Category Archives: Essays

April Poetry Month – A Poem a Day #6

It’s Wednesday…the in-between day of the workweek for many. With this in mind, I chose the Palindrome Poem form. It’s a tricky bugger. To pull it off requires tweaking and re-tweaking the words and lines; extraneous connectors and fluff just muddy the mirror image you are trying to convey. This form takes a bit of practice. This is my first go at the Palindrome.  I hope I did it justice! 🙂

A Palindrome Poem, also known as Mirrored Poetry, by definition, is a word, phrase, verse, sentence, or even poem that reads the same forward or backward. It stems from the Greek word palindromos: palin, meaning again, and dromos, meaning a running. Combining the two together, the Greek meaning gives us, running back again. The carefully placed words form the same sentence, whether it is read forward or backward. For example, ‘Mirrored images reflect images mirrored’ which includes a word in the center as a reversal point for the sentence or even the poem.

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Insomnia

sleep
is elusive
dreamless spinning mind
midst consuming darkness
restless weariness but
brilliance in-between
moments of clarity
insomnia…
clarity of moments
in-between brilliance
but weariness restless
darkness consuming midst
mind spinning dreamless
elusive is
sleep

kat ~ 6 April 2016


April Poetry Month – A Poem a Day #4

I had planned to prepare a Shadorma for today’s poetry form, but the Universe had other ideas. My morning walk at dawn presented me with this astounding sight! A wisp of crescent moon flanked by two mourning doves on a wire. It took my breath away for a moment! The perfection…the beautiful symmetry and synchronicity of the moment. Of course I captured a simple photo of it with my handy mobile phone…see below.

But then I had to look up the symbolism of such an event. It seems that the Balsamic or Dark Moon and the Mourning Dove share common theme…to draw within, release, recharge and to surrender to healing, peace and harmony and to prepare for the hopeful promise of the future. Each represent a bridge as well: the moon, as last phase of the lunar cycle it is a bridge to the new dark moon energy that inspires us to dream as we head into the next cycle; and mourning doves, links between two world, sky and earth – thoughts, dreams, intuition and hearth, home, security. A brilliant message for me to embrace on a crisp spring morning, which of course I did!

But with two signs in one, a Shadorma, as wonderful as it is, just wouldn’t fully capture the magnificence of a chance encounter like this! No, an event like this required none other than a Cleave Poem!

Cleave Poem

In its most basic form a Cleave Poem is three poems:
~~two parallel ‘vertical’ poems (left and right)
~~a third ‘horizontal’ poem being the fusion of the vertical poems read together.

To read a Cleave poem simply:
1. Read the left hand poem as the first  poem.
2. Read the right hand poem as the second poem.
3. Read the whole (each line across) as a third integrated poem.

BalsamicMourning

Balsamic Mourning

Mourning doves have come to call | here at dawn the dark moon wanes
healing hovers on the cusp | urging me to draw within
each coo-coo, a song of peace | so to rest my weary soul
with a promise of renewal | bridging emptiness to full
sweet release from sorrows past | crescent dipping into new
time to weep, to let things go | suspended in cerulean blue
burdens of my heavy soul | soon to fade dispersed by light
so to spread my wings full flight | set upon its final path
soaring heaven on a breeze | three days journey to the end
miles to go before I sleep | ‘til the stars alone shine bright
grace abounds my soul to keep | blessings of the darkest night

kat ~ 4 April 2016


Sunday’s Week in ReVerse – 3 April 2016

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Hello and happy Sunday! Today’s ReVerse contains the usual twists and turns. I live for moments like this! Those odd interjections of lunacy make life interesting! Monotone musings make me…SLEEPY! Haha! Were you waiting for an “M” word to finish out that last thought? Nope! See what I mean? Twists and turns, surprises and switcheroos keep it interesting.

So…you may try to make sense of this week’s ReVerse…or you may dive right in and just enjoy the ride. It is after all, an honest reflection of the dips and curveballs of this past week…for me at least. (I hope your past week was equally thrilling, or whatever it is you consider great..and if not, hugs and blessings to you.)

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This cartoon exclaimed, “the sky is falling!”…and mind you, it may very well be true…but I am content to pause, at least for this moment, and sip my cuppa brew.

P.S. there is this one thing…No more mass killings Planet!!!!! It’s getting a bit old and it’s not very kind. We need more kindness…praying for peace…

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Sunday’s Week in ReVerse – 3 April 2016

My soul is like a garden.
A predator waits
Prayers for Lahore, Pakistan
Snatched my cup of brew
Pawns emboldened do their bidding
Shiver-me-Timbers
No truer friend, she
Two hearts a-flutter
I think you better come with me.
To the highest bidder… | where truth doesn’t matter…
I still hear your whispers
the brush of your lips | sweetness blossoming
like well-placed Scrabble tiles
On the brink
a day for ninnyhammer’s
Spring has made you quite insane
Meet and Greet!
at least I can save myself.
She put a cherry on top!
I need to unplug!

~kat


April Poetry Month – Poem a Day! #1

In honor of National Poetry Month, I am going to post a poem a day for the month of April. And for the love of poetry, I am challenging myself to try a different poetry form each day.

 

For today, I chose the Alouette:
The Alouette consists of two or more stanzas of 6 lines each, with the following set rules:
Meter: 5, 5, 7, 5, 5, 7
Rhyme Scheme: a, a, b, c, c, b

I was inspired by a strange robin who has spent the entire past week ramming into the windows of my cubicle and the office next door. He does this for hours. So sad. Someone said it is mating season and he is trying to connect with his reflection. Well if he so wacko that he keeps this up for an entire week, perhaps it’s best if he doesn’t make it out of this perpetual loop. Flocks of wacky chicks ramming themselves into buildings is no way to preserve and continue a species! I caught him looking at me and had my phone handy to take his pic. He’s a mess!

Spring Selection
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Poor little robin
bashing your noggin’
Spring has made you quite insane
wasting affection
on your reflection
your frantic efforts in vain

But it’s for the best
you don’t pass the test
something’s amiss with your mind
Nature’s selection
based on perfection
preserves the flock from your kind!

kat ~ 1 April 2016


Ninnyhammer! Friday’s Word of the Day

  
Happy Friday…April Fools Day! Today’s dictionary.com Word of the Day is a timely tidbit…Ninnyhammer! It’s origin: “Ninnyhammer entered English in the late 1500s. Its first element, ninny, meaning “a fool or simpleton,” may be a pet form of the proper name Innocent.”

I love this word! It’s fun to say! “He/she is such a ninnyhammer!” rolls off the tongue quite nicely! And I do think I’ll be adding this one to my PC arsenal of go-to words for those times when my voice is within earshot of my tender, very impressionable grandchildren! An alternative to “what an ASS!” my default expletive! “What a ninnyhammer!” will do nicely and is whimsical enough to diffuse my angst! Thank you dictionary.com for this delightful word! I can think of several as….er ninnyhammers in my life who have earned a new nickname!

Here’s the Haiku then. Hoping that you will not have to suffer too many ninnyhammers this 1st Day of April!!!

The first of April!
a day for ninnyhammer’s 
hoping to blend in!


kat – 1 April 2016