Photos: Dwight L. Roth
“Dwight time to get up”
Five forty-five comes early
When cows must be milked
Just five more minutes…
Cowbells tinkle down the lane
Must get to the barn
Cows find their own stall
We hug their necks to chain them
Now it’s milking time
Milkers pump milk flows
Pipeline to bulk storage tank
White gold for farmers
Twenty-six cows fed
and milked time for our breakfast
Fried eggs (fried) cornmeal mush
Same routine each day
Morning and evening chores done
Sleep comes easily
***
Painting: Dwight L. Roth
Today at d’Verse, Frank Tassone asked us to write a poem using haiku in sequence. I decided to do a snippet of farm life. When I turned thirteen, it started working summers on my Uncle Fred’s farm in central Pennsylvania. He had a dairy farm with around 26 cows that had to be milked morning and evening every day, three hundred and sixty five days a year! Morning always came too soon for me. My Aunt Dorothy would call up the stair steps and tell me it was time to get up. This is my poem about getting up and getting to the barn each morning. Some of my best memories come from working there.
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*Chillin’ is an expression I heard used in Eastern North Carolina which simply means hanging around with nothing to do! I saw a sign on a fence post outside an old country store that read “NO CHILLIN’ ON THIS CORNER” . This little bird sleeping in my feeder today reminded me of that sign.
***
Photo: Dwight L. Roth
You come to drink sweet and fermentation
from my magical striped balloon of glass
I watch you zipping through tint refraction
Curiously watching me with each new pass
*
Your tiny micro chip of a frame stops
And through the straw you draw sweet nourishment
Deeply imbibing then back to tree tops
Pausing on a branch // moment of contentment
*
Perched among the willows // you disappear
Blending in to the foliage like a leaf
In an instant you suddenly appear
Looking for me // like I was the big chief
*
As I make my sandwich and spread my bread
You land and draw in sweet nectar instead
Photo: Dwight L. Roth
Today at d’Verse, Linda asked us to write a poem about flying. Since I have been watching my hummingbird coming back and forth to my feeder, I attempted to write a sonnet about the hummingbird.
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Oh, blackberry bush // mine and mine alone
How beautifully green your leaves caught the light
Your plump ripe obsidian berries shone
Delectable sweetness // my tongue’s delight
*
But oh // gentle caution must be taken
As leaves part and berries are plucked
Roughness leaves bramble scars
***
Photo: Dwight L. Roth
Our d’Verse prompt today from Linda is bramble. We are writing a Quadrille of exactly 44 words.
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When distasteful statues of heritage are gone
and the founding fathers permanently buried
and our country’s history erased // then what?
When the constitution is rewritten
and modified and amendments deleted
in the name of progress // then what?
When the drive of capitalism is sedated
and wealth redistributed to those who have never worked
and banks replaced by government 666 chips // then what?
When everyone is forced into political correctness
and all the “I’m sorry people” are reconditioned
to all think alike // then what?
When “swords are beaten into plowshares”
and all the guns are recycled to a few
who keep the disgruntled in line // then what?
When religions are squelched for deviant thinking
and non compliance revives the “burning at the stake”
and “God is Dead” // then what?
When anarchy and revolution turns into an Orwellian nightmare
and Big Brother/Sister monitors and controls everything we do
and creativity and culture become acts of treason // then what?
2024 is not that far away!
**************
As I watch the conflict and clashes between protesters/rioter and Police and National Guardsmen in Portland and across the country, it makes me wonder whether they have thought beyond their present anger, the destruction of Government Buildings, De-funding the Police, Black Lives Matter, and anarchy.
I have compiled some outrageous questions, all containing some truth, for them and us to think about!
**********
My Friend Ivor Stevens said it best in his Haiku:
Cold steel’s not power
Love can’t be an iron fist
Hand in hand we breathe
https://ivors20.wordpress.com/2020/07/27/a-collection-of-ponds-turns-into-a-lake/
Painting: Dwight L. Roth
Photos today: Dwight L. Roth
These days, every day is a gift….
but then again, it has always been that way!
The significance of being becomes more significant
the closer one gets to the horizon
Freedom becomes being able to get up every morning
have breakfast and enjoy the day
Rumblings of disease and discord are stealing our rainbows
along with the imaginary pot of gold!
The simple life we longed for is now a never ending experience
leaving us ready // itching to get out an about once more
Death has always been on the horizon for each of us
It is just a part of our life experience at any age
But, until that time let us enjoy the gift of life
For tomorrow things will change…
Photo: Dwight L. Roth
Inspiration bits for this poem came from a poem by Paul V. Cannon. You can read his poem here:
https://pvcann.com/2020/07/24/just-glad-a-poem-by-paul-vincent-cannon/comment-page-1/#comment-38127
And…
A poem by Christine Bolton… you can read her poem here:
https://poetryforhealing.com/2020/07/23/no-contest/#comment-15789
Turtle Painting: Dwight L. Roth
Can one change the seasons or rush them into being
Make the Earth move faster in its revolution around the Sun
They all move in their designated times and spacings
*
Try as we may we cannot rush nature’s happenings
When we realize we too are part of that natural cycle
Perhaps we can relax and enjoy life happenings
*
We live in a world of beck and call // demanding
Results in minutes and hours // not months and days
Entitled souls // we believe we’re deserving
*
Nature has stopped us in our tracks
Showed us who really sets the course of our lives
And leaves us lying flat on our backs
*
As the world turns and the seasons change
Earth will be here long after we are gone
Reclaiming itself // and only our fossils will remain
Painting: Dwight L. Roth
Posting on d’Verse open link night. Join us at: https://dversepoets.com
J
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Roth Poetry 