Category Archives: free verse

day 237

enough…

thoughts and prayers are not enough
even when uttered by innocent children
cannot save them from bullets
piercing through the stained glass
of hallowed, hollow sanctuaries
as evil encroaches their once safe place
we have lost our way in so many ways
but our greatest sin is not caring
not loving children more than guns
allowing children to starve, to be slaughtered, to deny education,
opportunity, healthcare, safety…
it’s not prayer in schools that will save us
when amendments and sacred tomes
become idols, there is no god to listen
and more children, lives cut short, to bury

~kat

It is hard to find glimmers on a day when another mass shooter gunned down children in a church on their first days of school. I am heartbroken for the children, and for the families of those wounded or lost. Back to school, normally a joyful time for kids, has started like a recurring nightmare here in the US. 

There was a vigil in Minnesota this evening. Here’s a photo (By Jeff Wheeler/The Minnesota Star Tribune) It’s today’s glimmer. 

Photo by Jeff Wheeler/the Minnesota Star Tribune

The candles held by mourners are lights in the darkness. Even in grief and pain there can be glimmers…candlelight to remember those lost. To show up. To say, “no more”…to hope someone is finally listening. 

Much love, peace and glimmers to you.

~kat ✨✨✨💚💚💚✨✨✨


day 235

colors

some days I’m blue
like the sky
watching the world
from above, or
like an ocean
waves of thought
crashing into shore
scattering sand
swallowed in the undertow
of emotions…so many…
too many to count
and some days I am red
furious, ferocious
filled with rage
with disbelief
with determination
for justice, for fairness
from a bankrupt nation
and then there are days
especially at dawn
I am green
my feet longing
to feel the cool loam,
blades of grass
pushing up
between my toes
the scent of dew
drenched earth
and honeysuckle
thick in the air
an entire 64-count
box of crayons
can’t touch
nature’s hues
but the smell
of a new box
stirs memories
of the rainbow that
colors my world

~kat

Today was a rush. Between work and other obligations a whirlwind that had me holding on. Some people might call it a typical Monday. I am weary of Mondays. Tomorrow is another day. A new day. Thank goodness!

Much love, peace, and glimmers to you!

~kat

Gabby had a spa day…maybe that’s what I need. 🤩

day 230

not as I imagined it

retirement in the time of a revolution
is not at all what we were sold
when life was simpler
and families lived closer,
when socializing meant
sitting on your front porch chatting
with the neighbors across the way
while our kids played ‘mother may I’
and ‘Simon says’ in the street
until the sun set, fireflies flickered,
and the street lights came on

the retirement I imagined
was filled light streaming in at dawn
coffee brewing…or tea steeping,
the smell of browned toast,
the mellow, sweet tang of butter
and homemade jam on my tongue,
sitting for a spell to take it all in,
to read a little, to write a little,
with time enough for a walk before lunch.
soup…maybe a light salad or a sandwich
on fresh slices of homemade bread
followed by a lovely afternoon nap,
with the windows open, a cool breeze
softly tossing sheer lace curtains
while my old cat purrs nearby…

retirement in the time of a revolution
requires one to draw from the deep well
of experience, to revisit the idealism
and bravery of youth, to rise early,
to stand, to be counted, to give voice
to the truth, in poetry, on posters,
in letters to editors who still have souls,
to leaders who still have spines,
to be a gentle voice to the young
to be kind to the oppressed and needy,
to be a safe place for those who
need a place to land, to hide, to rest

I’m not sure I would have survived
my imaginary, fantastical retirement plans
I’m sure I would have become a bored,
grumpy, old lady hiding behind drawn shades…

what a surprise to retire during the time
of the great lie, fired up and charged
with protecting the truth, keeping it alive,
shining a light to show others the way home

much love, peace, and glimmers to you!

~kat ✨✨✨💚💚💚✨✨✨


gabby peeking in to remind me and you to be sure to take a moment for a glimmer. It’s a good thing she qualifies as a glimmer herself! ✨✨✨💚✨✨✨

Sunset in the Foothills ~ kat – August 2025

day 229

late summer

there’s a stillness
a quiet resignation
as summer fades

the trees slump
in the August heat
a few surrendering
to the inevitable
shades of sage,
amber, crimson…

leaves break free
first to dance
with the wind

first fruits
of autumn’s harvest

first to return
to Gaia’s embrace

~kat

The leaves of this red maple tree at the edge of the woods have always turned well before autumn becomes official. No deep frost needed…no cool temperatures. It may even be a bit earlier this year than last year. I’ve been watching it transition in late summer since it was a sapling. The first year I was worried, but as the years have passed and the tree has grown taller, I have come to expect it.

I decided to research this to find out why. I discovered that this has been happening all over. There are various reasons given. Depends on who you ask. Some say it is excessive heat, some say draught. Some say too much rain. And some simply blame it on global warming.

I also discovered a fascinating fact about red maples in general. Their gender can be a very fluid thing. Some are primarily male, some are female, some are primarily one or the other with a few flowers of the other gender on the same tree. And then there are those trees that that shift from one gender to another. Polygamodioecious hermaphrodite trees…imagine that!

Much love, peace, and glimmers to you.

~kat ✨✨✨💚✨✨✨


day 226

Dog Days of Summer a la Gabby
dog days

a few months from now
I’ll be thinking of summer
these long hot days…and spring,
the warmth that it brings

when the trees are stripped bare
I’ll be longing for green, with dreams
of cool rain, and flower dense plains

from beneath woolen layers
of long-johns and sweaters
I’ll peer out my window to bleak,
with little to do but drift off to sleep

the heat swelt of summer
is making me wonder when
this fierce inferno will end…

come brief autumn respite,
though lovely you’ll exit
too soon for my liking
for now temps are spiking

I shouldn’t complain
there’s nothing to gain
by wishing away
these hot humid days

with hummingbirds chirping
and spring babies growing
the Tom’s, Jennie’s, deer and the crows

though summer drags on
winter, likewise will tarry
each extreme has its cons and its pros

I would miss each one’s splendor
might as well just surrender
to sweat and to shiver
with grace through it all

~kat

The summer heat has been exhausting. I sometimes wonder if it is my advancing age which makes me less tolerant, but I have never been a summer girl. Give me a cool dark corner, a fan and a good book and I am quite content to wile the hours away until dusk comes with a blessed relief to the heat of the sun. 

Contrarily, in winter after the first snow, hopefully on a weekend when I have nowhere to go and can view the wonderland through the window…I’m not a real fan of long winters either. 

I prefer the in between seasons. But it occurs to me as I get older that wishing away one extreme season for the other is actually wishing precious time away.

How many seasons more do I have? Definitely less than I have drudged through up to now. It has caused me to have a new appreciation for the wonders of each, however small. With little time to spare I am determined to savor every moment. But can I at least say…it is a blasted inferno out there!!! Followed by a deeply felt uggghhhh!?!!!!

Summer and I have moved on in our love-hate relationship to a mutual place of respect I think. I promise to stop saying I hate summer, and summer for its part will do its best not to give me heat stroke…at least that’s my spin on our negotiation. 

Much love, peace, and cool glimmers to you. 

~kat ✨✨✨💚💚💚✨✨✨