Gazing at flowery constellationsclustered around the silver birchby the back gate, friends and relationscome to mind in a surge of blue.I don’t need to searchmyself, my heart or mind for embersof memories. I remember you,and wonder who will think of me,perhaps standing beneath a tree,ankle-deep in azure forget-me-notsblinking here on Earth, while Itwinkle above them […]
Category: Poems
Medusa at the Supermarket
A hiss of hairuncoilsas I avert my stare,lowering turquoiseeyelids, mascaracoated lashes brushingmy pale powdered skin.I’m in the fruit section;with one hand I caressa pomegranate,with the other I pushback the stray curl.A couple and their little girlknock me with a trolley, unawareof me standing there,the darkest sunglasses pushedback on my head. I peerat their shopping, turn […]
Albatross
It’s a ghost in the night that keeps me awakewith whispering, muttering, sighing,and nudges in my poetic ribs.It pokes me with imageryand ties me up in allegoryuntil I reach for notebook and pen. It’s a ghost in the early morning, a wispof verse draped across my aching neck,a metaphoric albatrosschecking rhymes, ensuringenjambment and caesura makesense, […]
Putting Pen to Paper
It’s happened again!I don’t know if it’s the penor the paper, but there are blotsand a swarm of purple spotsof ink where there should bewords. Or maybe it’s me. Changing the cartridge to bluedidn’t help, so it’s not the huethat’s causing the kerfuffle. I got up and filled the kettleto make myself a cup of […]
Bathing in Green
Drab khaki workaday realities disappear,become green bubbles in a flood of birdsong, and the garden is bathed in a green mere,viridescent ripples echoing all summer long. Green creeps from grass to leaf to tree, alongeach branch, farther than any wings can reach, over the top of the green-swathed beechand curly willow, from which a sole foliole, […]
A Call to Wise Women
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 […]
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, […]
writing in north norfolk 