Cat Walk

I am the cat who walks by herself,still proudly practisingsocial distancing,a shadow on a garden fence. I purr as the spring sun strokes my fur,luxuriate in long grass,sniff flowers as I pass,camouflaged in bush and tree. My human wrangles with words,so I curl up on her lap,listening to each tap –until I fall asleep, twitching, […]

In Praise of Rosebay Willowherb

Wasteland and railway banksare aflame with rangy ranks of fireweeds. Neon pink spikeslight up ditches and dykes, seducing moths and bees,releasing clouds of fluffy seeds from ostentatious spires,spreading beauty in windborne fires. All the while their creeping rootsand rhizomes advance like troops, leafy shoots invade gardens, giving riseto cerise fireworks exploding in the sky. Kim […]

Between Speed Skating and Waitressing

We were chalk and cheesebut thick as thieves,haunting the ice rink together:bright smiles in the photo booth;cheese burgers and ice cream floats;sneaking in the bar underagefor rum and coke. We were young, and drunkon our own loveliness,maxi coats buttoned against icy air,dashing through the foyerwith cheeky grins and a waveat red-coated bouncers,embarking on a friendship […]

Two AI Micro Poems

Mist – A Haiku translucent dawninga light, flimsy mist swallowspieces of old cardboard Granite – A Didactic Cinquain graniteimpervious, greystand, shine, survivesymbolising all things unweatheredrock Kim M. Russell (and some artificial intelligence), 23rd February 2023 Image by Jeppe Hove Jensen on Unsplash It’s Thursday and we’re Meeting the Bar over at the dVerse Poets Pub […]

Kissing Beneath Wood Smoke and Stars

Those first kisses beneath wood smoke and starswill stay with us forever, exploding with capriciouspiquancy that still lingers, effervescent in our mouths.The drought had broken like an ocean wave,a tang of North Sea air, ice-cold and delicious,and all we wanted was to drown in our embrace,heartbeats echoing, rhythmic and auspicious,lost in wood smoke kisses, stars […]

Return of the Big Birds

Ravens land, obsidian,hacking like old men,and crows’ cries punctuate night again. Rooks argue overhead,and magpies chatter loud enough to wake the dead,as surging clapping wings explode into a raucous, musical river of glossy blackcircling farmland: the birds are back! Kim M. Russell, 20th February 2023 Image by Kevin Mueller on Unsplash It’s Monday and over […]

This Song

Image by Ray Hennessy on Unsplash This song is mist on a distant hill, a welter of water, whiffling overhead. From unknown skies geese arrive with autumn on their wings, twisting and turning, climbing and falling. This song is a rolling, breaking wave of green on a distant hill. From unknown skies geese arrive with […]