Tag Archives: grace

April 19, 2016

April Poetry Month – A Poem a Day #20

By Kat Myrman

I have a busy day tomorrow so I’m posting poetry month, day 20 a day early. The Minute Poem is a rhyming verse form consisting of 12 lines of 60 syllables written in strict iambic meter. The poem is formatted into 3 stanzas of 8,4,4,4; 8,4,4,4; 8,4,4,4 syllables. The rhyme scheme is as follows: aabb, ccdd, eeff.

While on my way to work this morning a strange storefront caught my eye, in particular the statue in the window. I knew I needed to stop by on my way home to explore it a bit more.

It is a strange, verging on creepy, little place. A small sign on a side window says it’s a Catholic museum. The statues and relics contained within share the space with lawn chairs, debris and dust.

I couldn’t help feeling a bit nostalgic, remembering the unfailing devotion of my grandmother who attended Novena Masses every morning and taught me to believe in the mystical and miraculous.

Odd as it all was, I felt blessed by those memories of my childhood and embraced in grace.

Even there behind a pane of glass, surrounded by piles of junk and buried under layers of dust…even there, miracles are possible.

Here then is my Minute Poem…

NOTE: I had mistaken the identity of this lovely “lady”. She is, in fact Saint Therese of Lisieux. So…to be accurate, I have tweaked the poem. It doesn’t change the meter or the mystical quality. A rose by another name is still sweet. ❤

  

Storefront Saint 

Hail fair Lady full of woe
no votive’s glow
to warm your feet
here on Fifth Street.

As weary travelers pass by
none catch your eye
lacking vision
for apparitions.

Strange Storefront Saint Therese, you wait
bestowing grace
upon the few
who notice you.

~kat – 20 April 2016

7 Comments   |  tags: , , , , | posted in Digital Art & Photos, Essays, Poetry, Random Thoughts and Musings, Spirituality

March 27, 2016

Dark Night of the Soil

By Kat Myrman


I realized this morning, as I gazed at my barren flower bed, its parallel to Easter and Spring’s awakening.

Death of unruly weeds and a sweeping of rocks and debris was necessary to ready the bed for planting. It required pulling up some deeply imbedded roots of certain weeds who disguised themselves in delicate, colorful blooms, hiding their malevolent intent to choke, encroach and overtake my beautiful garden. If I left even a hint of root behind, my garden would be at risk. Just to be safe, once the soil was sufficiently churned, a barrier was laid and new enriched top soil was added to prepare for new seeds and plants. Of course, there is still a bit more to do, and keeping the weeds at bay is a daunting task, but it is a necessary step to give my beautiful garden its best chance to thrive.

My soul is like a garden. It is affected deeply by nature, the changing of seasons, the light and darkness, the raging tempests and gentle rains, sunrises and sunsets, the clear open blue canopy, the subtle embrace of foggy bottoms, the star-speckled night sky.

As I look at the empty flower bed of my soul, especially on this Easter weekend, I am reminded of the despair and revelation of humanity’s dark nature that led to death, but I am also filled with a sense of hope for the new life that is promised to me if I am faithful.

When darkness overcomes me, I know I should pause to reflect. Is my current circumstance a result of happenstance? It is true some things just happen. Or is it a debacle of my own doing? The latter, if I’m open to considering it, requires a bit of work. Like my garden bed, my soul must be swept of weeds, taking care to remove the roots. The soil of my soul will likely need a bit of churning. It will take a conscious effort on my part to employ the barriers required to prevent any weed remnants from rising again to choke out my best intentions. And it will also take laying a new foundation of “soil”.

My life has the potential to be a beautiful garden! To be a light and a blessing. As I consider the hope of Easter and Spring’s promise, I embrace the new life that grace affords me today and every morning!

Peace, grace and life in all its magnificence to you! May you thrive in beauty!

-kat

9 Comments   |  tags: , , , , , , , | posted in Essays, Life Lessons, Random Thoughts and Musings, Spirituality

February 28, 2016

Sunday’s Week in ReVerse ~ 28 February 2016

By Kat Myrman

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Happy Sunday to you this Leap Day’s Eve! What a week it has been! I missed participating in a few of my favorite challenges this week being otherwise occupied while attending to my partner who had surgery. It made for a short work week which meant cramming 5 days of work into three, a very early, long into the night, hospital day and a flurry of prep to bring the patient home.

Here we are beginning a new week and I am overwhelmed. Not because of the detour from our routine, but because I feel so blessed! The surgery went well, I got all my work done, I was able to fit a few naps in between the craziness and I am blessed to have people in my life to care for and who care for me. And btw…the sun came out today!

Life happens. Despite our best attempts to plan and schedule, things can change in an instant. Even when we know a detour is coming up ahead, there is no way to fully prepare for every twist and turn of the revised trip. We might even find we arrive slightly off our intended destination point. Life happens.

I have learned that it is best in these situations to go with the flow. To pause along the way to take in the new scenery. To embrace the blessings to be found in the unfamiliar (sometimes those are the best kind) :).

The circumstances outside may be a chaotic jumbled mess but if I remember to pause, to breathe, everything I need is tucked away in that moment waiting for me to notice, centering me in peace.

The coming week is sure to be full of surprises…I’ll write when I have a window, nap when the lulls give me a wink, and go with the flow of this beautiful, messy thing called life. may you too have a week of surpising blessings! Here’s a quick look back…

Sunday’s Week in ReVerse ~ 28 February 2016

Prone to incessant word churn
Lips, on the cusp of a smile
mischievous poltergeist,
’twas me who blinked first.
Like a dull needle skipping clumsily
across a broken record, they repeated
the same words.
And we wait…
Engage in futile stances,
Grace
embracing
Undeserved
Heart murmuring
Trusting
Peace.

~ kat

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

February 27, 2016

Silent Swell

By Kat Myrman

Photo Credit: Letiha @ Pixabay.com

Hush
Silent
Soft humming
Grace embracing
Lull

Grace
Lovely
Undeserved
Boundless
Gift

Breath
Slowing
Deepening
Heart murmuring
Calm

Heart
Trusting
Unguarded
Brimming
Swell

Peace
Blissful
Centering
Mindful presence
Rest.

kat ~ 27 February 2016

A trio of Lanterns interspersed by a duo of Lanturnes…imagining an Asian-themed garden of paper lanterns for Jane Dougherty’s Poetry Challenge.

To read more click HERE. Here are the poetry form descriptions:

Lantern Poem Form:

line one: one syllable (Subject)
line two: two syllables (Description)
line three: three syllables (Description)
line four: four syllables (Description
line five: one syllable (synonym of or related to the first line)

Lanturne Poem Form: (5 lines/Syllable Pattern: 1-2-3-2-1)

25 Comments   |  tags: , , , , , , | posted in Challenges and Writing Prompts, Poetry

August 31, 2015

A Confession 52 Years Late…

By Kat Myrman


I have a confession to make…to the boy, I can’t remember his name…the one who sat next to me in the second grade.

I’ll just say it.

I’m the one who stole your Baby Jesus. Snatched him right out of the pencil tray in your desk. How could I not?

It’s no excuse, but I believe I needed him more than you did that day. Even your pitiful tears that made snot ooze over the crest of your lips and into your mouth…that made me flush from my neck to the tips of my ears…could not budge my resolve. I needed your tiny plastic Baby Jesus and I took it. And I told you eye to eye that I didn’t.

I’ve never forgotten this moment of lost innocence when at seven years old, I learned I wasn’t that good girl. Behind my twinkling eyes, freckled nose and curly locks a monster lurked in the dark recesses of my heart. I can think of nothing more heinous than what I did that day. Baby Jesus? That’s how hard core I was when I embarked on my maiden crime spree. It has haunted me for years.

And I don’t expect you to forgive me little boy, who is now a man. I hope you have forgotten it and me. And if it’s any consolation I’ve learned my lesson.

I needed to know about the darkness inside of me so I could choose the light, so I could learn not to judge.

I never stole again after that day. And when I have fallen victim myself to petty thievery I have learned to let it go. To say a silent prayer even, for the perpetrator.  Whatever it was that captured their fancy, I am convinced that they needed it more than me.

kat 31Aug2015

7 Comments   |  tags: , , , | posted in Random Thoughts and Musings, Spirituality