Category Archives: Essays

Serendipity

A Cleave Poem for Jane Dougherty’s Poetry Challenge “Message in a Bottle” with the prompt words: ethereal, placid, meander, forget, silver.

A cleave poem is three poems in one. To read it, start with the first “column” (in plain text) from top to bottom, then read the second (in bold italics), and finally read each line all the way across. In this Cleave poem there are two stories to tell, worlds apart until the message in a bottle connects them. It is serendipitous! 🙂


I found your message do you think of me?
as I meandered along the placid sea I know you are there
under the silver moon somewhere in the ethereal mist
I have sensed your presence forever so I wrote my heart
visiting my dreams, azure strokes of ink on parchment
your kisses on the cool breeze trusting destiny’s providence
waves caressing my feet to deliver this message
as the sun sets past the horizon on some distant shore
where you wait…and now I wait.

kat ~ 18 May 2016


Shi Sai Sunday’s Week in ReVerse ~ 15 May 2016

Another Shi Sai Sunday Week in ReVerse. This week was rather busy in my 9 to 5. I did consort with my muse though, in the in-between and wee hours. When life gets fussy with schedules and deadlines and such, I am so grateful for poetry. As long as I can loose myself in iambic pentameter every now and again I can trudge through the necessaries and know that I haven’t lost my soul.
But I do miss my bits of flash, as in fiction. And my little story series that is hanging on the cusp. I promise to get back to it soon. 🙂

For now, I am happy to be here in the happy place. I celebrated a year of blogging this past week. And my friend Lynn of LynzRealCooking became a Grandma to twins this week. She posted baby pics! You have to go see them!

Another friend, Jacqueline honored me with an interview. You can check that out HERE. Thank you Jacqueline! Did you know she just published her first book of poetry? You should check it out. Jacqueline is a wonderful writer!

Oh, and to round out my week I found another heart shaped rock. I collect them. (And I occasionally give them away if I encounter someone who looks like they might need one.) They are everywhere, but rare at the same time. It takes a bit of hard knocks for a common rock to become a heart. Pieces of its roundness must be chipped away. It may suffer tosses and tumbles and encounters with sharp obstacles to “become”. We are kind of like that. Each of us sharing our hearts from the messy life lessons we’ve survived, as well as the joy and beauty of it all. It has made us who we are. I love the first line of this week’s shi sai… It says it all!

Shi Sai Sunday’s Week in ReVerse ~ 15 May 2016

We are connected by an invisible cord.
But truth…but Truth, sweet siren
songstress,
scattered randomly on air
enlightened souls
flower buds
more than a rainbow
she waits for dusk’s indigo sky
when life is fresh and roses drip with dew…
Now THIS, I can wrap my right-skewed brain around…
metamorphosis complete.

kat


Trophic – Friday’s Word of the Day Haiku

trophic

Happy Friday! Today’s Dictionary.com Word of the Day is Trophic. I don’t think I have ever heard this word before. Though I am familiar with trophic levels as they relate to the steps in the food chain. So it is likely that may have seen it in the course of my biology studies. At any rate, it is an adjective.

The Oxford Dictionary defines Trophic as:
1
Relating to feeding and nutrition.

1.1Physiology (Of a hormone or its effect) stimulating the activity of another endocrinegland.

Origin
Late 19th century: from Greek trophikos, from trophē ‘nourishment’, from trephein ‘nourish’.

The definition above tests the limits of my left brain! When I set about to research the word, the term, trophic “levels” kept coming up, complete with PICTURES. Now THIS, I can wrap my right-skewed brain around. Thank goodness! Or I might never have been able to wrangle a haiku out of the word. I give you then… Trophic in Haiku…with pictures. 🙂

food-chain-levels

Breaking the Food Chain

Human consumers
top food chain trophic levels
unless they’re vegan.

kat ~ 13 May 2016


A Perfect Mother’s Day Weekend


A perfect Mother’s Day weekend is coming to an end. Perfect, not because it was perfect…perfect because it was not…perfect.

Like life, the weekend was peppered with disappointing mishaps…the gift that didn’t arrive on time and a flat tire that derailed our plans for the rest of Sunday morning after a lovely breakfast.

To my daughters who were disappointed that their gift didn’t arrive on time, knowing that it is on its way stirs memories of the months I waited for each one of you. You have already given me the best gift of all. You have each given me your presence, your sweet smiling faces, your laughter, and the precious gift of watching you grow into amazing human beings. I’m glad to wait a day or two longer for your special gift. Each time I look at it, I’ll think of all of these things, ponder them in my heart because that’s what mothers do.

And about that inconvenient flat tire. To my first born who delayed her busy schedule to help us get the tire repaired, I admit I was almost grateful for the detour. It gave me a few more minutes with you and reminded me of what I already know. Though we are all busy with work and school, spiraling in different directions day to day, family, our family is the gravity that holds us together and keeps us close. We are connected by an invisible cord.

My idea of perfection might seem a little odd to you. But it is the messy imperfections in life that touch my heart the deepest.


Happy Mother’s Day!


Shi Sai Sunday, A Week in ReVerse – 8 May 2016


Happy Sunday. And Happy Mother’s Day! Today’s shi sai doesn’t really need an introduction or summation. It stands alone. It says it all.

But this I know. Having a mother, being one and having the joy of watching my own daughters become mothers is a mysterious, miraculous, demonstration of grace. Grace….embracing, releasing, forgiving, healing…with love unconditional, deep and infinite.

“Mother” is a word that conjures up a full range of emotions. For some, love and nurture, and for others, it can be…complicated. But for all of us there is grace to be who we were born to be.

Shi Sai Sunday, A Week in ReVerse – 8 May 2016

grace always makes room
flooding the earth slaying the soul
every morning before dawn
shades of soft wisteria
dreams, sweet dreams, quenching
those guilty of turpitude,
so I couldn’t pass this one up
you already know
surrounded by your favorite flowers, thorns and all, I would like to thank you Mom, for inspiring me even in your brokenness to become the daughter, woman and mother I am today….
hug your babies while they’re young
time passes in a blink!

~kat