Persimmon

glossy orange fruitalongside apples and pearswould my mouth pucker? cold first and foremosttextural surprise: firmnessa juicy softness different and newsweetness stopped me in my trackshoney, brown sugar? little orange fruitmaple syrup adventurethat autumnal orb joy and possibilityalchemy, simplicity Kim M. Russell, 11th April 2026 On the 11th day of NaPoWriMo, our optional prompt is erasure […]

Letter To Myself Looking Back

Six years ago, in the fertile belly of pandemicspring, you were inside looking out. The street was quiet, no traffic, bar a delivery van,the driver masked and gloved, as were the single walkers, with or without dogs.Not even an aeroplane in the sky. The sun shone, flowers bloomed, but you wiltedin the stifled isolation of […]

April Fools

i sun-sprinkled birdsongcracked joke of an empty egga fledgling’s first leapblown off course by spring wind’s roarmorning’s still dust-tongued with frost ii a purple floweramong drooping daffodilsstirring frozen heartsskin like petals unfurlingfeels the cold brush of winter Kim M. Russell, 1st April 2026 It’s the first day of the month and NaPoWriMo begins its poem […]

Doughty

Among globules of hail a single purpleflower stands resilient to the chill: a grape hyacinth shivering amongdrooping daffodils. They bloomed too soon, their yellow hurrahs loud and blatant,nodding and dancing in March winds. When the sun arrived, stirring our winter-frozen hearts, we peeled off a few layers, exposed skin like petals unfurling,only to feel the […]

Spring Reversal

Despite tender green leavesand a proliferation of flowersthe world is upside down. Hills rise over the sun, abovethem rivers run, bombsand drones darken skies. Blinkered men are intent on killingone another until Earthstops spinning. Why can’t they stopand smell the scent of springpermeating everything? In this spring reversal, innocent civiliansbecome corpses and tragic orphans. Kim […]