when the tree bough breaks
fledglings from nestings tumble
fly or be cat nipped
~kat
For Haiku Horizons Challenge, prompt word, Tree.
Category Archives: Life Lessons
Shi Sai Sunday’s Week in ReVerse – 9 July 2017
There is a full moon outside my window. The sky is almost cloudless and the moonlight is washing everything in a pale frosted glow.
During the day when the sun is bright and high in the sky we are told as children not to look directly at it for fear of damaging our eyes. But it is in the cool shadowy hours of the night when we can gaze directly at the sun’s reflection on the face of the moon. It is not in fact moonlight that we see, for the moon has no light of her own, but it is the sun’s reflection.
Sometimes I feel like the moon. Face half hidden in cool gray matte while the other half brightly glows … or like the moon in its phases, in full face glow or completely hidden, shadowed in gray.
I need to remind myself that I am not a moon. I am not meant to be a reflector of everything around me. But that can be a daunting task when faced with the troubles of our times. It seems so much easier to turn inward when the going gets rough.
But the truth is I am much more like the sun. Reminds me of the little Sunday school song many of us happily sang as youngsters…”this little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine…let it shine…let it shine…let it shine.
We can’t afford to brood; to become reflectors of light hoping to deflect the darkness, because we are suns. If we don’t let the little sparks within us shine the world will just get darker.
Thank goodness for the dawn and its daily reminder that offers an example to each of us to rise anew, to be light and hope, warmth and healing from the inside out.
“This little light of mine…I’m gonna let it shine…let it shine…let it shine…let it shine…Have a wonderful week. Your light gives me hope.
Shi Sai Sunday’s Week in ReVerse – 9 July 2017
nature’s song in green
got her
it was a good death, as deaths go
but it could be true
parched, we are drowning
those who dream dance on
their dreams frail as dust
to greening flush and browning
driving us mad
with longing
as though they are gods
out on digital screens
~kat
A shi sai or ReVerse poem 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 shi sai features the words of one writer, providing a glimpse into their thoughts over time. I use it as a review of the previous week.
Shi Sai Sunday’s Week in ReVerse – 2 July 2017
“Happy Sunday!”
“Happy, you say?!”
“Well, in a transcendental, metaphysical, quasi-spiritual, dreamy, optimistic sort of way, yes, happy. And it is a fact that it is Sunday…unless you reside in the Far East…then it is almost Monday…but I divagate.”
“You what?”
“Divagate….as in digress? Remember? The new word we learned this week.”
“You’re such a diva!”
“Am not! You are! But back to your original question, ‘happy, you say?!’ … yes, I take it you’re not.”
“Well, how can anyone be happy when everything in the world is spiraling out of control?”
“Take a Dramamine?”
“Come on! Global warming, a heath care bill that is going to kill people, an insane, mean old man running the country, Russia (need I say more?), collapsing infrastructure, the assault on our public schools, voting rights, gerrymandering, voter suppression, nationalism, travel bans, ageism, misogyny, racism, homophobia, religious profiling, insane tweets, the wall…”
“Feel better yet?”
“No, I’m just getting started. And just you wait. Tomorrow something else will happen to prove we’re all up shit’s creek without a paddle. So forgive me miss giddy twinkle shoes if I can’t be happy right now! I’m mortified! It’s terrifying!”
“Oh, but you can. Be happy that is. It’s all a choice. It only takes a second.”
“Harrumph! Delusional you mean!”
“No. Happy. Right here, right now, this moment. Let me show you. First, close your eyes…now think about something that makes you happy.”
“You mean used to…”
“Give it a chance. And you opened your eyes…start over. Close your eyes…think happy something…anything. Got it?”
“Yeah. Okay now what?”
“Now take a deep breath in. Imagine yourself completely enveloped by your happy thing…don’t breathe out just yet…imagine…okay now…slowly…let it go. Feel better?”
“I do actually. I get it. I remember. Thanks self for pulling me off the ledge one more time.”
“Don’t mention it. We’re in this together you know. Happy Sunday?”
“Yeah, I’ll give you that. It’s happy enough, given the circumstances.”
“You’re exhausting!”
😳😊😟😉😜😀😢😣😐😘😌☺️😒😅😮
And…welcome to my world! My mind battles itself regularly. Yeah, the world is a bit, chaotic these days, but it’s important to unplug when it gets to be too much.
We’re gonna survive this, like we have survived every trying time in our history. I’m not going to tell you, “don’t worry, be happy”. That is a bit delusional, and it is important to stay engaged as a member of “we the people”. But…there is nothing wrong with divagating into your happy place every now and again.
Look! There goes a butterfly! A beautiful graceful butterfly…and there! Look! A flower! Oh, and I just noticed someone being kind…Wow! It’s not as hard as you think.
So…Happy Sunday y’all! I hope you can find your happy, if even for just a moment, this week. Just remember to breathe. ❤️
Shi Sai Sunday’s Week in ReVerse – 2 July 2017
If people only knew
never say it…only
smoldering remains
weeps perfume when crushed
from obsidian to glass
Some souls find heaven in hell’s corridors.
look! a butterfly!
divagating tweeted blips,
because that is what those with the truest hearts do
softly
magic is in the air
make love bloom
dreamers ask,
“why not?”~kat
A shi sai or ReVerse poem 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 shi sai features the words of one writer,providing a glimpse into their thoughts over time. I use it as a review of the previous week.
Only the Purest of Hearts
Photo by © Eric Wicklund
Once upon a time, an enchanted tree in an ancient forest was known for granting wishes to those with pure, true hearts.
A scoundrel heard the legend and devised a scheme to fool the old tree into granting his evil desires. He spied a kind old man and overtook him, ripping out his heart, tossing it, still beating, into a satchel. As he approached the tree, it noticed the old man’s pure heart.
“Hello kind sir,” the tree said, “I sense your heart is true. What is your wish?”
“Oh great tree,” the scoundrel replied, “thank you for finding favor with me, a lowly servant. My wish…my wish…”
But before he could utter another word the old tree heaved, unsettling the ground beneath his feet. “What have you done?! Imposter! For your evil deed you shall suffer darkness forevermore!” The old tree’s roots burst through the dust, ensnaring the scoundrel, dragging him into the cold earth.
The tree took pity on the old man. He dispatched the faerie folk to restore to him his heart, granting him a long, happy life. The man continued to bestow kindness, even to strangers, because that is what those with the truest hearts do.
~kat
A 200 Word Tale for Sunday’s Photo Fiction Challenge based on the photo above. This one was quite the challenge and a great lesson in the art of brevity. Truth be told, the first draft of this yarn was over 500 words! Challenges like this help one to become a better writer. You should have a go of it. Click HERE for the details.
Secrets – Magnetic Poetry Monday
secrets are
breathy murmurs
that root deep into
the soul of a willing
listener who must
never say it…only
wither in quiet
knowing
~kat
(Magnetic Poetry – Nature Kit)
Most Inspirational Blogger Nominee
like mercury colliding... 