the forest for the trees
I know they’re there
the golden hillside
the mountain vista
the endless blue sky
the sun
my memory
serves me well..
they’re there
but for today
heaven enfolds me
in her cool, damp cocoon
to savor the moment
to breathe, to sigh
to notice the trees
for the forest
~kat
daffodils in winter
it’s too soon
much too soon
my darling daffodils
to breach the loam
to dare to bloom
much, much too soon
i’m sorry dear, sweet daffodils
the mercury ascended
disguised itself as spring
to lure us from our winter wombs
to prey upon our longing hearts
tomorrow you will feel the sting
as winter rides the ides,
lurks, waiting in the wings
his frosty breath descending
to nip your golden face at dawn
but oh the hope you give my soul
weary from these long, long nights
spring tidings to you for today
may she not tarry long
~kat
writer’s block
I could say I have no words;
that the Muse is hiding,
or that I have nothing to say, but
I would be lying
I have words, so many words
vacillating from incredulous disbelief
to zealous commitment, to truth, to rage
oh, I have words
words that keep me up at night
words that rip my soul to shreds
words that, if I dared utter them out loud
would assure you that
I have completely lost my mind
even while, as they settle in your gut,
you find resonance with them...
it's just words after all
I wonder sometimes if it’s best
to embrace the silence or blurt it out,
the raw pain, the fear, the exhaustion, the sorrow
to scream, to whisper in primal tones
to the air, to the sky, to the gods
to whoever might listen
it may just be me thinking out loud, but
I imagine that saying what everyone is
afraid to say, might actually make us all
a little less lonely
and even pave the way to healing
ah…the irony, the brilliance!
cutting words wielded
to incise the poison
festering in us all
~I am still kat
It seemed a good time to assess the past several weeks of verse by crafting a ReVerse. I had every intention of doing a sevenling daily in the new year for January…then work, duty, and caregiving got in the way. Still, it is a good start to a new year, one of which I am optimistically hopeful.
Even though 2023 promises to be a shitshow on the world’s stage. The inmates truly in charge of and running the place here in the US now, and elsewhere insanity is raging unchecked…unprovoked aggression and cruelty, war crimes, nuclear saber rattling by unhinged egomaniacs, lingering COVID. It’s a mess. But we are a resilient lot, we humans. And there is still, there is always a reason to be grateful for each second of breath, of life.
Take care of yourselves, be kind, don’t lose hope, embrace the moment. Peace to you.
A ReVerse - 8 January 2023
the trees will show me
a wise soul will surrender
in our hearts we know
the winds come
the sum of a life
wisdom to ponder
beauty in simplicity
anything but bleak
singed with loss, happy milestones, grief…
for all these beautiful years…decades
there's something in the air, conjuring the dawn in afterglow
was it barbarians at the gate caused Rome to fall, or complicity?
~kat
A ReVerse poem (a practice I started many years ago) is a summary poem with a single line lifted from each entry of a collection of work over a particular timeframe and re-penned in chronological order as a new poem. Unlike a collaborative poem, the ReVerse features the words of one writer, providing a glimpse into their thoughts over time.
sevenling (the dawn)
Eos rises, cloak of saffron, glowing
roses blush beneath the mist from her wet kisses
her fiery passion breaks the darkest dark of night
i rise warmed by the glow of this new day
oblivious to this celestial passion play
grateful for the tomorrow promised yesterday
there's something in the air, conjuring the dawn in afterglow
~kat
like mercury colliding... 