I crunch them underfoot,the cockleshells and landslipof pebbles, among saltysparkles and guttural gullsswooping down to steal your chips. I overwhelm you with my scentof decaying seaweedand the thrill of rollercoastercliffs, from cuspate cragto hidden cove. I chase you down the beachtowards the waves,offering everything your sensestell you is honest and true.Now do you believe me? […]
Fresh Etchings
Nature has engraved the woodswith all the signs of spring.She’s left her mark on tiny buds,on blossom and the songbird’s wing.She’s greening trees and hedges,singing as she springs.Nature’s taken drops of sun and signedher name on everything. Kim M. Russell, 24th March 2025 This Monday, I’m hosting over at the dVerse Poets Pub with the […]
Giving Empathy the Boot
In shadows between tall buildings,the homeless huddle, unawareof the oligarchs’ stony stare,of hands that rub together, grinsof greed and lack of careas they survey their monopolyof wealth and goods, give empathythe boot in their quest for piecesin the game, doff top hats in sycophancyas they drive their cars and cruise on liners,wasting resources and killing […]
Lullaby for the Parents of Lost Children
Flashing blue lights pierced the ominous twilight of the alley behind the row of terraced houses, while uniformed police officers combed the fields and the woodland beyond. Friends and neighbours watched from doorsteps and upstairs windows. Later, they joined Theresa’s husband, Mick, and the police in a wider search. For now, Theresa sat at the […]
A Whale’s Lament
I thought that once my shadowed dorsal bentthrough undulations, swimming would be spent;descendants bask in waters far from me.I’m a menopausal hundred-year-old granny. The ocean sparkles glisten off my back,as I pick at barnacles and bladder wrack.I birthed my last calf back when I was thirty –I’m a menopausal hundred-year-old granny. I’m an awkward Orca […]
View from the Bus
We stare through steamy windows on the top deck of the bus,at people walking and waiting in the rain, unlike us,impatient with the crowds and the weather,while we steam in the proximity of bodies crammed together.We open a window to let in some air, and petrichor fills the air,punctuated by a curl of tobacco smoke, […]
The Significance of an Owl
I woke to a hoot in the dead of night,or was it early morning?On a branch outside my windowbasked an owl in silvery light.I’d hoped for a letter from Hogwarts, but no –so went back to dream on my pillow. Kim M. Russell, 10th March 2025 It’s Monday, and over at the dVerse Poets Pub […]
Just Wondering
I often wondered how life might have been growing up asAlice.That was a name and an adventure I admired when I wasa child.Would I have been a girl who followed rabbits, met queens,consumedpotions and cake, and wasn’t afraid ofmagic?Or would I eventually have lost my head? Iwonder. Kim M. Russell, 6th March 2025 It’s the […]
Life Cycle of a Cardigan
I began as wool shornfrom a sheep, a cluster of cloudto dye and card and spin,and knit until a perfect cardigan was born –colourful, cuddly and warm. When you first saw me I was freshand new, my colours bright.You’ll never know the frissonof joy when I felt your fingers tightin my fibre. And then you […]
March Panic
Seven years ago today, I was in a panic. We were snowed in, for the first time in years, and I needed to get to the station to catch a train southwards. My daughter was due to give birth to her first child and I’d promised to be there. Thankfully, in our village, the snow […]
writing in north norfolk 