the last snow crystal sparkles on cherry blossom beauty of spring thaw shady sunflower a gaudy beach parasol in summer heat waves gathering storm clouds thunder in a horse’s hooves hot summer meadow a trembling poplar heart-shaped leaves exhale balsam in the autumn rain Kim M. Russell, 2017 Image found on Pinterest My response […]
A Walk on the Cutting Edge
I pull bracken fronds through fingers on the edge of a freshly shaven playing field, where cut grass lingers a tinny ping disturbs the aromatic stillness you reach into a pocket for your phone sand martins wheel, chiffchaffs dart through twigs, the woods whisper check the screen, smile and take a selfie tap the keys […]
Malevolent, Me?
You may think me obsequious, creepy and cadaverous, a hand-wringing usurer and sly blackmailer, but I did it all for love. I cannot help the alabaster hands that manipulate my master, the delicate brows and lashes framing blood red eyes. I know I am despised. My name may sound infectious, possibly pernicious, but it’s an […]
What if…
I play chicken with Jupiter I might end up suspended in the teeth of a howling gale anchored legs straight arms stretched leaning into cosmic wind dodging lightning flashes among ammonia clouds my hands clamped over my ears at each rumble of thunder we might even play hoopla with Jupiter’s gossamer ring Kim M. Russell, […]
Invisible
We are invisible, held together by dark matter. We speckle emptiness, galaxies strung like diamonds on taffy pulled by space and time in an expanding universe, sculpted and dented by gravity into a map of invisibility. Kim M. Russell, 2017 Image found on Pinterest My response to Imaginary Garden with Real Toads – Invisible Today […]
Paradise Cobbled
Cobbles have been laid over paradise With stables for carriages and horses, Bawdy taverns, markets, court masques and plays. Life does not follow preordained courses, Cherishing what you have is good practice For tomorrow may well be its demise. Cobbles have been laid over paradise With stables for carriages and horses; They have taken an […]
Night Hawks
Tall buildings shadow pavements, squinting their windows against light that spills from an insomniac Manhattan diner. Anonymous at a timeless hour, customers sit at the cherry wood counter with dirty coffee cups and a hankering for cherry pie, sugar to take the sour edge off a night of cigarettes and alcohol. Smoky thoughts curl […]
Bridge of Lies
He thought she was a sucker, a con man’s dream, taken in by promises of Italian ice cream, a bottle of prosecco and a gondola ride under the Rialto and the Bridge of Sighs. But she had built her own bridge of lies; an experienced hustler with a scam of her own, she took all […]
Cherry Breeze
blown on a spring breeze sweet ephemeral blossom Sakura Mochi Kim M. Russell, 2017 My response to Carpe Diem #1190 spring wind (supuringu waindo) The classical spring kigo for today is ‘spring wind’. Chèvrefeuille says that the Japanese become anxious when the spring breeze or wind scatters the fragile blossoms. On the other hand, the […]
In the canteen…
the women from the shop floor compare notes – the new fore- man’s cute. They speculate whether he’s available and watch together as he approaches the counter. The girl behind the steaming urn eyes him up as he waits his turn, smiles and flutters lashes like spiders’ legs, gives him an extra helping of scrambled […]
writing in north norfolk 