When they emergefrom the water in their soggybathing costumes,their bodiesare like the landscape: dunes and waves, grit and pearls,sand and pebbles, seaside girlsin a rainbow of hues,reds, purples pinks and blues,shivering in the breeze. The lighthouse calls from granite rocks,a chalk stick tall and white,and they sing that songto a summer sky: “I wanna marry […]
Tag: What’s Going On?
Ruins in the Lagoon
You took me past the gondolason the Grand Canal, and acrossthe shimmering lagoon.I’d already fallenfor the sparkling glass of Muranoand the vibrancy of Burano,and then you gave me a little island,the gentle chirp of crickets,ancient ruins, Byzantine mosaicsin the Church of Santa Maria Assunta,and a restaurant among fragrant herbs,where we drank limoncello,soaking up the yellowglow […]
Falling into Autumn
There comes a day, betweenspring’s last blackbird concertand the first swift to fly south,when nature takes a breath. Leaves are already yellow,counting days that empty with their falling,their dusty weariness starts to show;tattered, brittle, they know they must go. On a blustery breeze, fragments of sunset fire to trees with a resplendent blushand a sudden […]
Catching the Heart off Guard
There was a time whenI knew nothing about life on thecoast: how the shore is buffeted by wind;waves spray salty brine above dunes; andseals follow you, riding thewaves glittering in morning light. Now I know the sound of gulls, they arethe music of the sea, laughing at humans workingon boats. Gulls know the beauty of […]
Bending Towards Autumn
The cool breathof autumn rises from earlymornings laced with dew, the golden dustiness of pearlyharvest light, the heady perfumeof marjoram and wild basil, and the clouds of bluebutterflies that bend the headsof nodding harebells before they fly away. Kim M. Russell, 19th August 2024 Free image found on Pixabay This Monday at the dVerse Poets […]
Changing Times
How strange that it has cometo this. Children of hardworking mothershave been falling in the cracks between rich andpoor, while summer permeates the souls of fathersbattling the heat and storms throughoutthese heavy gunmetal days. How sweet theshift of chord from minor to major in a landof bittersweet memories, loss andan unknown future, where beggars don’thave […]
Nets of Inspiration
I tread water, in time,in my sea of consciousness,adrift in space, untilmy mermaid legs are grippedby cramps. Salt water spillsas I climb a rock to restand set myself the taskof repairing torn netsof inspiration and castthem to the waves.Some days, words slipthrough my head like silverminnows. Other days, I seemto catch a whole ocean. Kim […]
A Train Ride Home
I look back on my life,trying to find the splicebetween child and adult,and find iton a train ride home. I’m not long off the Oostende ferry,all set for a week in London;I have a poem half-done,balanced on my knees. From the open window, a sharp breezethreatens to blow it away;I tuck my notebook under my […]
On Opening a Book
earthy musty vanilla redolenceerupts into comforting scentsof paper inky words dreams stories poetry from past agespaper that was born in reamscut neatly into pages book weight in happy handshas a balance of coverand leaves caressed by fingers pristine dog-eared annotated abusedthe satisfying sussurus as they turnand the individual paper colour white yellowed crackling edgescrisp fresh […]
Medusa at the Supermarket
A hiss of hairuncoilsas I avert my stare,lowering turquoiseeyelids, mascaracoated lashes brushingmy pale powdered skin.I’m in the fruit section;with one hand I caressa pomegranate,with the other I pushback the stray curl.A couple and their little girlknock me with a trolley, unawareof me standing there,the darkest sunglasses pushedback on my head. I peerat their shopping, turn […]
writing in north norfolk 