In the labyrinthine malformed lanes and backstreets of imagination, dead-reckoning never takes me north, south, east or west, but always looks left, to the sinister side of my brain. Blindfolded by the torn curtain of fantasy, I press on in my wanderings, and my gait cannot help but feign a gritty, natural inclination to embed […]
Category: Poems
Words out of Leaves out of Words
A perfect russet leaf for her to press between the leaves of sonnets, caught on her sweater, tucked into her pocket, gave her the words she wrote on her note pad of new po- ems . Kim M. Russell, 2017 My response to Imaginary Garden with Real Toads Weekend Mini-Challenge: Out of Your Own Words […]
Sea Holly
Before this coast was swamped by sea and dinosaurs vanished, was I simply holly? I remember heat and thorns as big as ceraptosian dinosaurs’ horns and plants higher than the windmill on the salt marsh edge that was once a hill. Skies were always endless, as were the silent-black nights, which twinkled with a million […]
Alone
On the rim of sunset, evening hues are darkening, musky with the fading scent of undergrowth. Summer will soon be a forgotten dream, her insects a distant echo. But at the heart of feelings of rejection and loneliness is the beat of all things. Kim M. Russell, 2017 My response to Thursday photo prompt – […]
Day Tripping
Wind-buffeted, we listen for quiet waves below the pier. Filtered through a bank of low-lying granite cloud, August sun is determined to shine on Southwold. Day trippers brave the sea, build castles on the beach, while in brightly coloured huts, flustered mothers hand out soggy egg and cress sandwiches that crunch with sand. In the […]
Tree Magic
Along banks and edges of paths and fields, trees watch; their branches lances sharp enough to pierce, their leaves shields. What we think are hollow trunks, devoid of sap and bark, that rise from ponds still as looking glass, are ragged shadows of wet birch and ash, wizard wands that trick us into thinking reeds […]
10th August 2017
Like a soft-boiled egg cracked with a spoon, thoughts dribble and congeal. Grey clouds are drifting candle smoke. Mocked by the drooping willow, I gaze past my reflection in the window: another birthday and autumn’s on its way. Kim M. Russell, 2017 Image found on Pinterest My response to Mindlovemisery’s Menagerie Tale Weaver # 131 […]
A Day for Shade
Tucked into a shallow bowl of shady hills, a gun-metal grey saucer of a lake reflects the silhouette of a small bird of prey hunting on wings back-swept, shadowing skylarks and pipits, playing tag with cumuli scudding their own penumbrae. Kim M. Russell, 2017 Image found on britainandbritishness.com My response to dVerse Poets Pub Poetics […]
Tipping into Autumn
There comes a day, between spring’s last blackbird concert and the first swift to fly south, when nature takes a breath, before tipping into autumn. Brambles are already dotted with ripening fruit, and yellow leaves glow among the green. Beneath the oak, a squirrel has been seen, gathering acorns, hips and haws, with eager paws. […]
Outside the Shutters – a poem in Visual Verse
Here’s a link to the August issue, Vol. 4, Chapter 10 of the online Visual Verse anthology. You can find my poem on page 7 or you can link directly to the poem, entitled ‘Outside the Shutters’.