Category Archives: Week in Review

February 21, 2016

Sunday’s Week in ReVerse -21 February 2016

By Kat Myrman

  
Happy Sunday! Well, what to make of this week, and this week’s reVerse? I was almost stumped by several challenges this week, (a tinge of writer’s block?) but I eventually pulled them off.

It takes discipline and determination to write on a consistent basis. The nice thing about writing challenges and prompts are that they force one to get the words out of one’s head and onto the page.

Writing is very much like labor. A process that takes time and requires a bit of pushing (in the form of prompts and challenges). But when I am most stuck in that process I do trust that the words are there waiting to be found and given life in verse.

The words are there.

I just need to be patient and surrender to the process. Happy surrendering to you then. May the coming week be full of new life and revelations of wonder!

Sunday’s Week in ReVerse -21 February 2016

What? Just like that? Wow!
Winter is having the final word!!!
She didn’t feel anything, except relief
we’ve received reports of a re-entry error
But he vowed he would quit
roots burrowed deep
In that moment we realized we are one.
implied survival.
And yes I generally wake up happy
Starting with a Bang!
promising delights.

~ kat

9 Comments   |  tags: , , , , , | posted in Essays, Poetry, Week in Review

February 14, 2016

Sunday’s Week in ReVerse ~ 14 February 2016

By Kat Myrman

 

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Photo Credit: Kat Myrman 2014

 

Happy Valentine’s Day Sunday! If I may wax poetic, this week’s ReVerse is rather poetic…poetic in its melancholic musings, sentimental walks down lanes of memories wrapped in chocolate and flowers. Did I plan this? Most certainly not! It is a game the Muse plays with me. How very clever of her, don’t you think?

Not to worry, the week wasn’t all sappy and sweet. There were hints of poetic justice as well. Enter the scoundrels…the handsome blind date (or was he just a rude stalker!), politicians (no comment…), time…if time was a scoundrel (I have no doubt that our modern electronic clocks have an evil plan to drive us all crazy!), scary nature (requiring a safety net of creature comforts for those brave souls who venture off the grid), the corporate scoundrel…jerk! creep! *#%%%*#!!!!! (forgive me…too soon), and finally Jack Frost (well, he was certainly implied. Soon to sweep the blush from the daffodils.) As exciting as all this has been…what do I do? I take photographs!

I’m going to digress for a bit…but I promise to bring it home…trust me.

The greatest technology of the 21st Century for me is the phone camera! A few decades ago, I did labor in the bowels of my amber-lit basement, elbow deep in smelly chemicals developing my own photographs. Editing required cutting and pasting (really!…cutting with scissors and pasting with glue), re-photographing and developing. All things being digital has opened up a whole new world to us all.

But here’s the thing…yes, there is a thing…

My last story this week reminded me of a lost art that needs a revisit…letter writing. Lovely handwritten notes on pretty paper penned by one’s favorite pen (for me it is a fountain pen loaded with cerulean blue ink). I even read last week that schools are considering dropping cursive writing lessons from their curriculum! A very sad turn of events indeed!

And so as I look forward to next week, I’m planning to pen a few letters to those friends who do not frequent social media…and maybe even a few who are digitally savvy. I have become woefully out of touch with them. What better day for inspiration than today, Valentine’s Day!  Join me if you’d like. If there is one thing I’ve learned in life it is this, those who love you don’t want your chocolates or flowers…they want your words…<3

Sunday’s Week in ReVerse ~ 14 February 2016

A treasured timepiece,
here or hereafter.
sweet dreams to all you dreamers.
They are forever etched on my heart
She always reserved room for chocolate.
He knew she was lying.
fair blooms in waiting.
you certainly cannot win
abstaining from all pleasure
take a moment to breathe
proving their own lack.
She had the last laugh.
to appear able
a luddite’s nightmare!
But not without a backpack of creature comforts.
He took credit for her work.
So I took a photograph for you.

~ kat

If you’re new to this blog, a bit of background to explain the verse above. It is a line from each poem or prose from the previous week. Lifted and placed in the order written. A snapshot review of the week. It helps me to prepare for the upcoming week with a clean slate.

9 Comments   |  tags: , , , , , , , | posted in Challenges and Writing Prompts, Essays, Humor, Life Lessons, Poetry, Random Thoughts and Musings, Week in Review

February 6, 2016

Sunday’s Week in Re-Verse – 6 February 2016

By Kat Myrman
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Photo by Kat Myrman – Summer 2013

 

Mad Hatter: Have I gone mad?

Alice: I’m afraid so. You’re entirely bonkers. But I’ll tell you a secret. All the best people are.

…from Alice in Wonderland

Welcome to the beginning of the long days of winter. No holidays to speak of. Spring is coming, but it will be a bit more of a wait for most of us. It’s still entirely too dark too soon in the evening. And several loony poems and a few dark stories later, except for my girls the bovine fashionistas, can’t forget them, or the whistle pig for that matter…oh and I think it all started with the ducklings. But then what do I know. I am just the words on this page plunked from the keyboard by the fingers connected to some silly brain full of more words. It’s like bingo balls spinning round and round until one falls out the shoot. B-16. Don’t ask me how I came up with that number. It plopped out.

And this my friends is how the week that was went. Thank goodness I do these weekly summaries so I can spill them out for one more look and then tuck them away! One of our friends here, Kathryn (from Another Foodie Blogger) asked me after a few stories…”do you think Sunday’s review will be a dark one this week?” I winked and replied (she didn’t see me wink, but I assure you I did), “it’s all in the editing.” And to another friend, Lynn (from Lynz Real Cooking) I replied at one point, “I can pull happy out of just about anything”…or something to that effect. Have a look at this week’s “re-verse” and see for yourself. Once again I am amazed and delighted.

There were a number of dark prompt photos and prompt words, but hidden in each verse or prose, some of my favorite lines always happened to possess a bit of light.

That, I have come to realize after many years, is no accident. No matter how dark things may appear, there is light somewhere waiting to spill out. And that includes from the very center of my heart and soul as well. That happy spark does make me feel a bit mad sometimes when I am beset with drama, but it is that touch of madness that keeps me sane! 🙂

And so, my dearies, another week has come and gone. The dread of the blank page that I feel as each week begins has been overcome again and then some. And I will overcome, come Monday, because there is no lack of words swirling around in my brain. Someone give the bingo balls a whirl. Here we go! 🙂

Oh…I’m posting Sunday’s Re-View early because I got a new mattress today and I plan to sleep in a bit.  And…because I can. Isn’t that a lovely thought? You can do whatever you want to do…be you…because…you…can! 🙂

Sunday’s Week in Re-Verse – 6 February 2016

Sometimes being late isn’t the worst thing that can happen
the darkest nights are fading now
moving on was her ultimate aim
but it’s a fuzzy science at best
stars taunt us with hope

“Exactly! Just what I was thinking!”

You’ll likely arrive too soon
the mem’ry of that autumn night
but a girl can dream!
That night I became acquainted with death and the fragility of life.
nobody listened
scorned like the dodo.
it’s nugatory
striking a pose, dazzling in gold!
to cover more ground…

“Well, you’re here just in time you know.”

~ kat

If you’re new to this blog, a bit of background to explain the verse above. It is a line from each poem or prose from the previous week. Lifted and placed in the order written. A snapshot review of the week. It helps me to prepare for the upcoming week with a clean slate.

13 Comments   |  tags: , | posted in Essays, Poetry, Random Thoughts and Musings, Week in Review

January 31, 2016

Sunday’s Week in Re-Verse – 31 January 2016

By Kat Myrman

 

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This is Maxwell who has mastered the art of living life to the fullest! 🙂

 

Happy Sunday to you. I have to admit, I didn’t think I’d find the time to write much this week. Work proved to be a bear…with digging out from the snow to hosting out of town guests for hours of meetings, requiring me to schedule, compose notes, cater lunches and dinners, etc, etc. It pays the bills, my day job, but some weeks it can be quite a challenge to keep my head afloat.

Enter this week’s challenges and verse! Wisdom led me to start the week off cooking a warm pot of soup. It sustained me for several days. Then we launched into a variety of lovely poetry and fiction challenges. Past weeks have presented darker prompts that left me no choice but to tell tales of sadness or to pen poetry deep in melancholia. But this week presented sunflowers and words like sleep (ah lovely sleep), tales of celebrations, and triumph. Oh there were a few less uplifting headers, but I managed through these balanced by the incredible upbeat other verses and prose.

I suppose that this week could best be summarized by the word balance. Or if you want to take a really broad view…LIFE. 🙂 Life has ups and downs, celebrations as well as mourning and choices…always choices. We can choose to be happy no matter where we find ourselves on the journey. And there is something to be said as well for allowing ourselves to be wrapped in exquisite sorry…to give ourselves fully to it. It is so cleansing for the soul!

Because the truth is, every moment, the full piercing emotions of each, are fleeting. There is always another chance at happiness, peace, goodness and grief. The trick is not lingering too long. Life is best lived when we are moving. 🙂

Sunday’s Week in Re-Verse – 31 January 2016

And oh my, it was-a mighty good-a!
It was her moment!
as if it’s a thing one finds
They wait in obscurity
To sleep anywhere…
fits of hysteria,
Maybe I’ll just stick with butterflies.
she closed her eyes and imagined him listening.
All tucked in for another night!
Wishing you sunflowers!
Best viewed from afar.
The track doesn’t end at the bottom.
enlightened pilgrims understand
‘Tis heaven on earth…like a soft morning kiss!
Triumph!
Yeah, yeah, blah, blah, blah. Whatever makes you happy!

kat ~ 31 January 2016

If you’re new to this blog, a bit of background to explain the verse above. It is a line from each poem or prose from the previous week. Lifted and placed in the order written. A snapshot review of the week. It helps me to prepare for the upcoming week with a clean slate.

14 Comments   |  tags: , , , , , | posted in Essays, Poetry, Random Thoughts and Musings, Social Issues, Spirituality, Week in Review

January 24, 2016

Sunday’s Week in Re-Verse – 24 January 2016

By Kat Myrman

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Happy Sunday! Well now…what an interesting look back in verse and prose. This week’s re-verse truly captures my favorite thing to do! I love watching the world go by. I get lost in the beauty and the quirkiness, the drama and the joy. Not that I don’t also participate. I do. But I am truly fascinated by what makes this world tick. Everyday offers opportunities for a front-seat view and there are always lessons to be learned.

This week I studied the odd behavior of my pets playing fetch and chasing their tails, but I also stumbled upon the realization that my dogs are also observing me in a very unique way. Apparently we see the world in this way too…a bit of a left gaze bias…which affirms my own trust in the reality of intuition while also reminding me of my animal nature and the ancient mysterious connection I have to all living things.

Where I live we had our first snow of the season (a real doozy by all accounts!), coinciding with the Full Wolf Moon. Mukluks and parkas are the new black. There is something to be said for comfort and warmth. And there is also something to be said for the many modern conveniences and innovations that we take for granted in the 21st century. We’ve come a long way, while remaining intrinsically connected with the universe at our core.

And so it was a week spent in observation, anticipation, nostalgic recollections, revelations and exhilaration in the realization that where I am in the here and now is right where I am meant to be! Life is good!

On then to this last full week of January 2016. I do hope your week presents you with an abundance of spectacular “-tions” (-tion – a suffix occurring in words of Latin origin, used to form abstract nouns from verbs or stems not identical with verbs, whether as expressing action ( revolution; commendation), or a state ( contrition; starvation), or associated meanings ( relation; temptation) from dictionary.com.

Though I started this bit extolling the virtues of passive observation, life is best lived when we move from the abstract into an active state of of participation. That is living!

Sunday’s Week in Re-Verse – 24 January 2016

Dogs fetch…
…guilty pleasure
Watching paint dry…
brimming with stardust
hard-wired to perceive…
mukluks and parkas
sashaying about en vogue
all the rage on store shelves
Silly me…I watch!
Well I guess we’ll never find out unless we try.
But I have noticed this strange light…
Our days are numbered
Time will pass though I won’t care
I am quite happy in my little corner of the world
as I sit here grinste wie ein Honigkuchenpferd
…water cooler powwows
With teeth made of wood
luminous.

~kat

If you’re new to this blog, a bit of background to explain the verse above. It is a line from each poem or prose from the previous week. Lifted and placed in the order written. A snapshot review of the week. It helps me to prepare for the upcoming week with a clean slate.

4 Comments   |  tags: , , , , , , , | posted in Challenges and Writing Prompts, Essays, Life Lessons, Random Thoughts and Musings, Spirituality, Week in Review