on bark and fungus to find north we lean in close listening for sap to rise and bubble signs that queuing behind winter is spring Kim M. Russell, 15th November 2022 Free […]
Category: Poems Inspired by Artists, Music and Other Writers
Leopards and Midnight Clouds
As anyone knows who visits my blog, I love all things feline, cats of all sizes and species. The image for Visual Verse Volume 9 Chapter 11 is a wonderful black and white print that looks like a lino cut by Omar Musa, which inspired me to write the poem that appears on page 28. There are […]
Elizabethan Kisses
Since summer’s wind has heated up our skin, there’s not a corner of our bed that’s cool, no furtive meeting of soft lips or limbs. Help me with caresses; play by the rules. Come winter, bring us closer with your touch, let russet leaves begin the year’s decline! Us mortals cannot stand the heat so […]
Lion Tongue
I trail scorch marks in my wake as I breach each firebreak. My voracious carnassials devour every blade of grass and flower, the leaves on every shrub and tree. Once I charge, there’s no stopping me. But when you feel the biting chill of winter coming over the hill, you embrace my crackle and roar; […]
MIND THE GAP
The image for Visual Verse Volume 9 Chapter 10 was unusual and challenging, an image by John Crozier, which really appealed to me, as I’m originally from London. We are given only one hour to produce 50-500 ekphrastic words, so I am thrilled that my poem appears on page 7. If you want to read it first, […]
Red Ox Staring
I’m still wearing my husband’s reading glasses but will be collecting a new pair of varifocals on Friday. I’ll also be getting my hair cut for a bit of air on my very hot neck – the temperature is rising! In the meantime, the image for Visual Verse Volume 9 Chapter 9 is a collaboration […]
Blue Period
As in Pablo Picasso’s depressive art, the long path through a winter dark with anguish, despair and frailty is a spectrum of indigo melancholy: from blue-tinged ice, cobalt and navy to the hopefulness of aquamarine, it echoes our blind faith in the seasons. And then, suddenly, pieces of sky drop to earth in hosts of […]
Neon Days
I struggled with a poem for the April issue of Visual Verse, mainly due to my impaired eyesight after two cataract operations. I’m currently wearing reading glasses borrowed from my husband, which are the wrong prescription but do make a bit of a difference. The image in the May issue, Volume 9 Chapter 8, is […]
Persistence of Vision (a cento)
The future was a beautiful place, once. I held you that June morning when you opened your eyes; we were seeing one another after seasons of darkness. Like some watcher of the skies. I consider how my light is spent, look into my glass and view my wasting skin; vision may be just a part […]
Reflection
The image in the March issue of Visual Verse, Volume 9 Chapter 6, is a stunning photograph by Vony Razom, which has inspired amazing writing, with only one hour to produce 50-500 ekphrastic words. I recommend reading everything, starting at page 1. My poem is on page 83 and, if you want to read it first, you […]
writing in north norfolk 