less of the gloom a sunny afternoonno relentless windy roar no torrential downpourrandom non-sentences unwhole elevations of the soulre-arrangement of the mind’s furniture fragmented but purepeacefully ferment a magical momentconjuration of verse poetic conjuressmall comforts in lyrical spaces phrasal interfacesKim M. Russell, 3rd March 2026 Melissa is hosting the dVerse Poets Pub Tuesday Poetics this […]
Tag: Tuesday Poetics
Cinderella’s Lament
You might think I cry –it’s just dust in my eyefrom sweeping –I should have been writing –and my sisters aren’t so uglyif I squint through tears. They don’t have a poeticbone in their bodies,not even one that’s romantic,creative or artistic,which makes me wonder,how are we related? They never wash up,do the laundry, sweepthe floor, […]
The Non-Taste of Tea
On my lapI feel a warm cat,and in my handmy favourite cupof cranberry and raspberry. But there is nofruity burst on the tongue,just heat in my mouththat no longer spreadsto the cockles of my heart.No heightening of the senses.No calm. I hear myself breathe.I watch a poem bloom from the leaves. Kim M. Russell, 12th […]
Losing the Sounds of Spring
Vowels ploughed into other: opened ground.The mildest February for twenty yearsIs mist bands over furrows, a deep no soundVulnerable to distant gargling tractors. Seamus Heaney In the north, the Plough is ridden by the moonand frost continues to clench the earth.On this early morning walk there are no words,no lines from puffs of frozen […]
Dreams of a Samurai
I dreamed of a virile lord,a swirling spectre of berry redwith a thick brushof ebony hair and beard,and lethally sharpened swords,skilled on the battlefieldwith weapons and with words. I was the model of modestfemininity, a passionatebut submissive lover,a future wife waitingat the gate for the samuraiof my wildest dreamsand a bed not quite so empty. […]
Shivering
From the classroom windowthe spangled playground sparkled,criss-crossed with blackbird braille,a whirlissimo of fat flakesas if blown from polar fur. Come home time,there were two or threefeet of snow and a magicallyvanishing world as the vanilla stormstole brown and green. I was five years old, my motherwas at home nursing a sick toddler,so the teacher told […]
Farther Down the Line
Gone are the dayswhen train whistlesblew my blues away.What once tookan afternoon nowtakes under an hour:steam has progressedto diesel and electric.Thanks to local fanatics,a little steam trainstill trundles past on time,blowing a fainter whistlefarther down the line. Kim M. Russell, 13th January 2026 It’s Tuesday and time for Poetics at the dVerse Poets Pub, this […]
Watching Mum Get Her Hair Done
The hairdresser circumnavigated my mum’s head,conducting a symphony of blonde curls, a pointed, shiny, metal comb in one expert hand,a can of hairspray in the other that turned hair into cement. But I didn’t really watch my mum get her hair done.There was too much else to take in. My eyes were drawn to shiny […]
In Retrospect
The end of year approachesand I am hunkering down, Avoiding the weak winter sun glinting offfrail filigree and dancing on the sparkling frost. Instead of opening advent doorsamid lighted candles and Yule trees, I look back at loved ones who disappearedfrom my life this year and cannot shake the loss. Come New Year, I must […]
Numbed by Numbers
I add up the digitsof the date of my birthand come to thirty,my year of agoraphobia. I add up the digitsof my daughter’s date of birthand come to twenty-four,my age when she was born. I add up the digitsof the date we got marriedand come to twenty-six,my age when I was snowed in. I add […]
writing in north norfolk 