Among the roots of dying and dead trees,they creep, no fun these parasitic mutantsall feasting on decay. No friends are these;Armillaria are spored pollutants,the bogeymen of stumps, and oh, so potent.With eerie shapes and honey fungus breath,they’re saprophytes of dieback, rot and death,as white as ghosts, they haunt both branch and bark,and trunk and roots […]
Tag: Meeting the Bar
Ilse
As much as dill and pickled cucumbers,it’s the cherries that I remember most,growing on two trees outside my window,dark red, fragrant and so sweet. I remember, too, the blossoms every spring.As well as dill and pickled cucumbersin huge jars lined up in the cellar,you preserved cherries in alcohol for winter. From the fresh cherries that […]
A Gathering of Wise Women
Misunderstood throughout historywe were tortured, drowned, burntand now, amid the intensityof climate change, plague and war,we have seen humankind at its worst. Forget the shamans,Mentors and Chirons,all male, muscle-bound,bristling with testosterone. You need us wise women,us Earth mothers who listento sky, air and soil beneath our feet,the quickening of the seasons’ beat.We understand the textures […]
Red Kites
They sweep the silvered clouds,wheeling and tumbling, a pair of stringless red kites,red-brown in an immense sky. Their yellow beaks and snow-white under-wings flash with afternoon sun, red-brown tail forks scything azureand pale yellow eyes scanning for easy preydarting through red-brown bracken. Kim M. Russell, 18th September 2025 This Thursday at the dVerse Poets Pub we […]
Seasonal Vertigo
Tilt- edhead like a birdwith goodbye in its eyes,summer is about to leave usbehind. Ahead,autumn’s about to glow;a hello in its eyes.I feel the worldtilt- ing. Kim M. Russell, 4th September 2025 I can’t believe it’s Thursday already and, at the dVerse Poets Pub, we are Meeting the Bar with Björn and cinquains. Björn says […]
Where are all the lost dreams?
Where are all the lost dreams when morning yawns?Its breath still clouds the sky,waiting for birds to announce the day. Where are the dreams that woke me up?I stir my morning cup of tea with a spoon,and find only a reflection of the fading moon. Where are the dreams we dreamed together?We are tinged with […]
On the Way to School
trailing shadows we hold each other’s handsgripping our bags listening for the bellevery daywe walk to school we walk to schoolevery daylistening for the bell gripping our bagswe hold each other’s hands trailing shadows Kim M. Russell, 7th August 2025 This Thursday is the day for Meeting the Bar at the dVerse Poets Pub; today […]
On the Anniversary of Her Death
Like sky maps sketched in the bird brainsof flocks and vees of geesethat fly overhead, the contours and plainsof my late mother’s faceare dyed deep in my genes, a treasured stainthat cannot be erased.Outside, frost stiffens and silvers remainsof leaves. Again, I saygoodbye. Kim M. Russell, 24th July 2025 It’s Thursday and time to meet […]
Heavy Metal Heart
Metal heartDark down-tuned vibrationsReach to the very depths of my soul EchoingThrough the deepest cavernsSeeping salty into sea and soil I’m earthyWith your cross-leaved summer heathThick with cotton grass and sphagnum moss My blood singsFlooding all the sensesWith the beat of your heavy metal Kim M. Russell, 12th June 2025 This Thursday at the dVerse […]
This is the Time of Ghosts
Through lingering shadows of the past,times of struggle, revolution and dissent,they anchor themselves deep and fastto an increasingly unsettled present. Helplessly, they wait in public places,hotels, malls, and libraries where,helpfully, a librarian ghost traceshaiku as he escorts you to a chair. Eerily, they haunt crannies and nooks,entering museums and classrooms,easing themselves into pages of books,etching […]
writing in north norfolk 