Category Archives: Essays

April Poetry Month – A Poem a Day #7

It is Day Seven of Poetry Month! I have chosen the Ottava Rima form for my poem today. An Ottava Rima is an Italian poem that contains of eight lines that rhyme. Each line has eleven syllables and have the rhyme pattern: abababcc.

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Maxwell and Winston demonstrating the art of secret telling and keeping. You can trust Winston…he’s not much of a talker. Maxwell on the other hand…not a keeper…of secrets that is! Don’t know what I’d do without that love bug!   🙂

Secret Keeping

A secret to its keeper is a burden.
It’s an obligation true friends take to heart.
The teller of such treasure must be certain
they can trust their confidant to do their part.
For many have been burned by indiscretions
of a rogue who thinks of gossip as an art…
They say, in time the truth will be revealed,
but sooner if your “friend” is prone to squeal!

kat ~ 7 April 2016


Echoes of my Neighborhood

Happy Thursday! Last week I shared the beginning buds of greenery in my neighborhood. This week I am sharing some of the first blooms in my humble garden. I do not have a green thumb, so any flowers that do manage to show up are miracles to me. Aside from the flowering weeds that I love until they overtake my lawn, I am fortunate to be blessed by a few more cultivated friends, perennials who visit me every year around this time. And so without further adieu, I give you this week’s installment…First Blooms!

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Creeping Phlox

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First few Roses of the season, dew still clinging to the leaves!

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…And the other one that found hidden in the back of the bush. I wish I had smell-o-vision so you could enjoy not only their beauty in appearance but their wonderful fragrance as well! 🙂

See other “neighbourhoods” or submit snapshots of your own corner of the world at a cooking pot and twisted tales. Thanks to Jacqueline for hosting this fun challenge!

 


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