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 […]
Snow Globe Episode 10
The house was eerily quiet, except for the faint clatter of cups and plates as Mrs Allen set the table in the kitchen. It was warmer and cosier there, full of the love and sympathy of the only people who seemed to care about her. She did not make it to the undertaker’s; she broke […]
Harebrained from Hawthorn
Hawthorn blossoms in a crashing wave,splashing over verges and hedges,scenting the village with its pungent aftershave. Splashing over verges and hedges,spring rain drips between the flowers,washes dust and rubbish from the edges. Spring rain drips between the flowers,distilling a heady vernal love potion,intoxicating twilight hours. Distilling a heady vernal love potion,spring makes its way through […]
Out of Breath
Orion tightened his belt,just a few notches, adjusted weapons and pelt,eager to continue the chase,shooting stars through space.Out of breath and fading yellow.Leo roared, and Taurus bellowed,Capricorn pawed black holesin the atmosphere,ready to run and full of fear.The cosmic hunt was on,all at the mercy of Orion. Kim M. Russell, 13th May 2021 Image found […]
Indigo
They called her Indigo, not the name of a goddess, but Greek all the same, meaning Indian dye. She’s the turning of twilight, the tint of an iris that blooms in the garden or the depth of an eye. Her name gives her freedom to stride where she pleases in new jeans the blue of […]
Singing in Space
Earth has been dead for a century, and all humans with it. Or so we believe. All that is left of the final expedition is our colony of souls on Mars. Only mouths are we. Who sings the distant heart which safely exists in the centre of all things? That is the question we ask […]
Holding up the Sky
They fill the earth with seeds and song,their bones and wings need to be strongto bear the responsibility of holding up the sky. They flock above the farmer’s plough,they watch us as we plant and sow,from their aspect up on highwhile they are holding up the sky. The smallest hummingbirds and wrensmake us smile, and […]