Tag Archives: week in Reverse

September 10, 2017

Shi Sai Sunday’s Week in ReVerse – 10 September 2017

By Kat Myrman

My fortune cookie this past Saturday… 

Life does not go on…not just yet. We were burdened this past week with aftermaths of destruction: hurricanes, earthquakes, raging wildfires, crushing inhumanity by so-called leaders, while the best of humanity hangs in the balance, at the ready to take make things right. But life is not going on…not just yet as we face even more catastrophe on our southern shores. We remind ourselves of our incredible resilience in the wake of all of life’s storms, be they nature-driven or human fabricated. Life goes on…sometimes, and sometimes it does not…

I feel helpless in the eye of the storms that rage around me. There is nowhere to run…nowhere to hide. We can try to prepare. We can hope for the best. But ultimately we must wait.

I’m tempted to wrap myself in my woobie and sleep long and hard until it’s over…until it’s time to gather what is left; until it’s time to make something of the rubble. What if nothing remains? It’s useless to worry about it. What do we do with time when it’s not time to move on, not just yet?

Moments count most right now. I light a candle for us all as I embrace the frail excruciating weight of this single moment. I breathe in deeply, exhale slowly. I gaze at my surroundings; the people, pets and things that give me comfort, that I love, and last but certainly not least, I eat the damn cake, savoring its sweetness. As moments go it is enough. I’ll leave the moving on until it’s time.

Be safe, be kind, love one another…peace.

Shi Sai Sunday’s Week in ReVerse – 10 September 2017

soft the gloaming hush descends
breath of withering blossoms dying
there’s a cool snap in the air
a coffee, please
excruciating, the wait,
oh…I had a secret invisibility cloak once
pretending to be impressed with his strip shuffle
sinful indulgence
falsehoods fade slowly
dusty nooks, cluttered,
for nuggets of gold
treasure ‘midst rubble
so easily crushed
late summer storms swell
sleep in if you like
whisper me lies
they never rest
they know my heart best
eat the damn cake…do it

~kat

A shi sai or 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 shi sai features the words of one writer, providing a glimpse into their thoughts over time. I use it as a review of the previous week.

11 Comments   |  tags: , , , , , , , , , , | posted in Digital Art & Photos, Essays, Life Lessons, nature, Poetry, Random Thoughts and Musings, Shi Sai, Social Issues, Spirituality, Week in Review

August 27, 2017

Shi Sai Sunday’s Week in ReVerse – 27 August 2017

By Kat Myrman

Some believe innocence is only a casualty of childhood lost, but I know this is not true. Even grown ups cling to wisps of innocence, suffering its loss when it slips away. The only difference is we call it hope.

The hope that deep down all people are decent and good and will do the right thing if given the chance.

The hope that bad things and people eventually pay for the harm they perpetuate.

The hope that people see us for who we are inside, not judging us for our faith, the color of our skin, where we were born, or who we love.

The hope that everything happens for a reason and in the end all things work together for good.

Children aren’t the only ones at risk of losing innocence. And there are many ways to suffer it’s loss. A parent will cushion the harsh blow when their child discovers that there is no Santa Claus, Easter Bunny or Tooth Fairy, by telling them the truth; that those fantastical characters are in fact a mommy and daddy who love them very much and just wanted to make their life special. But who is there to reassure us as adults when the world we hoped in, and believed existed, begins to crumble away?

Some turn to faith, while some look to others to make things right. But even the strongest faith or the greatest savior in the flesh can leave us feeling empty, inconsolable because of the gnawing questions everyone asks in times of lost innocence, lost hope….”How could…Why would…What now…Who can I trust?”

The honest answer, the one we may not want to hear, is that some things can’t be fixed, made right, or restored. Just as a child can’t unknow the truth that Santa is not real, we cannot unknow the reality of the world, with its imperfections and cruelty, once it reveals itself in the light.

But one thing I do know is that the end of the world as we once knew it is not the end of the world. We go on. We always go on, a little wiser perhaps, but hopefully not jaded. Innocence is a bit overrated in my opinion. Hope can be too, when reality is not taken into account. I’ll take truth and light over the alternative any day… even if it hurts.

Shi Sai Sunday’s Week in ReVerse – 27 August 2017

harmony murmuring

sifts first through sludge and shale

a sight deemed tasteless

where’s the lens filter

to reignite hope’s embers

shell shards spawn the shore

I just don’t think I’m into roughing it

Who likes cookies?

incogitant tweet perhaps,

spoken from privilege

only for a season

you can ask any child

if we could remember

storms, singing in the rain

~kat

A shi sai or 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 shi sai features the words of one writer, providing a glimpse into their thoughts over time. I use it as a review of the previous week.

6 Comments   |  tags: , , , , , , , , | posted in Digital Art & Photos, Essays, Life Lessons, Poetry, Random Thoughts and Musings, Shi Sai, Social Issues, Spirituality, Week in Review

August 20, 2017

Shi Sai Sunday’s Week in ReVerse – 20 August 2017

By Kat Myrman

I remember every word like it was yesterday…nasty woman, grab em by the pussy, fake news, bad hombres…they’re rapists, if “she” wasn’t my daughter, I’d probably be dating her, why can’t we use nuclear weapons, Russia, if you’re listening…, They don’t look like Indians to Indians”, I am the least racist person there is, laziness is a trait in blacks. It really is, I believe that, women. You have to treat ’em like shit, he’s not a war hero. He’s a war hero because he was captured. I like people that weren’t captured, I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody, and I wouldn’t lose any voters, okay? I love the poorly educated, knock the crap out of them, would you? Seriously. Okay? Just knock the hell — I promise you, I will pay for the legal fees, I have a great relationship with the blacks, You had some very bad people in that group. You also had some very fine people on both sides, we’re going to build a wall, it will go up so fast your head will spin…please don’t be too nice…so this week, it is Robert E. Lee. I noticed that Stonewall Jackson is coming down. I wonder, is it George Washington next week? And is it Thomas Jefferson the week after? You know, you really do have to ask yourself, where does it stop?

I remember every word…these and others. There are so many others…You know, you really do have to ask yourself, where does it stop?

Darkness is coming this week as an eclipse cuts a horizontal line across the entire country from coast to coast. The nation will be darkest along the path of totality. Isn’t that ironic?

Be safe. Be encouraged. The darkness only lasts for a few moments.

Shi Sai Sunday’s Week in ReVerse – 20 August 2017

we are so easily charmed

muddling puddles

here the sky is green

Wow!” they gasped,

dry with a tinge bittersweet

frail crimson petals clinging

That is how nothing leaves a room.

He didn’t always win.

time to go home

Some people believe tradition is an archaic chain to the past

Prayers for Barcelona

there is no solace

words in unison

poor confabulating fool

heart’s not in it

in the stillness

too bright to behold

it is here and there and nowhere

~kat

A shi sai or 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 shi sai features the words of one writer, providing a glimpse into their thoughts over time. I use it as a review of the previous week.

12 Comments   |  tags: , , , , , , | posted in Digital Art & Photos, Essays, Haibun, Poetry, Random Thoughts and Musings, Shi Sai, Week in Review

August 6, 2017

Shi Sai Sunday’s Week in ReVerse – 6 August 2017

By Kat Myrman


Most of you know I have a day job. Sometimes the day job encroaches my free time, launching me into an exhausting week of all work and no play, or in my case no time for writing. I managed to scribble out a few lines but I admit even the magnetic words felt overwhelming to me by week’s end.

Fortunately, since I began blogging, I have grown to appreciate the effectiveness of a 6 word story or a tweet. I’m bummed that I missed several of my favorite challenges this week. They were all good ones. I just couldn’t even…

But it makes me pay attention all the more to the words that did spill out of my brain this week, finding voice in prose or poetry. Six lines made it to the finish. There’s that number again. And today is the 6th day of August. Six…you have my attention. What are you trying to tell me? (So of course I am pausing here to look it up…be right back!)

From the site, mysticalnumbers, I learned:

*The number 6 is a symbol of completeness.
*Number 6 symbolizes beauty and high ideals.
*Number 6 is A Perfect Number. The *Pythagoreans acknowledged number 6 to be the first perfect number.
*Number 6 is the symbol of luck, the highest number of the dice.
*The number 6 is the symbol of Venus, the goddess of love.
*In the Tarot, six is the card of the Lover – The Lovers naturally symbolizes anything to do with the heart; love and also inner peace and harmony.
*June is the 6th month. (my birth month)
*The number 6 is the atomic number for carbon.
*The standard flute has six holes.
*The standard guitar has six strings.
*Insects have six legs.
*In the beehive honeycomb, the cells are six-sided.

And as I shared this week, I have lived on this planet 6 decades. It seems like such a small number but it is a perfect number. It is a symbol of completeness. What I glean from all this is that even though I was not allowed to spend more time writing, the words that I did find, and my simple little six line ReVerse, are a perfect representation of my life this past week.

My boss told me to be ready to hit the ground running this coming week. Looks like another week chasing a dollar. If only I didn’t need food and shelter to survive, I could spend all my hours writing. But would more words tell my story any more eloquently? I’ll hang onto that thought when I find only a moment, here and there, to write. There is perfection in brevity.

Peace out! Have a magical week! I’m ready. Here we go…to infinite perfection and beyond!

Shi Sai Sunday’s Week in ReVerse – 6 August 2017

your life is poetry in rhythm
Morning, you. I made coffee
cut flowers die
I don’t need to know all the answers
my tack is a pen
full moon dusking

~kat

A shi sai or 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 shi sai features the words of one writer, providing a glimpse into their thoughts over time. I use it as a review of the previous week.

8 Comments   |  tags: , , , , , , | posted in Digital Art & Photos, Essays, Life Lessons, Poetry, Random Thoughts and Musings, Shi Sai, Week in Review

July 30, 2017

Shi Sai Sunday’s Week in ReVerse – 30 July 2017

By Kat Myrman


I love this week’s Shi Sai ReVerse poem! It tells such a story.

Once upon a time there was such a thing as decorum, civility and grace. People had manners and treated others with respect; but no more. Now anything goes. We are insulated from the consequences of our meanness because we can release the dark side of our souls in posts and tweets and voice messages. What was once whispered in private is now broadcast around the world never to be erased, taken back or atoned for.

I am the first to say that I miss the days when we were nicer to each other. But there is a part of me that is grateful for our recent fall from grace.

Just because we didn’t speak our minds back in the day, doesn’t mean that those ugly things didn’t exist. We just hid them better. The recent divide that has torn my country down the middle has been rumbling under the surface for a long time. Back in the day before we lost our filters, people seemed friendlier, more respectful and tolerant. But those things were just skin deep.

While it’s shocking to see our true selves erupt, it also brings things out into the open, where we can deal with the fear, lack of empathy and downright hatefulness. It is true I have lost friends and family members in the past year. But I am coming to terms with the reality that these people who were nice to my face were not really my friends after all.

So yes, I am grateful. My life is enriched all the more by relationships built on trust. And when I miss those who are no longer part of my circle, I remind myself that I only miss the illusion of what we had. How can you miss something that never was?

Have a great week. Be true to you and yours in this brave new world we live in where authenticity is a priceless treasure. Peace!

Shi Sai Sunday’s Week in ReVerse – 30 July 2017

if only we’d lingered,
forever bound
basking in warm memories
to create lives worth living
because actions speak louder
heaven bending near
getting nowhere very fast
with a spot of rouge
I laughed it off at the time as crazy
heartless fools can’t see
pie is all about the crust, honey
suspended, graceful,
in the here and now
dance with me my love
poison devouring us
the world grows restless

~kat

A shi sai or 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 shi sai features the words of one writer, providing a glimpse into their thoughts over time. I use it as a review of the previous week.

4 Comments   |  tags: , , , | posted in Digital Art & Photos, Essays, Poetry, Random Thoughts and Musings, Shi Sai, Week in Review