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


loving…and little deaths

loving…and little deaths

it’s occurred to me
that I have been dying
my entire life, little by little
teardrop by teardrop
heart-stop by heart-stop
as every love cut short
nips a piece of me and
carries it like a souvenir
over the rainbow to summer land,
to heaven, to Valhalla, leaving me
to stop the bleeding, to heal
to move on until the next assault
of grief comes wielding a sickle
slicing bits of me, it’s a crash course
in letting go, you know,
preparing me, I suppose…
and when my time comes to shed
this beleaguered flesh
my soul will surely be bejeweled
with pieces of you and you and you…
if I’ve loved you and you me,
I’m afraid it’s inevitable…so
I’m apologizing in advance,
for contributing to your own
collection of tiny deaths,
if I should be the first to leave…
forgive me
for snatching a bit of your light
to keep me in the dark unknown
imagine me in the mist
beyond the veil, bedazzled
with pieces of you and you and you
on some starry starry night
we’ll dance around the moon

~kat

Rest in Peace, Thelonious Myles – May 31, 2024 ~ We loved you for two years…not long enough for you or us, but at least you knew you were loved. ❤️


nature calling

nature calling

how tempted am I to lose myself here
deep, deeper still, hidden from the dawn
“I’ll be back soon,” I lie, “I won’t be long.”
far off the path, no turning back, no fear
deep, deeper still, hidden from the dawn
how tempted am I to lose myself here

~kat

Poetry Form: the Biolet

The Biolet is a six line poem, and like the triolet, the first two lines are repeated as the last two lines, however in reverse. The rhyme scheme of the biolet thus can be expressed as ABbaBA (with the capital  letters representing the repeated lines). The length of the lines can be in iambic tetrameter (8 syllables), iambic pentameter (10 syllables), iambic hexameter (12 syllables), or in unmetered lines of random lengths.


on the way to becoming

on the way to becoming

I dipped my toes into the dirt the other day
leaves of grass gave way, crushed under my feet,
blades of green sprouting through the in between
I expected to feel magic, connection, something
I don’t know what I was thinking…it’s been so long
since I‘ve let my feet run free, unencumbered
by socks and hard-soled shoes, not a day goes by
that I allow myself this luxury, so long it has been
that my feet stumble, my toes curl inward, when I try
throwing me off balance, how unfamiliar it feels,
I suppose it has been too long, but I hope not too late
to reconnect with the space beneath me, with the world
around me, with the dirt, cool and moist, soft and forgiving
there is magic, I’m sure of it, I’ve just forgotten how to dance
while on my way to becoming, I forgot how to become undone

~kat

NaPoWriMo 2024 ~ the ReVerse

the windows in this house have never been dressed 

1-
when terrible truths rise up from the dead
ancients who reside on veil’s cusp
I felt it in the deepest part of my soul
entranced, though certain death awaits
happiness is this moment
a sure antidote for the insanity
Ordered a tea. Wish you were here.

2-
when my time comes, I hope it’s quick
centuries old, with eons of history
so have a day, good, bad, don’t care
what worked in winter is not a good look for spring
we might have been friends, perhaps we were
We saw it with our own two eyes and lived to tell.
I think I’ve learned a bitter lesson

3-
Wait until the time is perfect,
a thought, we speak in code,
begging to be touched, to feel
it’s a worn out saying…no regrets
sweet on the tongue with power to sting
like birds to seed
we will never forget that day
is it gray or is it grey?

4-
to know the truth; what is truth?
you love deeply, so deeply
what will be, will be, it’s all good, whatever…
ask me anything
stars bursting ‘midst a sea of green
I’ve spent three days boiling driftwood,
like a tidal wave, you flood my senses,

denouement-
don’t smile, avoid eye contact, let them be!
her entrance, well, it caused a stir

~kat

Happy May Day to you! Time to look back at the challenge that was, NaPoWriMo 2024, with a ReVerse poem!

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 month broken into 7 “day” increments.