I listen to her voice paint a light and rainbow coloured folk song about a child whose eyes were bright but would never see, of crayons, trees and love. The colours flow through a Chelsea morning, with crimson beads and yellow curtains and a taxi, as if she’s singing just for me. A little green […]
This Blursday
I will drift betweenrooms and their limited viewsfrom book page to screen from sink to counterbottom half in pyjamasand tatty slippers a baggy sweaterwith the sleeves pulled down belowmy frozen fingers radio voicesloud to keep me companythe same old choices keeping tears at bayevery Blursday Kim M. Russell, 2nd December 2020 My response to Poets […]
They say only the south wind flattens grass
Beneath a sky as clear as an icicle, blasted nests sway in a bitter wind that tugs at the coat of a girl on a bicycle, wrestles her handlebars and steals her hat, gives the bell a cheeky little tinkle, and stings a face already chapped. They say only the south wind flattens grass, but […]
Don’t Fade Away
Yesterday’s pinkstreaks of cloudin the skywere remindersof the driftingin your eyes,the absenceof your spiritthat last visit,the Christmasbefore you died,painful remindersthat I can’t abidethe inevitableebbing tideof your sweet,pink-lipstickedsmile. Kim M. Russell, 30th November 2020 My response to dVerse Poets Pub Quadrille: The Dude Abides Lisa is our host and she says that she ‘tried to […]
Boar and Bluebell
This is a green and pleasant place,ancient footprints cover its face,traces of post-glacial diversity,where wild boar, roaming free,broke bracken, churned woodlandsoil to muddy swamp, rooted aroundin compost black and brown,left wetland wallows overgrownwith hosts of rich and varied fauna,and colourful explosions of flora.Now, spring woods flood with bluebells,diluting diversity of sight and smell,their heady sweetness […]
What happened to the freedom of the sky?
I’m happy to have another poem in this month’s Visual Verse: An Anthology of Art and Words, Volume 8, Chapter 1, for which the image is an unusual one, a cartoon by John Samuel Pughe/Library of Congress. As ever, I’m in good company with Misky, Anmol and Kerfe, to name a few. Why not read […]
Grandmother’s Radio
Before I left herfor another lifewith parents and sisters,pop music and Radio Luxembourg,she gave me‘Listen with Mother’ storiesand old songs from the music hall. When I returned, feeling unwanted,she ironed while I twiddled the dial,found midday comedies and quizzes,and afternoon playsfor when it rained. I still listen while I iron,smoothing out life’s creases. Kim M. […]
Hoarfrost
fragile beautywritten with frosty fingersa dawn haiku cranberries covered with sugara taste of winteryet to come first hoarfrostfragile cobweb spans the gatemagical Kim M. Russell, 24th November 2020 My response to Carpe Diem #1840 Hoarfrost Chèvrefeuille reminds us that it’s pretty much winter in the Northern hemisphere and we have already had our first hoarfrost, […]
Listening
Last night I didn’t gaze at lights in the November sky. Long beyond midnight, even longer into early morn, lingering solitary, lids drooped as I listened to legendary sisters’ songs. Leaning against the willow, lulled by silver harmony, lovely cosmic chords became laments for a lost sister, lugubrious Pleiades lilting quietly to me. Kim M. […]
Just Playing
Before the second lockdown, I spent some Tuesday mornings walking with a group in our local woodlands, fields and lanes. Every week, the group leader planned routes for us to explore. I was delighted to discover new places to enjoy the landscape. On one of our walks, we stood at the top of a rise […]
writing in north norfolk 