Footsteps echoed eerily in the fog, Between the trees, behind the fence, Past a woman walking her dog, Clipping the heels of wing-tipped gents. They stopped below a lone street lamp, Waiting for someone in the sulphurous glow, Impatient stamping in the cold and damp: Prelude to a tentative hello. Enveloped in overcoat and a […]
Tag: Mindlovemisery’s Menagerie
Magic Words
When I’m safely cuddled up on a grown-up’s lap, I listen to the secret words that they often whisper in case a wicked witch is near, in the dark where she can hear. Words like once upon a time or the chorus of a nursery rhyme carry me off to other lands, to fairy wings […]
Bluster
Spring arrives in starts and stops, a dripping tap melting winter, forming puddles, filling rivers. In the monochrome of dawn and dusk, silhouettes drip and drop, ink drawings sliding off umbrellas as a sudden blustery wind turns treetops into a roaring sea. Kim M. Russell, 2017 – Anja Bührer My response to Mindlovemisery’s Menagerie Photo […]
Through the Monastic Garden
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 […]
Making Tracks
by the tracks locomotive breath made them cry at goodbye she stood at the platform’s edge he was on the train Kim M. Russell, 2017 Tracks My response to Mindlovemisery’s Menagerie Saturday Mix – January 14, 2016 Welcome back to Bastet, who has been thinking about doing a mix day of poetry and one of the various forms […]
Parapraxis
By the meagre spark of a cigarette, The scapegrace’s gang was always well met: Mealy mouthed and nicotine stained, They gathered by night but never by day. Haunting the queasy quarters of the city, The dark back alleys and the not so pretty Gelatinous overspill of late night bars, They dodged dustbins, drunks and stolen […]
Demented Texts
Hi Mum! I just wanted to let you know I’ll be visiting you today. Hi Mum! Don’t worry if the words Get muddled up, just text. Hi Mum! I know your fingers can’t type But I need your words – any words. Hi Mum! Did your words go the same way As your memory and […]
Tearing down the House
The abandoned building rose out of the snowy scrub, a fungus spreading spores of fear and sorrow. Uninhabited for over fifty years, suicide and murder tainted its walls and floors with faded splashes of red that refused to disappear. It was no mystery who had murdered the family; he had been executed long ago. Everyone […]
Granddad’s Bicycle
When Mark and Pat renovated the family home, they discovered an old bicycle hidden under the porch. “That old thing must have been Granddad’s when he was a kid,” Pat said. Mark stared at his brother. Pat was the DIY expert and he was just there to do the donkey work. “I hope you don’t […]
Chestnuts and Honesty
Lacklustre remains of chestnuts Nestle in messy mats of leaves And wind-dried crackling pods Marked by embryonic seeds. The forest floor’s fluorescent With early morning frost, Strung with brittle gossamer, Slippery with drips and trickles. The world awakes to winter bells: A glockenspiel of icicles. Kim M. Russell, 2017 – Ilmari Nen My response to […]
writing in north norfolk 