In a driverless taxi there’s no rhythm,no local undertone or foreign thrum,no musicality of another human voicediscussing current news and political choice. On the dashboard there’s nothing personal,no question about supporting Spurs or Arsenal,no background, family or wife:the invisible driver doesn’t have a life. There’s no poetry or narrative in driverless,no words, no story; they […]
Tag: NaPoWriMo
Down by the Moorings at the End of the Garden
I rise with the sun this morning.Our cat is waiting at the back door. I pull on my wellington boots,unlock the door and let her out, follow her across dew-soaked grass,grown long, studded with forget-me-nots, down to the back gate. She slipsthough its slats while I stand and admire boats bobbing ungainly on wind-kissed water,ghosts […]
Grandad
Agoraphobia confined him to the house,a single street and the wireworks walls,where he laboured, picking up on the solesof his shoes shiny nuggets of copper. A creature of habit, home for dinner at oneand tea at five, he exuded the tang of toiland lingering smoke of Navy Cut onhis breath and the fabric of his […]
Persimmon
glossy orange fruitalongside apples and pearswould my mouth pucker? cold first and foremosttextural surprise: firmnessa juicy softness different and newsweetness stopped me in my trackshoney, brown sugar? little orange fruitmaple syrup adventurethat autumnal orb joy and possibilityalchemy, simplicity Kim M. Russell, 11th April 2026 On the 11th day of NaPoWriMo, our optional prompt is erasure […]
Grief is a Jackdaw
There are times, left alone with thoughts,when grief sneaks up on me.The last daffodils have faded, yetI’m taken back to that January day. Why did you wait until the morning? I would have understood you leavingwhile I held your hand. Why did you waituntil the morning? No goodbye. I hear a clattering, a band of […]
A Riot of Weeds
I Dandelion You may think me a bit of a tease,from generations scattered on a breeze,bringing sunshine wherever I grow. Sharp-toothed like a lion, my dark leaves haleand hearty, it’s an old wives’ talethat they make you wet the bed. My petals open at seven, close around four o’clock;you can tell the time by my […]
I Didn’t Wonder
I didn’t wonderwhen I sharpened my beakon the cuttlebone stuck in my cage. I didn’t wonderabout the cuttlefish,decomposed and washed up on a beach. I didn’t wonderif it needed an artist to carve itinto something new and beautiful. I didn’t wonderif it might be a mould for a brooch or pendant —a fish or even […]
First Bee of Spring
I saw a boozy bumblebeebuzzing in a cherry tree,in among the blossomdrenched with dew.It flew onto a window ledgenear a blooming hawthorn hedge,just to say hello to me and you. Spring bees are parched for sipsof sweet pollen from the lipsof wayward hedgerowflowers of every hue.A swarm of bees in Mayis worth a heap of […]
Just Between Us
Your cool breezeis a breaththat lifts my hair, kisses my ear. I’m the only onewho’ll hear your voicein the thundering silenceof this April dawn. Everyone else is asleep,deaf to the poemthat hums in my head,thrums like a guitar string. I interpret your Morse codeof raindrops, transcribeyour windy whisper into words, recording our early morning conversation. […]
Don’t walk, swim!
My days at the local poolhave been reduced.No more quiet swimming on Fridays. That’s when they meander across lanes,chatting loudly about anything inane,getting in every swimmer’s way. I swim a length underwater and when I riseanother woman’s boobs are in my eyes –she doesn’t attempt to apologise. They’re not even swimming!They walk – or hang […]
writing in north norfolk 