He extinguished his cigarette in her unfinished glass of gin – the ash rose to the surface, broke the meniscus and bloomed into grey flowers that reeked of tobacco. She paid the waitress and walked out of the door, leaving him with the smoky bouquet. Kim M. Russell, 5th August 2018 My response to Imaginary […]
Category: Poems
Punctuation of Life and Death
When you lose someone, the world warps: a comma butterfly (settling on a nettle) distorts – flicks open wings to burnish, only to crisp in the sun. When you lose someone, summer colours tarnish; tastes and smells curdle like mouldy blackberries on a parched tongue, and all the while you long to hear their voice, […]
Meeting Myself
In the midst of a crowd on a city street, I feel the pavement beneath my feet and the blinding sun is in my eyes; I can’t see the faces of passers-by who jostle me with their bags and elbows and I know that it’s time I headed home. I’m passing by my favourite store, […]
Breaking the Silence
the moon greets the dawn shimmering from night’s silent well breaking the stark silence of a winter morning, a single crow calls in sleep’s dark cocoon there are sounds no one else can hear beyond the heart beat, air in lungs and surge of blood in ears from the depths of sleep, muffled ticks are […]
Missing Pieces
Earth is a puzzle of constantly changing shapes and landscapes; we are missing some pieces from the cosmic jigsaw as we spin and see-saw through space. It’s being pulled apart by the human race. How can we put our Humpty Dumpty planet together again? Kim M. Russell, 30th July 2018 My response to dVerse Poets […]
Tree-house Terror
I search all round the garden; she wasn’t in her bedroom or the den, not lurking in the ghostly shadows of the infinite corridor. I cross the lawn, enter the copse behind the hedge covered with yesterday’s washing: sheets, pillowcases pinned to twigs instead of using washing pegs. Branches rustle, I hear giggling from the […]
The Hollow Sound of Winter
Geese fly overhead, chain-stitched in a skein by the beat of wings. The gaggle alights on a lazy wind, flowing like water into the marshes, their harsh, hollow honks onomatopoeic echoes of winter past present future. Kim M. Russell, 26th July 2018 My poem for dVerse Poets Pub Open Link Night This Thursday I’m hosting […]
Our Wilderness
Our garden is a green wilderness, an overgrown, tangled wildness, where cats stalk zoetic shadows and deer graze freely beneath willows; dragonflies dart between clumps of nettles, ladybirds wander and butterflies settle. No flowers are tamed or lined up in rows; it’s rampant with honeysuckle and rambling rose. Ancient quince, plum and apple tumble from […]
Sprig Spell
I build the spell with witch hazel, a woody frame to brighten gloomy days with spidery flowers in sunset sprays, sublime with spicy scent. I bind the spell with tendrils of evergreen ivy to ward off evil spirits, its heart-shaped leaves glossy with friendship and fidelity. I add some sprigs of rosemary to help you […]
Buoyant in Shadows
Splashed by shadows in the semi-cool of an empty swimming pool and feeling liquid-loose and buoyant from the sun’s electric current, I am floating in glimmers of past divers and swimmers; shouts and screams echo in daydreams of long ago summers at the lido. Kim M. Russell, 24th July 2018 My response to Mindlovemisery’s Menagerie […]
writing in north norfolk 