Only One Ticket to Ride

Aging brings so much angst…

Knowing it would happen is no help

as the petals of life begin to fade.

I count… she loves me she loves me not

as our expectations rise and fall

like a Carrowinds coaster

with its ups and downs and loop-t-loops.

Knowing the ride is about over is no help.

Coasting into the exit I exhale

trying to maintain meaning and purpose

knowing I only get one ride.

As friends slowly exit ahead of me

I mourn their passing and grieve my losses.

Aging makes me question my existence,

my future, my truth, and my purpose.

Reality is harsh as challenges increase

Loneliness sets in as other coasters roll on by

filled with excitement and wonder.

I cheer them on with a sad heart…

Knowing they too will someday be here.

While the ride was exhilarating

it seems all too short.

Sadly, I only get one ticket to ride.

***

Painting: Dwight L. Roth

Organized or Browser?

Unlike my wife, I am a browser

Writing daily posts with photos

takes a lot of browsing through files

Trying to remember which year

which season, which camera

or which painting file that one

perfect photo/painting is stored in

Spending too much time searching

***

Photo: Dwight L. Roth

Linda at d’Verse asked us to use the word browse in our Quadrille poem today.

Join us at: https://dversepoets.com

Blood and Poppies

Each Memorial Day, when I was young, the large community cemetery behind our church filled with flags that waved across the sloping hillside. Volunteers from the VFW commemorate those soldiers, who died in service to their country, by placing a flag on each grave. I never saw any poppies growing as in Flanders’s Field, but many other flowers dotted the hillside along with the flags.

Memories are mixed

Joy and sorrow flows freely

as blood // and poppies

wave on the resting places

of those who never came home

Photos: Dwight L. Roth

Feeling Connected

Feeling Connected

Someone asked me this week what I meant when I said I needed to feel connected. I am not sure I gave a very good answer at the time, so I went to the dictionary and looked up definitions of three related words connection, acknowledge, and valued. These three seems to go together when it comes to understanding connection.

1. Connected is to be brought together or into contact so that a real or notional link is established.

           Connection is a relationship in which a person, thing, or idea is linked or associated with      something else.

2. Acknowledge is to be recognized as being good or important: accepted as valid or legitimate.

3. Valued is to be considered to be important or beneficial: cherished as a valued friend.

The best example of all three shows up in our blogging community. We connect with each other. sharing our poetry, ideas, and opinions. We put it out there for the world to see and respond to. In doing so we hope to be acknowledged with likes and sometimes comments. In return we respond, building connection that is very meaningful. It is in this way that we realize the significance of our connection. We feel valued, and in some cases become cherished friends with people from all over the world and look forward to our ongoing connection. On the other hand, when there is an attempt at connection with no reciprocating response, the feeling of being valid or legitimate in their eyes is missing and the connection is lost.

Personal connection

Acknowledged and valued

Meaningful friendships

***

Thank you, my friends, for being there and sharing your thoughts and life with me!

A Senryu Poem

Photo: Dwight L. Roth

~bing definitions~

Not Calm nor Bright

All is calm, all is bright

Until shattered by the unthinkable

Shots ring out amid terrified screams

Each shot piercing our souls as well

As one by one they are silenced

Beautiful, sweet spirits rise

Returning to their creator

A cauldron of tears, anger, and anguish

Stirs and boils over with each reflection

Questions of why repeated over and over

Questions of how those in power

Continue to bow to those who fill their coffers

Deliberate inaction makes accomplices of each one

***

Wounded Butterfly Photo: Dwight L. Roth

To be shared on d’Verse poets pub.

Join us at: https://dversepoets.com!

Politics as Usual

Politics as Usual

Raspy murder of crows sit on the Capital power lines

Feeling the hum of 25,000 volts flow between their claws

Sharpening their lies, innuendos, and accusations

against their rival ravens

Discussing how they can harness all this power

for their own personal gain…

While more children died today

from unpredictable gun violence…

And the Eagle flies and cries alone

Photo: Dwight L. Roth

Today at d’Verse Ingrid asked to write a poem from the Corvid family of birds.  As the nation morns and parents cry once again, I chose to write about the politicians who can’t seem to get the job done. This time it is 19 elementary school children and 2 teachers in Texas shot today by a deranged teenager, in their school classroom. This is unthinkable! My sad condolences to the families.

Join us at: https://dversepoets.com

Sand and Water

The seventies were a fun time in my life. We loved camping at Emerald Isle Travel-n-Park and climbing over the dunes to get to the wide flat beach below. When you are young, 90 F days and sleeping in an 8×10 canvas tent were not a hardship. Riding the waves on blow-up tubes was so much fun. Playing in the sand with our two boys, collecting shells, and building sand creations were memorable summer events.

Now the boys are grown with children of their own, making memories in the sand and floating on ocean waves. Those times pass so quickly. Cherish every minute you have with your children.

My cute little boys

Fun times in water and sand

with deep summer tans

***

Photo: Ruth Roth & Dwight L. Roth

Posting this on d’Verse Poets Pub for Frank Tassone’s Haibun Monday prompt of Summer.

Life’s Potholes

Potholes

Some hit and complain

Others will drive around

A few will fill them

***

Same is true of life…

Which one are you?

Gray Fox

Gray Fox

Eyes burning in the twilight

Sense of smell overrides fear

Looking for that porkchop bone

tossed out earlier

Constant cravings

push instinct aside

Hunger becomes the driver

while slinking in the shadows

***

Photo: Dwight L. Roth

I was surprised to see this fox in the back yard, when I went to close the curtain on my sliding door.  He stayed around long enough for me to get my camera. But, when I slid the door open for a better shot he turned and headed back into the woods.

This is a shaky shot:

Sunburn

Sky panted bright orange

Twilight chases evening sun.

Burn turns to a tan

Cool lotion soothes stinging pain

Stayed on the beach way too long

***

Photo: Dwight L. Roth

Today at d’Verse, Lillian wants us to play with compound words. She gave us a list of compound words to choose from and asked us to choose one and use it in a poem, but we must separate into the two root words in sequence on two different lines.  I choose sunburn in the Tanka format.

Join us at: https://dversepoets.com