a boy crouched at the water’s edge his fingers felt the waves the pull of the current tangle of chickweed wash of passing swan tickle of trout inhaling scents of far-off places breathing them out he watched his toy boat skip ripples on the breeze blow under willows where ducks gather water voles bask in […]
Tag: NaPoWriMo
Twisted around her wrist…
a bracelet of cowslips and oxeyes, meadow flowers of summers long gone. Her refusal to add pimpernels, rubies among silver and gold, surprised me. But she was drawn with childish glee to sunny dandelions and buttercups that cast a buttery glow under her chin. So many seasons of bracelets twist around the couplet of our […]
Lockdown with Cat
I am the cat who walks by herself, proudly practising social distancing from others. I purr at the spring sun stroking my fur, while my human peers from a prison of windowpanes, longing for a friendly hug, a shared coffee and conversation. In the meantime, we’ve had to ration cat food until the next delivery. […]
Space Origami
earth is still distorted by pollution like a piece of paper folded into an origami globe, its faces and edges blurred with rubbing here in an ever-shrinking space, it’s hard to remember how primroses and daffodils turn their faces to April sunshine air and water are clearer now, canals and rivers abound with fish and […]
Tender Buttons: Fern
A potted fern rusts in the corner. Why is it trapped in porcelain? An alveolus from the lungs of a forest, a socket for the wind’s teeth. the fern in the pot sucks and nibbles at the room’s stale air, exhaling just enough oxygen to stir the net curtain. Kim M. Russell, 4th April 2020 […]
Life Goes On
This strangely cocooned life is dominated by reflections. Just months ago, we still had visions. All we see now is on a TV screen and framed by windowpanes. Without us, life goes on. Clouds drift, a bird flies by, a flower blooms while we reflect in our shrinking rooms. Will the cloud, the bird, the […]
Writing on the Wall
I suppose you think I do this all the time, the rest of the graffiti really isn’t mine. The corona virus has me out of my mind bored, and the best thing I could find on my way out for my daily walk was this stubby piece of chalk. I considered hopscotch but there’s no […]
April is a Fool
April’s entrances are never the same, peek-a-boo is her favourite game. Some years she has played the fool and surprised us with snow, or she’s been cruel, raised our hopes with a taste of sunshine, and then showered us with torrential rain. This year, March pre-empted her, keeping us inside our homes while April was […]
Lingering day…
is painted in pointillist shadows, light fades with the last echoes of birdsong and clings to moon and stars. Lingering day, when owls skim, swoop, dodge in and out of branches not yet embellished with blossom or leaves but pregnant with promise. Kim M. Russell, 29th April 2018 My response to The Poetry School […]
Almost there
A saddle-worn cowboy on the road hears the promise of amber bourbon in the strains of a lonesome tune. He slaps a dusty faded Stetson against his aching thigh and wipes the grit from his eye. There’s an arduous ache in the back of his throat that begs for that golden liquid burn. His swollen […]
writing in north norfolk 