Loose Bones

This beautiful very old chest of drawers with a white marble top was brought to me in pieces yesterday. The back was completely off, and one drawer was in two pieces. A couple of the teardrop pulls were in a bag and one had a bolt broken off in brass part of the knob. The slider guides were loose and hanging down, but everything was still there so I went to work on it. It was like an old man with loose bones!

It was made with mortis and tenants and round dovetails and pegs on all the drawers. I used a brad nailer with inch-and–a-quarter nails to retack the joints of the back and tighten up the drawer bottoms. I noticed the drawer bottoms were nailed with old square nails. I re-nailed all the inside sliders and all the mortis and tenant connections. I put the draw back together and fixed the broken drawer pull.

When I was done the piece was nice and tight and ready for its white marble top (standing on the left in the photo). I am guessing that it was built before the turn of the last century and was probably used in a bedroom with a washbowl and pitcher for guests to freshen up. It is now out on the floor for sale! Someone will love it.

Old bones dry and loose

Come together… become whole

with white marble top

 

Photo: Dwight L. Roth

Kisses Sweeter Than Wine

Old George stared out across the Blue Ridge Mountains at the sunset glowing like the coals of an old woodstove. Old Blue lay close to George’s rocker with his nose buried in his tail

Jim sat in silence waiting for him to speak. While home from university on Spring Break, he came by to visit his old friend, George. He announced that he was engaged to a beautiful young woman he met in his English class at UVA.

“You know,” George said, “it has been a few years since my love passed on, but it seems just like yesterday. She was beautiful as that gorgeous sunset. Some might think these old lips forget what they have kissed, but I remember. Hers were warm as a summer sun and soft as a rose petal.”

His voice faded away as his mind visualized those sweet memories.

Photo: Dwight L. Roth

Posting for Mish’s d’Verse 144-word prosery prompt, where we write flash fiction using a given line from a poem in the story. The line she chose for us was from Toni Morrison’s poem, Eve Remembering. The line we must use is: “Lips forget what they have kissed.”

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Tachycardia (heart flutter)

 

Hidden race running inside my chest

Heart singing in double time

I did not feel a thing while it was happening

Just happened on-to -it sitting in my chair

The bass drum beat was gone

Just a steady rapid snare

A frantic twitter that never ceased

Giving my heart a marathon workout

Raising concern, I headed for the ER

Meds to slow it down did not do the job

Sent home with blood thinner med, and

More of what did not work

A week to wait for a Cardiologist appt,

By then I could have croaked

Sent straight to the Hospital

IV meds to slow things down

Two days later it was still running strong

 I needed a cardioversion to zap it back in rhythm

Wheeled away and onto the elevator

Down to the O R to get my chest paddles

Put to sleep with Versed to make me forget

Fifty Jules of juice and one good zap

A couple seconds of flat-line and it started up again

Slower with steady rhythm, the bass beat was back

A hard shutdown and reboot and I was on track

Glad to be home again sleeping in my own bed

After two nights in the hospital and a cardioversion, I am back to normal with a heart rate of around 67 BPM, and feeling good!

Micromanaging Learning (an opinion piece)

 

Change is inevitable it seems in a world like ours

It has been resisted by torture and burning at the stake

Weaponizing religion to protect what can never stay the same

Yet change has come/is coming not always for the better

But our job is not protecting our children from reality of external changes

It is rather teaching them to decern for themselves right and wrong

Teaching them the importance of human life however it confronts us

Respecting differences without the need to impose our values on everyone

These days words seem to be most threatening to those who fear change

Books of choice removed from libraries across Texas, Florida, and other states

Weaponizing religion justifies their Klan-like intimidation of those who speak

Resistance met with firing from jobs, death threats, and political power plays

The threat of dark money and power fuels the religious furry to ban books

Our biggest threat to our children is not teaching them to think for themselves

Micromanaging the desire to know and discover only leaves us with a society

Divided and ignorant, as we continue forgetting who we are as humans while

continuing our atrocities of being right in the name of God and our Children.

Photo: Dwight L. Roth

Posting for Open Link night at d’Verse Poets Pub. I watched a most interesting and disturbing documentary on PBS about what is going on in Texas and Florida and some other states. The religious and moral right has organized and are taking over the powers that be through local elections. Then they are demanding that books they deem morally, historically, or spiritually unacceptable be withdrawn from school libararies. They are funded by dark money and use Klan like tactic to intimidate any librarians who refuse to co-operate. They intimidate, give death threats and dismiss them from their positions. It is a very scary situation to see in action. What has come of the right to live and think and even disagree without fear of harm!

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You can watch the documentary here:

He Called her Flower

 

He called her Flower, the love of his life

From the day they met,

when he addressed her,

it was not Frances, but Flower.

Her smile would light up a room

She had a heart of gold

and a love that lasted a lifetime

Photos: Dwight L. Roth

Posting on Quadrille (44 words) Monday for d’Verse Poets Pub prompt flower. These are dear friends from my past who mentored me and helped me become who I am today. They are both now gone, but their influence and memory carry on in the lives of those they touched.

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Desperation

 

Desperation seldom works…

Like chasing the wind, it is a fleeting effort at best

At worst it’s a painful and humiliating defeat

Reality bites

Leaving us lost and alone

searching for answers that elude us at every turn

Desperation is an instinctive reaction

hoping to protect ourselves from the truth

that is clearly right in front of us

Painting: Dwight L.Roth

King Coal’s Last Gasp

Tugboats push coal barges

up the Monongahela River

for another load

to carry downstream

to Pittsburgh Steel Mills

The coal industry fueled the economies of West Virginia and Southwestern Pennsylvania. With environmental changes in both politics and the public, coal that was once King in this area is gradually shutting down, causing people to rethink, retrain, and move toward cleaner energy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This was one of my favorite childhood books!

Photo: Dwight L. Roth and from historic archives.

PBS aired a really great Point of View documentary on King Coal and its history in this area.

Just like 1960

I remember those days like it was yesterday

snowfalls up to my boot tops

Big sister and little brother enjoying their ride

Sliding down the hill on my Lightning Glider

Now sixty-six years later we get a snowfall

just like that one fluffy and deep

Big sister’s now gone and little brother 

just retired

And here I am watching snow fall outside

remembering all the fun we had back then

like it was still 1960

Photo: from my family album and last Sunday

Posting today for d’Verse Poets Pub where Dora asked us to write a poem using similies.

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No Shadow Needed

Today is Groundhog Day. We just had an all-day Saturday snowstorm. On Sunday we woke up to over 9 inches of snow. This morning it was 9 degrees F on our deck thermometer! The sun is shining and the streets are starting to thaw. 

I think it is pretty obvious that we don’t need a Groundhog’s Shadow to tell us winter will still be around for a while!

Snow and freezing temps

Cold sunshine tries melting show

Spring nowhere in sight

Photo: Dwight L. Roth

Posting for d’Verse haibun prompt, Groundhog Day.

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