For a single glimpse
Of squirrels or birds in flight
A predator waits.
kat ~ 27 March 2016
A haiku in response to Haiku Horizon’s prompt: Cat. Read other haiku or enter your own HERE.
Author Archives: Kat Myrman
Dark Night of the Soil
I realized this morning, as I gazed at my barren flower bed, its parallel to Easter and Spring’s awakening.
Death of unruly weeds and a sweeping of rocks and debris was necessary to ready the bed for planting. It required pulling up some deeply imbedded roots of certain weeds who disguised themselves in delicate, colorful blooms, hiding their malevolent intent to choke, encroach and overtake my beautiful garden. If I left even a hint of root behind, my garden would be at risk. Just to be safe, once the soil was sufficiently churned, a barrier was laid and new enriched top soil was added to prepare for new seeds and plants. Of course, there is still a bit more to do, and keeping the weeds at bay is a daunting task, but it is a necessary step to give my beautiful garden its best chance to thrive.
My soul is like a garden. It is affected deeply by nature, the changing of seasons, the light and darkness, the raging tempests and gentle rains, sunrises and sunsets, the clear open blue canopy, the subtle embrace of foggy bottoms, the star-speckled night sky.
As I look at the empty flower bed of my soul, especially on this Easter weekend, I am reminded of the despair and revelation of humanity’s dark nature that led to death, but I am also filled with a sense of hope for the new life that is promised to me if I am faithful.
When darkness overcomes me, I know I should pause to reflect. Is my current circumstance a result of happenstance? It is true some things just happen. Or is it a debacle of my own doing? The latter, if I’m open to considering it, requires a bit of work. Like my garden bed, my soul must be swept of weeds, taking care to remove the roots. The soil of my soul will likely need a bit of churning. It will take a conscious effort on my part to employ the barriers required to prevent any weed remnants from rising again to choke out my best intentions. And it will also take laying a new foundation of “soil”.
My life has the potential to be a beautiful garden! To be a light and a blessing. As I consider the hope of Easter and Spring’s promise, I embrace the new life that grace affords me today and every morning!
Peace, grace and life in all its magnificence to you! May you thrive in beauty!
-kat
Sunday’s Week in ReVerse – 27 March 2016
Happy Sunday! And to those of you who celebrate, Happy Easter! I recall the feeling that the past week never seemed to end! There are week’s like that. I kept having to check the calendar to convince myself that it wasn’t Friday yet! What’s with that?
For starters we had a full moon this week. It was especially brilliant in my neck of the woods and I don’t usually fall victim to lunacy. Haha! Perhaps I did feel a bit too giddy from this month’s full worm moon touch!
In the midst of that, of course, we all paused to remember the victims in Brussels…and for me the senseless victims of violence in other places that don’t make international headlines. For my own conscience, it is important to me that I pause to remember that people, with dreams and families and hopes, met their untimely death in these tragedies…not just body counts…cold detached numbers. People.
So to say that last week was chaotic, off kilter, grievous, loony, and discombobulated would be quite accurate in its wake. This week’s ReVerse captures that description quite nicely.
Have a lovely uneventful next week, unless if course you are planning something eventful! In that case I hope it is spectacular and that you pull it off without a hitch! All this to say simply, best wishes! See you next week then! 😊
Sunday’s Week in ReVerse – 27 March 2016
How easily hope slips away!
From her twinkling eyes.
before the wedding
After a deluge
…if they forget
I watched helplessly
your shadow danced with the light
The blind perceive things
I know you didn’t invite me over here for giggles!
She had a thing for shoes.
Prayers for Brussels
Now THAT is weird!
When she looked in the mirror, her eyebrows were gone!
And the blokes wear tights!
suspended on penumbral cusp
Stopping in my own happy place.
Some haughty snobs schmooze
Just beyond the veil of darkness.
~kat
The Waning – A Quatern
Luna’s face in grace surrenders
Even with earth’s shadow creeping
Brighter still, she smiles rememb’ring
Her full phase dance with gravity
Inevitable darkness looms
Luna’s face in grace surrenders
Wiser from the lessons rendered
New moon waxing into fullness
Every living being knows from
birth to death it’s days are numbered
Luna’s face in grace surrenders
Never fading, into crescent
Soon will come the reaper’s sickle
Her escort to eternal rest
Just beyond the veil of darkness
Luna’s face in grace surrenders.
kat ~ 25 March 2016
A Quatern is a sixteen line French form composed of four quatrains. It is similar to the Kyrielle and the Retourne. It has a refrain that is in a different place in each quatrain. The first line of stanza one is the second line of stanza two, third line of stanza three, and fourth line of stanza four. A quatern has eight syllables per line. It does not a set rhyme scheme.
line 1
line 2
line 3
line 4
line 5
line 6 (line 1)
line 7
line 8
line 9
Line 10
line 11 (line 1)
line 12
line 13
line 14
line 15
line 16 (line 1)
Friday’s Word of the Day Haiku – Vernissage
Happy Friday! Today’s Word of the Day from Dictionary.com is Vernissage. This is another one of those rare words that originally had a very different meaning.
Dictionary.com defines vernissage as a reception at a gallery for an artist whose show is about to open to the public; also called varnishing day (the day before the opening of an art exhibition traditionally reserved for the artist to varnish the paintings). It comes from the French word that literally means “a varnishing/touching up”. It entered the English language in the early 1900’s.
Vernissage has its roots in the old practice of setting aside a day before an exhibition’s opening for artists to varnish and put finishing touches to their paintings-a tradition that reportedly dates to at least 1809, when it was instituted by England’s Royal Academy of Arts. (One famous member of the Academy, Joseph Mallord William Turner, was notorious for making major changes to his paintings on this day.) English speakers originally referred to this day of finishing touches simply as “varnishing day,” but sometime around 1912 we also began using the French term vernissage (literally, “varnishing”). Today, however, you are more likely to encounter vino than varnish at a vernissage, which is often a gala event marking the opening of an exhibition.
I have never had an invitation to such an event, but apparently there is a certain protocol to follow, if you do. Even Miss Manners has something to say about it. I won’t bore you with her do’s and don’ts. I will just say that it is serious business to member of the Art world.
If you are honored with an invitation, behave and you might get invited again! Above all from what I’ve read, here are a few tips:
- If you are an artist, this is not the time or place to promote your art
- Use your indoor voice or better yet, keep your thoughts to yourself, especially if you are not fond of the artwork. Save the critique for the ride home.
- Avoid gluttony! Making a meal of the hors d’oeuvres is not cool. Eat before or after…don’t camp out near the food table…and just because you got an invitation to the gallery, does not mean you are invited to the artist’s reception dinner afterward.)
- Avoid drunkenness! After 3 glasses of the cheap wine or beer typically served at these events, Miss Manners advises you to leave!
- Keep your clothes on! Vanessa Castro in her article on the subject suggests leaving the nudity to the artist!
- For heaven’s sake, don’t hit on anybody while you’re there! Several etiquette sites made a point of this, so it must be a problem!
- …and one more tiny thing…do your homework before you go to avoid asking the featured artist WHO the featured artist is!!!
Gone are the days when a vernissage was a day of readying an art exhibition for the public. I daresay today’s artists need a vernissage (in the traditional sense) BEFORE their official Vernissage (in the modern application of the word)!
It’s a cool word though. I think it’s interesting to study the ways we tweak the meaning of words from their original intent into something entirely different. And…I am thankful I am not a time-traveler! Can you imagine how confusing that would be?
Here is my Haiku. Have a great weekend!
Some haughty snobs schmooze
at swanky vernissages
to laud art?…WHAT art?
kat ~ 25 March 2016
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