now is the time to explore you
in misty light so low
you become one inky shadow
birch, ash, beech and oak let go
of leafy glamour long ago
abandoning piles of copper and gold
now your copses are barefaced and bold
your glimmering gnarly branches hold
mulchy aromas of moss and fungus
I long to see you bathing languorous
in myrrhy moon and silver scent of stars
come and explore me
in this misty light so low
be embraced by my inky shadow
my trees have all let go
their leafy glamour long ago
abandoned it in piles of copper and gold
my copses are barefaced and bold
my glimmering gnarly branches hold
clouds of moss and fungus
come, see me bathe languorous
in myrrh of moon and silver-scented stars
A little wintry magic from Kim Russell. Kim M. Russell has been writing poetry and short stories since she was a schoolgirl but only began submitting to competitions and anthologies when she retired from teaching in 2014. Her poems have been published on-line by Visual Verse and The Ekphrastic Review, among others, and in print by: Afflatus Magazine, River Writes (Bure Navigation Conservation Trust), Anthology of Aunts and Second Place Rosette (Emma Press), Chiaroscuro – Darkness and Light (dVerse Anthology 2017), Peeking Cat Anthologies 2017 and 2018, and Field Work (UEA Publishing Project with Kunsthalle Cromer). She lives in the UK, in East Anglia between the North Sea coast and the Norfolk Broads, with her husband and two cats.
Kim has written two books, a flash fiction collection: Between Heartbeats and a children’s book: Joe and Nelly. They’d both make ideal stocking fillers…
