Category Archives: Random Thoughts and Musings

opinionated

whatever you do
watch what you say, choose your words
your voice has no sway
in a world so divided
where opinions are deemed truth

~kat

For Colleen Chesebro’s Weekly Poetry Challenge, a Tanka this week prompted by the words Voice and Watch.

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remembering

we will never forget 9/11 / how can we forget 11/9

when terror descended / when hatred triumphed

that terrible morning / in the wee hour of three

as we watched in horror / it rendered us speechless

the towers collapsing / our worst fears were confirmed

but we were not broken / the truth was revealed

on that fateful day / we were us versus them

we banded together / now a nation divided

held hands with strangers / forced to look in the mirror

we sang kumbaya / to face our dark demons

we talked about love / emboldened, enraged

promising to remember / reliving past battles

but how soon we forgot / to the winners the spoils

what makes us great, America / First, they declared

our founding principles / we’ll build a great wall

our common ideals / shutter our borders

of life and liberty, / to keep them all out

the pursuit of happiness  / the foreigners, the hungry, the poor

for all who call this nation home / if you are the other

that’s why we gather to remember their names / we don’t want you here

so we will never forget them and / how can we forget

who we were when calamity struck / the day a madman of privilege declared

One America, Red, White and Blue / let’s make America Great

~kat

A cleave poem (three poems in one. Read the first Column in standard print as one poem, read the second column in bold print as another and finally read across the entire line for the third.)


Twittering Tale #49 – 12 September 2017

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About the challenge: Each Tuesday I will provide a photo prompt. Your mission, if you choose to accept the challenge, is to tell a story based on that prompt in 140 characters or less. Be sure to let me know in the comments with a link to your tale.

A final note: if you need help tracking the number of characters in your story, there is a nifty online tool that will count for you at charactercountonline.com.

I will do a roundup each Tuesday, along with providing a new prompt. Have Fun!

Twittering Tale #48 – The Roundup

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Coffee Shop from “Free Images on Pixabay.com

Starting us off, my twittering tale:

“Get whatever Gramps. I’m payin’.”
“A coffee, please.”
“Decaf? Dark roast? Cream? Soy? Sugar or…?
“Good god! COFFEE! Black. Do you have that?
(140 Characters)

From Kathryn at Another Foodie Blogger:
Opening day, one minute past. What if nobody comes? I’ll rearrange this, or maybe that. Ding! I turn around. “Welcome to Kat’s Koffee!”
(136 Characters)

From Reena at ReInventions:
“All coffee shops look the same.”
“They leave different impressions on the mind, depending on what happened there.”
“Yeah ….. some become markers in the book of life.”
(140 characters)

From Michael at Morpethroad:
Coffee black, no milk or sugar
Not too hot or my lips will burn
how will she kiss me
with scorched lips
so do your bit
so I can do mine. Yes? 
(137 characters)

From Di at Pensitivity101:
The Exhibition
‘What’s he doing?’

‘Making coffee. It took about 2 minutes in those days.’
‘Take me to the replicator. It takes 2 seconds.’
(Including the title, 135 characters)

From Lady Lee at Lady Lee Manila:
So nervous
A cup of coffee, please
Milk, no sugar
Keep the change
A man with a book
That’s him
My blind date
Hope it goes well
(119 characters)

From Fandango at This, That, and the Other:
Got here before the morning rush. I’ll be the first one served. Do you want your usual double shot caramel macchiato? Text me back, okay?
(137 characters)

From Bobby at Writing, events, competitions and even some self-penned bits:
Excuse me, I’ve been here ten minutes now, any chance of dropping what you’re doing and serving me, what sort of coffee-shop is this?
137 characters

From Peter at Peter’s Ponderings:
The star trooper teleported out of danger but now found himself overlooking a strange world with ten moons. A bitter smell pervaded the air.
(140 characters)

From Leena at Through My Heart Web:
God,No More Co-incdnces Plz
(At Cfe Shp)
YOU!Not Agn
Made In Heaven Cpl.We Gt Maried Den Divrcd n 3Blind Dates 2gtr
He Laughd,She Joined Him too
(140 Characters)

From Francine at Woman Walks Dog:
I’m Ed its my diner
Mornings its mums
lunch guys from the garage
evenings teens
nights I open the sneak door for the Vampire Club, go home
Dunno what they do No blood here

From Willow at WillowDot21:
The plush coffee bar had a special buzz. Alejandro the sexy  Barista was always there with a smile and a”The usual?” Until one day he wasn’t.

From Gayl at Words, Photos and Art:
Musings from a Coffee Shop – Four Tales from Gayl!
Coffee or Not?
The usual, please.
Must relax. Calm down.
New boss comes today.
Yikes! He’s here already!
On second thought, maybe coffee’s not the best…
(138 characters)

A Place of Remembrance
My favorite place! I remember how we laughed, talked and cried together.
Oh, how I miss you, my beloved friend. Now I’m alone, wondering why.
(140 characters)

First Job
Blender whirring, coffee brewing, new flavors.
Baristas rushing. Smiling at customers both crabby and kind.
Her first job. She loved it all!
(139 characters)

Lasting Friendships
Five friends talk amidst
Aromas of fresh coffee
Missing one who died

Each month gathering
Sharing joys and trials here
Sisters joined by God
(135 characters)

From Hayley at The Story Files:
Autumn Coffee
She started popping into coffee shops again just to see the menu. By the second week, all her favourite drinks appeared. Frequently, she sat and tasted autumn over and over again.

From Kalpana at Gemini in the Sky:
Serving coffee was a ploy.
She warned him to be careful. He ignored. A car hit him.Her prognosis never failed.She practiced tasseography.

I loved your tales this past week. Coffee shops are such fun places. Who knew so much happened in coffee shops! Thanks for joining the challenge this week.

Found a beautiful photo on Pexels.com by Tim Savage for our challenge this week. I have spent a fair amount of time in humble motels in my life. I even lived for a summer in a motel. I was 12…my family was homeless. when I do get a chance to travel, I try to find a lovely place to stay. Nothing too wildly extravagant. I still can’t afford that kind of luxury. But a nice hotel, with indoor entries and grand hallways like the one in the photo. Every now and again it’s nice to treat ourselves. Hotels are interesting places. I like to imagine the stories that happen behind the closed doors. Aside from lovers and honeymooners, there are families on vacation, business travelers who spend more time on the road than home, people taking a break from their lives…behind every door, a story. What’s yours?

I’ve worked hard my whole life, so when I do get a chance to travel, I save up and try to find a lovely place to stay. Nothing too wildly extravagant. I still can’t afford that kind of luxury. But a nice hotel, with indoor entries and grand hallways like the one in the photo. Hotels are interesting places. I like to imagine the stories that are happening behind the closed doors. Aside from the obvious lovers and honeymooners, there are families on vacation, business travelers who spend more time on the road than home, people taking a break from their lives, a secret stakeout, ghosts caught forever between two worlds, people passing through town or staying for a day or two to attend weddings, births, graduations, funerals. Behind every door, a story. What’s yours?

Twittering Tale #49 – 12 September 2017

Wilmington DE © @timsavage

Photo by Tim Savage at Pexels.com

The last few years had been hell. Before the end, he planned a trip for her; luxury hotel, spa appointments. The only thing missing was him.
(140 Characters)

~kat


Magnetic Poetry Monday

she is not broken

by darkness

she embraces the

magic of the night

she is woman

wild as the day

she was born

~kat

Magnetic Poetry Poet Kit


Shi Sai Sunday’s Week in ReVerse – 10 September 2017

My fortune cookie this past Saturday… 

Life does not go on…not just yet. We were burdened this past week with aftermaths of destruction: hurricanes, earthquakes, raging wildfires, crushing inhumanity by so-called leaders, while the best of humanity hangs in the balance, at the ready to take make things right. But life is not going on…not just yet as we face even more catastrophe on our southern shores. We remind ourselves of our incredible resilience in the wake of all of life’s storms, be they nature-driven or human fabricated. Life goes on…sometimes, and sometimes it does not…

I feel helpless in the eye of the storms that rage around me. There is nowhere to run…nowhere to hide. We can try to prepare. We can hope for the best. But ultimately we must wait.

I’m tempted to wrap myself in my woobie and sleep long and hard until it’s over…until it’s time to gather what is left; until it’s time to make something of the rubble. What if nothing remains? It’s useless to worry about it. What do we do with time when it’s not time to move on, not just yet?

Moments count most right now. I light a candle for us all as I embrace the frail excruciating weight of this single moment. I breathe in deeply, exhale slowly. I gaze at my surroundings; the people, pets and things that give me comfort, that I love, and last but certainly not least, I eat the damn cake, savoring its sweetness. As moments go it is enough. I’ll leave the moving on until it’s time.

Be safe, be kind, love one another…peace.

Shi Sai Sunday’s Week in ReVerse – 10 September 2017

soft the gloaming hush descends
breath of withering blossoms dying
there’s a cool snap in the air
a coffee, please
excruciating, the wait,
oh…I had a secret invisibility cloak once
pretending to be impressed with his strip shuffle
sinful indulgence
falsehoods fade slowly
dusty nooks, cluttered,
for nuggets of gold
treasure ‘midst rubble
so easily crushed
late summer storms swell
sleep in if you like
whisper me lies
they never rest
they know my heart best
eat the damn cake…do it

~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.