Twin Kiss

Sweet twin kiss, vanilla and chocolate

teasing the taste buds, cooling my palate

Buddy Morgan was the man, drove an orange race car

Raced oval dirt tracks both near and far

His Twin Kiss was the place to be

Burgers, pizza, and milkshakes for me

Mugs of root beer with ice on the glass

Drinking it down was a very easy task

Chevys, Fords, and a 58 Mercury

all parked in rows; but no one’s in a hurry

Guys with duck-tails, Girls with teased hair

Bobby socks and poodle skirts, they made quite a pair

Sitting tight by their guy, teasing and kissing

It’s those days, now in old age, I am missing

Days long gone, and the Twin Kiss too

I loved those old days…

How about you?

Photos: Dwight L. Roth

This is a poem I wrote earlier and have now revised. It has been chosen by Old Mountain Press for the upcoming anthology, Old Tales!

You can read my poems in several other Old Mountain Press anthologies here:

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Old+Mountain+Press+Poetry+and+Prose+Anthologies&ref=nb_sb_noss

Hollywood Seashore

Like shells

scattered on the beach

many come and go

seeking their fortune…

Many are gathered.

Special ones found.

Others cast away…

washed out by the tide

or buried in the sand…

While,

“All the Gold in California

is in a bank in the middle

of Beverly Hills

in someone else’s name…”

,I saw an interview with Larry Gatlin who wrote this song. He said he was on his way to a meeting and stopped at a traffic light. In the car ahead of him was a station wagon, loaded down with all of the owner’s earthly possessions. The license plate was from Oklahoma. He said it struck him that these poor folks don’t realize that all the gold in California is in a bank in the middle of Beverly Hills, in someone else’s name. When he got to his meeting he quickly jotted that first line down on a piece of paper. He later wrote this song from that inspiration.

“Don’t let inspiration pass. You many not get it back again.” ~ Dwight L. Roth

Summer Peaches

Today I ate a peach

So delectably tart and sweet

Perfectly ripened.

Juice running down my chin

I took another bite

Without even wiping it.

So amazing to find

Such satisfying flavor

In something made

From the same soil

As an Irish potato

Or a red ripe tomato.

Photo: Dwight L. Roth

Summer Sunshine

Summer sunshine glows

yellow on Bee and flower

Nature’s gold displayed

***

Photo: Dwight L. Roth

Words of Wisdom from Kipling

We all want the best for our children. As father’s. we hope to impart some wisdom to them in hopes that they might avoid some of the things we had to face. This reading from Rudyard Kipling came across Facebook on Father’s day. I thought it was such a great capsule of wisdom, not just for sons and daughters, but for all of us. Keeping one’s head while all around us others are losing theirs is very hard to do. We saw that very clearly with the Capitol riots in DC after the last election.

“If” means self-control

Life’s challenges are many

Hurricanes still come

Ancient Superhero

This past week we visited the Mint Museum in Charlotte, NC. It has a great collection of Mexican, Central American, and Peruvian artifacts. It is amazing to see the detailed work on each object. Each piece was made with a purpose in mind. Many had spiritual significance attached with them. This rugged looking warrior reminded me of all the superheroes that have become so popular in the past few years.

Warrior in black paint

Headbanging club held ready

Past superhero

***

Photo: Dwight L. Roth

Success

Some succeed by accident

others by default

some by entitlement

living behind locked gates

But those who truly

make a difference

in this world

work hard

follow their heart

know who they are

do it for themselves

not to please others

knowing that success is

all about what you give

rather than what you can get

Photo: Dwight L. Roth

Posting on open link night at d’Verse Poets Pub. Join us at: https://dversepoets.com

Five Years on Word Press

Another Milestone with Word Press (5 years)
Today marks five years since I started my Word Press blog. I have been posting daily since then, with a few exceptions. It has been quite a ride. I have met so many wonderful people and have learned so much about writing poetry from my friends at d’Verse Poets Pub.

I want to say thank you to all of you who have read my poems. I appreciate that you take time out of your day to see what I have posted. I have posted 1,817 posts and have accumulated 7,649 followers from all over the world. I use the free WP site so it has cost me nothing but my time and effort. Thank you again for your support!

Good friends read my posts

Their kind comments make my day

Like a cool spring breeze

Writing Life Backwards

All you have to do is write one true sentence.
Write the truest sentence that you know.
― Ernest Hemingway

They call it the big dip

Some the “mid-life crisis”

Nest is empty

Chicks have flown

“What do we do now?”

So hard beginning backwards

Rewriting our life

Together or separate

Working back to love

(Put aside for the cause)

Finding that “bird” has flown;

But, it can be done

Counselors can help

The spark renewed

And life moves forward once more

Lisa at d’Verse, gave us several lines from Earnest Hemingways writings and asked us to write a poem inspired by one them. I chose: It is very hard to write this way, beginning things backward…
–The Torrents of Spring (1926) by Earnest Hemingway.

Mid-life brings with it many challenges. Many crash and burn at this stage of life. Others rethink life and with help move forward reinventing their relationship. It is a challenge either way. The ceramic above says it all for me. I dropped it one day and broke it in half, but the felt on the back kept it together. I glued it together, and on the back I wrote, “Cracked, but not broken” This is how I see our relationship.

I could have chosen this Hemingway line as well: The world breaks everyone, and afterward, some are strong at the broken places.–A Farewell to Arms (1929)

Join us at: https://dversepoets.com

The Heat is On

Summer Solstice brings with it the anticipation of hot weather. Here in Southern US we not only get hot weather, but lots of humidity to go along with it.

I often think about how summers must have been a hundred years ago when there was no access to air conditioning. Back then, country houses were often built under large spreading oak trees. Large wrap-around porches shaded the windows from the sunshine and the shade of the trees made the heat more tolerable.

With the invention of air conditioning systems came the demise of many of those large front porches. Now we just go in the house, shut the door and turn down the air. Most houses have only small porches and a lot of developments have cleared all the trees before they even started building. The solution: use more insulation and overload the power grid to keep cool.

Summer heat swells temps

Earth’s merry-go-round moves on

Heat wave closes in

***

Photo: Dwight L. Roth

Posting this for Frank Tassone’s d’Verse Haibun eluding to the Summer Solstice.

Join us at: https://dversepoets.com