Category Archives: Essays

September 25, 2018

September Poem #25

By Kat Myrman

proof,
the “gritty-nits”,
when tossed into a cesspool
of dull memories drowned in booze
conjures our worst demons

~kat

A word about the photo above. It is a composite of several men recently (within the last several years) accused or convicted of sexual assault against women. I layered their faces one on top of the other and blurred the final silhouette. In this age of “Me Too” it is hard to separate separate the demons from each other without convicting everyone before they’ve even been tried. Regardless of the seriousness of their transgressions, we are quick to treat all with the same intense condemnation. It is reasonable to say that an off color joke spoken in mixed company does not rise to the level of harassment or assault, and yet we demand justice. As for the women who have been truly victimized, who we want to believe and who deserve our deepest empathy and respect, it has become difficult to avoid lumping every claim that is made into one basket, which makes each revelation easier to dismiss. That is not fair to anyone. While it is important to believe those who bravely come forward knowing that they will be subject to unfiltered scrutiny, we must also take care to ensure fairness to all involved, be it affirmation for the victim or justice in a measure that is reasonable for the crime for those accused.  This issue has gotten so very blurry and politicized. Social change is never easy. These are important times and we need to get this right. May we always remember that our goal is equality, respect, empathy, and understanding…and not to win for the sake of winning.

8 Comments   |  tags: , , , , , , , | posted in Digital Art & Photos, Essays, Pensee, Poetry, Random Thoughts and Musings, Social Issues

September 23, 2018

Sunday’s Week in ReVerse – 23 September 2018

By Kat Myrman

This video/soundbite…because I need it again and again…

If you followed me this week, you know I spent an unacceptable amount of time working. Mind you, I am not an executive, but I assist one who never stops. Because of this, when the rest of the staff head home to their families…to their LIVES…I remain behind putting the final touches on tomorrow’s presentations compiled last minute by others who hit send as they were walking out the door. My only solace is the overtime that will pad my paltry wages. But this doesn’t compensate me for the life I forfeit to a corporation who demands more and more while stripping resources to save overhead.

I hear you mumbling…quit, get another job, change careers. Oh, that I could. But the truth is, I am 5 short years from retirement, unless they push the age closer to grave. To the government it’s economics of course. The Social Security powers that be, namely congress who diverts our hard earned contributions into tax breaks that pad the pockets of their wealthy benefactors…but I digress. As I was saying, surely they are hoping most of us will die before we dare try to collect the money we’ve paid into the system for decades. And who am I kidding. After raising 4 children on a secretary’s wage, supplemented by forays into furniture and jewelry sales, waitressing and cashiering, I’ve not amassed a sizable enough retirement nest egg to sustain me. I’m not alone. There are millions of people like me. The best I can hope for when the time comes is downsizing in order to afford living on a reduced income and landing a mindless gig greeting shoppers at a big box store to pay, if republicans have their way, for the preexisting conditions that healthcare won’t cover. Forgive me for breathing. I’m getting too old for this shit. Is it any wonder I vote for the other side. I’m no snowflake!

Sorry for the downer. It’s raining and I am exhausted. I spend Saturdays sleeping and Sunday’s dreading Monday. And I wonder what did I do wrong to end up here. The answer of course is nothing. A lifetime of hard work, honesty and loyalty only pay off for a select few. And most of them don’t need to work. those of us at the bottom do the heavy lifting for them.

And yet, I find time each night to write. It has saved me many times. It doesn’t pay my mortgage or keep the lights on, but it feeds my soul. In the end that is what matters. And no one can take that away from me. Those beautiful, beautiful words are mine to do with as I please!

So, hang in there. (I say to myself as much as anyone who is listening). None of are getting out alive, but there are moments to be savored while we still breathe.

Sunday’s Week in ReVerse – 23 September 2018

soft murmuring
barrels of booze
the one thing I know
give it time
I hope you’re listening
fill the darkness with music
oh what tangled webs we weave
writing quells the madness
in fragrant wisps, our savagery
too short, two days, deadlines looming
rainfall is a beautiful sound
it came, then vanished into sawdust
apathy’s minions

~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.

4 Comments   |  tags: , , , , , , , | posted in Challenges and Writing Prompts, Digital Art & Photos, Essays, Poetry, Random Thoughts and Musings, Reverse Poem, Shi Sai, Week in Review

September 16, 2018

Sunday’s Week in ReVerse – 16 September 2018

By Kat Myrman

Hello from soggy SW Virginia where the gray sky is hanging low, heavy with rain. We have seen a few surges of Florence’s bands. A tease of more to come. She’s a a femme fatale having claimed a dozen or so souls during her unwelcome visit to the south. Now her shadow looms at our door. Her intermittent tears flowing ever so lightly as if she wishes to convince us that she is not the heartless tempest others say she is.

We are not buying it though, as waves of fearful hosts strip the market shelves of batteries, bottled water and the ever popular milk and bread. Candles poised to spend their wicks in the darkness wait expectingly on mantels for their moment to shine. We are ready or not for her here in the valley; for raging downpours to saturate the mountains whose soil is already swollen from record breaking summer rains. It is expected that our shallow basins and sleepy rivers will fill to the brim or more between now and Tuesday when Florence exits to the north.

Such is the lot we have wrought with our ignorant glut for convenience and our unfettered exploitation of natural resources, expelling our noxious waste into the atmosphere, tearing asunder the fragile layer of protective ozone, causing the seas to simmer, the polar ices to melt, the shores to diminish and storms to swell in angry protest. We who survive must never forget the role we play in this drama and vow to do better; to tiptoe through life leaving nary a footprint. It’s the least we can do for our mother, nature, who blesses us with so much. It is the least we can do. But, for now, we wait for the storm to pass.

Sunday’s Week in ReVerse – 16 September 2018

perfection can’t be perfected
the wind passes through
life in its magnificence
wanting, wanting more,
for only the now truly matters
morsel by sugar-sweet morsel
but I don’t want to keep you
bellowing counter-clockwise
unfulfilled, denouement,
with no rebuttal, no debate
provoking fear, unlucky
blue sky lull, sleepy denial
if you say so dear
…shallow roots clinging

~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.

5 Comments   |  tags: , , , , , , , | posted in Challenges and Writing Prompts, Digital Art & Photos, Essays, Poetry, Random Thoughts and Musings, Reverse Poem, Shi Sai, Week in Review

September 9, 2018

Sunday’s Week in Reverse – 9 September 2018

By Kat Myrman

It’s just words. Sticks and stones…but words…oh yes, words, silly words, how they bless, affirm, empower, indict, illuminate, question, and reveal the very heart and core of us. A slip of the tongue can show us who someone really is. A stroke of the pen, when scrolled in earnest, with excruciating honesty can prick our hearts and move our souls.

I am a writer. I write what I know and feel and am. If not with transparency, then, why bother. Oh I dip my toe into fiction every now and again, but if you read between the lines, I am there, pouring out the words that manifest in my head begging, sometimes screaming to be said. It is no use second guessing the words, razor edged, poignant, magnificent, that must be said. Too much? Too soon? Too revealing? To scathing? Too real? The moment I start censoring myself is the moment I cease to become me. And no one is suggesting that. Well, some are, but I say to those naysayers, be damned.

It’s just words…indeed! Words are everything I’ve learned. Beautiful excruciating words. And I am a writer above all other labels and titles; above all the roles assigned to me: daughter, wife, mother, grandmother, executive assistant, activist, friend. If you really want to know me, read my words. The painful, the snarky, the funny, the heartfelt musings, whisperings. They are not just words. They are everything. They will not be silenced. I will not be silenced. I am a writer.

Sunday’s Week in Reverse – 9 September 2018

down, down, behind the lace arbor
I am a writer
should be obvious
whoever said “blondes have fun” lied
celebrate those who toil
you can be strong
take care not to linger there
oh god
we’re in for bad weather
crank the cogs to squeeze out a dime
close your eyes now
global warming’s a hoax
right…there is no unless
soul whisperers who bear witness
in a spirit of love
desire for what could be

~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.

6 Comments   |  tags: , , , , , | posted in Digital Art & Photos, Essays, Poetry, Random Thoughts and Musings, Reverse Poem, Shi Sai, Week in Review

September 8, 2018

September Poem #8

By Kat Myrman

poet
weaver of words
mastering rhymes and meters
soul whisperers who bear witness
silence is not golden

~kat

Continuing the Pensée this month. I really like the syllable count of this obscure little form: 2-4-7-8-6, as well as the theme suggestions:
line 1 is the subject;
line 2 gives description;
line 3, action;
line 4, the setting;
line 5, final thought.

It is also interesting to note the definition and etymology from Britannica.com of the word pensée, which no doubt was inspiration for this form:

Pensée, (French: literally, “thought”) a thought expressed in literary form. A pensée can be short and in a specific form, such as an aphorism or epigram, or it can be as long as a paragraph or a page. The term originated with French mathematician and philosopher Blaise Pascal, whose Pensées (1670) was a collection of some 800 to 1,000 notes and manuscript fragments expressing his religious beliefs. The form was particularly popular in French literature, as in Denis Diderot’s Pensées philosophiques (1746).

Now you know the rest of the story. And I have found one more reason to love this poetry form even more! 😊

3 Comments   |  tags: , , , , | posted in Challenges and Writing Prompts, Digital Art & Photos, Essays, Pensee, Poetry, Random Thoughts and Musings