Trudging the path between the yew trees, Those harbingers of death and sorrow, Monks’ bare feet crush the dross of berries, Poisonous, red froth between their toes. Psittacism of holy mantras Below the prickle of green branches Drowns out the twittering of sparrows, The songs of blackbird, thrush and finches. The dull clapper of the […]
Tag: Garden
Garden Guests
Dawn quietude is rippling with the ecstatic chortling of birds, some overjoyed that last year’s nest survived the winter, others splatting mud and leaves, building new nests in trees and under eaves in a frenetic festival of spring. By July, nests have exploded, their broods unloaded into the summer sky, without a goodbye they are […]
The Selfish Giant’s Garden
They visited every day For the grass, starry flowers And space to play for hours. In spring, peach trees burst into blossom And the happy children feasted on fruit all autumn. After a seven year visit with a Cornish ogre, Summer saw the return of the owner, A selfish giant who scared them away With […]
A Walk In the Wild Garden
My response to Imaginary Garden with Real Toads Weeds in the Garden Since spring, blackbirds have been singing At dawn and dusk, squabbling and serenading; Exhausted now, the garden is quite still, Except for occasional echoes of a silvery trill. Underfoot the earth is soaked, In my garden trees and shrubs are cloaked With […]
My Response to Sonnet 12
Read by an actor at Arachne Press’s Midsummer Night in the Garden:
On Visiting Wiveton Hall Gardens
So close To the coast You can hear The rumbling murmur And soughing sigh Of the sea Beyond the flint wall That enfolds All it holds: A riot of hues of green; Flames of orange poppies, Purple tulips and peonies Splashed as on an artist’s palette Across a pointillist sea-cloud Of forget-me-nots That I will […]
Our garden is wild…
My response to Mindlovemisery’s Menagerie Heeding Haiku With Chèvrefeuille – a haibun inspired by the following haiku: what a mystery leaves falling year after year without mourning © Chèvrefeuille Our garden is wild. Nothing is manicured or tamed, maybe trimmed sometimes to allow sunshine and a view. Its inhabitants are trees and shrubs, some of which […]
Feline Balancing
Ice on water Transparent moon Eclipses crystal reflections Of garden and sky And curious feline vanity Balancing in the languor Of warming rays Unaware of the danger Of frozen days © Kim M. Russell, 2016
Overwintering
Curled conker-like A protective whorl of prickly spines The half-grown hedgehog froze A tiny statue in the confines Of the garden Amongst withered hydrangea and rose Safely out of reach Hiding its fear It must have foraged well To be outside So late in the year Perhaps it found a kind soul Who fed it […]
The Seafarer’s Garden
My response to Jane Dougherty’s Poetry challenge #12: Quatern Merged in a wash of blatant blue, Ocean and sky meet in a kiss, The seafarer surveys the view, Standing alone in private bliss. Sloping down to a steep cliff’s edge, Merged in a wash of blatant blue, Surrounded by sheep’s bit and sedge, Scattered […]
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