I take them with me on a walkto write, record an inner talk:my notebooks. Lined pages are for handwriting,snowy plain pages for drawingin sketchbooks. At night before I go to sleep,I read; beside the bed I keepstorybooks. I switch between them now and then,remembering each one againwith bookmarks. Together on a bookcase shelved, notebooks and […]
Category: Poems
A poem to sum up my feelings in this post.
August
Once in a lifetime,maybe twice, but no more,you realise that you are turningfrom growing to giving back:ripening. The fruit, grain and light know.Your body knows from the settlingin your chest — a quiet pause,in which you’re not quite readyto let go. Everything ripens:wheat, corn, apple, tomato,sunflower. Even a poem. Kim M. Russell, 18th August 2026 […]
Sky at Night
We did not walk hand in handbeneath the night sky, nor look upat the menagerie of stars or findour own astrological map, or crabs and fish swimmingamong planets. Neither did we seelions stalking goats, hunters wrestlingbulls and rams, horses running free. What we saw was black velvetcushioning stars like diamonds,winking eyes of those we have […]
The Moorings at the End of the Garden
I rise with the sun this morning.Our cat is waiting at the back door. I pull on my wellington boots,unlock the door and let her out. I follow her across dew-soaked grass,grown long, studded with forget-me-nots, down to the back gate. She slipsthough its slats while I stand and admire boats bobbing ungainly on wind-kissed […]
Something in the Air
I can feel it. Thereis something in the air,a change in temperature,in the breezeand the trees,that tells me summerwill soon be donningits mourning cloak,while I celebrate,a fiery skipper,the autumn leafwith its lustrous copper.I’ll write a sonnet on a rusty-tipped pagebefore making my autumn pilgrimage. Kim M. Russell, 4th August 2026 Merril is our host for […]
Peach
Summer is nearly over when it comes tofruit, especially peaches. We thinkthey are so ephemeral that wemust keep them in the fridge so we candelight in their fuzzy beauty until we eattheir shimmering flesh, swallow apink and golden sunset.We declare ourselves convicted,guilty of a crime as old asLilith — sharing forbidden fruit. Weknow what we […]
Hope in the Morning
I feel it first thing in the morning:in the bubble and sparkle of early birdsong; the play of light on the bedroom wall;Luna the cat waiting by her bowl; the tranquillity of tai chi;reading words from our poetry community. No radio or television, and no news.Just a new day in all its hues. I inhale […]
A Whiffle of Geese
From the melting mist on a distant hill,In a welter of water, there’s overhead whiffling.Then from unknown skies, skeins of geese arrive,twisting and turning, climbing and falling. There’s a green wave of a distant hill,It’s an ocean of grass where the breezes sing,And from unknown skies skeins of geese arrive,Twisting and turning, climbing and falling. […]
Tight Squeeze
Heels tapped on the pavement, cracked red patent flashed ’Stop!’She could only go, despite the pinch on her little toe.Her sister’s shiny red leather rubbed her blisters raw.She had none of her own, no trainers, boots or sandals to her name.She had sold everything to fund her habit, to keep her sane.If she’d read the […]
Constant
You are a valuethat never changes,not only, as Joni sang,constant in the darkness. You’re a rationalnumber to my irrational,I am no simple fraction,more cardinal than ordinal. We are equalin our emotional equation,our problems solvedby a mutual algorithm, an expression of our union,forever constant. Kim M. Russell, 22nd July 2026 It’s Wednesday and time for counting, […]
