August 13, 2017

Shi Sai Sunday’s Week in ReVerse -13 August 2017

By Kat Myrman

The heavens are convulsing this month with lunar eclipses, meteor showers, solar eclipses and retrograde mercurial planets. Is it any wonder we’re going mad down here? But don’t blame the heavens or the gods for what is happening. We can’t keep pointing fingers at others saying, “There! They are the reason why our lives are a mess, not working, or unhappy…fill in the blank…the reasons are many.

It’s time my friends to look in the mirror and decide on which side of fault line you will stand. There is no middle. The middle is an abyss. And the the choice is easier than you think. A few questions to help you along…

Love? or Hate?
Truth? or Lies?
Open? or Closed?
Fear? or Faith?
Apathy? or Empathy?
Ignorance? or Knowledge?
Judgment? or Mercy?
Compassion? or Indifference?
Doors? or Walls?
Black Lives Matter? or All Lives Matter? (…this is not a trick question…)
Love is Love is Love? Or Love is…except for…?

I could go on, but I’m going to stop right here. I believe most of us want to believe we’re doing the right thing. We want to believe we’re good. Contrary to popular, feel good, “we’re all entitled to our own opinion” sensibilities, there is a right and a wrong answer. Of course we would choose the right answer…the right words. But what do our actions say?

I’m not judging. I wrestle everyday with these questions. I fall short. But I would like to declare a do-over for us all. Slate clean. It’s not too late.

What will I do when called to take a stand? What do I do when no one is looking? Can I look in the mirror without wincing? Because at the end of the day that is what matters. At the end of the day we need each other and we’re counting on us to do the right thing; the thing that is good and true and just.

Blessings and grace, love and healing to you this week. Clean slate. Let’s do this! ❤️

Shi Sai Sunday’s Week in ReVerse -13 August 2017

moll with painted crimson lips
feel the blue
but the virus was resistant
for the costly price of love
evanescence gone
no means no, you know
I could tell you things…
she appears as an angel
come out from the nimbus mist
there is no normal
dull, entranced faces
our dreams bittersweet
prayers for our fractured nation
their magnificent innocence…fades far too quickly, like echoes of laughter in the distance.

~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.

6 Comments   |  tags: , , , , , , | posted in Essays, Life Lessons, Poetry, Random Thoughts and Musings, Shi Sai, Social Issues, Spirituality, Week in Review

August 12, 2017

The Girl Who Dreamed of Flying

By Kat Myrman


Once upon a time…you know where this is going. You might even think, this is one of those ‘fairy tales’ and dismiss it straight away as a myth, but I can assure you it is truer than true. For it is true that everything in this world has a once upon a time; even you, if you think about it, when you burst purple, wet into this place, gulping your first breath, eyes squinting at the bright glare of life.

And so it was for Clarissa. Born in a humble wisteria-draped cottage in a dingle village long, long ago, Clarissa emerged from the Guf laughing, eyes wide and bright. The midwife declared, “My my, but this is a special one!” Never had a truer thing been uttered, as time would tell.

As soon as she could walk, Clarissa set about exploring every cranny and nook. Birds and bugs, whirlygigs, cottonwood fluff and witch’s gowan wishies…flying things, were her favorite things of all. She spent hours studying them, quite unusual for a youngster, and gibbering to them about this and that, as if they were listening. She dreamed of flying like her airborne friends. One day she did. It was the saddest of all days the dingle had ever known.

On that dark and dreadful day Clarissa managed to escape the watchful eyes of her doting mum to wander up the mountain trail to the lookout ledge. She stood there for a moment, feet clinging to the rocky crag, arms extended, her fiery red curls dancing in the wind, and she laughed so loudly it caught the attention of every living thing below. They watched aghast as Clarissa lept into a swooping gust and flew for a short, too few magnificent seconds.

Frantic to save her, every winged, wispy thing surrendered their feathers and wings, whirligigs and fluffy, puff wishies to the wind, hoping to break her fall her by blanketing the dingle in feathery fluff, but they were no match for gravity’s power, drifting helplessly in the air. Clarissa fell right through them, landing in a horrible thud as the last echo of her laughter faded in the distance.

Now you may not notice it when it happens but I can assure you it’s true. Every time a child laughs a bird sheds a feather or bug its wings. And sometimes Maple tree whirligigs, cottonwood fluffies and dandelion wishies take to the wind too. All to remember Clarissa, the girl who dreamed of flying, and to add another moment’s wonder and happiness to children everywhere. For it is also true that their magnificent innocence, like Clarissa’s ill-fated flight, fades far too quickly, like echoes of laughter in the distance.

~kat

A Folktale for Jane Dougherty Microfiction Challenge inspired by Jeren of itsallaboutnothing’s poem that you can read HERE.

18 Comments   |  tags: , , , , | posted in Challenges and Writing Prompts, Digital Art & Photos, Flash Fiction, Life Lessons, microfiction

August 12, 2017

For Charlottesville…

By Kat Myrman

9 Comments   |  tags: , , | posted in Digital Art & Photos, Social Issues, Spirituality

August 12, 2017

Magnetic Poetry Saturday

By Kat Myrman

the goddess whispers
to us in the stillness
as we sleep singing
rock-a-bye songs
our dreams bittersweet

~kat

(Magnetic Poetry Original Kit)

2 Comments   |  tags: , , , , , | posted in Magnetic Poetry, Poetry, Spirituality

August 11, 2017

Nimbus – Friday’s Word of the Day Haibun/Haiku

By Kat Myrman

nimbus.png

Today’s Word of the Day at Dictionary.com is Nimbus. Now, some of you may be familiar with its common link to a particular type of cloud formation; namely, Nimbostratus Clouds. They are those dark, low level clouds bursting at the seams with rain droplets, snow or sleet. I think they are my favorites because when they form the backdrop of a row of tall trees they transform the leaves into a luminous green.

First found recorded in the English language in 1730, Nimbus is linked to the Greek (nephos) “cloud” and Latin (nimbus and nebula), a meaning “cloud, mist”, and (nembh) “violent rainstorm, thundercloud”. The word, nimbus, is also linked to the Slavic (polish) word Niebo for “sky, heaven” which is probably why it was eventually applied to deities and gods. A nimbus in this application is defined at the bright cloud that envelops a deity appearing to mortals in classic mythology. In Christianity it refers to a saint’s halo or aureole.

If you’re a Trekkie, you will know that Nimbus III is located in the Neutral Zone in the Beta Quadrant in the Nimbus sector at the junction between the Federation, the Klingon Empire and the Romulan Star Empire. Or at least it was until they moved it to sit very near Romulus system, and far from the Klingon border. You can read more about that HERE.

These days we still use nimbus to describe a cloud, aura or the atmosphere around someone, if we even use it at all. According to the Collin’s Dictionary, nimbus is in the lower 50% of commonly used words. Nimbus is not a word that I’ll likely use.

Which brings me to the word nimble…which has nothing to do with nimbus. They’re not even closely related in etymological terms. But nimble is the new buzz word in business circles. Must be agile and nimble and identify synergies because at the end of the day, the bottom line means balancing our EBITDA to making our shareholders happy and richer at the end of each quarter. This is what happens when I’ve worked another long crazy week and it’s Friday and I have to come in on the weekend because other people didn’t do their work on time. GRRRRrrrrr!

But I digress. Breathe Kathy…let the nimbus of grace and peace surround you. Write a few Haiku. You’ll feel better…you know you will.  Ahhhh…ohhhmmmm…ahhhh…:)

Actually I do feel a bit better. Here are a few haiku for you. Hope you have a great weekend! 🙂

dull, entranced faces
aglow in pale blue nimbus
where’s the pokemon?

insanity looms
a suffocating nimbus
there is no normal

if you are there god
come out from the nimbus mist
we need a hero

when the sun is right
she appears as an angel
a nimbus of light

~kat

4 Comments   |  tags: , , , , , | posted in Essays, Haibun, Haiku, Poetry, Random Thoughts and Musings, Word of the Day Haiku