Down the lane towards the river, branches touch their fingertips together, a leafy tunnel to catch a breeze while I listen for drumrolls from the trees to announce the annual rollercoaster, the reappearance of the spotted woodpecker. It’s already May and I haven’t heard him yet, he must be still selecting the most perfect of […]
Category: Poems
Flourishing
Beyond the castle walls the kingdom flourishes,while old Quixote simmers within, no freedomto seek out maidens or threaten windmillswith his lance. Even Sancho, a redundant serf,has given up, his pot belly ever swellingwith undigested food and unspoken proverbs.Inside the castle, the air stagnates with heroes’breath, while outside nature flourishes. Kim M. Russell, 6th May 2020 […]
Beyond the Periphery
The solitary universe of a poet can be blinkered by introspection. We follow a narrow route from desk – to fridge – to bath- room; it’s the poet’s fertile imagination that wanders a path between bluebells and wood anemones. In our current virus-infected situation we gather in a virtual world to share maps of secret […]
Is it really…
the end, not just the prelude to the death of April, but the final word, the last amen? Tomorrow Is a fresh sheet of paper for another poem, a breezy tune for a new song, the first breath of the first day of the rest of your life, to do with what you want. I’ll […]
Almost (a love story)
almost burned her fingers as she watched a flame consume a match almost to its end almost cried at the pain that didn’t come but the tears were welcome anyway almost fell in love with the man who struck the match that lit her (almost) last cigarette almost kissed him on the lips before the […]
Florence
She is surrounded by patchwork fields as vivid as an artist’s impression: here and there a stone church or umber farmhouse scattered across her apron stained with hues of olive, grape, tomato, and scented with rosemary, basil, oregano, zesty lemons and aromatic espresso. She stretches her limbs along the Arno, terracotta roofs reflecting heat and […]
Mind Map of a Forgotten Coast
Our coastal skin shrank as knowledge grew; why have we forgotten paths and dunes devoured by an increasingly hungry sea? Never sated, the leviathan lingers on the shore until its rumbling belly sends it back for more. Ancient rock has turned to crumbling cliffs and sand. There are no maps to fathom what lies beneath, […]
Served from the Heart (revisited)
l u r […]
A Moment
I took a real moment, not a virtual corona one, to step out into the garden, under cover of the darkest night. White noise and rustle of leaves – the only human sound was the distant hum of tyre on tarmac, a delivery truck perhaps. It was quiet and so dark I could not see […]
Heavy Suitcase
They took away my suitcase. There wasn’t much in it: a book to read, clean underwear, a nice dress for visiting hours (no one ever comes) and church on Sundays, moisturising cream for my hands and face. I didn’t think I’d be here long. Now I need to fill it with the weight of nightmare […]
