It arrives with the sparkle and sweetnessof lemonade, echoes of cricketon the green, and scents of mown grassand public swimming pool. Butbehind the summer shimmerthere’s a threatening glimmerof thunderstorms and torrential rainto send us back indoors again. Kim M. Russell, 22nd July 2024 Image by Urban Vintage on Unsplash This Monday, De is hosting the […]
Tag: Monday
Painting with Words
Each of the artist’sbrushes that bristle in potsare like the pens poisedon the poet’s desk top.Accretions of crusty paintare tiny self-portraits on the palettelike words on the poet’s pages,paper or screen, all sense distilledinto vivid marks and images. Kim M. Russell, 15th July 2024 Image by Jennie Razumnaya on Unsplash My response to the Living […]
Deep Pockets
‘Mother, why do we have to get up in the dark?’ my daughter whispered. I had warned her to be a mouse, to creep and stay silent. We didn’t want to be caught by the Witchmaster. I wore my skirt with deep pockets and filled them with bread, cheese and sachets of my special herbs […]
Blueprint for a Summer Afternoon
We sat cross-legged on short grass that left a prickly itch on bare skin. Summer stretched out, […]
Start the Week Day
I loved childhood Mondays, those start-the-week days, back-to-school days of stories, songs and poetry. They smelled of pencils, paint and ink, clean uniforms, faded dinner stink, disinfectant and freshly waxed floors. We sat in rows, our desks clear, blackboard clean, blank slates waiting for the teacher to write the date. Kim M. Russell, 4th February […]
Stained Voices
Vibrant voices, though mute, stream with light from every shard. The silent congregation of intricate and ancient art, is animate with sanguine songs, a cadmium and cobalt choir intoning medieval psalms and Victorian poetry. Such heavenly illuminations are devilishly delicate, so easy to annihilate. Kim M. Russell, 12th August 2019 My response to dVerse Poets […]
Goodbye Mundane Monday
I wake up early and greet another day, a mundane Monday, damp, cold and grey. Winter should be over, or so the buds tell me, there should be sunshine and daffodils. I watch a smoking feather, a skylark rising, and then a second hovers above the winter field – then another, and another ascend into […]
Spoils of Autumn
Autumn spoils us with its music, a seasonal soundscape of rain-swollen becks, leaves fluttering from the oaks and raucous, cavorting rooks echoing through the mist before winter’s deep silence grips the landscape and days stretch ahead taut as a tightrope above cold iron earth. Kim M. Russell, 19th November 2018 My response to dVerse Poets […]
Friendly Harbour
After months at sea, I find I’m still afloat. In the distance, I can see fishermen’s huts and friendly boats limping along the unforgiving coast. I see the shore, a busy harbour crowded with twinkling lights, welcoming on such a night, guiding me home. Kim M. Russell, 24th September 2018 My response to dVerse Poets […]
Our First Glimpse of the Aurora Borealis
When we first moved up to the North Norfolk coast, when Ellen was eleven going on twelve, we were amazed not only by the wide Norfolk landscapes and gorgeous sunsets, but also by the immense night skies. We had never seen so many stars or been able to identify constellations – in London there was […]