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 […]
Category: Poems
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 […]
Remembering Miss Spencer
My favourite lesson was English,but as far as teachers were concerned,telling tales of yore with relish,only Miss Spencer could bring history to life. She had taught my mother, was rotund with a kindly face, older,always dressed in black,with amber beads around her neck. Daughter of an Egyptologist,she’d visited the pyramidsand witnessed the opening of tombs;she […]
Falling Apart
The year has started to fallapart. Pointillistic burstingof nuts and fruit. Later, leavescrunching underfoot. Conker shells split,release shiny mahogany kernels. Oaks shed acornsthat hit hard ground with a crack. It’s still warm enough for white butterflies.Craneflies crowd windows or hang in cornersfrom spindly alien legs. Cooler mornings reveal cobwebs,dewdropped now –frosted soon. Kim M. Russell, […]
Drachenfels (Dragon Rock)
It must be fifty years sinceI visited your craggy heightsbeside the majestic Rhine.It was another life and timeon your now distant ridged rock,where I thought I’d finda mythical winged creature.All I found was a twilight cavewith reptiles and spiders padlockedin glass prisons, so easy to release,but too reckless and dangerous. Kim M. Russell, 1st September […]
Nothing is Permanent
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 […]
