Category Archives: Social Issues

refugees and rumors

refugees
.
blue
eyes and blond hair,
traits
inherited from
my ancestors, foreign refugees,
who dared
to hope in Liberty’s
promise of freedom,
compassion,
opportunity…
.
from across the ocean they came
with dreams for a future, a fresh start
they put down roots and worked hard,
found a home here, raised a family
not unlike
today’s
sojourners
seeking refuge from oppression
only to find
the Lady immured

~kat

I have decided to stop counting the days. It took me days, the entire week actually, to scratch this bloody commentary of a pi-sequence poem (3.1415926535 8979323846 for the syllable count each line)

It’s exhausting here in the trenches watching everything implode. My heart breaks daily for the victims of cruelty and hate.

I manage to get up everyday, tend to my animal friends, and work, but the darkness only seems to get darker. It’s hard to ignore. Hard to feel anything but guilt that the scourge hasn’t reached my door yet. Most of all I am horrified by the way we are treating each other…especially children. Those who claim to support life, clearly don’t. Their concern ends at birth.

I wrote another poem… an acrostic…

I heard a rumor…

It’s about time…
Most reasonable, relatively sane people would agree
Presidential immunity is over
Elections are not for the overtaking
And democracy is not for sale
Congress is finally waking up, ready to
Hold this corrupt dictator wannabe accountable

Tell DJT and his sycophants it’s over
Restore decency and justice for all
Undo every vile executive order that
Made him and his ilk richer…declare
Power to the people where it belongs

~kat

I do hope the rumors are true and congress follows through.

As for glimmers. Just because I am not counting days does not mean I’m not paying attention and looking for glimmers! If I can hold onto a glimmer of hope, show compassion and kindness, even if it feels inadequate to counter the relentless onslaught of terrible…I have to trust that it is enough. Especially if I’m not the only one glimmering.

So yes, I also have a few glimmers to share. They are both tiny. Sometimes tiny is best because it forces you to notice…to lean in,

We have babies of various forms,,,


day 379


lost in bread dough and glimmers

I catch myself feeling content, happy even,
enjoying life, sunshine on my face,
breathing sweet fresh air, and birdsong
how can a five-year-old boy be
a criminal…the worst of the worst?

sometimes I lose myself in bread dough,
kneading, shaping it into a perfect round mound,
the sweet smell of warm yeast wafting
they were just trying to help,
domestic terrorists are not helpers

how fortunate I am to do work I love,
organizing, scheduling, creating, planning travel for others…
what I wouldn’t give to travel…far from here
they disappear them one by one,
nameless bodies, to fill their quota

I catch myself desperate to find glimmers
bright spot in the everyday, clinging to them
as if they are a lifeline…they are a lifeline
have you noticed the world is on fire,
there is smoke burning our eyes and lungs…

I vacillate between light and dark,
joy and immense sorrow, hope and despair, compassion and anger…
anger mostly, and survivors guilt because
the monsters haven’t knocked on my door…yet

I bought a whistle on a lanyard the other day,
my camera phone is charged and ready
for glimmers…for monsters, for recording
the history that they are trying to erase
there is no making sense of the lies but
there is truth we all see with our own eyes

~kat


day 376

First Ballet Lesson.
rights of passage

she
doesn’t know the world’s
burning
everything is pink
her innocence intact, fiercely protected by her loving parents
all parents
hope as much for their children
it’s why they...it's why we come here
promised by Liberty
that the pursuit of happiness
could be ours too, once upon a time
when tutus, bunny-eared hats, and Spider-Man backpacks
were protected rights of passage for all

~kat

5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos was abducted by ICE from his school in Minnesota. He was used as bait to lure his father outside where he was taken into custody. Liam and his father are now at a Texas ICE facility. His father had applied for asylum at the border, and has no criminal record according to their immigration attorney. He was doing all the right things like immigrants from centuries past have done to become a citizen.


Today’s poem is a tale of two young children. One, my great granddaughter at her first ballet lesson. The other, young Liam, whose only crime is the color of his skin and his country of origin. Both of these angels are glimmers. Both deserving of love, compassion, happiness, opportunity, safety, and respect. I pray everyday for the children. For every single one.

Much love, peace, and glimmers to you.

~kat

✨✨✨💚💚💚✨✨✨


day 375

I know I’ve been away for a few days. I needed to take a break. My heart in broken for our nation. And I wonder, how can anyone still support the horrible leaders of this country. What scares me most is that people still do…
____________________

drowning in gaslight

I cannot look away, my senses assaulted
by murders captured on cell phones
blasted as evidence to the world,
targeted death by hate and retribution,
forced to witness souls released
from battered, tear-gassed bodies…

“don’t believe your eyes”, they say,
“we’re here to save you from terrorists”

from babies and five-year olds
in blue bunny-ear hats
and Spider-Man backpacks
harboring fathers legally here,
granted asylum, baby boys used as bait,
for abduction to oblivion

in case you didn’t know, they now say
terrorists are poets, gentle mothers,
beloved partners, kind souls who sparkle…

terrorists are helpers, icu nurses serving
veterans, who exercise rights once
considered established by our forefathers
whose last act on earth was kindness
helping a woman, pushed down and tear-gassed
then ripped from aiding her, and shot dead

I do not feel safer
with these so-called terrorists eliminated, nor from the disappearing of
children, of innocent neighbors
singled out because of who someone
perceives them to be…

no one is safe
when evil rewrites and repeats history

we are drowning in gaslight, teargas
and blood…and we must not look away

let us call out the true terrorists by name
reclaiming the inheritance of the meek
in kindness, compassion, love, and truth

please stay safe my friends…believe your eyes

~kat


day 373

Sometimes a glimmer can be a person…

Photo Credit Nj.com
today we remember

they cannot erase
the fact that he existed
history is not
a matter of opinion
we were changed by Martin’s dream

we’re not going back
silence is not an option
freedom is not free

~kat