Category Archives: Spirituality

fallout

fallout

everything changed
nothing changed
i stand at the edge
of despair unable to exhale
shrouded in the dread
of threatened promises
unleashed by ignorance,
the stench of hate dripping
from the rafters amidst
wind-raped, naked trees
loss of daylight adding
insult to undeserved misery
a chill, an ungodly silence
cups my ears like a sonic boom
no one hears my screams…
even if they did, they’d revel
in my suffering, the transaction
of wholesale soul acquisition is
complete, bloodthirsty monsters
wielding the sickle to collect
a harvest sown by lies
justice buried alive under the heap
I’m fading to black,
clinging to embers of hope
flickering in the wake of rage
faint glimpses of love, compassion,
kindness, and truth to keep me
as winter approaches swiftly
from the four corners, everything
in its season…to sleep…to dream
spring is coming, she’s coming
she’s coming…right?
this little light of mine
I’m gonna let it shine
let it shine
let it shine
let it
shine

-kat-


wild blackberries

wild blackberries 

I don’t mind
being encroached upon
by the invasive species
of these foothills…
blackberry brambles
hug the long driveway
to my house on the hill
bursting with fruit
I don’t mind
that the deer, the squirrels,
the rabbits, chickadees, finches,
cardinals, and wrens will glean
most of this year’s bounty…
I don’t even mind sharing
with bullish, boisterous bluejays
I’ll happily savor my annual
handful of luscious sweets, fingers
stained a lovely shade of purple-blue
how gracious my neighbors are
sweetly serenading me, gracing
me with visits that take my breath
they don’t mind me
trudging noisily along the wood’s edge
rustling them from their burrows
and perches…they don’t mind
being encroached upon by me…

~kat


reflections

I’m a bit late to the 2024 party. As fate would have it, I was exposed to not just one, but two nasty viruses on Christmas Day at a family gathering. First to darken my door was the flu…a nasty strain this year…and then, just as I was feeling human again a week later, on New years Day, COVID finally got me (a first for me). I suppose I’ve joined the herd. If not for the booster I got last November, the doc said I might not have faired as well as I did. Still it was not how I planned on ringing in the new year! Anyhow…we’ve been snowed in for a bit…things finally melting, and I snapped this view out my front door this evening. It blew me away. I am so grateful for the beauty that surrounds me. For each sunrise and sunset. I hope you and yours are well.

Before I close out this post, I must share another view of the photo above. I applied a mirror filter to it and lo and behold, there she was right there reminding me Gaia, (as I imagine her at this time of year) sleeping amongst the roots, deep underground waiting for spring! What a gift this slight of photo editing produced! Isn’t she amazing!!! If you look at the original, you’ll see her peeking out at you. Sometimes it takes a mirror to see things more clearly.

It’s a reminder to me that it’s okay to rest (I’ve rested a lot this year). A new year need not be tackled all at once. We have 365 (actually 366 days this year) to live the promise of 2024.

I wrote a little haiku too. Of course I did! Peace and much love to you!

gaia suspended

deep beneath the snow
she slumbers, dreaming of spring
winter lingers long

~kat~

A ReVerse Poem Sunday, 9 July 2023

Do you ever wonder if other generations faced times like these? The growing polarization, mass shootings, book banning, rewritten history, hatred, lies, lost rights and freedoms for certain groups, unprovoked conflicts, injustice…I’m sure there are more grievances to be listed here. I’m exhausted just thinking about it. But we humans have been around for eons. We have survived, plagues, unscrupulous leaders, civil wars, injustice, crusades, and the like before, and I dare say we will survive this chapter of our checkered history.

If you think this time is something new, it’s not really. A different cast of characters and situations perhaps but it’s the same fatal flaws that have plagued previous generations. We say that those who don’t know history are doomed to repeat it. It’s simpler than that really. History repeats itself again and again because we are who we are. Humanity hasn’t changed much, just the scenery. So what does that say about us? Hang in there…don’t lose hope…we’ll get through this season. If history can repeat itself, so can our resiliency to emerge, to overcome and to thrive! Peace to you…we’ve got this!


A ReVerse Poem Sunday, 9 July 2023

I should take shelter but I’m transfixed
by an an invitation to pause, to breathe, to be
freedom for the chosen
at least to me it’s not a thing
a flash of crimson caught my eye
we say we miss the good old days
no amount of sun will burn this fog away

~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.


The Landay – Day 2

In my youth, god was a mean, old man...
Now I’m old, she’s wise, maternal, like me, a woman.

~kat

Landay – The Landay is the poetic form of Afghan women. The poem is 22 syllables long and contains 2 lines. 9 syllables in the first and 11 in the second. Subjects can include, but are not limited to, war, separation, homeland, grief, or love.

Pronunciation/Etymology. In Pashto, “landay (LAND-ee)” means “short, poisonous snake,” likely an allusion to its minimal length and use of sarcasm. Landays (or landai) often criticize traditions and gender roles.