Audacious night is out there scattering poems again like snowflakes, frost or fallen stars, all over the street of the sky. Full of wonder, at the open window, all I can do is watch carefully in case night accidentally drops one in my lap. Kim M. Russell, 23rd August 2018 My response to Imaginary Garden […]
Tag: Poetry Pantry
Metamorphosis
I wear a silver totem on a chain, another on an heirloom brooch; when I’m low and see a dragonfly hovering on the water’s edge among water lilies, reeds and sedge, I think of grandmother’s spirit and, shimmering with joy and light, my transformed soul takes flight and I become myself again. Kim M. Russell, […]
Two Summer Gogyohka
dusty flints crunch underfoot rusty orange butterflies dance down a stony lane long hot days deep blue skies still and windless following the sun until it goes down Kim M. Russell, 12th August 2018 My response to Carpe Diem Weekend Meditation #45 Gogyohka, a modern way of writing/creating tanka, also linked to Poets United Poetry […]
Punctuation of Life and Death
When you lose someone, the world warps: a comma butterfly (settling on a nettle) distorts – flicks open wings to burnish, only to crisp in the sun. When you lose someone, summer colours tarnish; tastes and smells curdle like mouldy blackberries on a parched tongue, and all the while you long to hear their voice, […]
Seaside Sonnet
The ice cream drip of summer days leaves sticky stains on memories steeped in salt and vinegar, candy floss, egg sandwiches and seaside rock. Faded black and white photos lack the sunny glare of beach towels, the welcome rainbow of parasols, barking dogs and beach balls bouncing in the sea and then the thrill of […]
Anguish
Anguished cries of lapwings rise from deep in sedgy fields to sky; their tinny raspings bring to mind an anguish of a different kind: the mewling of a starving child; a young girl’s screams as she’s defiled; a mother’s keening of despair; a grandmother’s calm and care as she sings a soothing lullaby of winter […]
Morning
Light like fresh linen breezes into morning, pours its luminescence through lacy blinds and splashes sparkles on a sleep-creased face. It’s a dawn blessing, a tea and toast embrace, and a kiss goodbye to night. Kim M. Russell, 7th July 2018 My response to Imaginary Garden with Real Toads Camera FLASH! also linked to Poets United […]
Flash Burn
After the bomb, when radiation wreaked its devastation and the world turned monochrome, life leached from crooked limbs of blackened trees and poisoned humans. In the midst of chaos and confusion, a mother’s love lit up the sky, just like the radiation before the mushroom imprinted shadows on our souls. Kim M. Russell, 1st July […]
Little Star
It doesn’t matter if you forget the positions of stars in the night sky; the delicate pattern of freckles on your skin is a map of constellations from which I will sing fairy tales, nursery rhymes and lullabies to the music of the galaxies. Kim M. Russell, 24th June 2018 My response to Imaginary Garden […]
No Regrets
Dad was surrounded all his life by sisters, mother, daughters and a wife; I never saw up close the bond between a father and son. I often wondered how Dad would have been if he’d had a son to kick a ball about, swing a bat at cricket, to rough and tumble play-fight. I tried […]