Category Archives: Essays

Twittering Tales #45 – 15 August 2017

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About the challenge: Each Tuesday I will provide a prompt, and your mission, if you choose to play along, is to tell a story based on that prompt in 140 characters or less. If you accept the challenge, be sure to let me know in the comments with a link to your tale.

A final note: if you need help tracking the number of characters in your story, there is a nifty online tool that will count for you at charactercountonline.com.

I will do a roundup each Tuesday, along with providing a new prompt. Have Fun!

Twittering Tale #44 – The Round-Up

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Photo from Pixabay.com

From Kalpana at Gemini in the Sky:
Flaws, egos appear magnified when scrutinized under the lens.
Errors like straws float on water, he who yearns for pearls must dive below.

From Reena at ReInventions:
“Do we focus on the core or surroundings?”
“See only the impact of the environment on the core. Everything else is irrelevant.”
(126 characters)

From Michael at Morpethroad:
He looked closer. There they were.
Undiscovered microbes.
Waving enthusiastically.
One held a sign.
We can change your life. 
(139 characters)

From Fandango at This, That, and the Other:
You won’t believe what I saw when I put that sample of water under the scope. Please don’t drink anymore of that crap. It will kill you.
(138 characters)

From Sight11 at Journey:
Under scrutiny
Vision Originate..
Sigil, Animation
Detrimental, Essence
Perplexed, Demiurge
Anthropos, Execution

From Leena at Soul Connection:
“The finding I thought will gve lyfline to ppls took lyf of my old frnd who agreed for test.SORRY FRIEND”He said n burried Him in Dark Ngt.

From Susmita at Uniquesus:
Little Joe curiously peered at the microorganisms through his father’s microscope and a whole new world was discovered before his eyes.
(135 characters)

From Kitty at Kitty’s Verses:
Things get blown out of proportion at close quarters.A step back,yes this scary little thing could be an antidote for the dangerous disease.
140 Characters

From Martin at Martin Cororan:
Initially, being accidentally shrunk down to the size of an amoeba sucked, until he discovered other scientists the size of atoms and took up residence as their god.
139 Characters

From Radhika at Radhika’s Reflection:
Endless years of hard work made Dr. Nicholas the most famous scientist worldwide. But it also made him a recluse confined to his laboratory.
Character count :139

From Peter at Peter’s Ponderings:
Looking up, it saw a huge green eye.
It wasn’t the usual lady; it liked her body odour.
This one was pungent and rancid. Not nice at all!
(137 characters)

From Sandi at Flip Flops Every Day:
Excited about the new microscope, he told his son to find something for the slide. The boy laughed, “I picked a good one, guess what it is”

From Lorraine at In 25 Words, More or Less:
The returning Mars probe carried within it’s capture chamber microbiological proof of life on the forbidding enticing alien world, Earth.
(140 characters)

From Kathryn at Another Foodie Blogger:
Sue spent 26 hours straight painstakingly staring into the scope looking for clues of interstellar life. Wait! I see Waldo? Time to go home.

From Di at Pensitivity101:
The message clearly said ‘Hello Mum!’ She was stunned.
In the other room, Mike was etching ‘April Fool’ on another slide.
120 characters.

From Vivian at Smell the Coffee:
Dr Casi had found the cure!
He peers eagerly as his sperm cells kill the cancer cells.
His alien DNA was mankind’s answer!
But who to tell?
(Twittering Tale -140 characters)

From Deepika at Deepika’s Ramblings:
Microscopic vision of thoughts and words magnifies your outlook manifold. So examine your words minutely, before you speak, dear, said Mom.
139 Characters

From John at Broadsides:
Look close, closer still for the unexamined life is not worth living

From Francine at Woman Walks Dog:
Aha the gene therapy worked, at last a human- spider hybrid. Think of its spiderlings spinning, sprinting, hatching a hundred eggs at a time. Power at last!

 

and mine:

Dr. Cole was convinced he’d found the antidote, but the virus was resistant. He assembled his notes with a warning for those who’d find him.
(140 Characters)

Bravo! And thank you, everyone, for dissecting the challenge this week! Once again, another great round of tweet-sized tales. Who says awesome doesn’t come in microscopic packages! 😉 Be sure to click on the links and visit your fellow tweeters. I often find the comments as entertaining as the tales! It’s all in the details you know…finite and brilliant!

Welcome to Twittering Tale #45! I found this interesting photo on pixabay by a graphic artist who goes by the alias 5arah for this week’s round.

It’s strange looking at first, but I found the more I looked at it, the less strange it seemed. Which, of course is what a “wolf in sheep’s clothing” is hoping for. Or maybe it’s just a cloning experiment gone wrong…Poor Dolly lost her head in a petri dish!

At any rate, I know you will put on your thinking caps and get to the bottom of this freak of nature. And of course, as always have fun! We could all use a little more fun these days. See you next week at the Roundup.

Twittering Tale #45 – 15 August 2017

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Photo Prompt by 5arah at Pixabay.com

Explore 6 landed on Kepler-438b. Capt. Dean sent live feed to Command.

“Wow!” they gasped, “a wolf-sheep!?”

Dean screamed, “No! A bird-sna…”

~kat 😉


Shi Sai Sunday’s Week in ReVerse -13 August 2017

The heavens are convulsing this month with lunar eclipses, meteor showers, solar eclipses and retrograde mercurial planets. Is it any wonder we’re going mad down here? But don’t blame the heavens or the gods for what is happening. We can’t keep pointing fingers at others saying, “There! They are the reason why our lives are a mess, not working, or unhappy…fill in the blank…the reasons are many.

It’s time my friends to look in the mirror and decide on which side of fault line you will stand. There is no middle. The middle is an abyss. And the the choice is easier than you think. A few questions to help you along…

Love? or Hate?
Truth? or Lies?
Open? or Closed?
Fear? or Faith?
Apathy? or Empathy?
Ignorance? or Knowledge?
Judgment? or Mercy?
Compassion? or Indifference?
Doors? or Walls?
Black Lives Matter? or All Lives Matter? (…this is not a trick question…)
Love is Love is Love? Or Love is…except for…?

I could go on, but I’m going to stop right here. I believe most of us want to believe we’re doing the right thing. We want to believe we’re good. Contrary to popular, feel good, “we’re all entitled to our own opinion” sensibilities, there is a right and a wrong answer. Of course we would choose the right answer…the right words. But what do our actions say?

I’m not judging. I wrestle everyday with these questions. I fall short. But I would like to declare a do-over for us all. Slate clean. It’s not too late.

What will I do when called to take a stand? What do I do when no one is looking? Can I look in the mirror without wincing? Because at the end of the day that is what matters. At the end of the day we need each other and we’re counting on us to do the right thing; the thing that is good and true and just.

Blessings and grace, love and healing to you this week. Clean slate. Let’s do this! ❤️

Shi Sai Sunday’s Week in ReVerse -13 August 2017

moll with painted crimson lips
feel the blue
but the virus was resistant
for the costly price of love
evanescence gone
no means no, you know
I could tell you things…
she appears as an angel
come out from the nimbus mist
there is no normal
dull, entranced faces
our dreams bittersweet
prayers for our fractured nation
their magnificent innocence…fades far too quickly, like echoes of laughter in the distance.

~kat

A shi sai or ReVerse poem 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 shi sai features the words of one writer, providing a glimpse into their thoughts over time. I use it as a review of the previous week.


Nimbus – Friday’s Word of the Day Haibun/Haiku

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Today’s Word of the Day at Dictionary.com is Nimbus. Now, some of you may be familiar with its common link to a particular type of cloud formation; namely, Nimbostratus Clouds. They are those dark, low level clouds bursting at the seams with rain droplets, snow or sleet. I think they are my favorites because when they form the backdrop of a row of tall trees they transform the leaves into a luminous green.

First found recorded in the English language in 1730, Nimbus is linked to the Greek (nephos) “cloud” and Latin (nimbus and nebula), a meaning “cloud, mist”, and (nembh) “violent rainstorm, thundercloud”. The word, nimbus, is also linked to the Slavic (polish) word Niebo for “sky, heaven” which is probably why it was eventually applied to deities and gods. A nimbus in this application is defined at the bright cloud that envelops a deity appearing to mortals in classic mythology. In Christianity it refers to a saint’s halo or aureole.

If you’re a Trekkie, you will know that Nimbus III is located in the Neutral Zone in the Beta Quadrant in the Nimbus sector at the junction between the Federation, the Klingon Empire and the Romulan Star Empire. Or at least it was until they moved it to sit very near Romulus system, and far from the Klingon border. You can read more about that HERE.

These days we still use nimbus to describe a cloud, aura or the atmosphere around someone, if we even use it at all. According to the Collin’s Dictionary, nimbus is in the lower 50% of commonly used words. Nimbus is not a word that I’ll likely use.

Which brings me to the word nimble…which has nothing to do with nimbus. They’re not even closely related in etymological terms. But nimble is the new buzz word in business circles. Must be agile and nimble and identify synergies because at the end of the day, the bottom line means balancing our EBITDA to making our shareholders happy and richer at the end of each quarter. This is what happens when I’ve worked another long crazy week and it’s Friday and I have to come in on the weekend because other people didn’t do their work on time. GRRRRrrrrr!

But I digress. Breathe Kathy…let the nimbus of grace and peace surround you. Write a few Haiku. You’ll feel better…you know you will.  Ahhhh…ohhhmmmm…ahhhh…:)

Actually I do feel a bit better. Here are a few haiku for you. Hope you have a great weekend! 🙂

dull, entranced faces
aglow in pale blue nimbus
where’s the pokemon?

insanity looms
a suffocating nimbus
there is no normal

if you are there god
come out from the nimbus mist
we need a hero

when the sun is right
she appears as an angel
a nimbus of light

~kat


Legacy

Legacy

Since moving from the Midwest to the South some 30 years ago, I have become keenly aware of class and rank and, I’m just going to say it, blatant racism in the United States of America. It is as thick as the honey dripping from a southern belle’s lips when she coos, “bless their hearts.” I was shocked to learn that the southern-born locals, especially here in Virginia “Where the Nation Reunited”, yearn to have one last (un)Civil battle to set things right…the way things shoulda’ been…the way things always had a’ been before the War of Northern Aggression took away their right to own people, and later dared to demand that they allow their lily-white, privileged, progeny attend school with the coloreds. I know my words sound harsh. I mean for them to sound that way. It was a culture shock to me back then, just as the current state of unrest in this country is a shock to some folks now.

Fast forward to the 21st century and it’s plain to see that the bitter divisions we are suffering are nothing new. None of us should be surprised by the ugliness that has been unearthed by this latest battle of Conservatives versus Liberals.

I listen to pundits on tv who wonder how long it will take to undo the damage done in less than a year by politicians who seek to destroy government on the backs of the middle class and the poor, while lining the pockets of the rich, and their own. I’ve thought about it and I don’t expect us to recover anytime soon. In fact, the way I see it, this was just a relapse. Eventually we may slip into remission; the ugly underbelly of our worst devils may crawl back under their rocks. It’s been a sickness raging just under our skin for several centuries now.

And make no mistake, here in the South the Rebs are in no hurry to stop this train. They finally have a hero who talks like they think; mean and spiteful and hateful. With rebel flags flapping in the wind they’re locked and loaded and ready for that do-over to set things right. Those who refuse to learn the lessons of history are doomed to repeat it…and repeat it.

i wasn’t prepared
for the venomous rancor,
lines drawn in concrete,
pompous trumpeter swagger,
all civility be damned

i wasn’t prepared
for the costly price of love;
humanity’s end
~kat

For Colleen Chesebro’s Weekly Poetry Tuesday Challenge, a Haibun/Tanka/Haiku prompted by the words Hate and Pride.


Shi Sai Sunday’s Week in ReVerse – 6 August 2017


Most of you know I have a day job. Sometimes the day job encroaches my free time, launching me into an exhausting week of all work and no play, or in my case no time for writing. I managed to scribble out a few lines but I admit even the magnetic words felt overwhelming to me by week’s end.

Fortunately, since I began blogging, I have grown to appreciate the effectiveness of a 6 word story or a tweet. I’m bummed that I missed several of my favorite challenges this week. They were all good ones. I just couldn’t even…

But it makes me pay attention all the more to the words that did spill out of my brain this week, finding voice in prose or poetry. Six lines made it to the finish. There’s that number again. And today is the 6th day of August. Six…you have my attention. What are you trying to tell me? (So of course I am pausing here to look it up…be right back!)

From the site, mysticalnumbers, I learned:

*The number 6 is a symbol of completeness.
*Number 6 symbolizes beauty and high ideals.
*Number 6 is A Perfect Number. The *Pythagoreans acknowledged number 6 to be the first perfect number.
*Number 6 is the symbol of luck, the highest number of the dice.
*The number 6 is the symbol of Venus, the goddess of love.
*In the Tarot, six is the card of the Lover – The Lovers naturally symbolizes anything to do with the heart; love and also inner peace and harmony.
*June is the 6th month. (my birth month)
*The number 6 is the atomic number for carbon.
*The standard flute has six holes.
*The standard guitar has six strings.
*Insects have six legs.
*In the beehive honeycomb, the cells are six-sided.

And as I shared this week, I have lived on this planet 6 decades. It seems like such a small number but it is a perfect number. It is a symbol of completeness. What I glean from all this is that even though I was not allowed to spend more time writing, the words that I did find, and my simple little six line ReVerse, are a perfect representation of my life this past week.

My boss told me to be ready to hit the ground running this coming week. Looks like another week chasing a dollar. If only I didn’t need food and shelter to survive, I could spend all my hours writing. But would more words tell my story any more eloquently? I’ll hang onto that thought when I find only a moment, here and there, to write. There is perfection in brevity.

Peace out! Have a magical week! I’m ready. Here we go…to infinite perfection and beyond!

Shi Sai Sunday’s Week in ReVerse – 6 August 2017

your life is poetry in rhythm
Morning, you. I made coffee
cut flowers die
I don’t need to know all the answers
my tack is a pen
full moon dusking

~kat

A shi sai or ReVerse poem 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 shi sai features the words of one writer, providing a glimpse into their thoughts over time. I use it as a review of the previous week.