She waits, her legs tucked in demurely,an open book in her hands,but she doesn’t see the words; one eyeis on reception, its counterpolished and bee-wax-scented. Surelyhe isn’t late? The couple on the otherside of the late-night hotel lobbylook married; he stands,coat draped over arm while his seated wifetries to catch his eye. And then the […]
Category: Poems Inspired by Artists, Music and Other Writers
Catching the Heart off Guard
There was a time whenI knew nothing about life on thecoast: how the shore is buffeted by wind;waves spray salty brine above dunes; andseals follow you, riding thewaves glittering in morning light. Now I know the sound of gulls, they arethe music of the sea, laughing at humans workingon boats. Gulls know the beauty of […]
A Darkling Tableau
Where once grasses buzzedwith jazz of cricketsand loud grasshoppers,cornfields have been razedto stubble, and strawploughed in umber earth. Herons stalk soddenfields, through soggy standsof russet bracken,on towards winter,in ancient rhythm,still pulsing with life. It’s the yawn of time,when the hearth’s tonguesets culture on fire,to glow through the blackdome of night untilthe coming of spring. Winter’s […]
Dogwood (a quadrille)
A summer blizzard cloudof feathers from a pillow fight,understated blossom clustersshimmering in sunlight hidehard timber once carved intothe cross on which Christ was crucified.Until its grey bark bursts into red,dogwood crouches in hedges,creeps around woodland edges. Kim M. Russell, 16th July 2024 Alma Thomas, Arboretum Presents White Dogwood, (1972), acrylic on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum […]
Nets of Inspiration
I tread water, in time,in my sea of consciousness,adrift in space, untilmy mermaid legs are grippedby cramps. Salt water spillsas I climb a rock to restand set myself the taskof repairing torn netsof inspiration and castthem to the waves.Some days, words slipthrough my head like silverminnows. Other days, I seemto catch a whole ocean. Kim […]
On Opening a Book
earthy musty vanilla redolenceerupts into comforting scentsof paper inky words dreams stories poetry from past agespaper that was born in reamscut neatly into pages book weight in happy handshas a balance of coverand leaves caressed by fingers pristine dog-eared annotated abusedthe satisfying sussurus as they turnand the individual paper colour white yellowed crackling edgescrisp fresh […]
Boxing Clever – a cento
Within my rooted being lies a box of green,lined with dewy moss to quench and revive,clasped onto my sea-shell collection.A self-portrait, the stones I carvedby the sea with salt in its veins,embryonic, in a cosmic womb,its dark edges are still dissolving.Wrapped around a framework of bonesoverflowing with ragtag paraphernaliaof my stumbled tumbled dreams,a hazy recollection […]
The Perfume of Peonies
She raises the pink peonies, cool,damp leaves and petals a balmto her industrious fingers. Those dual-headed, blowsy globes grasped in her palmexude a fruity wisp of sweetnessthat makes her life much easier to bear.No customers notice the neatnessof her blouse, the pretty headscarf that she wearsto cover the cuts and bruises of her husband’s violence.She […]
Walkabout
It seems as if I have walked foreverthrough this life, on this pathfrom birth to death. Sometimes I have walked togetherwith friends and family,sometimes alone. Often the path meandered,for a while it took me off course,past woodland, pasture and meadow,past sheep, cow and horse. Now often on my walkaboutI sit down to ponder beneath a […]
Tourniquet
A ripple of notes, a wavering flame,echoed in a gust of melody, is reclaimed. A hushed, unweathered voice modulateslike light tethered by an emotional tourniquet until the song spreads wings and skipson time changes like glottal stops. The volume dies, almost to a whisper,syncopated drum containing the pressure until low-tuned bass stringscrank up the volume […]
writing in north norfolk 