for the silvery shudder of sunshineto chime in a new day like church bells, to tempt me with glittering streamsand creeks threading seaward, to swells of waves like the ones in my dreams.Following this confusing map of the sea, I strain to hear dark-bellied geese creakand grumble along the sparkling tide-line, and long to paddle […]
Tread Gently
Tread gently in this skyscape,where a single cloud can weighheavy on the soul. Some escape;cumulonimbi the shade of sludgebluster grumpily across the skyuntil the sun sets, and blackbirds trill in hedges. An owl hoots a reply,to a distant barking dog.It is then that I see dead people, looming like vaporous fog,and left-over dust and gasestransform […]
May Flowers
The cherry tree has been stripped of blossom, but the first of the honeysuckle is blooming in our garden, in time for this week’s flower moon. Its scent floats on the breeze, having survived the wind and downpours to which this May has subjected us. This morning, the sun is shining on a cascade of […]
My Garden Sanctuary
There is nothing neat about it;briars and nettles aboundso thick you use your feet to find some solid ground. It’s a wild jungle for cats and a leafy forest for deer, a green sanctuary. That’swhere I disappear, where poetry is the spin-drift of the green dream, the loose change in the pocket of time; the […]
Snow Globe Episode 11
Rosanna found a job editing with a British publisher and worked mainly from home. Mrs Allen stayed on and they became close friends, feeding off each other’s stories about Will. Sabrina visited every day and encouraged Rosanna to accompany her to coffee mornings with a group of friends, and soon she felt ready to tackle […]
The Leporine Waltz
Although hares may be mad throughout March, in the sun and the heat they continue to spar. As they waltz, the fur flies from their swift fisticuffs, unable to resist a last box round the ears. Ring the Hill, Old Fat Bum, Stag of the Stubble, all are mad hares and ready for trouble. Kim […]
To-Do List Before Painting Self Portrait with Bandaged Ear
Explore the brushstrokes on the print pinned to the wall.Paint it into the background of the latest self portrait.Don’t forget the most important thing of all – locate the pawnbroker’s ticket for your thick winter coat.Ask Theo for money for brushes and tubes of paint:Prussian blue, emerald, chrome yellow and vermillion.Gather kindling and logs – […]
Ode to Dylan Thomas
You did not go gentle through your life, knocked hard for flesh to let you enter, soul-shaken by your mother and your wife, thistledown-free and unafraid of winter. You, self-confessed gusty man and a half, languished in whisky and bitter-sweet ale, like the Dewi singing, ready with a laugh and a rhyme like a spouting […]
Thorns of Love
Those thorns of love wound so tightly around your heart have penetrated deep into its chambers, and sharpness abounds. Muscle and flesh are separated into bloody serrated wounds, which have left their marks, invisible to all but you, the one who bears the scars. Kim M. Russell, 17th May 2021 Image by Sarah Wolfe on […]
Tir na Nog
We set up camp on the island, with fires and poteen to warmour skin and the cocklesof our hearts. We danced to the rhythm of the bodhran, sang along to guitars and fiddles,and the rise and fall of uillean pipes’ plaintive songs. The faeries all but laughed at our night-befores and morning-afters, lingering headache hangoversof […]
writing in north norfolk 