Category Archives: Essays

March 25, 2018

Sunday’s Week in ReVerse – 25 March 2018

By Kat Myrman

It’s been a wild week weather-wise. Springlike warm, cold grey, snowing, blossom laden trees, bent to breaking, forced resignations, faux news-hack hirings, stolen elections, widget tariffs, market crashes, reality show drama, porn stars, playboy bunnies, temper tantrums, vetoes, kids in the streets acting like adults, adults checked out, on recess, golfing, Lenten vespers swelling, alms of palm, stormy weather looming…blue skies dazzling, melting snow.

It’s been a crazy week for the weather. But spring is coming! It’s just a matter of time, they tell us…just a matter of time.

Sunday’s Week in ReVerse – 25 March 2018

seems odd, quite out of place
springtime’s first dazzling sight
magic is in the air
Are you kidding me?!
just one more minute’s snooze
equal parts luck and timing
lost hope and pipe dreams collect
the edge of lunacy
calendars say it’s spring
my favorite place…
weighed down, bent to breaking
the treasure was long gone
don’t say I didn’t warn ya’
the orange fool went mad
assimilation
beautiful roses
they’ve no place called home
diversity’s extolled,
clouds of grey, muted light
a thousand whispers
night lingering

~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 Digital Art & Photos, Essays, Poetry, Random Thoughts and Musings, Reverse Poem, Shi Sai

March 23, 2018

Deracinate – Friday’s Word of the Day

By Kat Myrman

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Today’s word of the day at dictionary.com deracinate is a new one for me even though I am very familiar with the concept of being deracinated.

Deracinated means: to pull up by the roots; uproot; extirpate; eradicate, to force (people) from their homeland to a new or foreign location, to isolate or alienate (a person) from a native or customary culture or environment, o liberate or be liberated from a culture or its norms.

It originated in the 1590’s from the French word, déraciner, “to pluck up by the roots”,  from Old French desraciner, “uproot, dig out, pull up by the root”, which which is linked to the Latin des- and racine, “root”, from the Late Latin, radicina, a diminutive of the Latin word, radix “root”.

Whether we’re talking about plants deracinated by the roots from the ground or people deracinated from their homeland, it is an unsettling word. Its very tone and tenor sounds harsh when I say it out loud. One can’t help but feel empathy for the deracinated. No one likes to be plucked from the roots and “liberated”, unless, of course, it is their idea in the first place. However we find ourselves plucked, there is a certain element of the unknown lurking in the shadows.

Even liberated, a synonym of deracinated, is a tricky word. I remember the first time I learned of a colleague’s firing. The management explained that “so and so” had been liberated from said company to pursue new opportunities. It almost made me feel hopeful and happy for my former co-worker. Liberated did not adequately describe the reality of the situation. No income, no benefits, unemployed. That does not sound liberating to me. but deracinated? Oh yeah…that’s the word for it. It’s a good word. An honest word. Deracinated is not a thing I’m eager to experience. It smacks of change after all, and who likes change? But it’ not necessarily a bad thing. Some people choose to deracinate themselves. And in that case, it is very liberating. At any rate, it is a word I am glad to know. For now, I’ve plopped it into a few haiku. Have a great Friday.

Deracinate

diversity’s extolled,
peace kept, deracinated
by don’t ask don’t tell

deracinated
by war and terrorism
they’ve no place called home

beautiful roses
deracinated from beds
wilt in sterile urns

expats are expert
at deracination to
assimilation

~kat

6 Comments   |  tags: , , , , , | posted in Essays, Haiku, Poetry, Random Thoughts and Musings, Word of the Day Haiku

March 18, 2018

Sunday’s Week in ReVerse – 18 March 2018

By Kat Myrman

There is something to be said for the wisdom that comes with experience. The past week presented a whole host of challenges…my partner’s unemployment, the daily saga, firings and resignations, from the bowels of our tenuous government, stressful workplace drama, a late winter snowstorm that shut the city down. I’m not looking for sympathy. This is life. And I am fully aware that my week might be viewed as a piece of cake compared to the challenges of others who may be facing real tragedy and loss.

I say all this to acknowledge that when I was younger even the slightest shift in my universe would throw me into a tizzy. Now, with decades of survival under my belt, even the most challenging calamity is met with a “meh”.

There is comfort in that. Comfort that I’ve earned over the course of a lifetime. Winter is but a temporary season…spring is coming; there will be a new job, just in time, and likely better than the last; my country has a fickle affair with politicians and the bad eggs are eventually tossed into the compost heap of history, and my stressful job? It pays the bills, but it’s not my life. I am reminded everyday that the world ticks on and that deadlines mean nothing in the grand scheme of things as I gaze out my window at ancient mountains and wind tossed trees.

With age and a sure and steady track record of survival thus far I have reached a certain mellowness…like fine wine or cheese, life in all its variety, meant to be savored slowly.

Have a lovely week in spite of it all. ❤️

Sunday’s Week in ReVerse – 18 March 2018

what I crave is more sleep
snow storm, don’t lose your head
cool stillness
whispering soft on fragrant swells
But, can I be honest?
winter stings budding trees
melted snow, muddy swamp
perseverance in winter’s wake
frigid gusts bend branches
though chances are slim
blue serene, sweet greenness
say a prayer for me
a blissful sight, dreaming
beautiful bird song
the one true thing
poetry is a window

~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

March 18, 2018

Bunglesome -Friday’s Word of the Day

By Kat Myrman

Friday’s word of the day at dictionary.com is identified as an Americanism dating back to 1885-90. Bunglesome is characterized as or marked by bungling, clumsy, awkward, or incompetent. What really intrigued me about this word is the idea that it is considered an “Americanism”.

In case you are wondering, an Americanism is a word or phrase (or, less commonly, a feature of grammar, spelling, or pronunciation) that (supposedly) originated in the United States and/or is used primarily by Americans. Some accounts state that the term was first coined by the Reverend John Witherspoon, founding father and signer of the Declaration of Independence and president of what would become Princeton University.

Here’s are a few notable phrases and words: wigwam, pretzel, spook, depot and canyon, that borrowed from the Indians, Germans, Dutch, French and Spanish.”

Here is a list of Americanisms and their British English counterpart:

American English/British English
antenna/aerial
mad/angry
anyplace/anywhere
fall/autumn
bill/bank note
attorney/barrister, solicitor
cookie/biscuit
hood/bonnet
trunk/boot
suspenders/braces
janitor/caretaker

Read the entire list HERE.

So bunglesome is apparently an Americanism. In fact I also learned that you can add the suffix -some to a whole host of words. It makes the root word an adjective that implies more of the root word it is attaching to.

Well, I had best get to the Haiku. I’m already late, but bunglesome is too good a word to miss!

for bunglesome pols
appointed to a play a role
loyalty is key

~kat

8 Comments   |  tags: , , , | posted in Essays, Haiku, Poetry, Random Thoughts and Musings, Word of the Day Haiku

March 14, 2018

Spring Interrupted

By Kat Myrman


Spring Interrupted

tender
tenacity
verdant shoots sprout in spring
perseverance in winter’s wake
frosted
~kat

An American Cinquain for Colleen Chesebro’s Tanka Tuesday Poetry Challenge using synonyms only for the prompt words: patience (tenacity, perseverance) and green (tender, verdant).

8 Comments   |  tags: , , , , , , , , , , , | posted in American Cinquain, Challenges and Writing Prompts, Digital Art & Photos, Essays, Fiction Series, nature, Poetry, Random Thoughts and Musings