empty landscapes are waking up:weak December sun glints off frailwebs; frost sparkles in the sweepof headlights; we follow the trailof ancient sages in search of gold,frankincense and myrrh, in taleswe repeat so Christmas can be sold. Now, opening the advent doorsamid lighted candles and Yule trees,we cannot shake a sense of awe.Come New Year, we […]
Tag: Weekly challenge
Boar and Bluebell
This is a green and pleasant place,ancient footprints cover its face,traces of post-glacial diversity,where wild boar, roaming free,broke bracken, churned woodlandsoil to muddy swamp, rooted aroundin compost black and brown,left wetland wallows overgrownwith hosts of rich and varied fauna,and colourful explosions of flora.Now, spring woods flood with bluebells,diluting diversity of sight and smell,their heady sweetness […]
Thankful
I am thankful for the small thingsthe early morning cup of teaheat blowing under my kneesin the relentless chill of the studythe blanket wrapped around mesunset orange, soft and comfya view of the garden and all I can seedried honeysuckle vines on a breezea cheeky pheasant pecking berriesa squirrel scurrying up the apple treedeer eating […]
Honest Rot Rondel
After autumn has burnishedfallen leaves and bracken,tufts of fern and verdigristransform the palette. Along mudbanks coatedwith emerald algae,mare’s tails’ spiky greentips release glowing nebulae in stagnant ponds,and licheny flora clingto earth, tree, wall and rock,tiny forests of green lungsall exhaling honest rot. Kim M. Russell, 16th November 2020 My response to earthweal weekly challenge: Keep […]
Redneck Philosophy
No time to think about a bag for life,I leave recycling the rubbish to the wife.Cigarette butts and packets fly out of the car,no time to wash my hands with a beer on the bar.At work, it’s the same if I can’t find a bin,there are cleaners to tidy the areas I work in.I eat […]
Greening the Mind
Word-bound, I watch the coming winterhaunt the garden, eager to paint it silver. I count the rags of blue sky overhead,topped with grumbling thunderheads, savour the smell of rich black earth, the gleamof gold and lemon, not quite drowning out the green. Trees drip with limpid air this green-gold morninglike words from my poetic pen, […]
A Walk in the Cemetery by Moonlight
A celebration before winter darkness,fingering crumbled earth with brightness, moonlight creeps through autumn turbulenceto gild gravestones hunkered in silence. Pale breath of lunar light tongues dustamong tattered leaves now turned to rust and scattered on well-trodden stones,traces epitaphs and seeks out bones, meagre offerings for a midnight repastbefore the cold season’s hollow fast. Something […]
Willow Wraith
Lithe limbs still clad with curly leavesand protective ivy shield her naked bark.There is no morning mist to clothe nor breezeto make her dance. Just green breath of trees,the scent of chlorophyll to transport herto the beginning, when spirits did not needto hide inanimate in plants, rocks, ice and water.Invisible to all except husband, son […]
Mouth Agape
Never worn, just hangingthere,eyeless and mouthagape,an emptiness thatspeaksvolumes of historical festivityand plague,the drunken pox, depravity,appetites and follyof the age. Kim M. Russell, 12th October 2020 My response to earthweal weekly challenge: Earth-Masks Brendan has given us a detailed background to this week’s theme: masks, something we wear now as […]
Elephant
In a world of watery hues,greens and blues,her vision is binocular,staring at the moon, oblivious to stars. Her worn ears, torn ears, flare,moth-eaten flags as she swaysthrough overhanging leaves,trunk reaching. She grieves. Vibrations of heart and lungsripple wavelike across skin,map of life ingrainedwith wrinkles, rubs and stains. Floundering feet, ancient prints in the dust,track memories […]
writing in north norfolk 