K is for Kaleidoscope, Kryptonite and Kangaroos - 'Kay?

K is for...Kaleidoscope

shattered.

dangerous.

painful.

use caution...

take a chance.

sweep up the shards.

pile up.

spin around.

hold to the light.

mesmerizing.

kaleidoscope heart.

~sylvie branch 2008

Written when my heart felt like it was breaking, no shattering into tiny painful shards. Even then, in the midst of it all, my second instinct (after allowing a good wallow in the pain) was to declare an end to it. Sweep up the pieces....Keep it together girl....the pain will not be permanent.....

Poetry is Kryptonite to pain.

Let your real feelings spill out on the page.

What you read may surprise you.

When I was running the art show circuit myself, showing my artwork, selling pieces on Etsy and Artfire, I hesitated sharing the details of my work and events with friends, coworkers and family. Mostly because my art work and poetry tends to have a dark undertone. This isn't because I am dark...rather, it keeps me from being dark and depressed. Like anyone, my life has been peppered with painful experiences; sudden deaths, shattering news, misunderstandings that cannot be mended, multiple miscarriages, financial crisis and health scares....and dealing with the broken foster care system.

One painful- Kaliedoscope-heart making moment included my two sweet foster girls. I hadn't planned on fostering, but they were in essence dropped in my lap. After completely changing my life, falling madly in love with them and setting up to adopt...they were ripped away. The faulty reasoning and legalize that surrounded those poor girls broke my heart. Helpless to do anything about it...I started painting more and more...and turned to poetry. Poetry is not a planned exercise for me. I don't set about to write a poem, it basically pops into my head fully formed just waiting for me to write it out. That's what is so magical about the Kaliedoscope poem to me. It didn't go through rough drafts, or have an intended market..but it did make me realize how resilient I am and how this is just another piece in the puzzle of my life.

K is for Kangaroos. 

Little story...Chloe, one of my foster girls, was a highly excitable five year old. Perpetually in utter awe of the world around her. She lived a "sheltered city life" really only seeing bad things on TV and in real life before coming to live with us. One day while driving through Litchfield, she spotted animals in the field and exclaimed in her deep nasal voice 

KANGAROOS!!!!!

    No, Litchfield does not have a Kangaroo farm. We were passing an alpaca farm and she had NO idea what those critters were. When everyone in the car laughed and corrected her, she was not the least bit embarrassed, or convinced. She proceeded to tell everyone we met from then on about the Kangaroos.
(and so does everyone who was in the car that day...her excitement was contagious and makes up happy just to imitate the funny way she said Kan -ga -ROOOOOS) 

'Kay that's about it 

Yesterdays A to Z challenge went to the K-9's apparently. After checking out my Junie B's entry, I headed over to a couple new favorite blogs, Confessions of a Watery Tart and met Joel Johnson and then visited Marie Ann's Missives and became acquainted with Jethro the Jack Russel Terror. Go ahead, check them out.