Category Archives: Essays

August 25, 2019

Sunday’s week in ReVerse – 25 August 2019

The world is on fire. And I’m not speaking only of the combustion of carbon dioxide, water vapor, oxygen, and nitrogen that is decimating the Amazon rain forest. The casualties of this inferno are obviously the trees, and also the creatures that call the forest home, the people who live there, and the very air that we breath.

There are other fires though, that continue to rage out of control. It is the fire of hatred, of fear, of greed. I admit I often feel helpless to stop these fires; powerless to stand in the face of caustic rhetoric and the chasms formed in its wake. Cries of “do something” feel weak and futile against a force so dark. It is hard to see the light.

In times like these I am tempted to hide myself away in the hope that I can ride it out until the ugliness passes. But what good can come of letting a fire rage out of control unchallenged? We are ultimately left with nothing if we do nothing. Though I admit doing something often feels like spitting on a wildfire, I still have to try.

So I do what I can. Love when I can. Help when I can. It’s the very least I can do, and if others do the same we will end up not with nothing, but a few flickers of light, perhaps an unscorched seed amidst the embers; a glimmer of hope to start again. We always rebuild. Even when we have a mess to clean up. Peace all.

Sunday’s week in ReVerse – 25 August 2019

magnificence, adorned in grace,
amidst the scorch, shrouded in haze, nothing remains
we carry with us days
refusing to become undone
but no one seemed to have made the cut
there’s little time for vain regret
temperature are rising higher
squandering our greatest treasures
underneath gray smoke-choked skies

~kat

A ReVerse poem is a summary poem with a single line lifted from each entry of a collection of work over a particular timeframe and re-penned in chronological order as a new poem. Unlike a collaborative poem, the ReVerse features the words of one writer, providing a glimpse into their thoughts over time. I use it as a review of the previous week.

10 Comments | tags: Challenge, digital art., essay, Poetry, ReVerse, Shi Sai, week in Reverse, Week in Review | posted in Challenges and Writing Prompts, Digital Art & Photos, Essays, Poetry, Random Thoughts and Musings, Reverse Poem, Shi Sai

August 18, 2019

Sunday’s Week in ReVerse – 18 August 2019

By Kat Myrman

My partner told me that I have taken up humming lately. I hadn’t noticed. It’s an annoying habit that crops up when I am feeling stressed or overwhelmed. Too many hours at work is a likely catalyst. And undoubtedly, a family gathering this weekend, attended by a daughter and granddaughters I haven’t seen since the ‘great divide’ that has broken so many friends and families in recent years. It went better than I expected, but there was the sad, black hole of those lost years; an awkward, lost ease, the familiarity that comes through unbroken connection. Still I will cherish the brief memory of our time together. A mother is always a mother, even if her children fly away, never to return or for only brief glimpses.

There was also our first attempts at taming the shrew out of the feral, frightened kitten we rescued. It’s amazing how little time it takes in the wild to snap a tiny, innocent kitten into a snarling, claw-wielding devil. But I am committed to see it through. His mom is scheduled for her spay this Thursday. I hope all goes well. She was loved once, then cast aside I assume for whatever reason people do such things. I can tell she remembers warm and safe in the way she waits for me and rubs against me purring when I feed her. I know how she feels. How easy it is to forgive…forget even…life’s harshness.

Mothers, children, family, cats and kittens…the reason I work to survive here for just a moment more of the blessings of this life. I hope you have moments this week that cause you to pause and think, ‘life is good’…because life is.

Sunday’s Week in ReVerse – 18 August 2019

be kind to others you don’t know
when children lose their innocence
she had some wild stories
with dreams that linger into day
you must be red, rose red like me, you can’t be blue
we can’t ignore that we are doomed; let’s set things right
a storm is nigh, rain droplets burst, cool is the breeze
in the belly of grace I fall
amidst the trees, sparks of divine on breezes sway

~kat

12 Comments | tags: digital art., Poetry, ReVerse, Shi Sai, week in Reverse, Week in Review | posted in Challenges and Writing Prompts, Digital Art & Photos, Essays, Poetry, Random Thoughts and Musings, Reverse Poem, Shi Sai, Week in Review

August 12, 2019

Oviellejo #12

By Kat Myrman

The news has been giddy with “who done it, was it homicide or suicide, how could they let this happen, whose gonna pay now” drivel. All over a vile pediphile’s untimely demise. But I’m still stuck. A little over a week ago, back to school shoppers were gunned down at a Walmart. Just a few days later, other children came home from their first day of school to find their parents missing. And still at our border there are no doubt children wasting away in cages because their parents had the audacity to seek safety for them. What parent wouldn’t do the same for their own children, faced with the threat of death or worse? I’ve been stewing on this Oviellejo for days. I had planned to write about the beautiful sunrise. It was beautiful. But somewhere someone is suffering, and my heart is bleeding. We can’t forget the children. We just can’t.

when children lose their innocence
no recompense

can make up for the damage wrought
it’s a dark spot

that festers slowly over time
it is a crime

ignoring it for a lifetime
can lead to callous, broken souls
no hope of ever being whole
no recompense, it’s a dark spot, it is a crime

~kat

The Oviellejo is an Old Spanish verse form (derived from ovillo, a ball of yarn). A stanza consists of 10 lines, with a rhyme scheme of AABBCCCDDC. The second line of each rhyme scheme, Line 2,4,6, is short line of up to 5 syllables. The last line is a “redondilla,” a “little round” that collects all three of the short lines.

11 Comments | tags: august, Challenge, digital photography, Oviellejo, Poetry | posted in Challenges and Writing Prompts, Digital Art & Photos, Essays, Oviellejo, Poetry, Random Thoughts and Musings

August 11, 2019

Sunday’s Week in ReVerse – 11 August 2019

By Kat Myrman

It was the best of times…it was the worst of times…I’m borrowing a line from Dickens today. This week was one of those times, albeit in reverse, starting with the aftermath of another two mass shootings, and the heartache and terror that follows, and then the added cruel insult to our woundedness, the racist raids of Hispanic people at workplaces because…well because they are Hispanic. The fact that hundreds were immediately released is proof that our nation has now taken to rounding up people like cattle. That was the macro view of our country this week. The photo op of the president and First Lady, with she holding the baby whose parents died saving it at a mass shooting and he beaming with a crass thumbs up tells the world all they need to know about the lunatics running this country. I honestly don’t know if my heart can survive another 4 more years of this…I’m hoping I won’t have to…but if Russia has their way again… 😣 (please vote)

And the very best of times…for the truth of the matter is that the darkness never lasts forever. Even when shadows fall, all it takes is a turn of the head to see the light. And so it was in my little corner of the world. Though everything was spinning out of control all around me the light made its way to me in the rescue of a coal black kitten and his pure white mother. They are safe now in my imperfect home where dust settles a little too freely, but love is also free and unconditional, patient and kind. I may not have the power to change the world but I do have the grace to change a tiny corner of it, one fragile soul at a time.

It’s hard for me to say this past week was a good week…but it was seven days in the life of a people and of me, and to borrow again from Dickens, it was the worst of times, but it was also the best. Go gently dear ones…always always turn to the light leaving the shadows to fade behind you! ❤️

Sunday’s Week in ReVerse – 11 August 2019

oh what a tangled mess we’ve weaved
grief repeats itself
just past that grove of trees,
“It’ll be okay,”
seek the light
until the people cry, “no more!”
we live in fear
fourth kitten rescued
finally, I can breathe
where nothing’s sure
with every breath i breathe i pray

~kat

9 Comments | tags: Challenge, digital art., Poetry, ReVerse, Shi Sai, week in Reverse, Week in Review | posted in Challenges and Writing Prompts, Digital Art & Photos, Essays, Poetry, Random Thoughts and Musings, Reverse Poem, Shi Sai, Week in Review

August 9, 2019

Fourth Kitten Rescued

By Kat Myrman

Some of you know that a few months ago we discovered a mama cat with four kittens under our front porch. It has been two months or so since we were able to capture three kittens, but one remained at large with the mama…and we think we know who the daddy cat is. There have been several sightings of him in the neighborhood.

Two of the white kittens are now happily being spoiled by a new mom and dad and the runt is our Frankie.

I have been feeding the fugitives every morning and night seeking to gain their trust. The mama cat has warmed to me letting me pet her briefly as I put the food bowl down, but the kitten has been a formidable escape artist. I had set up an animal crate with a long boa feather lure on the porch (everyone thought I was crazy). As I returned from my morning walk on Wednesday, the kitten took the bait and I was able to capture it!

Now comes the process of taming the hiss and spit out of this little one! I have spent several sessions rocking, smooth talking and petting this kitten, wrapping it tightly in a blanket to protect myself from claws! (Safety first 😉), and this evening we had a real breakthrough! I was able to loosen the blanket and rock the kitten to sleep! He/she is not likely to remember our tender encounter next time I come for a visit, but each time gets a little less stressful for both of us. I’m a sucker. I think this one may be a keeper too.

Next on the game plan is getting Mama captured and spayed. Then on to her waiting forever home to live the life she deserves. I’ve been a bit busy this week between work, kitten rescue and tending to my resident pack…but watching this little one sleep in my arms has made it all worth it. Have a lovely weekend. You know what I’ll be doing! 😉🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾❤️