Tag Archives: essay

Sunday’s Week in ReVerse – 30 September 2018

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There is an air of despair and hopelessness, as bitter old men ram through a questionable candidate for the highest court in our land, to reign over us for a lifetime. 

Our nation was riveted to ‘credible’ testimony laced with accounts of a lifetime of pain resulting from trauma and responded to with pent up privileged rage. It left us tearful and aghast, this spectacle that summed up the chasm between us. It left us with more questions than answers and a clear view into the soul of an elite powerful class in the final throws of power. It revealed to us that there is nothing the powerful will not do or say to keep their power, the rest of us be damned. 

There is a pattern to the assaults on equality, dignity, and fairness that has transpired over the past few years. Among those in power are the privileged, old white men and their fawning little women, and evangelical pro-lifers who are happy to sell their souls if it means edging them closer to a dystopian heaven on earth a la Gilead (see Handmaid’s Tale). Those who suffer abuse at the hands of this power base are disproportionately female, young, sick, poor, marginalized, ethnic, immigrant, or people of color. Heaven, it seems is only for the chosen and we are all painfully reminded daily who is chosen and who is not. We know them by their fruits as their tome reminds us. Rotten to the core, but ever righteous according to this twisted doctrine, their transgressions covered in the blood of the lamb (aka the meek). That referenced verse is ironic in a terrifying way. 

It’s not for me to say who’s telling the truth. The fact is, truth doesn’t really matter. What I do know is what cannot be unseen…the spectacle of this candidate for a position on the Supreme Court’s performance. It smacked of his being temperamentally unhinged, rage-full, vindictive, and blatantly partisan as revealed by his own words when he repeated wild conspiracy theories against democrats. If he is pushed through to that esteemed seat on the bench, will we ever be able to trust in the wisdom, justice and impartiality that our founders envisioned? I think not. Of all the tragedies that have resulted from this week of blight, this is the worst and most far reaching damage anyone can imagine. It is stunning to witness. Democracy unraveling.


Sunday’s Week in ReVerse – 30 September 2018

and the moon’s made of cheese
there, waiting in the dark…
to feed your narcissism
if you remember all who came before you
life has a way of surprising us.
thoughts, words mean nothing
when tossed into a cesspool
tick tock so very slowly
she weeps fallow fronds,
as smoke with no fire
truth hid, on holiday
morning will never bring peace
never too late for a do over
dreams never end
believing a thing,
wounds too deep to heal unaided,
it just was’t in the cards.

~kat

A 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 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.


Sunday’s Week in ReVerse – 23 September 2018

This video/soundbite…because I need it again and again…


If you followed me this week, you know I spent an unacceptable amount of time working. Mind you, I am not an executive, but I assist one who never stops. Because of this, when the rest of the staff head home to their families…to their LIVES…I remain behind putting the final touches on tomorrow’s presentations compiled last minute by others who hit send as they were walking out the door. My only solace is the overtime that will pad my paltry wages. But this doesn’t compensate me for the life I forfeit to a corporation who demands more and more while stripping resources to save overhead.

I hear you mumbling…quit, get another job, change careers. Oh, that I could. But the truth is, I am 5 short years from retirement, unless they push the age closer to grave. To the government it’s economics of course. The Social Security powers that be, namely congress who diverts our hard earned contributions into tax breaks that pad the pockets of their wealthy benefactors…but I digress. As I was saying, surely they are hoping most of us will die before we dare try to collect the money we’ve paid into the system for decades. And who am I kidding. After raising 4 children on a secretary’s wage, supplemented by forays into furniture and jewelry sales, waitressing and cashiering, I’ve not amassed a sizable enough retirement nest egg to sustain me. I’m not alone. There are millions of people like me. The best I can hope for when the time comes is downsizing in order to afford living on a reduced income and landing a mindless gig greeting shoppers at a big box store to pay, if republicans have their way, for the preexisting conditions that healthcare won’t cover. Forgive me for breathing. I’m getting too old for this shit. Is it any wonder I vote for the other side. I’m no snowflake!

Sorry for the downer. It’s raining and I am exhausted. I spend Saturdays sleeping and Sunday’s dreading Monday. And I wonder what did I do wrong to end up here. The answer of course is nothing. A lifetime of hard work, honesty and loyalty only pay off for a select few. And most of them don’t need to work. those of us at the bottom do the heavy lifting for them.

And yet, I find time each night to write. It has saved me many times. It doesn’t pay my mortgage or keep the lights on, but it feeds my soul. In the end that is what matters. And no one can take that away from me. Those beautiful, beautiful words are mine to do with as I please!

So, hang in there. (I say to myself as much as anyone who is listening). None of are getting out alive, but there are moments to be savored while we still breathe.


Sunday’s Week in ReVerse – 23 September 2018

soft murmuring
barrels of booze
the one thing I know
give it time
I hope you’re listening
fill the darkness with music
oh what tangled webs we weave
writing quells the madness
in fragrant wisps, our savagery
too short, two days, deadlines looming
rainfall is a beautiful sound
it came, then vanished into sawdust
apathy’s minions

~kat

A 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 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.


Sunday’s Week in ReVerse – 29 July 2018

I love this week’s ReVerse! I had set for myself a daunting challenge: to write a trio of terza rima stanzas exploring things that slip between the cracks, which of course, they don’t really do, because the cracks

ARE the in between abysses where we lose things. Cracks between the cracks, as it were. That is to say nothing is truly lost to us if we are paying attention.

And pay attention I did this week, to the ‘nth degree. Rather than being exhausting, it was inspiring. A prime for the old pump. I even managed to tackle all my favorite challenges this week, save my own “word of the day” musings. To be honest, the words of the day have been at best, meh, lately, so I’ve given it a rest. This week’s word was punnet, a small container or basket for strawberries or other fruit. Um, so ok. Now you know. Not much more to say about that. 😉

But back to today’s ReVerse! Did I happen to mention how pleased I am with it? Of all the words I wrote this week, these lines are some of my favorites. They play nicely together, don’t you think? Wouldn’t it be lovely if we could all do a reverse and together, get along? Yes, wouldn’t that be lovely.

Have a great week. There are only three more days of Terza Romas to explore…hmmmm, three. Hold that thought. See you on the flip!


Sunday’s Week in ReVerse – 29 July 2018

remembering when that tree was still green
in the beginning…us, I remember
with you, I would go
no one will remember your words
a swift swing of a bat rendered them headless.
there’s still life left in what some throw away
for these days pennies don’t amount to much
slow turns the screw ‘til truth cannot exist
lounging in streams of sunlit bliss
which makes me wonder
precious treasures overlooked, throngs unfazed,
fair-haired ladies in waiting,
in these trying times
“How much farther?”
“Is that a thing?
between, in darkened cracks where stuff falls through
forever, when they’re botched.
i never wanted to
i live for the sweet
the sun shining too bright
blue, red crush, misting

~kat

A 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 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.


Sunday’s Week in ReVerse – 22 July 2018

What is there to say about this past week on the world front? I chose not to go there in verse…at least I tried. But how could I not watch with horror, the train wreck happening and treasonous actions of our president…yes I said it…treason. How else can one view his willingness to hand over US government officials, who Putin disdains for apparently playing a role in Russian sanctions, to be interrogated by Putin’s thugs.

Whether Trump “would” or “wouldn’t”, it was clear from Putin’s puffed chest, command of the event, and evil smirk during their press conference, that he had strong armed trump in their two hour tête-à-tête. Trump belongs to Putin. We suspected as much. It was confirmed this past week on the world stage. And lest we forget, young children still remain prisoners in black government sites and un-vetted foster homes across the country while their parents rely on the mercy of strangers to untangle them from red tape. Fortunately, I didn’t go there this week!

No, rather than writing about headlines, I decided I would focus on finding Merak. And I like to think I did find glimmers of Merak each day. Boy did we ever need it this week. It ain’t easy being woke. And that said, my daily Terza Rima this week will slip between the cracks to see what we find. It will take some diligence to find a thing overlooked a day. Today’s was easy…and sets the stage for the rest of the week. I pass by the empty house in the photograph on my walk every day. Even the tree in the front could not sustain life once its owner passed away.

Sometimes it’s not the things that happen on the world stage that matter the most, but rather the tiny shifts behind shuttered doors that cause the earth to quake.

Have a great week. I’m off to discover the overlooked and forgotten…


Sunday’s Week in ReVerse – 22 July 2018

to fly above the earth, a bird’s eye view…
with my feet, deeply rooted like a tree
i probably shouldn’t be
we whisper in the shadows,
come out
with grace to bend when tempests storm the night
a rhapsody of words
stardust and sinew meld beneath my skin
cicadas’ shrill diminuendoes troll
the sun rises here too
amaranth tendrils pierce through lace-trimmed trees
but looks can be deceiving
threading the needle
it helps to be woke
at long last, i am flying on moonbeams
like fingers of light
they never listened

~kat

A 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 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.


Sunday’s Week in ReVerse – 15 July 2018

If you followed me this past week, today’s ReVerse might surprise you. There was an onslaught of madness on the world stage as featured in my daily Terza Rima poetry series, “Headlines”. Oh, you’ll see glimpses of the insanity captured in this week’s compilation, but in the middle of it all, glimmers of light.

Call me crazy, but I still believe that the truth will set us free, that the light will quash the darkness, that love will win over hate, and that there is joy to be found in the midst of sadness. It is life in all its beautiful, messy glory. And the best part is that I get to share it with you, here through my words in blog-land, and with my family and friends in this corner of the world that I call home. This good is not lost to me even when the world erupts in lunacy…even when I pen my angst and frustration…there is a realization that I am not alone. And there is an astonishing freedom in finding affinity with others who see the world in a similar light. Freedom from those who don’t. As Bernard M. Baruch so perfectly said…”Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don’t matter, and those who matter don’t mind.”

I’m moving past headlines for my daily Terza Rima series. “Finding Merak” is what I’ll be focusing on. It’s no use speculating what conversations will be had during the love fest behind closed doors this Monday by “PutRump”. We’ll never know the truth. But one thing I do know, the truth will come to light eventually. It always does.

I noticed that both last week’s and this week’s ReVerse end in symphonies. I must be hearing music…I’m crazy that way. Have a great week.

Sunday’s Week in ReVerse – 15 July 2018

valued in unequal measure, mothers weep
long dead at their own hand, the burned stand ground
i choose love
the wild path where roses bloom
“they” were among us
jesters entertaining kleptocracy
there exist paragons
referencing days past as old
crazed cicadas wail
while allies deal with Vlad’s dim protege
just for sport, midst chaos, a diversion,
would you like me to set you free?
I just have to ask, do you believe in miracles
as talking heads explode in fake news rooms
in trumpian frenzy…kangaroo court
but ‘all of this is fake’ they’ll say, so sad…
like a symphony of crushed light

~kat

A 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 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.