Tag Archives: Poem a Day

Day 277 ~ Time for a ReVerse

Day 277 ~ Time for a ReVerse

let us stand in the balance
spent storm clouds disbursing
not through division and hate,
silenced by fear
peace in the foothills
one word transports us
a lovely chorus of life living
even whispers
waiting for a swift wind
as if debating was still a thing
normal to feel nothing inside
Please Be Quiet | for being different
it’s already too late
Please Do Not Feed
a freight train with no breaks

~kat

The hummingbirds seem to have gone. The temperatures have dipped for days now, the dawn is darker and dusk comes sooner. I’m not sure what flips the switch in their little heads to set them off on a trip to the tropics…even more puzzling, what causes them to return here in the spring? Surely it’s not my jars of simple sugar water. It definitely is not safe for them to stay here through winter. At any rate, I will fill a few feeders one last time for any stragglers from the great migration, and I shall wish them well…a safe journey…a lovely holiday…and look forward to their return come spring. 

When our government changed hands last January I had considered leaving for more a hospitable destination to live out my days. I knew it was going to be frightfully horrifying. The hatred and vengeance had just had four years to simmer and fester into the monstrous reality we all find ourselves in today. It’s much worse I must say than I could have imagined. 

Needless to say I’m still here. For one thing, I don’t have the means to pick up and relocate to another place. And honestly, the grass is not always greener. This fever of hate is catching on everywhere these days. It knows no bounds. This is my home. Leaving won’t change anything. Staying, resisting, standing up to cruelty, using my voice just might shine a little light. Whether we all make it through this dark time is not promised. But we can decide how we face it together. 

I’ll leave you with glimmers as I always do. These are my favorites from the past few weeks… ✨💚✨

Much love, peace, and glimmers to you!

Resist.

~kat ✨✨✨💚💚💚✨✨✨


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 here as a review of the past several weeks.


day 275 & day 276

Catching up today with two poems or four if you consider the second poem is a Cleave poem (3 poems in one). All following a theme. The United States has gone over the edge. Shutdown…apparently now is the fulfillment of the promised project 2025. The government is in full propaganda mode, sending out political messaging from every agency switchboard, blaming the democrats…is this legal? Doesn’t matter. They don’t care. All this is being used to fuel and justify DT’s vengeance campaign. Attacks on states and cities led by progressive leaders, targeted as enemies of state for not kissing the ring. Middle of the night raids on US citizens as well as immigrants of various statuses…though that doesn’t matter either. The scotus gave DT a green light to declare every immigrant he hates illegal. Cruelty against children. Terror is the point. If you already know about all this, I’m sorry for dredging it up again. But for those who haven’t been paying attention and most importantly for myself to document it all. No one will believe things were this crazy years from now if we don’t record it as it happens.

On a personal note, I received an updated anti-discrimination notice from my employer and health insurance company. It no longer protects me and members of my community referencing a federal mandate clause. I suppose going forward it will be up to the benevolence and backbone of my employer to treat me and my wife (who is disabled and my dependent) fairly. Whether, as time goes on they will be mandated to recognize our partnership of 25 years at all. It’s all happening so quietly…so quickly. First it was all immigrants of color. Next it was DEI. It was stunning how quickly businesses and institutions fell in line by firing and removing protections for people assumed to have been hired because of diversity, equity inclusion. Now the LGBTQ+ community is in the crosshairs. A simple redefining of who is protected from discrimination based on a new law. Who’s next? Healthcare is the latest hot topic on the hill. The poor, the vulnerable, the disabled, the elderly…

I should probably hide myself away and be quiet. But I can’t be complicit in this. This is my way of resisting. So, without further ado.

Poem 1 …a Triolet

triolet:

A (first line)
B (second line)
a (rhymes with first line)
A (repeat first line)
a (rhymes with first line)
b (rhymes with second line)
A (repeat first line)
B (repeat second line)


set in motion

it’s already too late
the end of us is set in motion
a freight train with no breaks
it’s already too late
the frog boil is ready to plate
to feed the beast’s lust for devotion
it’s already too late
the end of us is set in motion

~kat

Poem 2…a Cleave poem (two columns…poem 1 -first column, poem 2-second column, poem 3-each line across both columns.



1- signs (a List Poem)

Please Do Not Feed
Slow Children
Slippery When Wet
May Contain Nuts
Yield…Yield…YIELD
Watch Your Step
May Cause Severe Drowsiness
No U Turn
Take A Number
The Line Forms Here
Do Not Disturb
Please Be Quiet
Surveillance Cameras in Use
Left Lane Closed
No Outlet
May Cause Death

2- already too late (Free Verse)

Fascists
are never satisfied
they will divide and conquer
proclaiming superiority
one way to look, to believe, to be
their way
the opposite of woke
no compassion for humanity
weaponizing labels
stoking hate and fear
they will punish you
for being different
they will find you
it’s just a matter of time
fascists are here now
it’s already too late

3- signs | already too late (Cleave Poem)

Please Do Not Feed | Fascists
Slow Children | are never satisfied
Slippery When Wet | they will divide and conquer
May Contain Nuts | proclaiming superiority
Yield…Yield…YIELD | one way to look, to believe, to be
Watch Your Step | their way
May Cause Severe Drowsiness | the opposite of woke
No U Turn | no compassion for humanity
Take A Number | weaponizing labels
The Line Forms Here | stoking hate and fear
Do Not Disturb | they will punish you
Please Be Quiet | for being different
Surveillance Cameras in Use | they will find you
Left Lane Closed | it’s just a matter of time
No Outlet | fascists are here now
May Cause Death | it’s already too late

~kat

phew! Now that that is over with, I owe you and myself some glimmers. Life goes on in the midst of chaos. It may not always be a smooth journey, but as I have said before, glimmers are everywhere, every day, just waiting to be noticed by us. Waiting to restore our soul.

Here’s a few glimmers that have kept me going the last few days…

trying my hand at flower arranging…happy autumn…my favorite time of the year!

Much love, peace, and glimmers to you!

~kat ✨✨✨💚💚💚✨✨✨


day 274

numb

sadness
melancholy
it’s definitely not
normal to feel nothing inside
…normal

~kat
(a Cinquain 2-4-6-8-2)

I didn’t watch the news today. Not that it mattered. I know what’s out there. The hate, the fear, the judgment, the loathing. I never considered myself an enemy of the state, but apparently that is what I am because I believe in truth, freedom and liberty for all. And because I didn’t vote for the great pumpkin and his rotten band of squash and gourds. They raided the data…those doge kids. They know everything that can be known about all of us right down to what brand of toothpaste we prefer. We are all categorized and profiled. And now the grand poo-pa has declared war on us…the enemies within. He and his boy toy soldier read their riot act to the generals. All this just in time for the final blow, the grand finale of this year-long nightmare. The final nail in the coffin handed to the architects by a useless congress who convened session, facilitating a shutdown to end all shutdowns. So anyhow…it’s all left me feeling a bit numb. 

Thank goodness for potted plants. The latest focus of my new hobby was an ailing sago palm that apparently needed to be repotted and then pruned to encourage new growth. I mixed a combination of the prescribed soil and filler to be sure that it remained loose and aerated. Next came the pruning. Lopping off the dead fronds so new ones could grow. Plants look rather bleak after a pruning. But I followed the directions to the letter. And today, weeks later, we have the sprouting of new leaves. I don’t know why I doubted it. That first cut is always the hardest. So that’s my glimmer today. Stick to what you know is true, follow directions, and finally, trust the process.

Much love, peace, and glimmers to you. 

~kat ✨✨✨💚💚💚✨✨✨


day 273…lights out

it’s over
.
no
one is to blame
but
that’s up for debate
as if debating was still a thing
it’s not
there’ll be no compromise
just waiting
for someone to blink

~kat

Well…the final blow has been dealt. The USA is closed for business. I suspect it was the plan all along. Shut it down. Finish the carnage started on day one. Send in the troops. Silence the opposition. Blame everyone not in charge. It’s stunning to witness. Like an out of body experience.

Our hickory tree got a much needed trim of lower, intrusive hanging limbs. At first it looked so strange. I wasn’t sure I’d ever warm to its new look…it’s tall, lean, trunk exposed beneath a lush canopy of green. And then dusk came, and I realized for the first time in years I had a clear view of the horizon. No longer blocked by wild low hanging branches. It will take some getting used to…this big change. But having a front row seat to autumn’s stunning sunsets will help me warm to the change. How I love sunsets in autumn!

I don’t know what will become of this broken country of ours…but maybe, if those of good will can manage to trim the low, intrusive branches, we might all eventually see the light, and the horizon where hope for the future and many tomorrows glows bright. What a glimmer! Hope for us all! May we all gain a clearer view in the coming dark days!

Much love, peace, and unobstructed glimmers of hope to you.

~kat ✨✨✨💚💚💚✨✨✨


day 272

another one bites the sawdust…
encroaching

we downed
another tree
its life had departed
months ago, in winter…no burst
of green
just crows
perched on bare limbs
waiting for a swift wind
to topple it onto our house…
or us

~kat

This season of letting go has been a doozy. Last year’s harsh winter had taken its toll on several of the trees on our property. Unfortunately, some stand in close proximity to our cars and the house. I have seen a great oak with a root ball the size of a small car ripped from the ground. It was our neighbor’s tree. It took out the fence between our two houses as well as my lovely dogwood tree. Its broad foliage filled our entire back yard. The branches reached to the third story windows of our house, but not shingle was harmed. It felt like we were living on the top of a tree in a tree house until we were able to have it cleared away. After that experience I don’t take chances with spent trees. 

There is a local fellow who shows up looking for work every so often. He came by again today. We had enough to pay for his service. With a handshake and a promise he and his assistant got to work taking down that long gone hickory tree in our front yard. Times are rough these days. The last time he came looking for jobs to do, he explained to me in broken English that he was hungry; needed work. This time he had on a t-shirt with his business name printed on it. Like before his work was excellent. And just as before he cleaned up all the debris…it was as if nothing had happened except, of course, for the tree…now just a huge stump where it once stood. 

I paid him. Thanked him for doing such a fine job, and as he reached out his hand for a shake to thank me, he pulled me in for a hug against his sweaty sawdusted logo tshirt. It was a moment that I shall never forget. It was a moment of shared humanity. It reminded me how connected we all are. And how we need to do what we can to help each other.  I believe I have a new friend. So that’s my glimmer for today. Here’s to friends who come into our lives when we least expect it. 

Much love, peace, and glimmers to you! 

~kat ✨✨✨💚💚💚✨✨✨