The Connection Never Ends

As family members get older and need more care, the importance of staying connected is vital. Visiting from time to time lets them know you are concerned for their well-being . Those who show their love and care are a lasting connection. People who make that extra effort are always greatly appreciated. We all remember when family and friends are there for us in our difficult times of life.

When you are there in time of need
showing compassion by what you do;
Your connection never ends
When you reach out to lend a hand
To one who struggles through each day;
Your connection never ends
When you show God’s love in time of grief
Just  giving a caring hug brings relief;
Your connection never ends
It is not what you say but who you are
Sharing yourself // expressing your love
That connection never ends

Photo: Dwight L. Roth

 

Death and Life

I posted this poem follow the death of my wife’s Uncle David, two years ago in September. We traveled to Pennsylvania and enjoyed our interactions with family members we had not scene in a long time. Following the funeral, we traveled around the community where here father’s family lived. This included visiting the Snavely Mill, that was once owned by her great grandfather. At the mill we encountered a beautiful Great White Egret that lived near the millpond! I thought it would be good to repost this memory once again for you to enjoy.

Mourning the loss of an uncle today
Everyone gathered to say goodbye
A sad occasion yet a celebration of life
Reviewing a life well lived and too soon gone
A reunion of sorts where the family gathers
Not only to say goodbye but to say hello
Many years of disconnect come together
Childhood cousins now grown break bread
Speak of their Uncle with stories to tell of their own
Following the funeral a long ride in the country
Enjoying corn fields and bubbling creeks
Looking for pieces of history finding some
At Great Grandpa’s millpond next to the Snavely Mill
A beautiful gift rises into the air
A Great White Egret with spreading wings
A reminder that along with history and reconnections
Life goes on
Life is beautiful
Life is still worth living

Photos: Dwight L. Roth

Spider Poetry

This beautiful writing spider floated in mid-air on the corner of my garage door. Spinning its lines next to the light, it sits waiting for the next poor bug to fly into the web. It is one of the biggest writing spiders that I have seen. Today I saw it wrapping up a bug for future consumption! Looks like his patience payed off!

Spider spins its web

Writing nature’s poetry

Floating on beauty

 

 

Photos: Dwight L. Roth

Posting this for my Monday Haibun  on  d’Verse Poets Pub

Join us at: https://dversepoets.com

Shattered

There are times
in life
when everything
seems to go to pieces.
Devastated,
we think
our life is over…
But,
in reality,
those shattered pieces,
in the end
cement together
to become
the mosaic of our life!

Today I read a poem, by blogger Christine Bolten, called Jagged Pieces. It inspired the poem I wrote above. Her poem deals with brokenness, healing, restructuring, and the hope of forgiveness.
Read her poem here: https://poetryforhealing.com/2019/09/27/jagged-pieces/

The mosaic tile art  piece was done by friend and artist Lynn Carmichael.

Crown of Thorns

Of what use are your long gnarled stems
Heads balding from the loss of fragile beauty
Sucked dry by bird and bee
Seeking the nectar of life hidden deep inside
Of what use is your thorny crown
Pocked and dried by sun and wind
Waiting in the remaining time
To be cut broken discarded
The glory days of ephemeral beauty gone
What’s left for the aging freckled head
What beauty remains for the dried and broken

It was not all for naught, the losing of ones crown
For underneath the crown lies the key to beauty
The ongoing genetics of life the giftwrapped wonder
Beauty is in the seed passing on and on and on
Since the beginning of time
Without the crown of thorns there would be no future beauty
The would be no life here after
Beauty is passing, life is fragile, but the seed remains forever
To once again spring forth from the ashes of the past
Bringing life and hope and to that dried crown of thorns

Photo: Dwight L. Roth

Today at d’Verse, Bjorn asked us to use Metaphors in our poem. I chose to write about this dying sunflower, which reminded me of my life as I get older.

Join us at: https://dversepoets.com

Back in the Radio Era

It is hard to imagine a time when we did not have all of the electronic gadgets we have today. When I was young we did not have a TV, so the radio was our only source of broadcast information. We used our imagination to connect the dots when we listened to Lowell Thomas and the news. His broadcasts from all over the world were fascinating to hear. The Lone Ranger and “Hi-O-Silver” came through the speakers and tickled my imagination. Music and religious programming also came across the airwaves.

Today we have information overload. So much so, that many things are only view for a few seconds at most. Music comes through earbuds and blocks out any chance of social interaction.  As I watched the Ken Burns special, The History of Country Music, on PBS, it once again took me back to the Radio era, when music came live across the airwaves and was played on vinyl records. I must be really old!!

Radio Music

Coming through ten inch speakers

Forty-thousand Watts

Photo: Dwight L. Roth

If you enjoy history, check out this blogger’s trip down old Rt. 66!

An Ode to the Mother Road

 

 

Monsters Under the Bed

When I go to bed at night
And my parents get ready to turn out the light
I shudder and shake like an earthquake
As fears arise and create all these fakes
Wild and awful creatures in flight
Come floating in the dark of night
Out from under my bed they snake
Rearing ugly heads to make mine ache
But, I learned the best way to make fears flee
“I usually solve problems by letting them devour me.”
When they see how sweet to the taste, I am
Their fright disappears and I fall asleep once again

Amaya at d’Verse, came up with the idea of turning Franz Kafka quotes into children’s’ stories. She gave us a few to choose from and I chose, “I usually solve problems by letting them devour me.” The ideas is to overcome fears by embracing them as part of the fun, thus taking away their power over our mind.

Join us at: https://dversepoets.com

Clip art from: blogspot.com

 

 

 

Cry For Our Farmland

Development encroaches into the countryside
New houses creep onto our farms and fields
Blacktop streets checkerboard rolling hills
Infrastructure circulates underground
*
Cry for our farmland // fast disappearing
More mouths to feed // less land to grow crops
Farmland going into extinction
Who’ll grow our food?

Linda at d’Verse asked us to write a Quadrille of 44 words using the prompt extinction. Some believe Climate Change is going to bring us to the edge of extinction, but I believe it is the population explosion that will be our demise. When all the farm land is gone where will our food come from to feed billions of people?

The land in the photos is across from the development where I live. It has just been rezoned for more than 400 new houses. The field grew up in weeds this summer. This week they began getting ready to put in the infrastructure.

Join us at: https://dversepoets.com

Last Taste of Summer

Cool air creeps in along with shortening days
The sun is still warm but the nights are cold
Tastes of fall manifest themselves
The grape vines are almost bare
Garden tomatoes still hang on to the very end
No statement of an early demise signed here
Zinnias and Cosmos feed the last of the monarchs
Honey bees collect pollen in the early morning sunshine
To my surprise I see a remaining orange jewel
Hanging on the vines
The last ripe tomato just waiting for me
I picked it today and had it for lunch
Last but not least it still had the flavor
Of earlier brothers and sisters already eaten
What a wonderful way to bring closure
That one last taste of summer makes it all worthwhile
All the work and toil ending in one last jewel of flavor
As fall closes in with colors of every hue
I enjoy this one last offering
Thankful for the simple blessings of life

Photo:  Dwight L. Roth

 

 

Spider’s Equinox

Golden strands of a spider’s web shine in my window as the sun was setting in the distance. Today, for Frank Tassone’s Haikai challenge, we are using the September Equinox as our prompt. Earlier, I watched a writing spider spread her web across my dying zinnias, hoping to catch that one last bug before cold weather closes in for good.

Spiders spin crossroads
Sun sets on golden silk strands
Shining fall colors
September Equinox makes
crossroad tangled deal once more

Photos: Dwight L. Roth

Join us at: https://frankjtassone.com/2019/09/21/haikai-challenge-105-9-21-2019-september-equinox-tsuki-shunbun-haiku-senryu-haibun-tanka-haiga-renga/