Category Archives: free verse

not nearly enough

not nearly enough

i have been lulled by the serene,
by cloud dappled cerulean, and green
by the scent of honeysuckle, fresh
cut blades of grass, by rose petals
stretched open wide, drenched in dew
by birdsong at dawn, crickets and
peepers at dusk, the sun and the moon
chasing each other day to night,
the stars granting wishes
before fading from sight…she is
a beguiling mistress, nature,
it’s easy to forget she has a dark
side; a cycle of life, daunting
for those low on the food chain…
usually efficient, she sends
the buzzards to remove remnants
of untimely death from the forest floor
usually, but not today as i happened
upon a tiny shank of fresh meat,
fur still clinging to exposed bone,
undeniably of rabbit, nestled
in pressed down clover, beautiful
green, the sun shining, a soft,
fragrant breeze rustling the leaves
and all i could think was how grateful
i was not to have witnessed
the brutal carnage that happened
here under the trees, my heart
breaking for that poor creature,
emotions flooding my soul, heart
breaking for all manner of suffering
as the world grows darker by the day
remnants of untimely carnage left
in the open forcing us to see, no
longer kept hidden behind closed
doors or in the shadows, life is not
all rainbows and butterflies
and there are not enough buzzards,
what magnificent creatures they are,
to sweep away the bloody mess
we’ve made of things, not nearly enough

~kat
As luck would have it, it was raining when i recorded this melancholy poem… or maybe it has nothing to do with luck. 😉

what matters

what matters

it matters not when life begins
or ends; it is the in between
the crooked path, the highs, the lows
as most lives go, pendulums swing
and we obsess in the extremes
but that’s not where the rubber
hits the road, i’m told, steady
as she goes, the wise have said,
don’t lose your head, don’t sweat
the insignificant, but who’s to say
what matters most at end of day
if truth be told, if truth exists
the rights, the wrongs the
reasons why we fight and fret
and lean toward right or left,
it is the middle, we forget,
where time is present,
neither here nor there,
where god, if god exists, is love,
is everywhere, where grace
flows freely, despite who,
what, why, or where you’ve been,
can we just close our eyes, pretend
it matters not the second life
begins or ends, it is, as it has
always been, the in between

~kat

crone maple

crone maple

she is a crone, yon maple tree
her sweetness long run dry
her core laid bare, exposed,
she stands tall, deeply rooted
having weathered many a storm,
seasonal extremes, drought
and deluge, through it all she
greens, her leaves a celebration
of resilience, audacity, of life..
a marvel, casting shade to cool
and sturdy limbs for nesters,
a wonder, though onlookers
might surmise her useless, her
scarred exterior as evidence, they
underestimate her power and
the fire that courses through
her veins…underestimated to
the peril of small minds who’ve
forgotten that their shallow roots
mingle with hers in the hollows

~kat

endless

endless

how unnatural it feels
this chill in the air
the changing of seasons
winter to spring arrested
held captive for excruciating
seconds, summer in the wing
collecting souls for the keeping
never to be seen again,
transported to the fragrant fields
of summer land, of endless summers
just beyond the veil, while we weep
winter overstaying it’s welcome
night spilling into the dawn

~kat

angry

Just getting this out of my head and onto the page. I don’t like being angry. But that’s my reality right now and I’m guessing I’m not alone. I don’t want to forget how I’m feeling right now. Accepting it, recognizing it, redirecting this anger toward making a change, to once and for all righting the wrongs of our collective apathy and hopelessness is how i choose to move forward, for myself, for the children, for the outcast, the marginalized, the forgotten…for our world. But first, right now, I’m just angry. 
enough is enough

your thoughts and prayers
pierce us like daggers
emptying our hearts
of the last drops of grace
for your boastful posturing,
your lies, your meaningless
words that seek
to change the narrative,
holding us hostage while
you wait, wait, wait for us
to forget once again
that you really don’t care
about the slaughtering
of innocents, or for refugees,
or others, not like you,
please save your prayers
to your vengeful god,
a hateful god who doles death
to the weak, who brandishes
weapons of war proudly, a god
in whom no mercy can be found
for the meek, a god that you’ve
created in your own image
who boasts of being pro life
while shattering
the lives of the living
we will not forget
how you led the lambs to slaughter
how you congratulated yourselves,
for protecting the rights of monsters,
there’s a special place in hell for you,
would that I believed in hell

~kat