He was wealthy, with a reputationfor breaking hearts and violencein his quest for love, not infatuation,an elusive gem in a mine of loneliness. Diamonds are darkling magnetsfor women of a certain kind;they attract gossip and rumour,but this kingpin didn’t seem to mind. He pulled each giggling, mindlessdebutante in a whirl of tipsy parties,always on the […]
Tag: NaPoWriMo
Twisted in a Mini Ritz
Summer days in a silver Mini Ritzwith red racing stripes, bucket seats,and the perfect sound system,on the way from Twickenhamto Fulham. I had my windows down,stuck in jam, suffocating heat easedby a warm breeze, jazzing alongto ‘Twisted’: “My analyst told methat I was right out of my head”,enjoying dog days of freedom,doing my best Joni […]
The Egg and the Key
I found an egg, smooth and new;it was warm so I gave it to you –I wanted to see what you would do. Flocks of birds surrounded us two,they dived and swooped and flewuntil the sky turned a leaden hue. You took my hand, so I followed youto the aquarium at a nearby zoo,and the […]
Clair de Lune
On a bright summer’s day in Cologne,the leaves infused with rays of sunlighton a tree-lined street, and quite alone,I was delighted to hear moonlighttumbling from the strings of a guitar.I lingered by an open window, listeningto blue notes above the hum of cars,caught in a dream, like glimpsinga crescent moon through cloud.I leaned against the […]
Persistence
Echoing rain muffles the air.Distance seems to be lost to cloudsclosing in like damp sheep. Sheeting raindrips and drums, persistent and loud.At the window, I hug a mug of tea, distantly,listening to rain disappear into the distance. Kim M. Russell, 15th April 2025 On 15th April we are halfway through NaPoWriMo, with the online gallery […]
On the Norfolk Broads
It’s never silent among the reedsand water lilies: inquisitive swans gliding in a boat’s wake hissand honk; there’s the bittern’s boom, an otter’s splash, and a breezewhistles through overhanging leaves. Passing boats rumble, blast their hornsby the bridge, the tide slaps at moored-up craft rockingand swaying in the moorings. But at sundown, everything is quietin […]
Optimism
1 An old man struggles along a mass of meltingtarmac, eerie shapes curling through the wall of heat.The town is otherwise deserted, everyonecowers behind shuttered windows, out of the heat. Under an umbrella the old man mumbles “Rain”. Behind their shutters, the whole town’s praying for rain. 2 By the roadside, every blade of grass […]
Devouring the Salmon
In all the seven long yearsof fishing for the salmonof knowledge, Finn,each time I tugged your line,you threw me back in,my silver-scaled tail shimmering,pert breasts pearled with water.You had no idea what you were missing. Years passed, I dived and swam,and eventually you snagged the salmon,gave it to your servant, Fionn,with strict instructions: cook it, […]
A Knot Around my Heart
I tighten fast inside your tourniquet,your words a knot around my heart, head exploding withunweathered and untethered light. How did you weave a poem so densein its changing tempo and major to minor shifts that make metighten fast inside your tourniquet? The alliterative tick of verbsand the gaping assonance of bouncing beat evokesunweathered and untethered […]
The Crone Can’t Spell Anymore
As a linguist and English teacher,and even before, as a learner,I never had problems spellingor remembering the meaningof…things. Entering my seventieth year,signs of ageing have appeared.I have begun to trip and stumble,words no longer tumblefrom my fingers. My handwriting’s scribble,as if a dyslexic spider resides in my pen.What I type isn’t what I see on […]
writing in north norfolk 