Time has drawn a relief map, traced contours, filled this skin with flaws and points of reference: dimples, moles and scars, a geography of life, and with it the relief of night-sky freedom and earthy wisdom. Kim M. Russell, 2018 My response to Poets United Midweek Motif ~ Poetry about the Body and linked to dVerse […]
Category: Poems
A poem to sum up my feelings in this post.
Suddenly a Jay
A dreary winter morning metamorphoses with the fell swoop of a jay, a flash of cobalt among damp fox-brush bracken and berries lit up like Christmas lights left hanging long past Twelfth Night. The garden seethes with moisture but a chink of peachy sunshine spreads its wings and smiles on this January Sunday. Kim M. […]
Queen of Fireflies
The flames in her eyes gradually die; small fires still burn in the ice, the diamonds in her crown. Cold comfort for a firefly. Kim M. Russell, 2018 My response to Imaginary Garden with Real Toads Camera FLASH! Kerry says it’s time to strike a pose again with the photographic challenge for January, which comes […]
Window
The window is closed and all the scents of summer are trapped behind its pane. No bee’s buzz can penetrate the glass, no refreshing breeze can pass to relieve me of the pain of winter chill. But in the window of my mind, I can still see the shadow-play of roses and leaves on the […]
Struggling to Think
I have never known complete silence. Just pin pricks in the backdrop of white noise, where darkness seeps into quiet moments. Memories rain into my never empty mind, daydreams creep up and worry at my imagination like dogs with bones, persistent ringing of the telephone, or the doorbell. Traffic passes, […]
Open
The door to another year has opened to let me in – or is it out? Chill air wakens my lungs, new and fresh it forces me to breathe deeply, open my lips and sing with the promise of green buds and snowdrops, old friends and new birth. I just have to step out the […]
Libertango
Arriving at the Gare du Nord, I disembark from the train to a guttural dawn chorus – I’ve heard that sound before. The morning platform’s cold, tinged with piss and alcohol. As I pass a street café, a newspaper hawker’s cry starts up the day and Gitanes and coffee grab me in a piquant embrace, […]
Scrooged
I struggle with leftovers and dregs of good cheer; dinner repeats itself and Christmas tinnitus continues to ring in my ear. Although I vaguely remember many times that I’ve been here, I know that I will make the leap of faith into another year. Kim M. Russell, 2018 My response to dVerse Poets Pub Quadrille: […]
A Poet’s Manifesto
I must crack my knuckles and fill my pen with ink, not just to mark the page but to help me think. I must use my pen, wield it like a sword and cut through crap with sharpened words. I must write a skeleton, slice truth to the bone, rebuild it with flesh and hair, give […]
Blue
The sky is a palette of blue, empty of birds, only broken clouds sing their poignant tunes; mainland and islands chime loud with blues of their own; and the sea joins in with a harmony, an aquamarine melody to pilot a tired fisherman home. Kim M. Russell, 2017 My response to Sue Vincent’s Daily Echo […]
