I thought that once my shadowed dorsal bentthrough undulations, swimming would be spent;descendants bask in waters far from me.I’m a menopausal hundred-year-old granny. The ocean sparkles glisten off my back,as I pick at barnacles and bladder wrack.I birthed my last calf back when I was thirty –I’m a menopausal hundred-year-old granny. I’m an awkward Orca […]
Category: Poems
View from the Bus
We stare through steamy windows on the top deck of the bus,at people walking and waiting in the rain, unlike us,impatient with the crowds and the weather,while we steam in the proximity of bodies crammed together.We open a window to let in some air, and petrichor fills the air,punctuated by a curl of tobacco smoke, […]
Just Wondering
I often wondered how life might have been growing up asAlice.That was a name and an adventure I admired when I wasa child.Would I have been a girl who followed rabbits, met queens,consumedpotions and cake, and wasn’t afraid ofmagic?Or would I eventually have lost my head? Iwonder. Kim M. Russell, 6th March 2025 It’s the […]
Life Cycle of a Cardigan
I began as wool shornfrom a sheep, a cluster of cloudto dye and card and spin,and knit until a perfect cardigan was born –colourful, cuddly and warm. When you first saw me I was freshand new, my colours bright.You’ll never know the frissonof joy when I felt your fingers tightin my fibre. And then you […]
Just Sounds
I stepped outside last night,hoping to see a skyfull of stars.One of the cats slinked out behindme. She didn’t mindthat it was dark. To meit was ominous and black. A breezeplayed tunes in the chimeshanging from the willow tree,but not a star was there to be seen.An owl hooted from the silverbirch, but there was […]
Thinking about water while swimming in the pool
I break its surfacefeel its pearls roll down my skinI surge forward pressing palms togetherand in an outward circular stroke feeling the resistance of this chemical compoundfeeling its enormitysensing its presence in my bodyand around the eartha drop eroding s t o n ea refreshing GUSHa destructive W A V Ea treasure troveof pearl and […]
Madrigal Muse
A ripple stream flowed steadfastly through snowand came out on the other side of spring,its bubbles lit by sunshine, brightly sparkling. A faithful friend, in winter it was slow,a muse on chilly days while walking;a ripple stream flowed steadfastly through snowand came out on the other side of spring. My lover waits down where the […]
Heart-Shaped Spud
I give you a humble potato,imperfect and caked in soil,ready to be bathed in clear water,it’s knobbles caressed and cherished. So versatile is the potato,it can be whatever you will,roasted, mashed, fried. To you I offera dish of Dauphinoise – embellished with garlic and cream, sliced potatocheesy with Gruyere, sprinkled with dill,slow-cooked until crispy on […]
To Steph
My dear,I’ll keep this short and sweet,like you, and the tartes au citron we’d eat,and the wine we’d drink in summer sunon rickety chairs in your garden. We’d giggle, laugh and sometimes sing,and often end up wonderingif passers-by could hear and smile at the love and fun we shared for a while. I missed you […]
Sparrows in the Garden
As light returns, in dozing green,never a sparrow to be seen. Never in tangles of rusty fernsnor hedges rich with pungent tannincurled with smoke where bonfires burnin dozing green, as light returns. Outside the window, on fence and ledge,some chase each other in the hedge,or hide and seek in the curly willow.Too small to see, they’re […]
writing in north norfolk 