Category Archives: Shi Sai

November 27, 2016

Shi Sai Sunday’s Week in ReVerse – 27 November 2016

By Kat Myrman


Happy Sunday…and Happy Holidays…’tis the season and all that jazz. This week we celebrated the first of many annual traditions and rituals as we gather for coma-inducing feasts, parades and dog shows, football, shopping sprees at the crack of dawn, twinkling lights, sappy holiday movie binges, and for the faithful, it is a time to celebrate spiritual blessings of the season.

It can be an intensely emotional time for many of us as we reconcile memories with the present day realities of our dysfunctional families, but it is also a time of hope and blessings and peace if we are open to it, a time to embrace what truly matters. This is at the top of my wish list for all of us. Love, hope, happiness and peace. Everything else is just stuff.

Shi Sai Sunday’s Week in ReVerse – 27 November 2016

to live and breathe a life
of purest deep love
every writer knows…
hell if I know
if one dares to dream
from the belly of Gaia
she clings to mem’ries of spring
I liberated myself from this annual masochistic ritual
the internet is full
the latest, greatest new things
they will convince you

~kat

The Shi Sai (formerly known as a ReVerse) is a new form I came up with during Poetry Month in April 2016. I’ve actually been writing shu sai for years but was inspired to give it a proper name. It is a poem created by taking one line of verse from several poems of an author’s own collection. The shi sai is done as a review of a series or collection of poems and therefore, each line should flow in chronological order of the dates the poems were written (from oldest to new). The lines chosen should be the author’s favorite from each poem. This form works best if the author resists the temptation to read the full new poem before all the verses have been added. (It helps one to resist the impulse to change a line to make it “fit”.

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

November 20, 2016

Shi Sai Sunday’s Week in ReVerse – 20 November 2016

By Kat Myrman


It’s been an odd week. Happy Sunday to you by the way. It’s the day when I look back at the week that was and lift a line from each blog entry to create a Shi Sai (ReVerse) poem. I never know how they are going to turn out, but they have an interesting way of working. There was definitely a theme running through each post this week.

It’s been an odd week. I finally reached a level of acceptance post-election. I worked my way, over the past week, through various stages of grief, even allowing myself to get angry, which is not a usual thing for me. And I was beginning consider that maybe I should “hope for the best” as my friends who voted for the winner encouraged me to do, but…

It’s been an odd week. Each day the news revealed a lineup of shocking developments as DT added cronies to his team. As much as I want to remain optimistic, it’s getting harder. Sorry friends who voted for him, I would never say “I told you so,” but…

It’s been a strange week. My tendency is to retreat, stay to myself, stick to my routine, not make waves. But none of us has that luxury in times like these. So I started wearing a safety pin everyday. It’s meant to let others know that they are safe with me. And it reminds me too, that I need to be vigilant for justice and equality for all people. As much as I’d like to lock myself away, I can’t, because…

It’s been a strange week. I have to believe we’ve got this! Together we’ve got this.

Peace, hope, love and justice.

Shi Sai Sunday’s Week in ReVerse – 20 November 2016

remember, i am here
I hide in a cubicle dawn to dusk
It is expected to save billions
I dare say we are past the fussing stage
but who else but a woman,

a flock of quacking quackers
those who like familiar things
on a whisp’ring breeze
staying behind their walls with their own kind, where it was safe,

holds truth for our times
clouds grow softly…

~kat

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

November 13, 2016

Shi Sai Sunday’s Week in ReVerse ~ 13 November 2016

By Kat Myrman


It is a new day. A Super Moon Sunday day. Another opportunity to a live what I believe, to have my spirituality tested, to step up to the plate and not be found wanting, to know if all those lofty ideals I cling to and write about are true. It’s an opportunity for me to practice empathy, compassion, forgiveness and healing even, and most importantly, in the trenches of despair.

In the wake of the shock and awe of the election, I found myself faced with several moments of truth.

I have been unfriended by my youngest daughter. She doesn’t understand why I am so selfish, and she is especially angry that I would express my thoughts on social media where her friends can see it, embarrassing her (she was obviously for the other candidate, as were all my daughters, along with their in-laws and extended family members). What cuts the deepest is that I no longer have access to her daily pictures and posts, to what has been a happy window into the milestones and growth of my youngest granddaughter. She promised to send photo texts. Social media aside, I imagine that the holidays will be a superficial practice in polite pleasantries. And yet, I do forgive her…she doesn’t realize what she has done. I hope for the best and look forward to that day when she and I can reconnect again in a meaningful way.

My oldest daughter called to check on me too,  and to say she was sorry because she knew I would likely be very sad about the election results. We talked for over an hour. I forgive her too, for being a one issue voter, for not stopping to consider the consequences of her vote. I accept her apology fully with all my heart. Love saves us. Love always wins.

It’s going to be bumpy. I imagine I will have daily opportunities to practice forgiveness and to find hope in miracles. Believe it or not, I’m grateful for this test of faith.

That being said, please be gentle with yourselves, forgive, empathize, seek truth, fight for justice, practice peace, hold one another, be kind and love one another. This is new ground for many of us. But we can do it together.

Peace and love!

Shi Sai Sunday’s Week in ReVerse ~ 13 November 2016

And that is all there is to it
Could forget it
but remember truth matters

NO WORDS

I can be more effective when I am free from the bonds of unforgiveness.
how eximious one is
Has grown dark…

kat

The Shi Sai (formerly known as a ReVerse) is a new form I came up with during Poetry Month in April 2016. I’ve actually been writing shu sai for years but was inspired to give it a proper name. It is a poem created by taking one line of verse from several poems of an author’s own collection. The shi sai is done as a review of a series or collection of poems and therefore, each line should flow in chronological order of the dates the poems were written (from oldest to new). The lines chosen should be the author’s favorite from each poem. This form works best if the author resists the temptation to read the full new poem before all the verses have been added. (It helps one to resist the impulse to change a line to make it “fit”.

11 Comments   |  tags: , , , | posted in Digital Art & Photos, Life Lessons, Poetry, Random Thoughts and Musings, Shi Sai, Social Issues, Spirituality

November 6, 2016

Shi Sai Sunday’s Week in ReVerse – 6 November 2016

By Kat Myrman


This US election cycle has been a long exhausting run. And we have learned an inconvenient, ugly truth about ourselves in the process.

Once it became socially acceptable to lie, slander, subjugate, ridicule, denigrate, marginalize, judge, discriminate and hate, our worst angels oozed to the surface, from under the moss-adorned rocks we hoped would contain them, and flaunted themselves in broad daylight. We never wanted to believe that this element of our society was legion. But we can no longer fool ourselves. What’s more, it is who we are as a nation. It is our friends, co-workers, neighbors, family. And the most disturbing thing we have learned is that it is us too, all of us, each time we choose to feel anger, to lash out toward those who don’t agree with or believe as we do.

It has been shocking to witness my own range of emotions as they have shifted from light to dark, from compassion to frustration and anger, to feel that surge of satisfaction after having crushed an opposing view with “the truth”. It has been sobering to realize that even in the name of all that is right and good and true, my own heart and soul can be found lacking when my intention is self-serving.

Yes, it’s true. Most of us are a combination of good and evil. What matters most is not that we are both, but that we can always choose to do better. We choose.

This is my final pre-election post. But I realize that it is just the beginning for all of us and this dysfunctional country of ours, to take what we have learned about ourselves…and do better.

✌️& ❤️ ~ kat

Shi Sai Sunday’s Week in ReVerse – 6 November 2016

rest our souls
each minute crept excruciatingly into hours
it can be tricky
each is hoping you’ll believe
memories whisper
no doubt about it,
privilege creeps in
the what’s don’t matter, for’s don’t care
“Because I said so,”
la, la…la, la, laaaa!
you and yours (we) can do better

~kat

The Shi Sai (formerly known as a ReVerse) is a new form I came up with during Poetry Month in April 2016. I’ve actually been writing shu sai for years but was inspired to give it a proper name. It is a poem created by taking one line of verse from several poems of an author’s own collection. The shi sai is done as a review of a series or collection of poems and therefore, each line should flow in chronological order of the dates the poems were written (from oldest to new). The lines chosen should be the author’s favorite from each poem. This form works best if the author resists the temptation to read the full new poem before all the verses have been added. (It helps one to resist the impulse to change a line to make it “fit”.

8 Comments   |  tags: , , , | posted in Digital Art & Photos, Essays, Life Lessons, Poetry, Random Thoughts and Musings, Shi Sai, Social Issues, Spirituality, Week in Review

October 30, 2016

Shi Sai Sunday’s Week in ReVerse – 30 October 2016

By Kat Myrman

Happy Sunday. Again this week’s Shi Sai is the perfect snapshot of the week that was. More ugly came out of the shadows rearing its snarling oppressive self in the world politic, but an amazing thing happened. People once ensorcelled by the droning spin started to wake up, started to speak up and declare, “it’s not okay,” “words matter” and “decent people don’t talk like this, or act like this.”

Oh there are still some mesmerized by the extravagant display of privileged unfettered power. Some who believe that words don’t matter, who’ve forgotten what it means to be a united people where everyone matters.

But somehow, even though the latest raging rants cut a little deeper, the truth found a way, like healing balm, to expose the ugly for what it is. And that gives me hope.

Have a wonderful week, breathe deeply and press toward the light! ❤️

Shi Sai Sunday’s Week in ReVerse – 30 October 2016

how she presses toward the light
Finishing a poem.
always breathe
the sand shifts,
might look you straight in the eye,
it’s impossible
it can break a heart,
so he scanned each face in the crowd…
(She) closed her eyes, breathing deeply, losing herself in the musky aroma of damp earth that filled the air
‘midst the thorns she thrives ascending
like moths to a flame
they were ensorcelled
we choose our poison
dark coffee in a porcelain cup,
but only from dusk to dawn.
~kat

The Shi Sai, (formerly known as a ReVerse) is a new form I came up with during Poetry Month in April 2016. I’ve actually been writing shu sai for years but was inspired to give it a proper name. It is a poem created by taking one line of verse from several poems of an author’s own collection. The shi sai is done as a review of a series or collection of poems and therefore, each line should flow in chronological order of the dates the poems were written (from oldest to new). The lines chosen should be the author’s favorite from each poem. This form works best if the author resists the temptation to read the full new poem before all the verses have been added. (It helps one to resist the impulse to change a line to make it “fit”.

2 Comments   |  tags: , , , | posted in Digital Art & Photos, Essays, Life Lessons, Poetry, Random Thoughts and Musings, Shi Sai, Social Issues, Spirituality, Week in Review