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 […]
Category: Poems
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 […]
The Elusiveness of Shadows
Shadows are not concreteyet they creep beneath your feet. You can see but you can’t hearthem, and they always disappear. In the summer, they often lingerlike gunpowder from cannon-fire. Though short-lived, shadows strollinto infinity together with your soul. Kim M. Russell, 10th April 2024 It’s 10th April and we are one-third of the way through […]
History Box
My box is made of cardboard,the largest of a trio I boughtfor myself: pale blue, adornedwith simple flowers, it hasa metal handle, and a whiteribbon to stop the lid from closingwhen I explore what’s inside.It’s a practical box. In my box are imagesin sepia, monochromeand colour, higgledy-piggledy,no order, like life. Theychronicle a family of fivegenerations […]
Ode to a Small Bowl of Granola
Your forbidden glucose-ridden sweetnessbeckons from the confinesof a Delft-blue dish.Three fat dollopsof fat-free yogurt,ice cold and freshfrom the fridge,cover your contoursof fruit and nut-studded oat clusters.And you waitfor a spoon to breakyour golden crispnesswhile I anticipatethe first bite of crunchiness. Kim M. Russell, 9th April 2024 Image from Unsplash in collaboration with Monika Grabkowska On […]
Leda’s Lament
I used to love the haunting songof low-flying swans, their trumpetinga welcome herald of spring,their wingbeats a gentle breath passing overhead. Now, they remind me of the threatof his yellow beak and wingsbeating me into submission. I wish I could fly away and hide my conditionuntil I become a mother,when I will no longer fear […]
Wish You Were Here
The Belvedere in Vienna has no beach towels,rows of deckchairs and rainbow parasols,sandcastles, sparkling water and beach balls. There is no beach, you know I like to go off track,but even at the museum I found a postcard rackfrom which to choose some artwork to send back. I saw this one and thought of you […]
writing in north norfolk 