I just checked the results of the Costa Short Story Award and my story wasn’t even short-listed. Here it is: Three Way Family Favourites The silence of number thirty two Edmund Road is broken by the rattling of the key in the lock. The door swings open into the dim hallway, welcoming the mid-morning May […]
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‘Essence’ by Kate Dempsey
Source: ‘Essence’ by Kate Dempsey
Empty Platform
I was thrilled to find out this afternoon that this story was highly commended in Esther Newton’s Flash Fiction Competition. It was her first time on a steam train. She had listened to her grandfather’s stories and wondered what the fuss was about; they sounded noisy, dirty and slow. But she had a few hours to […]
Unbidden Itchiness of the Mind
Murky morning brings furtive sparks, Unbidden itchiness of the mind, Blurry notions niggle in the dark, Wrangling about rhyme, Wrestling to escape Before the stanza Collapses. Once, As the sun rose, I tried to tie Its rich ribbons Into knots and bows Of orderly imagery – Tangling knots gagged me, Reduced Aurora into A single […]
The last poem for today is a found poem
Love for Nothing found in ‘Le Monocle de Mon Oncle’ a poem by Wallace Stevens I mocked myself alone, A thinking stone In a sea of spuming thoughts. A bird sought out his choir Of wind, wet and wing, A much-crumpled thing: The end of love For nothing. Apples, like skulls, Came rotting to […]
Nature’s Finery
Fiery autumn tints Have been extinguished By the storm, Slipping into winter In its decaying form. But in amongst the hedgerows And branches of the trees Hawthorn, holly and rose hips glow, A burst of sunset colours – Nature’s finery. © Kim M. Russell, 2015
Back to Black
a cliché poem Back to black: the black comedy of a black soul black as night in a black hole a black sheep blackballed and blackmailed in the black raven black ink black paint it black on a black day under a black cloud black and proud black is beautiful black is magic Who […]
Chiming in a Wintry Sunday
A silvery secret melody Of sleet on silence Stirs me From my sleep In morning’s murk Rain crystallises Tunefully Into minuscule bells Blown in On an Arctic blast Chiming in a wintry Sunday © Kim M. Russell, 2015
Storm
Lash of the gale’s tail Whips willows into frenzy Tinged with winter chill © Kim M. Russell, 2015 I thought I’d get this haiku on before the high winds bring down the power.
Caspian – a sonnet
It has the cadence of a wind’s caress, Conjuring up a far-flung landlocked sea, Inhabited by turtles, gulls and terns, Its salty waters lapping endlessly On fragments of ancient Persian tribes. An echo of childhood stories, for me, A wardrobe door to a magical world, A princely name from Lewis’ fantasy. Music echoing with ambient […]
writing in north norfolk 