Diamonds or Thorns

KONICA MINOLTA DIGITAL CAMERA

Why do we write our poems // our stories
Who will care // Who will read our work
We write for ourselves
remembering life as we want it to be
gathering diamonds or thorns from life’s ashes
knowing the story is never the story;
but rather, a perspective of our past
written and shaped to suit how we want
our history // our feelings //our life
remembered…
What are you gathering from the ashes?
Are you passing on diamonds or thorns?

Bing photos:  diamonds – thespruce.com   thorns – gospel coalition

Posting this on d’Verse Poets Pub open link night.

Join us at: https://dversepoets.com

 

The Thrill of the Moment

‘There are moments caught between heart-beats’ when one teeters between life and death, or so it seems! This is one of those moments. Reluctantly, Abby agreed to come along on this adventure.
The Rock Island Line ran straight through her uncle’s Texas Ranch. Below the ranch, the river was spanned by an arched steel trestle . The thrill was to hang out by the bridge until the train whistle blew in the distance, then crawl under where the train tracks met the hillside. By then, the train would be arriving at the bridge. Lying under the tracks they could feel the train rumbling above them.
This is the moment of truth. The three of them lay flat on their backs, as the train roared onto the trestle. They all screamed, but no one heard, as the ground shook and their racing hearts stood still.

Photo: Dwight L. Roth

Today at d’Verse, Kim asked us to do a prosery, which is to write a prose flash fiction of only 144 words, and to include this line from a poem: ‘There are moments caught between heart-beats’. My idea for this story came from a childhood story David Holt, PBS musician and story teller shared in an interview. He said he and his brother used to lay under the bridge and feel the train going above.

Join us at:  https://dversepoets.com

The Potter’s Love

Hands smoothing and shaping
Admiring sweet creation
Perfect in every form
No need to recreate
Feeling soft clay
Thin smooth as silk
Watching clay spin on the wheel
Hands reshaping and restoring
Feeling the rounded curves
Knowing how beautiful the finished product
As the light from the window glances off
Recreating every line in his mind
Feeling the rhythm of the spinning wheel
Slowing down speeding up
As the slip slides through his fingers
The wheel finally reaches its peak
A final smoothing of the hand
From top to bottom
The original potter really did
Know what he was doing
You are a unique creation

Bing Photo: justinrossow.com

 

The Big Chill

Yellow flowers teasing
Blossoms shining in the sun
Tonight they shiver
Returning cold weather chills
Springtime buds will wait awhile

Photos: Dwight L. Roth

Frank Tassone’s Haiku challenge this week talks about the return of cold weather after our nice warm spell that touched us last week.

Join us at: https://frankjtassone.com/2020/02/15/haikai-challenge-126-2-15-20-returning-cold-saekaeru-haiku-senryu-haibun-tanka-haiga-renga/

Special Valentine

Fragile yet so strong

Floating on the breeze of life

Special Valentine

*****

Photo: Dwight L. Roth

Early Spring

Spring came early this year. Feels like March rather than February. Flowers are blooming in all their glory. More cold weather is predicted. Will they last? Only time will tell.

Fingers of sunshine

Petals of lavender-blue

Spring beauty soon gone

***

Photo: Dwight L. Roth

 

Little Boys…Big Dreams

A memorial to the Wright Brothers;

Young men with dreams of flying.

The beginning of something

greater than themselves

Remembered

with a giant monument of stone,

high on Jockey’s Ridge

in North Carolina.

***

Little boy visits and wonders

what it would take to

be remembered

with a monument of Stone.

***

It takes dreams

and the courage to live them out;

It takes someone to inspire

to encourage

and

to believe the impossible.

***

Photo: Dwight L. Roth

Dedicated to my son, who always believed he could fly!

Grant Park 2008 11/4/08

I saw America gathered on a cold November night
Black and white, yellow and red with all blends in between

I saw America gathered together as one people…
Children of integration, people of hope, “silver spoons,” and ghetto moms

I saw America gathered with joy in their hearts
College Students, blue collar workers, business men, and teachers

I saw America gathered “One Nation Under God”
People of all faiths, people of no faith, all with hope for the future

I saw America gathered a shining light to the world
Examples of hope, oneness, unity, and love, speaking with one voice

I saw America gathered watching History being made
Bringing down walls of race and fear that for too long held us back

I saw America gathered fulfilling ancestral dreams
Of Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, and Martin Luther King

I saw America gathered to let the whole world know
Those differences can be transcended and peace can be attained.

I saw America gathered and it made me very proud
To be part of this great country where every voice is heard

I saw America gathered and I prayed, that God
Would give our new president wisdom in the difficult path ahead

I saw America gathered as Barack Obama spoke
With humility and pride, confidence and strength, wrapped in words of hope

I saw America gathered eager for national change
Not black or white, rich or poor, simply Americans
…and nothing more!

*Back in 2008. after the disastrous Bush years of the invasion of Iraq, I and many other Americans were drawn in by Obama’s message of Hope and Change. Although the “Hope and Change” did not turn out the way I had anticipated, watching the crowd who came out to see President elect Obama at Grant park that night, was a very moving experience. Immediately following the victory speech, I was inspired to write this.
Sadly the desire to work together was immediately crushed by Republicans, just the way it has now been with the Democarats with Trump. Division and polarization has brought great harm to the country. The vision I saw happening in Grant Park that election evening seems to have gone up in political smoke!

Tonight at d’Verse we were asked to write a poem that reflects Black History Month. The above is my naive dream that we could all come together to create the Hope and Change our country needed.

Join us at: https://dversepoetry.com

 

Bean Soup and Moon Pies

In Big Valley, Pennsylvania, where many of my ancestor lived, bean soup and moon pies were a favorite meal. As I recall, one group of Amish met at one of their farms for their Sunday church service. They sat on long wooden benches. When the service finally ended, a meal of bean soup and moon pies was served. Everyone ate their fill and then got in their buggies and rode on back home. The locals sometimes referred to this group as beanies!

You can still buy homemade moon pies at Peight’s store in Belleville and Mount Union. They can also be found at smaller farm stands and bakeries throughout the Valley and beyond.
I always loved moon pies, which were made from apple schnitz, or from apple butter as well. I decided to make some of them for myself over the weekend.

Bean soup and Moon pies;
Always a treat // a great delight
among Amish and Mennonites alike.
Home made pie dough rolled out thin;
Cut in circles to put fillng in.
Filled with apple schnitz
baked golden brown;
They’re always delicious
After bean soup slides down.

********

Photos: Dwight L. Roth

Tonight at d’Verse, De Jackson asked us to write a Quadrille of exactly 44 words using the prompt fill. I made the above moon pies over the weekend and filled them with an apple butter filling. This brought back memories of Pennsylvania Moon Pies that I usually purchase every time I go back to visit relatives.

Join us at: https://dversepoets.com

Reincarnation of Spirit

Passing on Kindness and Love should be the goal of every parent. In a world where issues seem to divide us, let us pass on the light of God’s love.

As one body dies one is born
Rekindling the spirit within.
The cycle never ceases to go on
Passing on the light of God to our children.
Some choose to pass on evil and hate
The infection spreads like the flu.
But even this infection you can abate
When the love of God is within you.
As we live our lives from day to day
Let God’s light dwell in your soul.
Knowing this world will be a better place
If you shed all that hate and turmoil.
Think about what you pass on to your children
Is it love or divisive hate?
What spirit will be reincarnated from you//
Think carefully before it’s too late.

*********

Photo: Dwight L. Roth