Without a brush,how could a painter fleshout spectral fingers of left-over snow,dab them with early sun’s glow,or stroke lines of slender hazel treesablaze with catkins, golden with bees? And yet, there they are, scrapedas if they had escapedfrom canvas, pressedand dragged, distressedand burningcapturingevery summer, autumn, winter, spring,all life erupting. Kim M. Russell, 23rd March 2021 […]
French Knots of Purple Heather
Spring French-knots the moorswith purple among rusted ferns,embroidering the tapestryof senses as the season turns,growing like a melody that slidesinto the senses on tumbling notes of birdsand the scattering of morning lightknotted together by a poet’s words. Kim M. Russell, 22nd March 2021 My response to dVerse Poets Pub Quadrille: Knot Mish is back this […]
North Norfolk Trees
They cling to flat horizonsonly to be bent and wizened by the north wind’s blastthat steams in from the coast. It sculpts them into humps and twiststhat loom from drifting sea mists as giants, witches and hobgoblins,wild animals and dragons. Here and there they come together,huddling against the weather, hedgerows, small woods, copsesand swathes of […]
Aerial
Originally posted on writing in north norfolk:
we are aerial?????????????? we are swifts????????????????????????????? asleep on the wing???????????????????????????????????????????? or rising sooty-brown????????????????????????????? to black against the sky?????????????? wings like scythesand all summer long we fly?????????????? until the long days pass????????????????????????????? African heat and grass???????????????????????????????????????????? call like drums and rattles????????????????? ??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????and we fly Kim M. Russell, 8th March…
Snow Globe Episode 2
When William was three years old, his father had died suddenly of a heart attack and left him his fortune and the house in Surrey. Rosanna was not allowed to sell it – it was in trust – nor could she spend any of the money. She would not dream of it. Besides, she had […]
Pigeons at Peeking Cat Literary
I’m thrilled that Peeking Cat Literary has published my poem ‘A String of Pigeons’ this morning, which you can find here. It will also be printed in the Peeking Cat anthology in October.
Tales of Lake and Sky
This March we have Volume 8 Chapter 5 of Visual Verse, with an image by Stefan Keller. My poem is on page 24. As always, I recommend reading all the poems in the issue but, if you want to go straight to mine, it’s called ‘Tales of Lake and Sky‘. You can also read my past […]
The Art of Being Human
This being human is a circus trick.Day after day you perfect your act:a t i g h t r o p e w a l kbetween now and then,a flourish,and then back again,one foot in front of the other.It’s juggling swords,eating fiery words,putting your head in a lion’s mouthand inhaling its meaty breath.It’s the highsand […]
Star Watcher
After watching the stars all night, she was still out there, in the frozen outdoors, tracking a comet across the sky. It was slow-moving, not as bright as she expected, and then it changed course, heading towards her. The light stopped in mid-air, pulsing a shade of blue she’d never seen before. She thought, “I […]
Magpie Eye
Of all the ancient stares of birds,the one that leaves me lost for wordsis the magpie’s when it looks askancewhile pecking at the grass and plantsin our wild garden. I watch him pluckingworms from muddy soil and chattingin his raucous voice. I tell him not to speak,at least not with a brimming beak,but his shiny […]
writing in north norfolk 