Misunderstood throughout historyyou were tortured, drowned, burntand now, amid the intensityof climate change, plague and war,you have seen humankind at its worst. Forget the shamans,Mentors and Chirons,all male, muscle-bound,bristling with testosterone. We need you wise women,you Earth mothers who listento sky, air and soil beneath your feet,the quickening of the seasons’ beat.You understand the textures […]
Category: Poems
Hunting Bedfellows
In the shadows of predawn, I’m wokenby companions of past and present,hunting my dreams until they’re broken.My ghostly bedfellows curiously hunt,purring, kneading, butting, knowingI will fill their dishes in the morning.They hunt me through the nightbut, once fed, they lick their lips,clean their paws and slipout to disappear into a brightnew day, off to haunt […]
Flocculent Pocket
At moonrise, balled emotionin my flocculent pocketunravels, creating constellationsfrom stars on my fingertips. In my flocculent pocket,a loose knit of present and past;from stars on my fingertipsa net across the sky is cast. A loose knit of present and pastunravels, creating constellations.A net across the sky is castat moon rise, balled emotion. Kim M. Russell, […]
Mareel
You are a sparkle in the eyeof the ocean of the past,a persistent glint on the horizonof the future, the sea foamphosphorescence of autumn nights.You give me warmth in quiet moments,smiles and laughter through the day,and strength to continue when lifegets harder; you are my mainstay. Kim M. Russell, 16th April 2024 Image by Tom […]
At the Station
It came in, a metal monster, heavingmaroon carriages into view, cleavingthe crowd with the clickety-clacksending vibrations down the track,wreaths of its coke-fuelled sighsabout to envelop hellos and goodbyes.A ray of sunlight from the vaulted roofilluminated a vulnerable figure from above:wavering at the platform’s edge in vain,unaware that he was on the train. Kim M. Russell, […]
Drinking Mocha in Sad Café
Stirring cream in your mocha with a long spoon,you feel the grit of sugar where your wristrests on the cluttered table. Big clouds soonpush eastwards and turn to rainy mist.The downpour comes and then it goes away.Customers shake umbrellas and raincoatsin the draughty doorway of the sad café.In the steam, a forgotten memory stuttersand starts […]
whole lot of sparkles
sparkle on, twigs in a dazzle of rimesparkle on, bouquets of drooping iciclessparkle on, clocks in a tick-tock of timesparkle on, light off the bells of bicycles sparkle on, salt of retreating tidessparkle on, iridescent starlingssparkle on, diamonds worn by bridessparkle on, smiles in the eyes of my darlings sparkle on, vanity in a room […]
Warming to the Light of Longer Days
Nourished with the flood from a riverbulbous with rain, the green bloodof spring arrives with a shiver. Following a winter of constant chill,all sound wrung from the landscape,there is a giggle on the air, a spill of honeyed song from birds,the buzz of insects as they escapetheir overwintering, the flight of words from a poet […]
A Gift of British Weather
CUSTARD WIND A cold, north-easterly has blown my Christmas pudding cold. MOOR-GALLOP Emily Brontë runs from a sudden squall on the moors. ROKE The fog is so thick even the trees can’t see each other. DINDEREX A thunder-axe of lightning bolts across the countryside. RAINING OLD WOMEN AND STICKS The nosy old neighbour watches heavy […]
April Blossoms
There are few blossoms in the city yet,save a misty cerise-tinged sunset;one can only imagine a hazeof cherry flowers pinking up the sky- line and defining sooty silhouettes. Who am I to criticise a city dwellerwho climbs high enough in the April skyto search far and wide for the distant aromaof trees blooming in the […]
writing in north norfolk 