When I think back on the things I learned
I wonder what fragment remains after sixty years
Math and Literature History and Civics
all are fading fast, but there is one skill
I use every day, creating this blog for you…
Typing skills remain
***
Stamp Art Typewriter: Dwight L. Roth
d’Verse prompt for Quadrille Monday… type… or a form of the word.
Join us at: https://dversepoets.com
I painted this sunflower for our neighbor across the street a couple years ago. I was painting a different sunflower when Lois came by and said she wanted me to paint one just like it for her. It is a large 4′ x 4′ painting. She loved the colors and put it on an easel in her living room.
Sadly, we lost her to cancer a week ago. She was a beautiful person with a warm smile and welcoming spirit, just like the sunflower above. She will be missed.
Winter of life
unexpected changes
Seeds drop
Memories live on
Sunflowers bloom
Her spirit lives on
Painting: Dwight L. Roth
Reading Kym Gordon Moore’s post about the *Little Red Caboose got my nostalgia going for another train post. The painting above is one I did almost ten years ago. The photo of the painting came out a little blurry, which I thought made the painting have an almost ghostly quality. The night train roaring through the blackness is a sight to behold.
Night Train
Black smoke blends with the foggy night
Night train roars on through mist
Full moon hides from the fury of fire and smoke
Fireman shovels coal into the bottomless pit
as the fire dragon swallows and snorts
Whistle pierces the darkness at each crossing
Midnight hour draws near as the engine roars on
through coal patches,
past coke ovens
lighting up hillsides like Jack-o-lanterns
Windows rattle as the old man snores
Kids hide beneath their cozy blankets
Birds huddle close in the branches
Ground shakes as cars rumble by
River gleams just over the bank as it races
the Pennsylvania Dragon to Pittsburgh
Night Train heads into the darkness
pulling a hundred coke cars behind
Warning light twinkles like the evening star
a Red Dwarf
on the back of the little red caboose
***
Painting of the Night Train: Dwight L. Roth
*Read Kym’s poem here:
https://frombehindthepen.wordpress.com/2022/07/22/bringing-up-the-rear-%f0%9f%9a%82/#comment-18632
Mid-Summer and Fourth of July
Thought I’d take time for an Island get-away
Down to the Caribbean
Enjoy the ocean and feel the palm trees
swaying it the tropical breeze
A perfect day for a virtual get-away
It was only for a few hours
No heavy traffic to contend with
No long lines or airport delays
Just peace and quiet; there alone in the heat
And all I came back with was this painting
By some unknown artist
*****
Painting by Unknown Artist: Dwight L. Roth
Packet Boats ran up and down the river in the early 1900s. These boats were smaller than the sternwheelers that ran up and down the Mississippi. As you can, see the paddle wheel is on the side of the boat instead of on the back.
I found a photo of this one on my hometown site and decided to try to do it in watercolor today. I am still trying to get it right. Watercolors are quite different to work with than the acrylics I have been using. This scene is on the Monongahela River in Southwestern Pennsylvania, not far from where I grew up.
Packet boat’s wheel churns
White foam trailing in the wake
Steam power long gone
Watercolor Painting: Dwight L. Roth
The Unami word Monongahela means “falling banks”, in reference to the geological instability of the river’s banks. Moravian missionary David Zeisberger (1721–1808) gave this account of the naming: “In the Indian tongue the name of this river was Mechmenawungihilla (alternatively spelled Menawngihella), which signifies a high bank, which is ever washed out and therefore collapses.”[11] ~Wikapedia
In Northern Alberta where my wife grew up, Northern Lights were a common occurrence in the night sky. I have only seen photos of them, but I wanted to see if I could paint a picture that somewhat resembled them. This is a view of her home that I got from a couple of old photos. The painting is 30″ x 40″. We had a break in the heat this past weekend, so I was able to work on this one.
Northern Lights glowing
across the cold winter sky
Nature’s best fireworks
***
Dwight L. Roth
Here is one for all my blogging friends in the Southern Hemisphere! First day of winter for you!
Sharing this with d’Verse Poets Pub for Frank’s Summer/Winter Solstice prompt.
Join us at: https://dversepoets.com
A willing subject is the key
Believing all will be
What is spoken to me
Tickling my itching ears
Stirring my righteous anger
Calling me to do what
I would never dream of doing
had this spell not been cast
on me…
so willingly
This is my second poem for the prompt Spell. As I watch some of what is going on with the Senate hearings on the January 6th riots at the Capital, I had to think about why this happened. The hypnotist chooses willing subjects to do his bidding, but the subjects usually choose who they want for their hypnotist! This is not only true in politics.
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Painting: Dwight L. Roth
I decided to work on a new painting today. I thought I would do a watercolor painting, but it seems old habits die hard. My watercolor turned into an acrylic style painting. Guess I will have to keep on practicing! The painting is of three big cherry trees in the field on my uncle’s farm. The fence along the lane had some great red raspberry bushes. I am afraid mine turned out looking more like roses. Oh well.
Bing cherry trees
stand tall on the hillside
silhouetted against the mountain
Red raspberries cling to the old fence row
Ripening, ready for picking on the Fourth of July
Watercolor
turns into an acrylic
Painting: Dwight L. Roth
Summer Squall – Winslow Homer
*****
Summer squalls blow through
Nature’s waves of nausea
Unstoppable force
Powerful, yet soon passing
So thankful when things calm down
***
Today at d’Verse, Merril presented up with an Ekphrastic Poetry prompt. She gave us several paintings to choose from to write our poem. I choose Summer Squalls by Winslow Homer.
Join us at: https://dversepoets.com to see all the choices.
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
Roth Poetry 