we hunker down in a world of whitenessinstead of flowers, the storm brings ice […]
Category: Poems Inspired by Artists, Music and Other Writers
Reheating a Cold War
Red geraniums rust in September rain and sparrows splash in puddles again. In summer’s hinterland, something is stirring leaves already yellow, their weariness showing, tattered and brittle, counting years with their falling. But still trees find safety in numbers, flourishing in ancient copses, forests and woods, growing together for the common good while men train […]
Sad Song
“The clear vowels rise like balloons” S.Plath ~ Morning Song A favourite song floats into the mind on a passing whimsical wind, prompted by a blackbird’s incidental trill or the postman’s whistle, and I am there again, mouth wide open, lungs bursting with the thrill, in a crowd of hearts beating to the same rhythm […]
On the Way Back
She had swum too far, felt the power of waves tugging her towards the horizon before striking back to shore. On the way back, when she reached out her puckered hand, she felt like beach pebbles scattered by the sea in ever shifting sand. Kim M. Russell, 25th January 2021 My response to dVerse Poets […]
The Fencing in of Rainbows
The first Visual Verse image of the year by Michael Easterling was beautiful but tricky. My poem in January’s Visual Verse is on page 33. As always, I recommend reading all the poems in the issue but, if you want to go straight to mine, it’s called ‘The Fencing in of Rainbows‘. You can also […]
In conversation with the aged librarian
Sonnets echo through the shelves of the library, disturbing ancient dust and ghosts of poets lost, to keep you company, stir your memory, protect your heart and soul from time’s frost. Among your books, you are never alone, with full moon or candle to shed light. Besides, heart-learnt words in blood and bone blossom into […]
Mother’s Milk
A staid image of a placidwoman dressed in blue,only hands and face exposed,no crown bejewelled,your child swaddled:this was how I thought of you. I didn’t know the churchimagined you as tripartite too:royally dressed in ermine and silk,breast exposed, a womanof human flesh, blood and milk,miraculously still a virgin. It wasn’t you the angels preserved,but the […]
Hat
I have just received a lovely early Christmas present – my fifty-first poem in Visual Verse! It’s inspired by an amazing image by Oscar Ukonu and is on page 47. I recommend reading all the poems in the issue but, if you want to go straight to mine, here’s the link. You can also read the […]
Awakened by the Thaw
‘To melt and be like a running brook that sings its melody to the night’ (Gilbran) A heart stony with winter’s chill,and starved from arteries frozen still,needs gradual and gentle thawthat penetrates the very core.When temperatures start to climbafter months of deepest wintertime,shaking itself with a timid shiver,the heart becomes a singing river. Kim M. […]
Nude Study in Yellow
Her outstretched arms are fluid,drenched in golden liquid,legs immersed in shadowedmovement, feet flexed,ready to run. He wipes the brush,dips it into cadmium. Are these broken linesin shades of bananaa sun-filled visual love poemor a jaundiced portrayalof love gone lemon-sour? Kim M. Russell, 6th December 2020 A failed submission shared with Poets and Storytellers United Writers’ […]
writing in north norfolk 