Author Archives: Kat Myrman

The Walls We Build


I hide in a cubicle dawn to dusk
Arranging travel for executives
Typing their profiting plans bits by byte
With a few quick breaks to brew myself tea

I hide in a cubicle dawn to dusk
Answering phone calls with veiled pleasantry
When asked for favors, I serve with a smile
Hoping to mask my deep fear from their gaze

I hide in a cubicle dawn to dusk
Lost in the hum of my blessed routine
Locked in a prison of my own making
Where I feel safe from their gloating eyes mocking

I hide in a cubicle dawn to dusk
Outed by friends who boast my deep secret
Hoping to prove they are not like the rest
Those who’d deny my rights as a human

I hide in a cubicle dawn to dusk
Collateral damage, votes cast in fear
closet doors open whispering my name
Still I resist their safe promise and yet

I hide in a cubicle, dawn to dusk
If I had money I might build walls too
Oh, in my own way I’ve done this, it’s true
But I don’t feel safe from danger that looms

I hide in a cubicle dawn to dusk
Doing my job and paying my taxes
Wondering where they will be on the day
I cease to be safe despite what they say

I hide in a cubicle dawn to dusk
Wondering who I should fear and who, trust
Minding my business, yet knowing I must
Open my heart to be healed by love

I hide in a cubicle dawn to dusk
It’s not the ideal arrangement I know
I’m gonna try harder to open my heart
And let you back in, it’s small, it’s a start.

I hide in a cubicle dawn to dusk.

kat – 14 November 2016


I Am Here – Magnetic Poetry Monday – 14 November 2016

i am here with
a warm embrace,
an open heart,
a secret smile,
a listening ear,
to be your voice
when dark days growl…
remember, i am here

~kat – 14 November 2016
(Magnetic Poetry Online: the Poet’s Kit)


Shi Sai Sunday’s Week in ReVerse ~ 13 November 2016


It is a new day. A Super Moon Sunday day. Another opportunity to a live what I believe, to have my spirituality tested, to step up to the plate and not be found wanting, to know if all those lofty ideals I cling to and write about are true. It’s an opportunity for me to practice empathy, compassion, forgiveness and healing even, and most importantly, in the trenches of despair.

In the wake of the shock and awe of the election, I found myself faced with several moments of truth.

I have been unfriended by my youngest daughter. She doesn’t understand why I am so selfish, and she is especially angry that I would express my thoughts on social media where her friends can see it, embarrassing her (she was obviously for the other candidate, as were all my daughters, along with their in-laws and extended family members). What cuts the deepest is that I no longer have access to her daily pictures and posts, to what has been a happy window into the milestones and growth of my youngest granddaughter. She promised to send photo texts. Social media aside, I imagine that the holidays will be a superficial practice in polite pleasantries. And yet, I do forgive her…she doesn’t realize what she has done. I hope for the best and look forward to that day when she and I can reconnect again in a meaningful way.

My oldest daughter called to check on me too,  and to say she was sorry because she knew I would likely be very sad about the election results. We talked for over an hour. I forgive her too, for being a one issue voter, for not stopping to consider the consequences of her vote. I accept her apology fully with all my heart. Love saves us. Love always wins.

It’s going to be bumpy. I imagine I will have daily opportunities to practice forgiveness and to find hope in miracles. Believe it or not, I’m grateful for this test of faith.

That being said, please be gentle with yourselves, forgive, empathize, seek truth, fight for justice, practice peace, hold one another, be kind and love one another. This is new ground for many of us. But we can do it together.

Peace and love!

Shi Sai Sunday’s Week in ReVerse ~ 13 November 2016

And that is all there is to it
Could forget it
but remember truth matters

NO WORDS

I can be more effective when I am free from the bonds of unforgiveness.
how eximious one is
Has grown dark…

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 proper 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”.


Her Name is Peace – Magnetic Poetry Saturday 12 November 2016

how gently the
moon rocks her
when this world
has grown dark…
rest our souls
in deep peace

kat ~ 12 November 2016


Eximious – Friday’s Word of the Day Haiku

 

exemious

Happy Friday! Today’s word of the day from Dictionary.com, Eximious comes from the Latin adjective eximius meaning “select, distinguished, excellent,” which is a derivative of the verb eximere, “to take out, remove.” It entered English in the mid-1500s.

When I looked for examples and uses of this word, I discovered it is one of those archaic words that never quite caught on. But it does have quite a colorful past just the same, as evidenced by this information I found.  Here is the story from WorldWideWords.org  about the not-so-eximious character, Andrew Borde, who first coined this word:

Eximious appeared first in The Breviary of Health, a book of 1547 by Andrew Borde, who was variously a monk, writer of an excellent travel book about Europe, spy for Thomas Cromwell, popular physician and reputed compiler of several books of jokes (he wrote in the Breviary that nothing comforted the heart so much as honest mirth and good company). He died in prison, having — it’s said — been found guilty of keeping three whores in his chamber in Winchester, though a contemporary explained that he was merely pimping them for members of the clergy.

He wrote in the Breviary about “The eximious and arcane science of physic”, that is, the excellent and mysterious science of medicine. That comment notably contains two neologisms, since he is also the first known user of arcane. He created other medical terms in the book which are still familiar, such as constipated, hydrophobia, head louse and ulcerated, but many of his terms didn’t catch on: a writer two centuries after him observed that he was as fond of hard and uncouth words as any quack could be.

Alrighty then! My my! 🙂 … here is my haiku. Have a good weekend.

Title does not prove
how eximious one is
depends on actions.

kat – 11 November 2016