I’ve been on this pirate ship, locked in a cabin, for ten days now, and there has been no sign of land, just the ocean as far as the eye can see. It’s a relief to spot a whale or a bird through the porthole, allies to a young girl trapped in a world of […]
Tag: dverse Poets Pub
Close Up with O’Keefe
How does a curvilinear,abstract frill wrap around a heart of patina,fungus-like, an organic shell? Observe how the primitive waves crash,preserving the pulsing pigment of Persian-red gouache;how the artist’s blood seeped into the underpainting. Kim M. Russell, 6th May 2025 It’s Tuesday Poetics at the dVerse Poets Pub and our host is Melissa, with an ekphrastic […]
A Walk in Spring Woods
The air is heavy with aromatic leafy tanglein the waking woods,where boughs and twigs are sprouting green,pale at first,and richer by the day.Here and there, floral notes pervade,pink clouds of blossomand bluebell carpets colouring up the scene. Kim M. Russell, 5th May 2025 It’s Monday and, at the dVerse Poets Pub, time for that poetic […]
First Bee
A boozy bumblebee flewfrom May blossom drenched with dewand alighted on the ledgenear a blooming hawthorn hedge.After a dour start to spring,flirtatious buds are burstingand daisies dance in the grass. Insects are parched for sweet sipsof perfumed pollen from lipsof wayward woodbine flowerstumbling from bushy bowers.A bevy of bees in Maywill be worth a heap […]
Mother
Until I rampaged into womanhoodand found myself adrift on the sea of life, you were a gorse bush flaming through my childhood,golden, scented with coconut, alive. You were my harbour when I shipwrecked motherhood,a beacon when relationships capsized. You encouraged me to be cautious in my adulthood,and always try to see through another’s eyes. Your […]
As a Child Listening to Ella Fitzgerald
Satin and velvet tonesbroke through the crackleof a seventy-eight on my parents’ turntable,crooning and scatting like a flock of birds.Ella’s voice, a warm hug, skippingthe melody or drawing out emotion like the dripping strand from a spoonof honey.She bent and spun songs I’d heard delivered straight on the radio, dry,gave them souls and made them […]
Our Cherry Tree
Twenty-five years ago, the cherry tree in our garden was young and still quite small. We could see sky through lithe branches. Now our cherry tree is so tall she reaches out to touch the roof and taps on the gutter in stormy weather. Honeysuckle has crept up her trunk and covered her, so that […]
Nocturne in Grey and Gold: Chelsea Snow
Artists capture fleeting moments,but their impressions might remain for ever. Thus we feel the chill of snow and night air.We’re drawn from here to there,towards warm light. The shadowy figure crossing the bridgeappears to stumbleor slip on the icy pavement,drunk perhaps.We cannot see his face,but he seems determined,late for an assignation, angry, seekingcompany, or is […]
Turnstone Sonnet
On such a day, to be beside the sea,immersed in seafoam rolling up the shore,and no one walking on the strand, just me,inhaling nature’s power, nothing more.Along the coast, the turnstones dip their beaksinto seaweed, fish bones and broken shells;like Sisyphus, they push and shove and tweakat pebbles brought in on the ocean’s swell.I’m not […]
Fate
Am I a fool to want to float,to sail away on a leaky boat,exploring canals and rivers,trimming sails in squally weatheruntil I reach the estuaryand the freedom of the open sea?A mysterious cloud invokes my muse,questions the destiny I choose.What if I should lose my way?Then I will consult the sky: by dayI have the […]
