It seemed a good time to assess the past several weeks of verse by crafting a ReVerse. I had every intention of doing a sevenling daily in the new year for January…then work, duty, and caregiving got in the way. Still, it is a good start to a new year, one of which I am optimistically hopeful.
Even though 2023 promises to be a shitshow on the world’s stage. The inmates truly in charge of and running the place here in the US now, and elsewhere insanity is raging unchecked…unprovoked aggression and cruelty, war crimes, nuclear saber rattling by unhinged egomaniacs, lingering COVID. It’s a mess. But we are a resilient lot, we humans. And there is still, there is always a reason to be grateful for each second of breath, of life.
Take care of yourselves, be kind, don’t lose hope, embrace the moment. Peace to you.
A ReVerse - 8 January 2023
the trees will show me a wise soul will surrender in our hearts we know the winds come the sum of a life wisdom to ponder beauty in simplicity anything but bleak singed with loss, happy milestones, grief… for all these beautiful years…decades there's something in the air, conjuring the dawn in afterglow was it barbarians at the gate caused Rome to fall, or complicity?
~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.
I thought this was a good time for a look back. Autumn has taken hold full force here on Bramlett Mountain, with the leaves blushing orange, gold, and crimson and the trees letting them go to ride the wind. The hummingbirds have set flight to the tropics. The days are growing shorter and the mornings are dusted lightly with frost.
As I reflected on the past several months of poems that made it to the page despite my too busy life, I was struck by how moved I was to read the words again. It’s been an unsettling time for the world at large, and in my own corner of it, having let go yet another life-long companion to the rainbow. Four sweet souls this year. Gone. I don’t know that I have fully grieved for each of them as their departures came too soon…always too soon…before I could catch my breath, another and another.
Because of all this, it seems my writing is tinged with melancholy. And yet joy has a way of breaking through even in the darkest of times. Nature reminds us it’s time to let go, to slow down, to rest. I’m listening. How ripe am I for resting, for breathing deeply…for letting go!
A ReVerse Poem - Sunday, October 16, 2022
despair is like a tidal wave there is not much that can be said your dreams are clinging on the brink the wind rushed trees, the sky, dark gray there’s a special place in hell for you, just beyond the veil, while we weep joy breaks through of resilience, audacity, of life.. as most lives go, pendulums swing as the world grows darker by the day the bitter and the sweet you will wonder where time’s gone, to embrace moments of joy, how odd it feels like a whisper summer fades fall leaves, gone with the wind
~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.
Kat’s bird-feeding station in the Bramlett Mountain foothills – Spring 2022
The silence on my page might imply that I have not been writing much this week. But in fact I have written words every day. Verses, poems that went unfinished because I was distracted by the news of the day and all manner of war…against a sovereign democratic nation…against truth…against democracy itself…against women, most achingly distracted by the war against women in my own country, and feeling powerless to stop the coming tidal wave…as heartless people in power check us off, one by one. They won’t be satisfied with one victory…subjugating women, but will surely move on to dole out equal shares of misery on minorities that make them uncomfortable…people of color, LGBTQ people, non-evangelical christian people…who else will face their wrath before their thirst for blood is quenched? And even now, still, I wonder about the children…always the children who were ripped from their parents at our southern border. I pray for them every day.
It’s a wonder I managed to write anything at all this week with this garbage swimming in my brain. So in the spirit of getting it out of my notebook and onto a proper page, this is a good time for a ReVerse. Would that I could reverse the cruelty of the humans who inhabit this planet…
I saw my first indigo bunting at the bird feeders yesterday…and a scarlet tanager…and a red breasted grosbeak. This is a first for me…three more beauties came to call, in person, just outside my window. All coexisting with the other birds, rabbits, chipmunks, squirrels and deer who happen by my little bird feeding station every day. You know, Nature has been doing this much longer than we humans…living in harmony…in balance. We could learn a thing or two. All this to say…that wee flash of brilliant blue…my little friend, the indigo bunting gives me hope.
And with that…here’s the ReVerse of this past week’s poetry that I was unable to finish…
A ReVerse Poem From a Week I Wish I Could Reverse
i don’t want to write about this there once was a town full of fools true power doesn’t need to boast we have forgotten what normal is a moment, just a moment take true power’s not up for debate imposing their will on others until remember all lives, but only if you’re white, matter, the rest are on their own disdained after their first breath, barefoot, pregnant, pregnant, pregnant, pregnant heartbeats matter, breathing not so much don’t ask, don’t tell i don’t mind an overcast day or two breathe in, breathe out, you need a break give it a rest i worry for the innocents but i know the sun is going to rise
~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.
A look back at the last few weeks of verse by line. The nightmare is almost over. Four years of chaos is spiraling like a whirlwind. I suppose the most shocking thing for many of us is the number of people who voted for the chaos. America, we thought we knew you. Many of us believed, given the chance, you would choose decency, honesty and compassion over corruption, lies and hate. Those of us who declared, “this is not who we are” are learning that, for almost half of us, it is sadly who we are. Who they are. How we had hoped for reconciliation, for healing, for bridging the divide that has broken us. Half of us are okay with lawlessness, with separating children from their parents, locking them up like animals and throwing away the key, half of us are okay with racism, misogyny, white supremacy, isolating ourselves from the rest of the world, from our allies, aligning with dictators, our president turning a blind eye to a virus that is raging out of control, killing us by the thousands. It is shocking and heartbreaking to see the truth. The coming years will be challenging. And it may surprise you to know that I still have hope that we can do better…be better. It won’t be easy but at least for me, it means treating others with kindness. It is the least and the most that I can do. I hope you’ll join me.
Sunday’s ReVerse - 29 November 2020
innocence slipping away fading away in waves we shouldn’t be surprised at all the forever greenness of our minds when blood was thick and skin was deep we pick and choose what to believe but opinion can’t make it so
~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. I use it as a review of the previous week…or in this case, the past few weeks.
Well…I waited a few weeks to have enough poems to do a proper ReVerse. I am not surprised at the twists and turns of each line and the ultimate hopeful tone.
The truth is, things are pretty chaotic right now with the pandemic raging out of control and our current President acting badly, lying, stirring his sycophants into rage and denial of reality. But oh…reality! It holds a spark of hope.
In the not too distant future we have a chance to get things right. We have a chance to move past the nightmare of the last few years and dare I say it…to dream again. Maybe even realize a few of those dreams…justice, equality, opportunity for all, restoration for our planet, mended relationships with our allies, accountability for those with hostile intentions, foreign and domestic. Not to mention the cracks in the glass ceiling more pronounced than ever…a woman vice-president for American girls, and especially girls of color to aspire to. The future holds a lot of promise and could be a reality if we nurture it and tend it. If we believe.
The last poem I wrote before today was inspired by a Celtic tradition, “telling the bees”, practiced by bee-keepers over the ages. It is customary to keep the bees in the loop especially in the wake of important news…births, deaths, marriage, and in this case, in my case the results of our recent election and the coming inauguration of our new “bee-keeper”. This is very important news indeed for the bees to know. Bees are a sensitive lot, messengers between us the the spiritual realm. The slightest thing can upset them, causing them to flee the hive, stop producing honey or worse, perish. Telling the bees keeps things in balance and sets the stage for good fortune.
I was sitting outside reading and rereading this poem aloud tweaking it here and there. To my surprise a honey bee showed up and landed on my hand. And stupid me…reflexively I shooed it away until I came to my senses and realized what I had just done. I called out to that little bee, and apologized for my rudeness and would you believe, it came back alighted on my hand once more. For a few seconds we shared a moment, the bee and me. It was magical. And believe me…it is true. Cross my heart, I’m not making this up.
Now I don’t know if you believe in this sort of thing, but I’m going to take that moment as a sign that my little friend heard me. That good fortune is on its way. And because of that I am feeling more hopeful than I have in quite a long while.
Here’s to a new week. To new beginnings. To life and health. To truth and compassion. To healing and justice. Namasté. ____________________________________________
Sunday’s ReVerse – 15 November 2020
their slow sad voices repeating it’s the trees clouds drench the hollow we have a voice in what’s at stake the cold air is thin but it will all be over soon we can cling to the promise of spring the dawn is coming we trust our higher angels to mend our brokenness, to reach to fill our honey jars of clay
~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. I use it as a review of the previous week (or in this case a review from several weeks’ poems).
So it is easier for you to find all the parts/chapters of my ongoing fiction series, I created a new page that lists all the links. You can check it out HERE!
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