shape-shifting shadows
rouse rumbles of deep-rooted fear
though light hovers near
kat ~ 17 October 2016
For Haiku Horizon’s Haiku Challenge, prompt word: “Shape”.
kat ~ 17 October 2016
For Haiku Horizon’s Haiku Challenge, prompt word: “Shape”.

Today’s Word of the Day on Dictionary.com is “Mutable”. Now I know a thing or two about being mutable. Born under the astrological sign, Gemini, change is something I relish! This is slightly (though they might say enormously) unsettling for the fixed and cardinal friends and family I surround myself with. But I like to think they stick around because despite my mutable “flaw” at least I’m not boring!
There are certain qualities though that are not mutable; things like truth and character. I’m reminded of a quote by Maya Angelou, “When someone shows you who they are believe them; the first time.”
Dictionary.com defines mutable as an adjective:
1. liable or subject to change or alteration.
2. given to changing; constantly changing; fickleor inconstant.
It originated from the Latin verb mūtāre meaning “to change.” It entered English in the early 1400s.
Here then are my Haikus featuring the word, mutable:
most first impressions
don’t lie about character
it’s not mutable
life is mutable
we can depend on this truth
because change happens
kat ~ 14 October 2016

masque en poudre pâle
bien que nous cacher au monde
yeux révèle l’âme
pale powder mask
though we hide from the world
eyes reveal the soul
kat – 13 October 2013
A study in bilingual haiku for Haiku Horizon’s prompt: Mask

The etymology of the word etymology according to Dictionary.com:
“Etymology finds its roots in the Greek terms étymos meaning “true” and lógos meaning “word, reason.” It entered English in the late 1300s.”
It is no secret that I am fascinated by words; their history, applications, country of origin, I love learning about how a word finds its way I nto our common vocabulary because I have been known to make up new words myself!
I love that elements of today’s word are derived from words like “true” and reason” because I believe that words matter. And I also believe that truth and reason are vitally important elements of everyday discourse.
Perhaps the reason so many of us are feeling frustrated and dismayed by the current state of our conversations, is that much of what we hear has been reduced to sensational sound bites where truth and reason are less important than shock value. In a world of unlimited access to communication, news and information, we are less informed because we have forgotten the root of the words we use, and ultimately, because we have veered from truth and reason, the words we speak increasingly fall on deaf ears.
Truth matters…reason matters…words matter…anything less is just noise.
writers in the know
know their etymology
is a linguist’s dream
kat – 7 October 2016

haunting the hopeful
a ghost of a chance dangles
to keep dreams alive
I believe in ghosts
not that I’ve seen one up close
but i have felt them
my old house whispers
each creak, each groan tells the tale
of a voice silenced
kat ~ 6 October 2016
A few Haiku for TJ’s Household Haiku Challenge Haiku Hub. This week’s prompt is “Ghost”.