Category Archives: Challenges and Writing Prompts

July 5, 2016

If we were having…

There is this writing prompt here on WordPress that I see every now and again. It starts with the phrase, “If we were having coffee…”

Um, okay, I’m gonna stop you right there. I’ve been limiting my coffee intake, so I hope you don’t mind if I take a bit of artistic liberty here.

Let’s start this again…I like herbal tea by the way…with honey…unless it’s Earl Gray…then I like my tea with cream and a bit of sugar. Where were we? Ah-hem…

“If we were having tea…um…I forgot to ask. Do you like your tea black? I think that’s the right term for it…or I could ask if you are a tea purist…Or…oops…you might actually be okay with having coffee. Cream and sugar? With your coffee? I hope you don’t use those artificial sweeteners…they are sooo bad for you!

Hot Chocolate, you say? With marshmallows? That works too!

Back to the beginning then. This is the great thing about being an artist…the possibilities! Here we go…

“If you were having coffee…oops sorry, I have coffee on the brain right now. Do you think it’s possible to go through coffee withdrawal? Forgive me…Let’s start over. I got this. Okay.

“If you were having hot chocolate with marshmallows and I was having jasmine tea with honey…” If I’m being honest here, and I think that is the point of this exercise, tea really doesn’t cut it for me. It’s basically watered down leaves with no kick, but I do feel healthier when I drink it…I do like it I suppose. I love teapots. I collect them. Hmmm

One more time. I’m sticking with the program this time. (Deep breath)

” If you were having hot chocolate with marshmallows and I was having jasmine tea with honey…”

I think the goal of this writing exercise is to write a conversational dialog. Maybe we could talk about current events.

What is that? You make it point not to talk politics. You don’t watch the news? Well okay, I get that.

Maybe we can talk about…oh…thanks for letting me know. You don’t talk about religion either…and you don’t believe in airing your family’s dirty laundry? Uh, I’m okay with that. We can pass on those topics.

So…what do you think about all this rain we’ve been having? Yep crazy. You got that right!

Is your coff…uh hot chocolate cool? I can nuke it in the microwave for you if you’d…ah, you have an appointment?

Well, thanks for stopping by. Good talk! Have a great day. We’ll have to do this again…soon. Or maybe not. Busy busy. I get it.

(Sigh) I think I’ll drop the “if” or “we” this time. I am going to have myself a coffee with a dram of Irish cream. Ahhh!

I think there is a reason I’ve been avoiding this writing prompt! 🙂

~ kat ~ 5 July 2016

14 Comments | tags: #weekendcoffeeshare, coffee, conversations, hot chocolate with marshmallows, tea, writing challenge | posted in Challenges and Writing Prompts, Digital Art & Photos, Essays, Humor, Random Thoughts and Musings

July 5, 2016

Dazzle/Sky – A Haiku Challenge

By Kat Myrman

Photo by Kat Myrman 2015

dazzling summer…
sultry days, sizzling nights,
steamy sapphire sky.

kat – 5 July 2016

A Haiku for Ronovan Writes Haiku Challenge, Prompt Words: Dazzle & Sky.

18 Comments | tags: Challenge, Dazzle, Haiku, Poetry, Ronovan Writes Haiku Challenge, Sky, Summer | posted in Challenges and Writing Prompts, Haiku, Poetry

July 3, 2016

Shi Sai Sunday’s Week in ReVerse – 3 July 2016

By Kat Myrman

Its Independence Day’s Eve here in the US. When we are young being independent is our ultimate goal. Some of us start very early on our path to independence with our first words, “me do it!” How satisfying it is to accomplish things all by ourselves…when we are young.

But a lifetime has taught me that even though I am quite capable of doing for myself, thank you very much, there is something to be said for having a bit of company on the journey. It’s ironic I think. We are born with a fierce instinct for independence only to realize after a lifetime of surviving that we are inescapably bound to one another. For better or for worse.

How freeing it is to admit that I need you…collectively, globally, individually. Independence is not all it was cracked up to be. But I suppose I had to live it to realize it. And realizing it is like coming home. 🙂

————————-

This week’s Shi Sai is a bit odd. I suppose there are times when things are simply not meant to make sense. Like this past week actually…so much if it didn’t make sense.

At any rate, happy Independence Day and all that jazz. As for me? I still have a few of those cookies left from last weekend. Care to join me?

Shi Sai Sunday’s Week in ReVerse – 3 July 2016

I don’t have sweets around…
Hope’s gleaming promise…

Prayers for Instanbul

In the summer heat
when you can’t hear the music
It wasn’t enough…is it ever?
They’ll journey from the safety of the shore
Oft’ forgetting why

Earth bleeds crimson

Embodying all I am
It was just a stupid accident…or was it?
~ kat

The Shi Sai, (formerly known as a ReVerse) is a form created by Kat Myrman in April 2016. 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”)

2 Comments | tags: shi saii, Sunday, week in Reverse | posted in Challenges and Writing Prompts, Essays, Life Lessons, Poetry, Random Thoughts and Musings, Social Issues, Spirituality, Week in Review

July 2, 2016

A Stupid Accident

By Kat Myrman

They found him hanging there, tangled in the overhead light cord that snapped his neck, killing him instantly, when he fell. The police report stated that he had likely climbed on the cabinet to change the bulb, tripping on his untied shoelaces. It was just a stupid accident…or was it?