History Repeats

Seems we never learn from history, so we are doomed to repeat our mistakes over and over again.  The Civil Rights era of the 1960s was a violent time of racial prejudice and hate played out on the streets of the South. Here we are almost forty years later still repeating the prejudice, hate and violence against our fellow men.

Today’s events

Take me back to the sixties

“Blowin’ in the Wind“

*****

“How many ears must one man have

before he can hear people cry?”

Bob Dillon –  Blowin in the Wind

Photo: Dwight L. Roth

My preference is Peter, Paul and Mary’s version of the song. Click below to listen…

 

Alzheimer’s Story for Children

My father-in-law began to show symptoms of Alzheimer’s back in 2009. In 2012 he had to live in a care facility. It was very sad to see someone decline into dementia and lose touch with reality.  He died in 2018 at the age of 89.

I began to look for books on line that children could relate to that talked about Alzheimer’s disease. There were very few if any and  none for younger children. I decided to write and illustrate a children’s book that would introduce children to dementia and the way it affects older people.

If you are interested please click the link and check it out on amazon.com kindle books. My granddaughter helped me with the color in the illustrations. If you have a kindle subscription you can read it for free.

Webbs Mill

Back in the 1980s our family visited this old mill near Spring Hope, NC. Built along the Tar River, it was no longer in use, but remains a very stately building complex. For many years, it was the center of activity for the town. as farmers brought their grain to be ground. Now it sits idle and in recent years has begun deteriorate badly.

Grinding stones frozen in time
River never stops
Finding resistance in rocks
being shaped in riverbed
Mill remains still
Dying a peaceful death
in trees’ embrace

*****

Photo: Dwight L. Roth

Reflections of Spring

Pond reflects Spring green

Mixed with barn red and sky blue

Fresh grass makes warm milk

Photo: Dwight L. Roth

Open link night at d’Verse.  A Spring Haiku reflection for me!

Join us at: https://dversepoets.com

Darwin and Covid-19

When the bug got out, we all went inside;
Stayed there for days …and months we did hide.
Daily, Doctors  kept us up to date;
Our job was simply to sit home and wait.
But, some within our national span
thought it was all a just a government scam.
Mind control to keep us down
steal our freedom // shut us down.
Many resisted // flocked to the beach
still went to church and partied in the streets.
Their theory being, “It’s just like the flu!”
Some will die, but not me or you
Survival of the fittest was what they preached
Nature’s way // Earth’s balance to keep
Although many don’t believe in evolution,
Darwin would be very proud of their solution.

Photo: Dwight L. Roth

The Edge of Light

Dark sleep rises at the edge of daylight
Dreams of life that chased around the labyrinth
gone // lost forever // not to be recalled
Squinting I see the light of a new day
Hesitant to open my eyes, I reluctantly rise
Walking through the door of a new day
Into a room filled with welcoming light
Grateful to be alive my spirit rises

Photo: Dwight L. Roth

Lara at d’Verse asked us to choose a room to write about. Rooms almost always have doors to pass through, so this is the theme of my poem. This poem began this morning as I was trying to wake up! It also took me to a deeper meaning as I come into the winter of my life.

Join us at: https://dversepoets.com

On and Off

Painting by: Piet Mondrian, ‘Broadway Boogie Woogie’, 1942-43, moma.org

Kim at d’Verse, introduced us to the painting above, and asked that we use it as inspiration for our *Haibun Monday. As I looked at the implication of streets and intersections, I thought that would be too obvious to write about. My wife thought it looked like a circuit board, which really connected with me.

Circuit boards have gone from large boards of soldered tubes, transistors, capacitors, and switches to boards so small you can’t even see the pathways. My hearing aids have four channels and three volume settings, and are hidden neatly behind each ear. Pushing one button controls both at the same time. Now we have wrist watches that can check body functions and even do electrocardiograms. Who knows what they will come up with next.

Hidden solder paths
Connect on and off switches
Summer tree roots ‘twined

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*Haibuns are a form of Japanese Poetry with two or three short crisp paragraphs of prose followed by a traditional Haiku, that references a season.

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Natural Instinct

Seems you just can’s get rid of squirrels. They are everywhere. I have tried relocating some, but there are always more to come and fill in the space. They are cunning little creatures and will do about anything for food.

Sudden food shortage

Fat squirrels fight for survival

Race to get it first

Here the strong survive

Rapidly hogging their fill

Eating upside down

Covid-19 looms

Weighs heavily on our minds

We’re just like the squirrels

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Photos: Dwight L. Roth

 

Crowning Glory

Years of nurishment

Rhododendron blooms purple

Crowning Glory

Each flower uniquely shines

Just like each of us

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You my dear surpass all others

Blooming beauty shines within

Love for all to share

Beautiful  gray hair reflects

Your outer Crowning Glory

*****

Photo: Dwight L. Roth

Today’s poem is written as a Tanka, the third five line Japanese poetic form shared on d’Verse this week. .

https://dversepoets.com

Tanka enjoys a long history in Japan. Originally known as waka (short song), the 5-line verse poem was the medium of literary exchange during the Heian era, the golden age of ancient Japanese culture. Courtiers and emperors alike composed them. Lovers would often share their devotion through the exchange of them.

The second stanza of the poem above reflects the true intent of the tanka.

 

A Sad Twist

Life is full of twists

and turns // suddenly blowing

changing everything;

Full of dragon’s breath fury

Destroying all in its path.

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Photo of my tree today: Dwight L. Roth

A follow up of the five-line Japanese poetry given to us yesterday on d’Verse Poets Pub. The form I am trying to do here is Kyoka!  Today I lost the top half of my maple tree, so I could laugh or cry … or write a poem about it!! Inspiration can be found in all of life!

https://dversepoets.com

Kyoka is to the senryu what tanka is to the haiku. That is, Kyoka is a five-line form of parody poetry. While tanka savors the nature/human nature intersection with heart and pathos, kyoka explores just human nature, usually in as satirical a way as possible. Or, at the very least, in a self-deprecating way.