I cannot hear the discordance of autumnbehind the double-glazed window.I only hear the hum of the fridge,the floorboards expanding and contractingthe gentle thuds of a cat on the stairs,and creak of a door in a draught. But I see the wind chimes swinging wildlyfrom the branch of the cherry tree.I watch the wind tear at […]
Category: Poems
Verbifying Rain
The recent rain is puddlingand the fields are tractored with mud. Burst riverbanks leave us muddlingas we wrangle with the flood. On the other side all moisture’s wrung out,just an aridding cough of dust. There’s not a sign of rainclouding, only doubt,withering crops and hardened crust. If we were able to cloudburst,we would miss our […]
Irreverence
Black shadows hoverby the roadside,eyeing up carrionas traffic thunders by. The splatted carcassof a young deer,unused to passing vehicles,is a temptation, an invitationto peck at exposed innards,a banquet for carnivorous birds,a murder of cackling crows. Kim M. Russell, 27th October 2026 This Tuesday at the dVerse Poets Pub, our host for Poetics is Punam, with […]
Rain Woman
Why do you follow me,grasp my hand, pulling constantlytowards a perpetual downpour? I don’t want to drown with you and yourblack felt hat, from which rain spillsin dank cataracts or rills. How does it feel to never dry?Although your fish-eyesare closed, I feel your stare. Slippery as an eel,you swim nightmarishly throughmy restless sleep. I […]
A Taste of October
1.The day is crisp and russet as an apple,an invitation to crunch into autumn,to eat the season. 2.Chilling air echoeswith skeins and vees of geesehogging the sky for just a minute. 3.Stars stud the night, twinklingmessages to the gas rigsout at sea. 4.A kiss in the dark,tinged with alcohol and wood smoke—two figures alone, together […]
I Put a Spell on You
Time has wound down to a stop—just like your heart, no ticking clock.Lightbulbs flicker,the air vibrates,becomes viscous,until you cannot breatheand heat burns scarlet on your face.Outside on the street, life is a race,while inside, everything has s l o w e dright down.Thoughts buzz frantically, like a beeand you’re trapped in amber honey. I put […]
Weary Waders
We are filling the air with everything:our piping calls, the feathers welose on our weary flight. Seehow overhead cloud hidesus from one another,as we herald the arrival of autumn. One thingyou must remember is that we return from our northern nests alwaystogether, while some just wantto stop off on the way south, others long tostay […]
Mother’s Love
My mother’s love is red and gold,the vibrant love of sunset,a kiss before I bid the worldgoodnight. Under the silhouetted tree,the sky the colour of her heart,holding me close, she says to me,“Sleep tight!” Kim M. Russell, 6th October 2026 It’s Tuesday and, at the dVerse Poets Pub, our host for Poetics is Lillian, with […]
Broken Landscape
September’s come to its inevitable endingand the light is bending. Late afternoon sun puts the moon to shame,setting leaves aflame, sparking rosehip, hawthorn and rowan berries—winter’s emissaries. Soon russet and gold will turn to muddy brown,and leaves fall down. October echoes in a jackdaw murmuration;for them, no migration. Twilight seeps through naked branches early.The moon’s […]
Between the Falling in Love Parts
Between falling love and other parts of life,things happen: spring blossoms come and go; waves crash on beaches; parts of mountains c r u m b l e ; skies change colour. We grow up,take on responsibility, land with both feeton the ground. Kim M. Russell, 10th September 2026 It’s Thursday and time for Open […]
