Category Archives: Shi Sai

March 30, 2025

day 88 ~ a ReVerse Poem

a ReVerse Poem ~ Sunday, March 30, 2025

we see the smoke billowing, blotting out the sky
liberty mourns for her children
death moans lazily
it was great for a while
there once was an old gal who rarely got sick
forced me to choose, I chose | to speak truth to power
overwhelming to bear
in my little world
call her what you will
winter is lingering
a dawn visitation
nature sings her song of spring
you cannot break us, not today

~kat

Interesting, challenging times we’re living in. It’s a time when writing this blog, and especially chronicling the truth of what is happening in my country feels like a bold act of resistance. These days other, more vulnerable people (due to their citizenship status) are randomly singled out by masked vigilantes (I don’t believe for a minute that these people are actual legally deputized law enforcement) and disappeared from sight to god knows where with no due process or recourse. It gives me pause. It should give all of us pause. In a matter of roughly 2 months the America I knew has been given over to criminals armed with the power to dismantle checks and balances, safety nets and systems, as they set the stage to coronate as dictator king, a felonious, serial predator, and liar who seeks to colonize and rule the western continents alongside his comrade with like motivations in the east.

I keep asking myself if I’m overreacting as ignorant, maga lemmings chide me that it’s not that bad, certainly not as bad as when “other” democratic leaders flanked the helm. It’s madness…or maybe I’m just mad, as in insane, but also as in angry as hell and incensed by it all.

So…I’m still here, and will continue use my voice, chronicling what it feels like to experience the end of a democracy. When this year began I determined, for my own sanity that I needed to deal with the fear and angst I was feeling. I found a life-changing article about glimmers. As a refresh…

Glimmers are small moments of joy or peace that arise from appreciating simple things like the colors of a rainbow, the scent of a flower, or the sound of the rain.
Glimmers and triggers are opposites in that glimmers spark positive feelings while triggers spark negative ones.
The practice of noticing and appreciating glimmers can cue your nervous system to relax and have a positive effect on your mental health.
To increase the odds of noticing glimmers, spend time in places that nourish you, connect with people you enjoy, limit screen time, and practice mindfulness.

Read more about glimmers and how they came to be here. Apparently the concept has taken off everywhere. I had no idea at the time I was joining a movement by focusing my little blog on sharing my glimmers with you. (Glimmers in the air…or the water perhaps? 😉) But here we are, and so it is…and most importantly, so it will continue. I have found that I cannot live without them.

Tomorrow we head into national/global poetry month. My daily focus will remain “glimmers” with the added inspiration from daily prompts. Rest assured I plan to keep the glimmers coming. And I hope you too to take up this practice. We need glimmers now more than ever.

Much love, peace, and glimmers to you!

~kat ✨✨💚✨✨

5 Comments | tags: digital art., digital photography, Glimmers, Poem a Day, Poetry, ReVerse, Shi Sai, week in Reverse, Week in Review | posted in 2025, Digital Art & Photos, Essays, Life Lessons, nature, Poetry, Random Thoughts and Musings, Reverse Poem, Shi Sai, Social Issues, Week in Review

March 2, 2025

day 61 – a ReVerse…well that was a week!

By Kat Myrman

A bright crescent Moon dancing with Venus
~ kat 2025

a ReVerse…well that was a week!

history repeats itself
though nuanced variations can shift 
it’s a quandary I’ve wrestled with
dreams of youth pending
deep breath…deep breath
as chaos churns
the birds are singing | people will perish
an attempted murder, two crows in a tree
it’s a murder now, two crows are three

~kat

It was the art of the steal…oops I meant deal…(wink) on display for the world to see this week. A mafioso-styled set-up meant to obliterate a genuine, humble leader, an ally, complete with a bad-cop hillbilly goon to rough up the mark, appeasing the Don, to cry foul when the truth was revealed. We all saw it clear as day. A shifting of alliances exposed, and the deal that never was meant for peace tossed aside, lauded as good TV for a delighted audience of one leering from his tower in the S.U., while his puppet danced awkwardly, the strings we all suspected finally exposed. The grand hall rats were waiting in the wings of course, ready to spread the toxic prepared talking points. “The nerve! The ungratefulness! Disrespectful! What was he wearing? No suit to meet with the greatest president in the history of presidents in his hallowed Oval Office! The audacity! No deal!??! No peace!” though it is becoming increasingly clear that peace was never, nor will be, part of this or any deal.

I feel the need to apologize to the world for this terrible mess even though I didn’t vote for it. I fought for the truth…and continue to fight. The truth is that truth died a long time ago. We are no longer the United States of America. We’re anything but united. Relegated to red bleeding into and obliterating blue. But over half of us are blue…we know at least that to be true. Sharpie scribbled maps…gulf of ‘merica, red, white, and blue land, gaza riviera, u.s. canal…please don’t trust us. The deals our leaders propose are laced with poison, self interest and malevolence. I stand with you…I stand with Ukraine…with Canada…with the Palestinian people of Gaza…with Mexico…with Panama …with Greenland and Denmark, and all other people’s and nations who find themselves the object of, and in the cross-hairs of our horrible leader’s lust for power, self aggrandizement, bigotry, hate, and cruelty. History repeats itself, obvious to those of us who know history. This is what ignorance breeds. This is democracy dying.

The only glimmer I can muster these dark days is this…this little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine, let it shine, let it shine, let it shine…

Peace, love, and glimmers to you.

~kat

A ReVerse poem (a practice I started many years ago) 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 here as a review of the previous week.

10 Comments | tags: digital photography, Glimmers, Poem a Day, Poetry, ReVerse, week in Reverse, Week in Review | posted in 2025, Digital Art & Photos, Essays, Poetry, Random Thoughts and Musings, Reverse Poem, Shi Sai, Social Issues, Week in Review

February 23, 2025

day 54 – A Reverse Poem – 35 days of glimmers

By Kat Myrman

day 54 - A ReVerse Poem - 35 days of glimmers

I was there that day
tendering moments of peace
you can be kind to others
diamonds light the dawn
it meant everything 
remembering…

a great gaggle of gobblers passed by
and moments of zen
I’m sure you’re thinking
there is no safe place

it was a good day until
rain fell dawn to dusk
darkness fading
defying abject cruelty
touching my heart and soul deeply
how are you doing?

the price is high, this choice you made
drenching earth where seedlings rest
time to breath
the earth will bloom

i’m having a moment
much ado to do
resting in quiet peace
the time to be prepared is now
an impressive confidence
they’re special that way

born of magic
I am a survivor
it’s an unbearable burden 
blanketed under winter

you owe it to yourself you know
grace before a storm
we are not broken
sometimes when words fail
it’s time that i accept the truth

~kat

It’s been more than a minute since I have put together a ReVerse. 35 days to be exact! My my how time flies when the world as we know it is imploding! Today’s creation spans all the way back to January, on the eve of Inauguration Day here in the US. It’s been a whirlwind hasn’t it? But we have survived on glimmers. Those daily glimpses of light in the darkness. They say if you do something for at least 30 days, it becomes a habit. And we need those glimmers more than ever now. Have you found it easier to notice them? I do most days. Like anything practice makes perfect!

So….Remember to breathe…and remember to be kind. It’s been a revelation to look back at what I was thinking over the course of a very eventful month and some. I’m giving it a moment to settle before pressing onward.

Be safe, be kind, be you, and no matter what the coming days hold…Peace, Love, and many, many more Glimmers to you.

~kat

11 Comments | tags: 2025, digital photography, Glimmers, Poem a Day, Poetry, rev, ReVerse | posted in 2025, Digital Art & Photos, Essays, Poetry, Random Thoughts and Musings, Reverse Poem, Shi Sai

May 1, 2024

NaPoWriMo 2024 ~ the ReVerse

By Kat Myrman

the windows in this house have never been dressed 

1-
when terrible truths rise up from the dead
ancients who reside on veil’s cusp 
I felt it in the deepest part of my soul
entranced, though certain death awaits 
happiness is this moment
a sure antidote for the insanity
Ordered a tea. Wish you were here.

2-
when my time comes, I hope it’s quick
centuries old, with eons of history 
so have a day, good, bad, don’t care
what worked in winter is not a good look for spring
we might have been friends, perhaps we were
We saw it with our own two eyes and lived to tell. 
I think I’ve learned a bitter lesson

3-
Wait until the time is perfect, 
a thought, we speak in code, 
begging to be touched, to feel 
it’s a worn out saying…no regrets
sweet on the tongue with power to sting
like birds to seed
we will never forget that day
is it gray or is it grey?

4-
to know the truth; what is truth?
you love deeply, so deeply
what will be, will be, it’s all good, whatever…
ask me anything
stars bursting ‘midst a sea of green
I’ve spent three days boiling driftwood,
like a tidal wave, you flood my senses, 

denouement-
don’t smile, avoid eye contact, let them be!
her entrance, well, it caused a stir

~kat

Happy May Day to you! Time to look back at the challenge that was, NaPoWriMo 2024, with a ReVerse poem!

4 Comments | tags: Challenge, digital photography, NaPoWriMo2024, Poem a Day, Poetry, ReVerse | posted in 2024, Challenges and Writing Prompts, Digital Art & Photos, napowrimo, Poetry, Reverse Poem, Shi Sai

March 24, 2024

autumn to winter to spring – a ReVerse Poem

By Kat Myrman

It’s been a minute…three seasons in fact, since I collected lines from previously penned poems and constructed a ReVerse Poem. The intriguing thing is that it seems as though I have landed right where I started…face toward the sun. Another odd thing I noticed was a repeat separated by months of me thinking myself silly for thinking. As Alice was known to comment, “curiouser and curiouser”.

I’m well into the second year of the new normal thrust upon us by a series of unfortunate medical events. It still feels foreign to my partner and me. When you’ve spent decades planning a certain thing and the universe throws a plot twist into your best laid plans… well, I suppose we are still grieving. Spring will be a welcome break from the dreariness of winter; its warmth and sunshine a healing touch. Just what we need.

The hummingbirds will be returning soon. Life does go on…yes it does. 🥰🌱🌼🌞🐣🦋🐝

autumn to winter to spring - a ReVerse Poem 

her full face at dawn
burdened with secrets and
lessons from the past ignored
silly me for ever thinking 

drawing us deep into the one
to sleep at the feet of our mother
the in between has lost its charm

when hope was a thing
I caught her smiling
she slumbers, dreaming of spring
once upon a time she was fierce, 

how silly of me to think it

it keeps me up nights
I see it clearly
it’s time…turn your face to the sun

~kat