It has been quite a week! Friday’s word of the day pretty much sums it up for me. It is Testudinal, meaning tortoise-like. It gave me an opportunity to introduce you to my tortoise Flash. He’s an interesting fellow. And it also got me thinking about the way tortoises deal with danger or stressful situations. 

Whenever Flash senses danger, he pulls his legs and head deep inside his shell becoming like an anchor-less disk that can be spun around and slid across the floor. He might think this is a good alternative to getting hurt, but by trying to take control of his own safety, he actually loses all control, making himself more vulnerable. 

Hiding from our problems doesn’t make them go away. They’ll be there waiting for us when we come out. They might even be bigger than we left them. 

This week presented itself, as all weeks do, with highs and lows. It is my choice, always my choice to face each moment as it comes, right there in the moment, or to push it into an “I’ll deal with it later” place. But that’s not living life to the fullest. 

Each moment is sufficient in resources that will allow me to respond, clearing the way for me to move forward to the next moment, and the next. If I am presented with sadness, I should grieve; injustice? I should channel my anger for good; love? of course I should accept love and love in return; happiness? I should let myself be happy. It’s a choice. Every moment we get to choose whether to embrace life or retreat. Don’t let fear take you for a spin.

Shi Sai Sunday’s Week in ReVerse – 2 October 2016

it’s times like this that I want soup
with an icy smile
and a broken heart
she lets you believe
yes you can
when home’s your anchor
carrying other’s burdens
tell me, where were we when lightning struck
guided by twin stars in the night sky
never count him out
let’s not run from
this storm

~kat

The Shi Sai, (formerly known as a ReVerse) is a new form I came up with during Poetry Month in April 2016. I’ve actually been writing shu sai for years but was inspired to give it a prooer name. It is a poem created by taking one line of verse from several poems of an author’s own collection. The shi sai is done as a review of a series or collection of poems and therefore, each line should flow in chronological order of the dates the poems were written (from oldest to new). The lines chosen should be the author’s favorite from each poem. This form works best if the author resists the temptation to read the full new poem before all the verses have been added. (It helps one to resist the impulse to change a line to make it “fit”.