Tattered faceless silhouettes Staggered across no-man’s land, Fumbling to attach bayonets, Unkind weapons in shaky hands. Wisps of men blundered in thick of gas Back to the comfort of a mud-filled trench, Eyeless heroes in useless masks Smothering in the toxic stench. One innocent soldier wandering wide, Heading for trenches on the other side, Felt […]
Tag: dverse Poets Pub
October Mourning
Morning Is born with a caul Of mist on sharp, clear light, Ripped by the raucous call Of leftover scraps of night: Coal-dusted ravens and crows Hunched in ragged rows, Their sharp eyes like sloes Clustering in the blackthorn. In moisture-laden air, time slows In anticipation of dazzling hues: Ochre, rust and foggy blues To […]
Late Night London
Although I love living in a small Norfolk village, where there are no shops or street lights, I miss the sounds, smells and sights of London and relish the opportunity of visiting my daughter, who still lives between Clapham Common and Battersea. I love the way buses pulse like blood through the veins of the […]
A Tangled Twist of Blue
A twist of blue saxophone notes rose From the early morning arcade, Through the blank stare of dark windows And onto the tangled sheets of an unmade Bed, where he dreamed of her, Wondering if she’d changed, Remembering the way she looked at him That evening in the park, When he felt a spark. They […]
Because I am Still a Girl
Because I am still And always will Be a girl in my heart and soul I celebrate freedom To be me To be free To be strong To be right And sometimes To be wrong To learn To understand To reach out my hand And make a stand For other girls In this world Who […]
Morning Quadrille
Usually loathe to linger In a warm cloud of bedclothes, Admonished by the cold finger Of October morning light, I rose to the song of birds, Inky swirl of overcast sky And gentle tumble of words In a morning quadrille – So the day began. © Kim M. Russell, 2016 Another poem for dVerse Poets Pub […]
Busting Clouds
In rock-ribbed pools and sheen of shore, grey and white reflections meld into ice-blue cirrus skies. Wind tumbles in a cumulus of sighs, ripples silhouettes of crabs and shells, busting bits of bone and nimbus whales, exploding into fins, teeth, tails and sea clouds. © Kim M. Russell, 2016 My poem for dVerse Poets Pub Quadrille, […]
The Lugworms’ Lament
Foam of sun-sparkled morning tide silvers sea-side beachcombers’ treasures: wave-whipped windswept strands strewn with jettisoned jewels, jelly encrusted with shell grit and grains of sand. Brackish bladderwrack, entangled like rubber bands, vesicles gasping, protuberant thyroid glands, flutter flirty flimsy fronds, release gametes in a dioecious dance of fertilisation. All the while we humble lugworms, the […]
Bird-Bath Razzle
In the stone bowl of the bird-bath rainwater reflections razzle, copper leaves still jiggling in the beech tree dazzle, backlit by sharp autumn sun. On the edge of the bowl, a robin puffs up his scarlet breast, competing with burnished berries lighting up the hedge, portents of cold weather, while other birds flock together, […]
Ordinary Interrupted
I live with my husband and two cats in a cottage that’s over a hundred years old by a river in the countryside. The garden is lush with grass and damp underfoot, nurturing robust willows and rampant weeds. The house is damp too. In the summer it’s cool and in the winter we have to […]
writing in north norfolk 