Category Archives: Essays

April Poetry Month – A Poem a Day #20

I have a busy day tomorrow so I’m posting poetry month, day 20 a day early. The Minute Poem is a rhyming verse form consisting of 12 lines of 60 syllables written in strict iambic meter. The poem is formatted into 3 stanzas of 8,4,4,4; 8,4,4,4; 8,4,4,4 syllables. The rhyme scheme is as follows: aabb, ccdd, eeff.

While on my way to work this morning a strange storefront caught my eye, in particular the statue in the window. I knew I needed to stop by on my way home to explore it a bit more.

It is a strange, verging on creepy, little place. A small sign on a side window says it’s a Catholic museum. The statues and relics contained within share the space with lawn chairs, debris and dust.

I couldn’t help feeling a bit nostalgic, remembering the unfailing devotion of my grandmother who attended Novena Masses every morning and taught me to believe in the mystical and miraculous.

Odd as it all was, I felt blessed by those memories of my childhood and embraced in grace.

Even there behind a pane of glass, surrounded by piles of junk and buried under layers of dust…even there, miracles are possible.

Here then is my Minute Poem…

NOTE: I had mistaken the identity of this lovely “lady”. She is, in fact Saint Therese of Lisieux. So…to be accurate, I have tweaked the poem. It doesn’t change the meter or the mystical quality. A rose by another name is still sweet. ❤

  

Storefront Saint 

Hail fair Lady full of woe
no votive’s glow
to warm your feet
here on Fifth Street.

As weary travelers pass by
none catch your eye
lacking vision
for apparitions.

Strange Storefront Saint Therese, you wait
bestowing grace
upon the few
who notice you.

~kat – 20 April 2016


April Poetry Month ~ A Poem a Day #17

The Tetractys, is today’s poetry form. It’s an invented form by Ray Stebbing, consisting of at least 5 lines of 1, 2, 3, 4, 10 syllables (total of 20). Tetractys can be written with more than one verse, but must follow suit with an inverted syllable count. Tetractys can also bereversed and written 10, 4, 3, 2, 1. 

Double Tetractys: 1, 2, 3, 4, 10, 10, 4, 3, 2, 1

Triple Tetractys: 1, 2, 3, 4, 10, 10, 4, 3, 2, 1, 1, 2, 3, 4, 10

and so on.

Ray Stebbing had this to say about his inspiration for the Tetractys: “Euclid, the mathematician of classical times, considered the number series 1, 2, 3, 4 to have mystical significance because its sum is 10, so he dignified it with a name of its own – Tetractys. The tetractys could be Britain’s answer to the haiku. Its challenge is to express a complete thought, profound or comic, witty or wise, within the narrow compass of twenty syllables.”

It’s a simple form with no rhyme constraints; just follow the syllable rules. It’s the perfect poetry form for a restful Sunday morning. I came up with a  few.

If there were spiritual advice columns…

“Soul
Seeking
Nirvana”
Find lasting peace
By refusing to entertain Ego.

yielding 

Trees
Extend
To heaven
And burrow deep
Extremes of longing, that bend on a breeze.

Digital Wet Blanket

You
And me
This moment
Eternity….
Love is in bloom; we must take a selfie!

kat ~ 17 April 2016


Sunday’s Week in ReVerse – 17 April 2016

A familiar sunny Sunday morning scene…lounging in while my cat, Casey, waits patiently for shadows of squirrels and birds to flutter by. Routine is a wonderful thing. Once entrenched, you hardly even notice it, and when you do it’s beauty and simplicity has a way of calming us amidst the chaos of life.

This week like so many recent weeks has presented with political undertones. But unlike some election seasons peppered with idealistic aspirations for the future, this cycle has been just plain angry.

And I get it. Things are not as rosy as we’d like them to be. Anger is a natural response to disappointment. But sustained, unchecked, venomous, fear-fueled anger accomplishes nothing. Like a raging fire it eventually burns out, but not without casualties.

Our better selves know intervention is called for to minimize the damage. Pure lunacy is adding more kindling and logs to the pit, which current politicians are loath to do. Alas, are beset with lunatics!

This week’s ReVerse is smattered with sparks of this hotbed of incessant blustering. Embers sucking air. But come Sunday I rely on the cool balm of routine. Casey chasing shadows. Sun-streamed bliss on a mattress. A call to pause and breathe. I live for moments like these! And I hope you have a Sunday time and place where you can rest and recharge too!

I would be remiss if I did not pause to remember the victims of recent natural disasters this week…Japan…and now…Ecuador. Peace and healing all.

And so…be safe this week my fellow word-pressers. Flex those word-bending super powers of yours, penning the light as well as the darkness. Each have their place; the light to warm and inspire us and the darkness, exposed, allowing us to release and to move toward healing. And one more thing…don’t forget to breathe.  Peace.

Sunday’s Week in ReVerse – 17 April 2016

This I can’t deny
Truth settles on shuttered minds, spinning in sound bites
suffer(ing) no regrets
promises to keep
each twisty turny
I remember when
Sowing seeds, midst fussy plots of weeds, their empty plates to fill
…because EVERYTHING is better with a little Sriracha!!!
It’s too late to regret
There’s nothing left to do but rise
There were a few brave souls but even fewer customers
Intrepid trekkers
engaged in trysts with metaphors
drunken noodles sweating steam
When the rose bush bursts in bloom
Sometimes fear is good.
Politicians count on this.

~ kat


April Poetry Month – A Poem a Day # 15

It’s Friday!   A special treat each week is going out to a great little Asian restaurant that features Thai, Japanese and Chinese cuisine. It’s become my favorite place. And so for this day’s poetry form I am sharing the Epulaeryu with you. It’s an obscure little form developed by one Joseph Spence, Sr. inspired by the memorable foods he experienced on his Mediterranean and Far East travels. There is literally a poem and poetry form for everything it seems!

Here’s are the details of a proper Epulaeryu:
-First and foremost it is all about delicious food!
-7 lines with 33 syllable
-The syllable scheme is: 7/5/7/5/5/3/1
-It may or may not rhyme
-Each line contains one thought describing the featured course with the last 1 syllable word expressing the writer’s feelings about the dish. To add drama, an exclamation point is always called for at the end.

I dedicate this one to all my foodie friends! 🙂

my-drunken-noodles-ivillage_380

This photo is from Pinterest

Drunken Noodling

Pepper infused, savory
veggies lightly tossed
drunken noodles sweating steam
aromatic pot
culinary treat
slippery
hot!

kat ~ 15 April 2016


Wafflestompers – Friday’s Word of the Day Haiku

wafflestomper

Happy Friday!

Well…here’s a word for you…WAFFLESTOMPERS! Today’s dictionary.com word of the day hails to us from 1970’s Americana.

This late middle-aging flower child of the 70’s must admit, I have never heard this word before. It could be that I spent most of the 70’s barefooted; tripping through fields of daisy’s chasing butterflies…or it may be my insane fear of heights! Either way, it is no wonder I never had a need for a pair of wafflestompers!

But given that it is today’s word of the day…and a very high-in-syllable word at that…I shall do my best, despite my obvious inexperience, to render the wafflestomper its proper homage in a contrived haiku. Three lines, syllables 5-7-5…anything but profound with a touch of thesaurus mischief!  Have a great weekend folks!

Wafflestomping

Intrepid trekkers
don high-top wafflestompers
To reach a climax.

kat ~ 15 April 2016