Category Archives: Week in Review

October 15, 2017

Shi Sai Sunday’s Week in ReVerse – 15 October 2017

By Kat Myrman

If there is one thing you can expect from me, dear reader, it is raw honesty. The good, the bad and the ugly. At least from my perspective. Because that is all any of us has. We see the world through our own personal lenses. Some of us take the time and make the effort to inform our opinions with fact. And some of us let others do the work for us, gravitating to the truth that feels good to us.

Welcome to modern day America where news is fake, opinions are truth, there is us and them, and fear trumps love and reason. I saw it coming. This hotbed of extremes we find ourselves in. I tried to warn those closest to me that their support and vote for evil would not end well. I hate being right.

There is no satisfaction in having my greatest fears come true. There is only heartache compounded by the battle scars that I’ve sustained in the aftermath. My adult children, their spouses and extended families all voted for Trump.

Was I wrong to be angry? Was I wrong to feel betrayed? Was I wrong for being sad to realize the truth about those closest to me? I can tell you it makes me feel like a total failure as a parent. Though, with middle-aged children, when does the responsibility for their actions cease to be my fault? Mothers are too easily blamed.

And so I find myself in a new reality. A casualty of these divided states of America. Because I have refused to remain silent in the face of the injustice and the assaults on freedom, democracy and liberty for all, my own universe has imploded. My punishment for being other is to be outcast, separated from my beloved grandchildren, and disowned by everyone but my partner…and my dogs who still love me unconditionally. No more birthdays, mother’s days, grandparent’s days, thanksgivings or christmases to look forward to. Living death in the face of everything I held dear because I could not bury my emotions from those I had always considered safe.

Honesty, reality, truth, compassion, empathy, love. They still mean something to me. I have paid a dear price for these things. It is all I have left of the me as I struggle to find my way in this new reality. My heart grieves everyday. Being dead while living is not for the faint of heart. But I still believe in truth and honesty…and love. Even when it hurts.

Shi Sai Sunday’s Week in ReVerse – 15 October 2017

left to wither alone
warm flush reducing me to ash / over the edge, swirling shards of bone
What’s so important
troubling my heart…
no one wants to know
phantoms in the mist
Oh my god! What happened?!”
That day the world felt too big.
I never believed in signs.
the moribund harbingers
it was never love
on the wind take flight
there’s a battle
power to change
it is now
to be forgotten

~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.

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October 8, 2017

Shi Sai Sunday’s Week in ReVerse – 8 October 2017

By Kat Myrman

It befuddles and confounds us; the senseless rage rising up like fire, raining down like acid. Friendly fire that no walls, travel bans or profiling can protect us from. Why are we confused by the realization that our worst enemy is not some other?

And yet we refuse to own it once again. Those with the power to address tragedy turn their eyes away. Their pale lips drip with platitudes and empty prayers, while their pockets moan to be filled with alms for their loyal cowardice.

It is no longer when, how or if this madness will ever end. We are trapped in this house of mirrors. But the terrible monster is not hiding behind the looking glass. No. The monster stands tall and center, glaring at us; a million eyes, burning holes through our souls.

Shi Sai Sunday’s Week in ReVerse – 8 October 2017

okay universe…you have my attention
in the wake of hate’s fire
it was the perfect disguise
misty shapeshifting fay
soul deep pools of ebon wonder
here’s the order in black and white
luna’s face glows flush
gently letting go
swirling into syllables
truth’s reflection burning bright
of course we never let on
crave its sweetness
by lingering sadness
rooted in stone
every sinister force
untouched by seasons

~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.

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September 24, 2017

Shi Sai Sunday’s Week in ReVerse –

By Kat Myrman

Oh how we conform to the reality that presents itself day in and day out. We strive to be good…the good child, the good friend, the good spouse, good parents, good neighbors, good citizens, good humans. With all this goodness surrounding us and legions of do-gooders doing their goodly best, it’s hard to envision a world that is tainted by bad. And yet there are bad things happening everyday. There is obviously a broken link in the chain that binds us.

It’s easy to be good when all is right in our world. It is when adversity, suffering and darkness come that the true test of our commitment to being good is challenged. Do I repay meanness with kindness, hatred with love, injustice with justice, judgement with grace? If I don’t, I can’t claim to be good after all.

I try as I might to be good, I’m not always. Is there a broken link in the chain? Decidedly so, but the break isn’t always the doing of the obvious bombastic “bad” person in our midst. Sometimes that broken link is me.

But that won’t stop me from trying. If being good was easy, it wouldn’t be quite as good. Peace to you on beautiful day! Keep trying…❤️

Shi Sai Sunday’s Week in ReVerse – 24 September 2017

one day i’ll get it right

beneath the brown

we’ve been here before…

these days i just hum

things jes’ aint the same.

i promise to stay in touch

hoping to land a big fish

we tend to forget

yeah, i was the weird kid.

clinging is futile

how it was to be wild,

in the light of day

little things in life

murmur feeling

~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.

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September 10, 2017

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

By Kat Myrman

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.

11 Comments   |  tags: , , , , , , , , , , | posted in Digital Art & Photos, Essays, Life Lessons, nature, Poetry, Random Thoughts and Musings, Shi Sai, Social Issues, Spirituality, Week in Review

September 3, 2017

Shi Sai Sunday’s Week in ReVerse – 3 September 2017

By Kat Myrman

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This was not a good week for so many. Though arrogant Americans wail and lament over storm surge swallowing of its shining cities on the Texas Gulf Coast, other places on the globe suffered similar hardships…Niamey, Niger; Maharashtra, Mumbai, India; El Gezira, Sudan. Only the week before Sri Lanka suffered catastrophic mudslides. 

 

Now, I’m not going to bring up the topic of climate change…the fact that urban sprawl and the rape of natural barriers have contributed to our current troubles…that CO2 emissions and other caustic pollutants are wearing away the frail ozone layer that protects us from the sun’s harmful rays…I’m not going to mention plastic…pesticides…nuclear sludge…coal dust…oil spills…Nope. I’m not going to bring it up because it should be obvious to any thinking, conscientious person who respects the earth and hopes to preserve its beauty for future generations.

 

Nature is resilient. She eventually reclaims what is hers. Silly humans, we think we are in charge. The truth is, we are here as guests. We are granted leased space, expected to leave the place the way we found it. Nature has no problem evicting us if we haven’t met the terms of our contractual agreement. That‘s the reality. And we’ll not be getting our deposit back. In fact, we will most certainly pay a great price for the damages.

 

My thoughts are with those who suffer from these natural disasters. May we all do everything we can to mitigate future catastrophes, which are sure to come if we continue on our present course.

 

Shi Sai Sunday’s Week in ReVerse – 3 September 2017

dark shade, wild souls
in rain-drenched hollows
giddy twirls beneath wet arches
shrill cicada crescendos
I heard he lost his marbles!
a heart surrenders, knowing
a prisoner of the castle
there is no safe place
so optimus prime
he often argued with a gun barrel
rain drops on roses
we need a hard stop
eternity is only
a thousand moments
roses wear diamonds

~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.

19 Comments   |  tags: , , , , , | posted in Digital Art & Photos, Essays, Life Lessons, nature, Poetry, Random Thoughts and Musings, Shi Sai, Social Issues, Week in Review