Category Archives: Essays

glimmer day 112 – NaGloPoWriMo 23 April 2025

made in China

americans love cheap shit
mr trump, with his golden toilets, and
gilded, garish opulence, doesn’t get us
why else would he declare war
on the only thing that makes our simple
lives livable…cheap shit, meticulously
engineered, easy to assemble kits
of a gazillion pieces, pressed, laminated
planks with precisely pre-drilled holes,
vacuum packed bolts and screws,
tiny hex keys to put it all together,
it’s an afternoon’s entertainment
with a surprise at the end, like cracker
jacks (if you’re old, you know), and
the satisfaction of building something
usable: a chest of drawers, lawn furniture,
toys, cabinets, shelves, and so much more
you have to admit china is good, very good
at producing the bargains we crave…
destroying democracy is not enough
for the vindictive tyrants in our crumbling government
they had to shut down our access to cheap shit too

~kat

I am proud to say I assembled the chest of drawers in the photo above, as well as a dresser, a nightstand, and recently an outside “egg chair swing”, an open coffee station rack, a bread box…clearly I am a fan of “made in China” stuff.  The latest tariff shenanigans are a real bummer. It’s the end of an era. 

But all is not lost…while I may not be able to afford made in China stuff in the future. I shall enjoy sipping tea while swinging in the warm summer breeze in my new egg swing…it is the perfect place to chill after a long day…the perfect place to write poetry!  And my glimmer for today!

Much love, peace, and “some assembly required” glimmers to you!

-kat


NaGloPoWriMo 23 April 2025 prompt:

The sum of its parts
Consider the objects in your home. How did they get there? What resources were required to produce them? Write a poem about the origin of one or more of your possessions. / Recommended reading: “Putting Together Ikea Furniture” by Clint Margrave


glimmer day 111 ~NaGloPoWriMo 22 April 2025

moon faced 

her beautiful face
watches us from a distance
her far side hidden
its secret kept for eons
we don’t miss what we don’t know

~kat

Some secrets are better kept…secret. Recently, in 2019, the Chinese National space program landed on the moon’s far side giving us a glimpse of what the moon’s elusive far side looks like. It’s not pretty. Instead it is a dryer, meteor scarred, desolate landscape, totally different from the beautiful benevolent “face” we are so familiar with. I don’t miss that I’ve never seen the far side of the moon. But I would miss not seeing that smiling “face” every night in all of her stages.

Speaking of stages of the moon on April 25th a triple conjunction of Venus, Saturn and the crescent view of the moon will present a smiley face in the sky. I hope the skies are clear wherever you live so you can see this rare event.

Credit: Getty Images

much love, peace, and clear sky, smiley face glimmers to you. Something to look forward to is always a good thing in times such as this. ✨✨✨💚💚💚✨✨✨

~kat


NaGloPoWriMo 4/22/2025 prompt: Write about what you *don’t* know (or can’t see)
You’ve heard the old advice: Write what you know. But for this writing prompt, let’s explore what you don’t know… or can’t see… or what does not happen after all. Write a poem about something from the lens of its absence. / Recommended reading: “and in the poem we search for the birds” by jason b. crawford and “Good News” by Alison Luterman


glimmer day 110 ~ NaGloPoWriMo 4/21/2025

pancakes for breakfast

I felt her watching, ignoring
us, glaring, judging, hating
our perceived sinfulness,
determined not to serve us
as if serving us somehow
condemned their fragile faith
and threatened their entry into heaven
I tried to ignore her
we just wanted pancakes for breakfast
when I was sick
the ER desk clerk
asked, “who is SHE?”
SHE will need to wait outside
family only…but, she IS family
the doctor won’t see you
if SHE is in the room
I try to ignore them
I just wanted her with me when I was
sick
the whispers, snide side glances
accompany our travels, wherever
we go…we second-guess safety
make mental notes of unsafe
people and places…they claim
we have an agenda, that we threaten
their families…but we are a family
we try to ignore them
we just want to live our lives
they voted for fools you know
the ones who enjoy dividing us
the ones who want to tell every
he and she how to live and who
to be…the ones who want us to
suffer and we wonder, how could
people who say they love us, choose them
we can’t ignore them anymore
our lives depend on it

~kat

Today’s Glimmer…The Eight-Spotted Forester Moth. This one’s a beauty. Often mistaken for a butterfly because it travels during the day. Symbol of transformation, beauty, and the importance of embracing change.

Much love, peace, and glimmers of change to you!

~kat

NaGloPoWriMo 4/21/2025 Prompt:

Identity politics poetics
There’s lots about ourselves that we can’t (and wouldn’t want to) change. Some of those things put us at risk in a culture that, more and more (I’m looking at you, America), “others” all but the straight white male able-bodied experience. It’s critical that we document what that’s like to live with that reality. Maybe you experience harm from -isms or -phobias or maybe you experience privilege. Either way, write a poem related to how perceptions, assumptions or cultural “norms” impact you. / Recommended reading: “evening : girl” by Gabrielle Brant Freeman


glimmer day 109 ~ NaGloPoWriMo 2025

the word on the streets deep in maga-land

it’s not as bad as you say it is
don’t overreact, it’s embarrassing
no one I personally know has been fired,
disappeared, or deported, and that new guy rfk, jr. confirms what I’ve been
telling you all along…it’s the vaccines
and our food that is making us sick…
measles? they’ll go away soon. there’s
this brilliant doctor, yeah I know…
who has the measles, but he said
he is fine after a little fever, so it’s not
that bad, anyhow, he’s working on it…
don’t talk to me about brain worms
that is fake news…where do I get
my news you ask? from several sources
I do my homework, and I also know
someone who knows someone personally
who is in congress. the jobs are coming
back, factories are already being built,
even the wall, finally, stuff is getting done,
the tariffs are working, and doge? well,
it’s about time our country is being run
like a business. Rights? Freedom? Choice?
more fake news…I know eggs are still
expensive, but that’s because the other guy killed off all the chickens…I guess he
never heard of flock impunity, we are
so much better off in just a few short
months…the world is watching, and
our great nation has everyone begging
to make a deal, just like our president
promised…so…stop your whining, you
lost and we won fair and square, like
you said, elections have consequences

(And this is why I don’t speak to red hats anymore-these are actual quotes…
alarmed? that was so yesterday. I’ve moved on to full-on f-ing freak out.)


~kat

I promised you daily glimmers and glimmers you shall have! My gentle woodland friends stopped by to cheer me, and hopefully you as well. 

much love, peace and glimmers to you! 

~kat


NaGloPoWriMo 20 April 2025 Prompt from good universe next door: Don’t be alarmed

Write a poem where you are unbothered by something scary or dangerous. / Recommended reading: “Acclimated” by Sarah Carleton


glimmer day 107 ~ NaGloPoWriMo 2025 Day 18

the drawer…you know the one

it’s not junk
everything
is a necessity
that I might need one day
I promise you
I am not a hoarder
tape, loose change, keys
yes, I need those random keys
in case something is locked
and I need a key
flashlight…a must have
in a blackout or nighttime walks
paper clips, rubber bands
you don’t need them until you do
multi-head screwdriver because
chapstick, hand sanitizer, gorilla glue
pencils, pens and post-it notes too
yes, yes, yes I need it all sooner
or later or sometime or yesterday
I am not a hoarder…I’m not
and it’s not junk

~kat

Spring is most certainly coming. I was a bit worried as winter overstayed its welcome. The trees stayed winter-bare longer than usual and I wondered if the winds and storms of this past season had taken a toll. I shouldn’t have worried. Nature is a well practiced in the change of the seasons. And the trees? They’re finally showing signs of life…greening. As chaotic as the world is right now, I need normal more than ever. Our mother, Nature, knows how to nurture us. Today I am so grateful that I can count on that.

Much love, peace, and spring glimmers to you!

~kat


NaGloPoWriMo 2025 Day 18 Prompt from goodunivervenextdoor: Contents may settle during flight…Choose something from your purse or wallet, a desk drawer, a coat pocket, a coffee table, medicine cabinet, or something similar, then write a poem about what it holds. / Recommended reading: “I Wake up in the Underworld of My Own Dirty Purse” by Karyna McGlynn and “Inside My Lola’s Handbag” by Michelle Peñaloza