Tag Archives: Week in Review

A ReVerse Poem Sunday, 9 July 2023

Do you ever wonder if other generations faced times like these? The growing polarization, mass shootings, book banning, rewritten history, hatred, lies, lost rights and freedoms for certain groups, unprovoked conflicts, injustice…I’m sure there are more grievances to be listed here. I’m exhausted just thinking about it. But we humans have been around for eons. We have survived, plagues, unscrupulous leaders, civil wars, injustice, crusades, and the like before, and I dare say we will survive this chapter of our checkered history.

If you think this time is something new, it’s not really. A different cast of characters and situations perhaps but it’s the same fatal flaws that have plagued previous generations. We say that those who don’t know history are doomed to repeat it. It’s simpler than that really. History repeats itself again and again because we are who we are. Humanity hasn’t changed much, just the scenery. So what does that say about us? Hang in there…don’t lose hope…we’ll get through this season. If history can repeat itself, so can our resiliency to emerge, to overcome and to thrive! Peace to you…we’ve got this!


A ReVerse Poem Sunday, 9 July 2023

I should take shelter but I’m transfixed
by an an invitation to pause, to breathe, to be
freedom for the chosen
at least to me it’s not a thing
a flash of crimson caught my eye
we say we miss the good old days
no amount of sun will burn this fog away

~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.


A ReVerse Poem ~ 2 July 2023

What a surprising ReVerse this week, with so many things changing in our world. And not entirely for the better here in the U.S. Don’t worry, I’ll refrain from spelling that all out here. Those who are “woke” are experiencing lucid nightmares and those who aren’t are having wet dreams. Enough said.

At any rate, a lot of change is happening. Wildfires in Canada are sending smoke signals south of the border connecting us despite our attempts to set ourselves apart. We are humanity. One world. All of us reaping what we have sown. And in the midst of all this, life goes on. An update on the wren family who took up residence in my peace lily pot…we’re expecting…twins!!! I’ll keep you posted. Nature has not always been kind to the fledglings who got their start in the eaves and hollows around my house. We’re hoping for a healthy brood this time.

And I am hoping this post finds you happy, healthy, and hopeful. Never lose hope dear friends. Nature has a way of reminding us what is important if we forget.

Peace and happiness to you!

~kat


A ReVerse Poem ~ 2 July 2023

braced against winds of change
toes dug deep in sand where it’s cool
we breathe the same air
inhaling deeply, exhaling slowly
daubs of blood and nectar
eating up memory
making peace in the lily pot

~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.


ReVerse Poem – Sunday, 25 June 2023

Something told me to wait a second week before attempting a reverse poem last Sunday. It was probably the Muse. I don’t give her enough credit. Though I’m ready to blame her for forsaking me. At any rate, the last few years have been a challenging season for us. Last year…the loss of four beloved fur family members. I still don’t feel I have grieved them properly, each one leaving so suddenly just a month or two out from each other.

This year started with a bang on December 31st…my wife’s health plunged considerably after major emergency back surgery, post op complications, and what now may be a chronic disability, having lost the use of her right leg. Life as we had planned, interrupted. Me, working a demanding full time job, while learning how to manage full time caretaking, our new one income budget and all the other household tasks…with grace. Honestly, it is only grace that has gotten me through this. Grace, and forcing myself to stop, to breath deeply often, and to write.

I would be a nutcase without this platform to spill my thoughts. You may have noticed that I have focused on short forms…micropoetry. Short does not always equate to easy. Some forms are structurally complex, but I take comfort in the boundaries imposed. It grounds me. Gets me into my head and out of thinking too hard about every what’s next scenario. We still don’t have conclusive answers…4 MRI’s, X-rays, CAT scans, ultrasounds in, and a few more specialists to see for third, fourth and fifth opinions. We just want a plan that moves us forward. The status quo is understandably not working for us.

All this to say, I am so grateful for this moment today. I baked a lovely Lemon Blueberry cake today. The house smells sweet and citrusy. There is a Carolina Wren pair nesting in my peace lily planter on the back porch, my other fur kids are content and happy. And the world is so very green, the wild blackberries are growing plump and dark on the vines. All this sustains me…sustains us as we traverse this challenge together. I can’t decide if this is the for better or for worse part …a little of both perhaps. I am learning it is not an either or condition. Life is not a rollercoaster if you take time to enjoy the wind tossing your hair.

And I just have to say…I’m so glad I gave today’s ReVerse an extra week to percolate. It is exquisite. A perfect snapshot of my brain. Makes me smile.

Peace, Love, and Good Health to you and yours. 🥰


ReVerse Poem - Sunday, 25 June 2023

the world blurs from view
before all doors were locked
her glance will pierce you through
adorned in gray, mourning
long held dreams, forsaking
sets tongues a-twittering
i know you well, your truths,
golden streams breaking through
but a breath away
amidst fleeting bursts of bliss
blue as insomnia
falling with every breath
I think too much about nothing, rent free
I write stories about them in my head
i heard from a friend who’s friends with a friend

~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.


ReVerse Poem – Sunday, 11 June 2023

Happy Sunday! It’s time to look back on the past week and glean a thought from each day. And what a week it has been! Thank goodness for poetry! It helps keep me sane, draws me out of my head, and helps me remember to breathe…even if only for a conscious moment when I realize that I am holding my breath, yet again.

Some weeks, like this one, are just cloudy with good chance of left shoes dropping like rain…all hail about to break loose when we least expect it. True story…we have had so much rain that the gutter drains are forming trenches through the soil in our yard. I’ve never seen anything like it!

And metaphorically speaking the poles are entrenched as ever…with the hysterically woke on one side, and the angrily ignorant on the other. The forecast is daunting, but we’ll get to the other side just like we always do… slow and steady right through the middle where most of us huddle.

I can’t let myself stress about it. I won’t let myself stress about it. This morning is particularly spectacular, sun—kissed, green and sparkling, the birds happily singing, foraging, the wild blackberries are pink now, plumping up, a few weeks to ripe. What a glorious day, and I am so grateful that I am alive to see it!

Peace to you!


ReVerse Poem - Sunday, 11 June 2023 

moonlight, a glimpse of her heart
the way for grace to flow free
in crimson, sweetly fragrant
coloring outside the lines,
where possibilities wait,
it is only noise
warm breath on my skin

~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.


Sunday’s ReVerse Poem – 4 June 2023

As anticipated, given the Pleiades poetry form, the poems this week embodied feminine themes, with inspiration from the stars. Today, astrologers say there are over 500 stars in the Pleiades constellation cluster, though only a handful can be seen with the naked eye. The ancients named seven of these stars the “seven sisters”: Alcyone, Asterope, Celaeno, Electra, Maia, Merope, and Tygeta. Based on the Reverse below I met my goal. It was exactly what I was going for. An homage to feminine gifts and sensibilities. And because there are seven days in a week, today’s ReVerse, like the Pleiades is seven lines long. How serendipitous, I say! 

In today’s ugly social climate where being female is under attack on so many fronts I thought we could use a boost and a reminder of how amazing we are. Taking nothing away from our brothers, of course, but it is worth reminding us all, and especially ourselves, that we are beautiful, intuitive, nurturing, wise, intelligent, powerful, equal partners each day in the life of this planet, in our homes as well as in the boardroom. It is time we took our place at the table like we own it…because if you really think about it…we do.

With that in mind my sisters, take a moment to look in the mirror today, and rather than focusing on those extra pounds, wrinkles, or whatever else that makes you feel less than, and look that woman staring back at you straight in the eye…hold her gaze long enough until you feel it..the realization that she…that you…are beautiful, amazing, worth being loved and appreciated! In fact, you should tell her…go ahead, say it out loud!

Namasté my lovelies!

Sunday ReVerse Poem ~ 4 June 2023

she is powerful
discovering her wings,
whisperings from the muse,
calm in the midst of storms,
we are fools to cry witch,
goddess, primordial
lightning strikes where it will

~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.