Category Archives: Social Issues

day 239

Photo by Kat Myrman 2025
Kent State May 4th

four killed, nine wounded
no good comes when armed solders
march on native soil

~kat

Top on the itinerary for our time away was a stop at my partner’s Alma Mater, Kent State University, to visit the May 4th exhibit, a new addition to the campus. It is particularly poignant and chilling to consider how history seems to be repeating itself. It only took a week for this administration to arm the National Guard soldiers that wandered the National Mall of DC doing photo ops with tourists. It would seem that this was trump’s intent all along. Especially now that other democratic and sanctuary cities are next on his list of cities needing an armed occupation. We have seen this before. It does not end well. People will die. People did die.

May 4th happened during the time of Richard Nixon, when congress members still believed in the rule of law and the constitution; when congress members were brave (some would say had a spine), and served the people. They say that those who refuse to learn the lessons of history are doomed to repeat it.  It’s sobering to consider what is at stake, and how close we are to repeating some of the dark pages of our history. 

Today’s glimmer is bitter sweet. It is truth and history, and places like the exhibit I visited today. They are glimmers of light to help bring us back to our senses, to give us the opportunity to learn from our mistakes so that we avoid making those mistakes again. May we learn. May we act. May we redirect ourselves before another tragedy happens. 

much love, peace, and glimmers to you,

~kat ✨✨✨💚💚💚✨✨✨

Photo by Kat Myrman 2025
Photo by Kat Myrman 2025

Poetry Form today: Haiku 5/7/5 syllables per each line.


day 237

enough…

thoughts and prayers are not enough
even when uttered by innocent children
cannot save them from bullets
piercing through the stained glass
of hallowed, hollow sanctuaries
as evil encroaches their once safe place
we have lost our way in so many ways
but our greatest sin is not caring
not loving children more than guns
allowing children to starve, to be slaughtered, to deny education,
opportunity, healthcare, safety…
it’s not prayer in schools that will save us
when amendments and sacred tomes
become idols, there is no god to listen
and more children, lives cut short, to bury

~kat

It is hard to find glimmers on a day when another mass shooter gunned down children in a church on their first days of school. I am heartbroken for the children, and for the families of those wounded or lost. Back to school, normally a joyful time for kids, has started like a recurring nightmare here in the US. 

There was a vigil in Minnesota this evening. Here’s a photo (By Jeff Wheeler/The Minnesota Star Tribune) It’s today’s glimmer. 

Photo by Jeff Wheeler/the Minnesota Star Tribune

The candles held by mourners are lights in the darkness. Even in grief and pain there can be glimmers…candlelight to remember those lost. To show up. To say, “no more”…to hope someone is finally listening. 

Much love, peace and glimmers to you.

~kat ✨✨✨💚💚💚✨✨✨


day 232

babies at the helm

their retribution knows no bounds
no resolution may be found
their injury, whether faux or real
seeks recompense, but here’s the deal
revenge is not a one and done
they’ll hunt you down ‘til kingdom come
and even once you’re dead and gone
they’ll trash your name, decry your wrongs
made up or real, it matters not
the point is that it’s not forgot
if you have kids woe to them all
they’ll bear the brunt after you fall
of fabricated, vague connects
there’ll be no end to hate unchecked
until their vapid soul descends
to bitter hell to join their friends
lamenting each raw deal endured
how they were blameless, never heard
how sad that innocents have borne
their cruelty and vicious scorn
vile to the core, intent to destroy
sad little men who act like boys

~kat


Today was a cacophony of horribles. The revenge tour has commenced by raiding the home and office of one of the top persons on the enemy list ( that they claim doesn’t exist ), the testimony of maxwell, the evil sex trafficker was released, sort of…selectively…everyone and no one did anything unseemly to young girls, or so this convicted criminal perjurer says…a military official who made the mistake of accurately reporting that damage done by trumps supposed bombing and annihilation of Iran’s nuclear stockpile was fired today, the Epstein files…remember those? The deadline came and went and congress finally received a stack of previously released documents…nothing new to see here folks…all while the national guard troops wandering the streets in the capital will now be armed…what could possibly go wrong…and coming soon to a democratic city near you…hey there Chicago…and you too New York. Did I miss anything….honestly this all happened today…oh and the supreme leader has traded in his maga hat for a new message…”Trump was right about everything”…of course, whatever you say Donnie boy. It’s easy to be right about everything when you fire all the truth tellers and rewrite history. Don’t even go there…what they’re planning to do to our Smithsonian artifacts and history…that was yesterday’s news. There is no way around it folks. The worse things that could happen, have.

It’s happening. The final labored breaths of democracy. I’m not sure how to act. The sun still rose today. I logged in to work like i do every day. Deer and turkeys and hummingbirds wandered by my window. My African violet popped out another flower. Maybe that’s the point. In the midst of a horrible, awful day, nature reminds me that life goes on…I need to focus on the day. It’s likely to get worse before it gets better. But it’s a waste of living to worry about it. There is air to be breathed, the music of the wind to lose myself in, and to dance. Everything else is noise.

Much love, peace and glimmers to you.

~kat ✨✨✨💚💚💚✨✨✨

I know I vacillate between doom and joy these days. With today being heavy on the doom. It’s just reality. Not pretty right now, but I feel called to use this space to document what is happening…should anyone read my words at some future date….but for glimmers…that’s how I intend to get to the other side.

This young female cardinal, resting in the heat of the day. August 22, 2015. ~kat ✨✨✨💚💚💚✨✨✨

And Mr Bean…just because. 🥰



day 230

not as I imagined it

retirement in the time of a revolution
is not at all what we were sold
when life was simpler
and families lived closer,
when socializing meant
sitting on your front porch chatting
with the neighbors across the way
while our kids played ‘mother may I’
and ‘Simon says’ in the street
until the sun set, fireflies flickered,
and the street lights came on

the retirement I imagined
was filled light streaming in at dawn
coffee brewing…or tea steeping,
the smell of browned toast,
the mellow, sweet tang of butter
and homemade jam on my tongue,
sitting for a spell to take it all in,
to read a little, to write a little,
with time enough for a walk before lunch.
soup…maybe a light salad or a sandwich
on fresh slices of homemade bread
followed by a lovely afternoon nap,
with the windows open, a cool breeze
softly tossing sheer lace curtains
while my old cat purrs nearby…

retirement in the time of a revolution
requires one to draw from the deep well
of experience, to revisit the idealism
and bravery of youth, to rise early,
to stand, to be counted, to give voice
to the truth, in poetry, on posters,
in letters to editors who still have souls,
to leaders who still have spines,
to be a gentle voice to the young
to be kind to the oppressed and needy,
to be a safe place for those who
need a place to land, to hide, to rest

I’m not sure I would have survived
my imaginary, fantastical retirement plans
I’m sure I would have become a bored,
grumpy, old lady hiding behind drawn shades…

what a surprise to retire during the time
of the great lie, fired up and charged
with protecting the truth, keeping it alive,
shining a light to show others the way home

much love, peace, and glimmers to you!

~kat ✨✨✨💚💚💚✨✨✨


gabby peeking in to remind me and you to be sure to take a moment for a glimmer. It’s a good thing she qualifies as a glimmer herself! ✨✨✨💚✨✨✨

Sunset in the Foothills ~ kat – August 2025

day 228

What is a word you feel that too many people use?

Taking a dive into one of word press’s prompt questions (shown above)…

sorry

sorry to admit
that i say that I’m sorry
for saying sorry…
it’s a reflexive response
that makes me invisible

so sorry…
sorry…I’m sorry
how sorry

~kat

It’s been a Monday. I could not stomach watching the news and commentaries regarding the bizarre events of the day. The news itself wasn’t what sickened me as much as the way that commentators attempted to treat everything as if it is normal. Providing detailed summations and analysis as if anything that was declared from the Oval Office could or should be taken seriously. I’m waiting for someone in the press corps to tell it like it is…that everyone is terrified of angering the toddler in chief and more importantly that he is in way over his head and doesn’t have a clue. The emperor has no clothes! You can only spin things so much before you get twisted up in the tangled web you’ve woven.

Anyhow…I listened enough to get the basic gist of what happened. It’s embarrassing. The fact that I didn’t vote for this chaos only makes it worse to watch. But I’m past the wish it had turned out differently, I told you so, angry at how stupid people are stage. It’s all of our reality now. It’s not easy being woke.

After all that I need a glimmer… how about you? I received my great granddaughter’s official portraits. Now, I am sensitive to protect the anonymity of my young family members, but I think these snippets might qualify to give you a spark of joy. Babies are hope bundled in blankets. All things good. May we salvage and restore enough of the mess we’ve made to leave something for our children to work with when we’re gone!

Much love, peace, and glimmers to you.

~kat ✨✨✨💚💚💚✨✨✨