Today’s Glimmer: A doe and her twins under a hickory tree in the Bramlett Mountain Foothills ~kat / July 2025
switching to survival mode
I know how to survive, how to stretch a few leftovers into more how to add water to milk to make it last one day longer… when I was a girl my family lived in a motel with a kidney-shaped pool a few steps away from the interstate, from an underpass where others lived, who weren’t as fortunate as we I know where to find pennies, enough buy fast food dollar meals, how to barter for groceries, taking care of someone else’s kid so mine could eat, how to resurrect hand-me downs to clothe us, sewing squares of well-worn fabric into colorful quilts to brighten our space, oh I know…
someone told me the other day, you’ve done a lot of things in your life… I have, I smiled…I wanted to say it’s called survival, but only other survivors understand that you do the jobs no one else will do, building experience and skills to gain a few more pennies, moving from job to job, several at a time, as time sifts through your life like sand. i can make do and make work the crumbs and scraps of life, things others toss in the trash keeping us just shy of enough… it’s been decades now…decades…
I still keep a jar of spare change always at the ready just in case, I hunt for bogo sales at the market stocking my pantry with one extra I keep clothes patched and useful long after they’ve gone out of style and yet…and yet I wake each morning grateful for the sun and the rain, and this blessed life, my greatest accomplishments are my children and their children and theirs
they say the tariffs will raise the cost of living for those of us who pay to live…I’m ready, though I wish we didn’t need to be…I know how to survive in the best and the worst of times. as long as i can keep a pot of soup simmering, there will always be plenty enough to share and room for one, or two, or a few more at my table this is how we survive…together
She lost me in Whispering Leaves… “Only need a few minutes,” I said, “go ahead…run your errands, I’ll be here when you get back.” She smiled that smile and said, “See you later then.” I’m a terrible liar. As I stepped through the portal of this urban nook, books stacked floor to ceiling, in eccentric, hoarded fashion, shelves, if there were any, buried deep beneath dusty tomes begging to be touched, to feel the gentle caress of fingertips sliding along the page edges, turning each sepia-stained leaf to reveal hidden treasure.
It had only been minutes when the store clerk weaved toward me through narrow pathways banked by beautiful books, my wife in tow, “Here she is…” she declared, while glancing at the title of my recent find. “That’s a good one,” she winked, “you should take it with you…” My dear partner, my heart, smiled that smile again, “you should, take that book home, and a maybe few others.”
I don’t deserve her, I mused, as she carried my new, old books to the register.
~kat
NaPoWriMo 2024 Day 16 Challenge: write a poem in which you closely describe an object or place, and then end with a much more abstract line that doesn’t left seemindaysgly have anything to do with that object or place, but which, of course, really does.
“happiness,” declared old hound, “is a good chew, a bone, a stick, a chair, it’s a soft bed, a full water bowl and plenty of kibble, shelter from the storm, belly rubs, a window with a view, and most of all my very own human to love who treats me kindly and calls me good boy.”
cat rolled her eyes at hound, “happiness? I’ll tell you what happiness is you old fool happiness is owning a devoted human one who serves me prime pate. I must have a water fountain and sun-warmed spots to nap, a fresh litter-box, catnip and limited touching…no belly rubs
an old man sitting nearby overheard hound and cat, “It’s true. happiness is having enough to eat, someone to love, i agree with you two but it’s also satisfaction from a job done well, hope and dreams, it’s learning something new, helping others, friendship It’s a way of life, a choice, a blessing!”
hound flipped onto his back, “belly rub please, belly rub paleeeeeeeaze!!!!” cat leapt up on a windowsill, “whatever!“, she hissed, as she curled into a ball. the man smiled, happiness is this moment
~kat
NaPoWriMo 2024 -Day 5 Challenge: Now, let’s get to our optional prompt! Today we’d like you to start by taking a look at Alicia Ostriker’s poem, “The Blessing of the Old Woman, the Tulip, and the Dog.” Now try your hand at writing your own poem about how a pair or trio very different things would perceive of a blessing or, alternatively, how these very different things would think of something else (luck, grief, happiness, etc).
I am certain that we knew each other in a former life, if past lives exist. We could even be soulmates, I’m sure of it! I remember the day we met, the moment our eyes found each other. There was no turning back. It was a turning point. In fact, I felt it in the deepest part of my soul. Admit it, you felt it too. From unknowing to knowing in a split second. Without hesitating you walked right up to me. Ileaned down to greet you as you gently licked my face. No dog has ever held my heart the way you do, Theo. No living being for that matter. Surely we are soulmates. What a good boy you are!
I had just logged out of my work computer, sat down to watch a bit of mindless TV while my dog’s tilapia baked in the oven. Okay, yes I cook for my dogs. Vet’s orders…though… well that’s another story it’s for my sweet Winston who refuses to go out in the rain to do his business without his raincoat Winnie, who has a special blankie and needs to be tucked in at night
anyhoo… where was I?
just finished work got two trays of tilapia into the oven fed the cats (don’t think i mentioned that or the cats) got Winston dressed in his raincoat so he could take a wee plopped down on the recliner sofa in the den turned on a movie then THIS popped up on the big screen…
what follows next is the conversation i had with some AI beaming in via satellite from a galaxy far, far away no doubt just sayin’
been a rough week only Tuesday, you say? rough week
Wha’? Hall-low!
Something’s not quite right. You’re telling me…wait!? How did you know?
Your receiver has not been reset in a while. Well that would explain a few things. It’s been a few years, hasn’t it? What with pandemics, government coups (attempted, alleged, your everyday tour group gone amuck in DC), inflation, wars, mass shootings, crazy people, two presidents (well, one just thinks he’s still the president…and people believe him!) mean, really nasty, hateful people, I must say I don’t miss being out there I don’t miss the office, the gossip, the backbiting, the hour-long commute i thought i was doing fine, adjusting to isola…i mean solitude but maybe it’s affected me just a bit more than i realized
To prevent your system from becoming unstable… Hey! No need to get personal bud!
…and to ensure you have the latest programming and software updates…. great hook! i’m listening… let me guess three easy payments of $9.95, free shipping and double this offer so i can share it with…
…your receiver will be reset in 45 seconds. Ha…wish it was that easy. You’re right. Something’s not quite right…
Most resets take less than 5 minutes. … … … well, i just spent 45 seconds in a conversation with my television i’m not sure 5 minutes is gonna cut it
think i’m gonna go unplug
the microwave just in case
~kat 🤪
NaPoWriMo 2022 - Day 5 Prompt: write a poem about a mythical person or creature doing something unusual – or at least something that seems unusual in relation to that person/creature.
I had fun with this one. Don’t know if it’s a poem…or on topic, but i had fun! 😊
So it is easier for you to find all the parts/chapters of my ongoing fiction series, I created a new page that lists all the links. You can check it out HERE!
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