In a quiet place of greens and greys,of rippling reflections and pensive days, a place to muse on form and shape,in the changing light of the waterscape, the river’s fringed with leafy treesthat tremble in a gentle breeze and waver in the flowing riveras if reflected in a mirror. In the solitude of his atelier,the […]
Tag: Ekphrastic poems
The Uncertainty of the Poet
She tries to see beyondthe contours of the marble torso, the pile of over-ripe bananasand the shadows of the building, to the boats by the harbour wall,the darkening sky and the coming storm. But her thoughts returnto sunshine and shadow, the dimple in the statue’s backsideand the bruised yellow of fruit about to rotin the […]
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 […]
Optimism
1 An old man struggles along a mass of meltingtarmac, eerie shapes curling through the wall of heat.The town is otherwise deserted, everyonecowers behind shuttered windows, out of the heat. Under an umbrella the old man mumbles “Rain”. Behind their shutters, the whole town’s praying for rain. 2 By the roadside, every blade of grass […]
Lady with a Parrot
Her life is mirrored in the bird:grey with a touch of crimsonin the parrot’s crest and feather tips,and her unsmiling lips. Red’s lucky for some,but she is a captive,tamed and longing to flybeyond blue curtains to sky and leaves, green as the bowl,from which she sips her tea,and green as her envyof the parrot’s wings. […]
Self Portrait with Clouds
I’d heard the voice but never seen its owner,loved the songs but never seen her face,but then I found her self-portrait on a coverwith the words; inside the music and her voice. It was the first time I’d ever seen a portraitor even a painting on a record sleeve;now there was a blonde woman’s blue-eyed […]
In a Hotel Lobby
She waits, her legs tucked in demurely,an open book in her hands,but she doesn’t see the words; one eyeis on reception, its counterpolished and bee-wax-scented. Surelyhe isn’t late? The couple on the otherside of the late-night hotel lobbylook married; he stands,coat draped over arm while his seated wifetries to catch his eye. And then the […]
Through Your Eyes
The beams of sunlight are palpableas they burst through the forest canopy,and I feel I am almost ableto feel the magic, Nature’s alchemy –through your eyes. With each step,you lead me by the hand into your world,a place of wonder where we stopto gaze at silver cobwebs and the curlof a russet leaf, or listen […]
The Perfume of Peonies
She raises the pink peonies, cool,damp leaves and petals a balmto her industrious fingers. Those dual-headed, blowsy globes grasped in her palmexude a fruity wisp of sweetnessthat makes her life much easier to bear.No customers notice the neatnessof her blouse, the pretty headscarf that she wearsto cover the cuts and bruises of her husband’s violence.She […]
Golconda
City gents without umbrellasfall from the sky like rain; I feel sorry for those fellas,bowler-hatted, dressed in grey, early for work in the morning,late home at the end of the day. Disenchanted gents are fallingpast suburban windows where their perfect wives are waiting,aprons on, scent behind ears, in their hands a glass of something,a peck […]
writing in north norfolk 