Category Archives: Essays

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. 🙂

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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: , , | posted in Challenges and Writing Prompts, Essays, Life Lessons, Poetry, Random Thoughts and Musings, Social Issues, Spirituality, Week in Review

July 1, 2016

Churrasco – Friday’s Word of the Day Haiku

By Kat Myrman

Churrasco is today’s dictionary.com word of the day. I find that these daily words often seemed contrived to coincide with current events. It’s probably no coincidence then, that many of us will be barbecuing this weekend. Hence today’s word. Wikipedia gives an expanded definition:

Churrasco (Spanish: [tʃuˈrasko], Portuguese: [ʃuˈʁasku]) is a Spanish and Portuguese term referring to beef or grilled meat more generally, differing across Latin America and Europe, but a prominent feature in the cuisine of Uruguay, Brazil, Bolivia, Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Nicaragua, Peru and other Latin American countries. The related term churrascaria (or churrasqueria) is mostly understood to be a steakhouse.

A churrascaria is a restaurant serving grilled meat, many offering as much as one can eat: the waiters move around the restaurant with the skewers, slicing meat onto the client’s plate.[1] This serving style is called espeto corrido or rodízio, and is quite popular in Brazil.

This weekend, here in the US, we will be celebrating Independence Day. Like most holidays many of us will spend our time oblivious to the true reason for the occasion. For some the day will simply be a much needed respite from work. For others it will be an occasion for gatherings where spirited beverages flow freely and everyone gathers around red hot pits sizzling with churrasco (aka: roast meat), stuffing and drinking themselves into sleepy stupors. Many of us will ooh and ah at colorful firework displays in a tradition reminiscent of our country’s first Independence Day celebration where “In 1777, thirteen gunshots were fired in salute, once at morning and once again as evening fell, on July 4 in Bristol, Rhode Island. Philadelphia celebrated the first anniversary in a manner a modern American would find quite familiar: an official dinner for the Continental Congress, toasts, 13-gun salutes, speeches, prayers, music, parades, troop reviews, and fireworks. Ships were decked with red, white, and blue bunting.” (From Wikipedia)

On this Independence Day, may we pause from our celebrations long enough to remember the price many paid for our freedom. 😊

Back to my challenge. Here then is my haiku about roast beast…

Holidays are spent
Feasting ’round churrasco pits
Oft’ forgetting why.

kat ~ 1 July 2016

5 Comments   |  tags: , , , , | posted in Challenges and Writing Prompts, Essays, Haiku, Poetry, Random Thoughts and Musings, Word of the Day Haiku

June 26, 2016

Shi Sai Sunday’s Week in ReVerse – 26 June 2016

By Kat Myrman

Photo by Kat Myrman

Happy Sunday! I certainly did not expect this week’s Shi Sai to make sense, the week was rather nonsensical, but in an odd turn of the pen it actually does. What a strange, unsettling time it has been for so many in our world.

In my corner of it there were incredible highs and inconsolable lows. And through it all, a stream of silver lining weaved its way to my heart giving me hope.

I have hope because I was able to witness a band of underdogs finally tasting victory! And it was just as sweet, I’m betting even sweeter than they imagined it would be.

I have hope because even in the face of frightening uncertainty I still had busy today’s demanding my attention…bright sunrises and a fat, full heart-shaped moon that kept me grounded in the present moment. There where fragrant blooms, tasty kitchen creations and victories to be savored.

I have hope because I am finding that even in the midst of calamity, often of our own doing, more and more people are coming to their senses, realizing how naked the emperors are. Yes, there is hope for us all yet!

So here then is a quick look back to revisit the words and lines that tumbled onto the page this past week. I won’t dwell on it for too long though, because today, with its fresh slate of possibilities awaits and I have a hankering for shortbread. 😊

Sweet daydreams to you as always and Happy Sunday!

Shi Sai Sunday’s Week in ReVerse – 26 June 2016

take a walk on the wild side
there will most certainly be
casualties,
when ripe for pricking
thus doomed to repeat history
take heart, remembering that LOVE never fails…
lean toward the extreme
the crowd does not always know the way
’til dinner is served
Let me see your happy faces!

~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”)

6 Comments   |  tags: , , , | posted in Challenges and Writing Prompts, Digital Art & Photos, Essays, Life Lessons, Poetry, Random Thoughts and Musings, Social Issues, Spirituality, Week in Review

June 24, 2016

Endsville ~ Friday’s Word of the Day Haiku

By Kat Myrman

Is it Friday already? Actually I had hoped it was Friday days ago! It’s been a long week! But here we are with the calendar finally matching the day. And of course it is time again to peek at dictionary.com for today’s word of the day. Endsville. At first glance it sounds like no place I would like to be.

The entomology and definition of this word in cyberspace is quite scarce, which might make one think that it is a made up word…but then, aren’t all words made up by someone somewhere?

Here’s dictionary.com’s definition:

1. (sometimes lowercase) Slang. most wonderful or exciting: a rock band that was regarded as Endsville in the late fifties.

2. (sometimes lowercase) Slang. (of a location, circumstance, etc.) most isolated or undesirable.

Origin of Endsville


Endsville is an extension of the slang expression the end, meaning “the ultimate; the utmost of good or bad.” It entered English in the 1950s.

At any rate, my google search did reveal that endsville is the name of a rock band from the 1950’s, a movie, a poem, a sculpture, the title of a series of stories and a fictional place, as well as being an adjective. If I were going to make a word up, I think I might like it to mean a variety of things. How versatile this silly slang word is! Which of course calls for a silly haiku! 

Endsville ..The Haiku

To be the be all
or the endsville of a thing
lean toward the extreme!


kat ~ 24 June 2016

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

June 24, 2016

Take Heart

By Kat Myrman


I rarely pull out my fancy camera anymore, since I always have my camera phone with me. Over the years I have taken many full moon shots later enhancing them to pick up on the aura of the moonglow  since my camera does not afford me the crisp view of the moon man’s face. 

I happened to catch the Strawberry Moon this month and did my usual digital renderings which, to my delight, revealed a heart-shaped moon! Some of you may know I love to find things heart-shaped…rocks, leaves, trees…so I thought nothing of it until a friend shared her own photo of the moon mentioning that it looked heart-shaped. Coincidence? 

Of course I mulled this thought around a bit…(you are now entering the twilight zone of my pinging brain…fair warning…😊) …we all know that the moon reflects what it sees. From our vantage point in the world things are pretty chaotic, scary and dark. But based on the moon’s reflection I can’t help but imagine that despite our calamitous state there is a strong undercurrent of love permeating the planet. So strong that it has the power to break the rigid circle we’ve drawn around ourselves to bend the moon’s reflective surface into a heart, reminding us perhaps, or at least reminding me, to take heart when I am sad or fearful. The most important thing, the only thing that saves us all is LOVE. Even in the darkness love waits to be found. 

And so I say to you too…take heart, remembering that LOVE never fails…

Hearts, hugs and kisses,

Kat

5 Comments   |  tags: , , | posted in Essays, Life Lessons, Random Thoughts and Musings, Social Issues, Spirituality