Song

I’m open to 
being friends again 
if you want 

I don’t mind if
we continue war
if you can’t
I shan’t mind it
out-living you, no
Sis I shan’t
I shan’t mind it
you can stomp my grave
all you want


Richard M Russell © Dick Russell
                    July 26, 2022

 Threads

Were I to dance on the fabric of fate?
flimsy stuff made of far future threads
threads into time which arrive too late
because another executed instead. 

Were I to fall into entanglements far below?
question connections
interrogations 
situations
none could follow.
Were I to find a way in through the way out?
sure she gave me a thread 
I used my brain instead
came out by a back door 
burdened with clout.
For I’d met a monster on the inside
I’d had to slay because it was in the play
where I needed to come out
victorious, or there’d be no 
upside.
Were I to learn to live with cells grown old?
could they be refreshed given more time?
What else should I to ponder as I strain to hold
a kettle to the kitchen tap
then let it overload 

and splash


Richard M. Russell © Dick Russell
                          July 23, 2022

 The Ides of July

It was autumn when 
summer faded into spring
we missed a hard winter
the ground was still hard
good to trudge more topsoil to the beds
past early blueberries about to flower
down to the raspberry canes
and big raised beds for cucumbers 
that need manure
then parsnips for the winter roasts
it used to be April now it’s March
when the first daffodils drooped
their beauty spent
mountain beavers moved their burrow
to another neighbor’s land
and now the year has turned again
we can see the end of summer

Richard M Russell © Dick Russell
            July 15, 2022

 Midsummer

crops all sown

seeds all started

shadows leave no marks

Summer pauses 

after a six-month climb

it’s seven at night and the sun’s still high

there are finches feeding on firm shiny kale

leaving leaves punctured like a colander

after eight and a robin’s still singing

an osprey fishes Brown’s Bay

nine at night you can write without light

planning tomorrow

first peas culled for a salad 

strawberries again

some starts aborted 

new ones started 

Donal kicked his slippers off

staggered on bare feet

swiveled swaggered high stepped side stepped

celebrated with the Street

Midsummer’s come 

uncertain starlight

silhouettes treetops swaying 

while the moon remembers its way

July 1st 2022

Richard M Russell © Dick Russell