Category Archives: Essays

July 9, 2017

Shi Sai Sunday’s Week in ReVerse – 9 July 2017

By Kat Myrman

There is a full moon outside my window. The sky is almost cloudless and the moonlight is washing everything in a pale frosted glow. 

During the day when the sun is bright and high in the sky we are told as children not to look directly at it for fear of damaging our eyes. But it is in the cool shadowy hours of the night when we can gaze directly at the sun’s reflection on the face of the moon. It is not in fact moonlight that we see, for the moon has no light of her own, but it is the sun’s reflection. 


Sometimes I feel like the moon. Face half hidden in cool gray matte while the other half brightly glows … or like the moon in its phases, in full face glow or completely hidden, shadowed in gray. 

I need to remind myself that I am not a moon. I am not meant to be a reflector of everything around me. But that can be a daunting task when faced with the troubles of our times. It seems so much easier to turn inward when the going gets rough. 

But the truth is I am much more like the sun. Reminds me of the little Sunday school song many of us happily sang as youngsters…”this little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine…let it shine…let it shine…let it shine. 

We can’t afford to brood; to become reflectors of light hoping to deflect the darkness, because we are suns. If we don’t let the little sparks within us shine the world will just get darker.  

Thank goodness for the dawn and its daily reminder that offers an example to each of us to rise anew, to be light and hope, warmth and healing from the inside out. 


“This little light of mine…I’m gonna let it shine…let it shine…let it shine…let it shine…Have a wonderful week. Your light gives me hope.

Shi Sai Sunday’s Week in ReVerse – 9 July 2017

nature’s song in green
got her
it was a good death, as deaths go
but it could be true
parched, we are drowning
those who dream dance on
their dreams frail as dust
to greening flush and browning
driving us mad
with longing
as though they are gods
out on digital screens

~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.

9 Comments   |  tags: , , , , , , | posted in Digital Art & Photos, Essays, Life Lessons, nature, Poetry, Random Thoughts and Musings, Shi Sai, Social Issues, Spirituality, Week in Review

July 7, 2017

Phenology – Friday’s Word of the Day Haibun

By Kat Myrman


Happy Friday. Today’s dictionary.com Word is Phenology. According to dictionary.com, “Phenology entered English in the 1880s as acontracted variant of phenomenology, with restrictionto climatic phenomena.” It is defined as “the science dealing with the influence of climate onthe recurrence of such annual phenomena of animaland plant life as budding and bird migrations.”

After a further bit of research I learned that the study of phenology goes back thousands of years and is in fact one of the oldest sciences dealing with the natural world. According to the website, Windows to the Universe, “The Chinese are credited with the first written phenological records dating back to around 974 B.C. For the past 1200 years, observations of the timing of peak cherry blossoms in Japan have been recorded.”

I also learned that there are a number of proverbs and sayings that refer to phenology. Here are a few that I found:

“If oak’s before ash, you’re in for a splash. If ash before oak, you’re in for a soak”.

And another version along this line…

“If the oak is out before the ash, ‘Twill be a summer of wet and splash; If the ash is out before the oak,’Twill be a summer of fire and smoke.”

“In like a lion, out like a lamb”

“Christmas in clover, Easter in snow”…

“Spring is sooner recognized by plants than by men.”

Windows to the Universe explains: “Phenological observations have been used for centuries to maximize crop production, prepare for seasonal allergies, and anticipate optimal wildflower viewing conditions. Today, this well established science is used to track the effect of global warming and climate change on organisms and to make predictions about the future health of the environment.”

Did you know that scientists have tracked and discovered that the beginning of spring starts a week earlier in Europe in recent years? I didn’t. It’s called “season creep” and it is the sort of things that Phonologists study. 

Phenology is obviously an important science…for those of us who believe in science. 😉 Some cool new scientific terms I learned in my research include “green up” and “brown down”, having to do with infrared wavelengths from the sun. Can you guess which phenophase is being described by those words? Tick tock tick… Spring and Fall of course. Clever! Tracking green ups helps to identify species of plants that contribute most to the “infrared reflectance values”; a process is called “ground-truthing”. Another cool term!

There is so much more to learn about phenology. Do rev your google engines and learn more if you are a nature lover…or just curious. Or peruse an Old Farmer’s Almanac for that matter. I, on the other hand have a Haiku to write! Have a great weekend!

What force spurs seasons
to greening flush and browning?
Phenologists know!

~kat

5 Comments   |  tags: , , , , , , , | posted in Essays, Haibun, Haiku, nature, Poetry, Random Thoughts and Musings, Word of the Day Haiku

July 2, 2017

Shi Sai Sunday’s Week in ReVerse – 2 July 2017

By Kat Myrman


“Happy Sunday!”

“Happy, you say?!”

“Well, in a transcendental, metaphysical, quasi-spiritual, dreamy, optimistic sort of way, yes, happy. And it is a fact that it is Sunday…unless you reside in the Far East…then it is almost Monday…but I divagate.”

“You what?”

“Divagate….as in digress? Remember? The new word we learned this week.”

“You’re such a diva!”

“Am not! You are! But back to your original question, ‘happy, you say?!’ … yes, I take it you’re not.”

“Well, how can anyone be happy when everything in the world is spiraling out of control?”

“Take a Dramamine?”

“Come on! Global warming, a heath care bill that is going to kill people, an insane, mean old man running the country, Russia (need I say more?), collapsing infrastructure, the assault on our public schools, voting rights, gerrymandering, voter suppression, nationalism, travel bans, ageism, misogyny, racism, homophobia, religious profiling, insane tweets, the wall…”

“Feel better yet?”

“No, I’m just getting started. And just you wait. Tomorrow something else will happen to prove  we’re all up shit’s creek without a paddle. So forgive me miss giddy twinkle shoes if I can’t be happy right now! I’m mortified! It’s terrifying!”

“Oh, but you can. Be happy that is. It’s all a choice. It only takes a second.”

“Harrumph! Delusional you mean!”

“No. Happy. Right here, right now, this moment. Let me show you. First, close your eyes…now think about something that makes you happy.”

“You mean used to…”

“Give it a chance. And you opened your eyes…start over. Close your eyes…think happy something…anything. Got it?”

“Yeah. Okay now what?”

“Now take a deep breath in. Imagine yourself completely enveloped by your happy thing…don’t breathe out just yet…imagine…okay now…slowly…let it go. Feel better?”

“I do actually. I get it. I remember. Thanks self for pulling me off the ledge one more time.”

“Don’t mention it. We’re in this together you know. Happy Sunday?”

“Yeah, I’ll give you that. It’s happy enough, given the circumstances.”

“You’re exhausting!”

😳😊😟😉😜😀😢😣😐😘😌☺️😒😅😮

And…welcome to my world! My mind battles itself regularly. Yeah, the world is a bit, chaotic these days, but it’s important to unplug when it gets to be too much.

We’re gonna survive this, like we have survived every trying time in our history. I’m not going to tell you, “don’t worry, be happy”. That is a bit delusional, and it is important to stay engaged as a member of “we the people”. But…there is nothing wrong with divagating into your happy place every now and again.

Look! There goes a butterfly! A beautiful graceful butterfly…and there! Look! A flower! Oh, and I just noticed someone being kind…Wow! It’s not as hard as you think.

So…Happy Sunday y’all! I hope you can find your happy, if even for just a moment, this week. Just remember to breathe. ❤️

Shi Sai Sunday’s Week in ReVerse – 2 July 2017

If people only knew
never say it…only
smoldering remains
weeps perfume when crushed
from obsidian to glass
Some souls find heaven in hell’s corridors.
look! a butterfly!
divagating tweeted blips,
because that is what those with the truest hearts do
softly
magic is in the air
make love bloom
dreamers ask,
“why not?”

~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.

4 Comments   |  tags: , , , , , , , , , | posted in Digital Art & Photos, Essays, Humor, Life Lessons, Poetry, Random Thoughts and Musings, Shi Sai, Social Issues, Spirituality, Week in Review

June 30, 2017

Divagate – Friday’s Word of the Day Haiku

By Kat Myrman


It’s Friday and time to learn a new word and use it in a Haiku. Though I must admit that the 5/7/5 verses that I come up with are not “true” haiku. By definition, a Haiku is “a Japanese poem of seventeen syllables, in three lines of five, seven, and five, traditionally evoking images of the natural world.”

There have been a few words of the day that had something to do with nature. Although I do strive to maintain the form and the “in the moment” impression and “ah-ha” revelation aspect in each Haiku I write. And I might add that I am not Japanese. At least that’s what my DNA tells me….

This piece, though, and my other Friday forays might better be defined as a “Haibun”. Defined as “haikai writings, a prosimetric literary form originating in Japan, combining prose and haiku. The range of haibun is broad and frequently includes autobiography, diary, essay, prose poem, short story and travel journal.” (from Wikipedia)

Ah, but, I divagate, pronounced dahy-vuh-geyt not ‘dee-vuh-geyt’ as you might be tempted to say it, today’s word of the day at Dictionary.com. Although the word “diva” is hard to miss in the first part of this word, its etymology will clarify everything for you. First used late 16th century: from Latin divagat- ‘wandered around,’ from the verb divagari, from di- ‘widely’ + vagari ‘wander.’ (from google under ‘divagate etymology’)

So you see, divagate is not ‘diva+gate’ (sounds like a beauty pageant fiasco, doesn’t it?! 😉), but rather it is ‘di-vagate’ which accounts for its unique pronunciation.

And finally, what does all this mean? I’m glad you asked! According to dictionary.com Divagate means “to wander; stray, or to digress in speech.”

Does the fact that someone is prone to divagate make them a diva? Perhaps. If only to illustrate that said divagator likes to hear themselves talk while demanding that everyone around them listen with rapt attention to their gibberish!

But alas, there I go divagating again. I have been accused of this before, not because I am a diva mind you. Blame it on a short attention span and my tendency to become easily distracted. 😜

And if you have read this far, the very least I can do is reward you with a Haiku or two, the part two of this haibun, which I learned is also Japanese…which I am not…😊

Have a great weekend…and for my US friends, enjoy your Independence…4th of July Celebration Day…emphasis on “independence” while it lasts!!! 😳

one hundred forty
divagating tweeted blips,
known also, as spin

follow if you can
divagators who drivel
look! a butterfly!
~kat

6 Comments   |  tags: , , , , , , | posted in Essays, Haibun, Haiku, Poetry, Random Thoughts and Musings, Word of the Day Haiku

June 25, 2017

Shi Sai Sunday’s Week in ReVerse – 25 June 2017

By Kat Myrman


Happy Sunday! Today’s Shi Sai reads like story. I have grown to love fiction. I was never a fan before I started blogging. Oh, I’d read a few novels here and there. There are compulsory tomes that we are assigned in school. I read them, sort of. My attention span never let me dive too deeply into the guts of a story. I got distracted and bored. When I discovered “Cliff Notes” I shifted happily to the classics light and fared quite well when tasked with writing book reports.

Now this is not to say that I wasn’t a reader. I gobbled up poetry and shorts, non-fiction and essays. Imagine my delight when I discovered the concept of flash fiction! I didn’t even know it was a thing until I started blogging. And I discovered that fiction can be a series of life snippets. Each chapter of a book is a snapshot, a zoom-in view of the panoramic whole. The good ones have cliff hangers, or at least a tease to launch you to the next.

And fiction, when we know it is fiction can transport us from the realities of our own drama. It gives us an opportunity to reflect. To find gratitude in the fact that things could be different in our own lives, better or worse. Even when the story is all too familiar it offers us the consolation that we are not alone; that someone, somewhere lived through what we are experiencing…and lived to tell it.

So I am a reformed non-fiction junkie. There is great power and inspiration to be found in the web of a well-crafted tale. And there is no one more surprised than me to duscover that I enjoy crafting a story now and again. I hope I do the genre justice. I’ve have even toyed with the idea of writing a novel, or a novelette at the very least. Who’d a thought?!

Have a great week! May your story this week leave you inspired. May there not be too many unfortunate events or unsettling plot twists. l hope to see you at the end of this chapter next week. Until then, here’s a glimpse at this week’s look back…

Shi Sai Sunday’s Week in ReVerse – 25 June 2017

blue to bitter, raining
his blind date never showed
the truth comes to light
may appear larger than life
even if the time is short
when did the rock-a-bye bough break
he just didn’t know it yet.
There, there. Don’t resist.
language is an art
cannot be trusted
ice on my lips
a thousand lies
if only’s
bright to dark
dreams that come to life
fate didn’t agree

~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.

5 Comments   |  tags: , , , , | posted in Digital Art & Photos, Essays, Poetry, Random Thoughts and Musings, Shi Sai, Week in Review