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Dwight L. Roth
Frank Tassone’s Haikai Challenge today… fallen leaves
Join us here: https://frankjtassone.com/2019/11/16/haikai-challenge-113-11-16-19-fallen-leaves-ochiba-haiku-senryu-haibun-tanka-haiga-renga/
The Ship’s Bell Tolls
One of my favorite songs of all time is the Wreck of the Edmond Fitzgerald. The haunting lyrics of the song tell such a great story as they recount the perilous journey. A load of 126,000 tons of iron ore headed for the steel mills of Cleveland, Ohio. It must have been a scary sad time when the sailors realized they were taking on water and going down. The cold icy waters of Lake Superior took their toll and all was lost. As the Artic Blasts of November come moving across the United States, I thought I would repost this one for the Veteran Sailors who were lost in the Storm.
Every year in November, the weekend before Veterans Day, the Warbirds fly over our house. Old Fliers and aviation enthusiasts bring their restored vintage planes and put on an air show at our local municipal airport. I snapped these with my iPhone today as they flew by.
Photos: Dwight L. Roth
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Photos: Dwight L. Roth
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Photo Dwight L. Roth
Today Frank Tassone gave us the prompt withering winds for our Haikai Challenge.
On the road to the Black Forest in Germany people seem to be celebrating Halloween all year round. They had their hedges and bushes trimmed with fun faces of ghosts and goblins. It could be very scary for little kids trick or treating on Halloween night!
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Photo: Dwight L. Roth
Frank Tassone asked us to write our Haikai poem today based on the tradition of Halloween. Last summer we saw these odd faces as we traveled through the Black Forest of Germany. I decided to write my poem about them.
I thought I would try painting four paintings at once, all on a given theme. I chose the Greek Isles. I have not visited there, but found the colorful images of this theme to be very beautiful. I finally finished them this week. You may recognize some of the locations such as Santorini or Chios.
Paintings: Dwight L. Roth
Today, in the US, we are celebrating Columbus Day. To me, a conflict arises, as I think of the Indigenous People who were affected by this event. The arrival of white Europeans meant the beginning of the end of the lives of the Native American people. In North Carolina, the Cherokee people were force off their land and driven to the Oklahoma desert land to live. It became known as the Trail of Tears. Many died on the long march west. Some hid in the North Carolina mountains and a refused to leave. There is still a Cherokee presence in the Great Smokie Mountains.
When we visited Banner Elk a couple of years ago, we saw symbols of Indian heritage in the stone walls erected in the center of town. This was very interesting to me, since I read that there are numerous gated communities in the Banner Elk area. I would guess that very few, if any, of those residents are Cherokee.
Photos: Dwight L. Roth
Frank Tassone, at d’Verse asked us to write a poem for Haibun Monday using the word indigenous. I decided to take the viewpoint of the displaced Cherokee people who once lived in the NC mountains.
In 1977 participants at the United Nations International Conference on Discrimination against Indigenous Populations in the Americas proposed that Indigenous Peoples’ Day replace Columbus Day. Indigenous Peoples’ Day recognizes that Native people are the first inhabitants of the Americas, including the lands that later became the United States of America. And it urges Americans to rethink history. While Columbus day remains the Federal Holiday, many communities in the US celebrate Indigenous Peoples’ Day this year.
Join us at: https://dversepoets.com
Cooler weather brought out crowds of people today to the Waynesboro, Virginia Street Fair. Venders’ tents dotted the main street. People wondered in and out of booths with their children and their dogs. It was a great day to be outside.
Photos taken today with iPhone: Dwight L. Roth
Frank Tassone’s Haikai challenge is to write a poem about the Fall season and the October Hunter’s Moon that rises tonight over the Eastern Blue Ridge Mountains.
This morning I heard a tap, tap, tapping on my kitchen window. When I went to see what it was, this cute little brown capped nuthatch pecking at his mirrored reflection in the tinted glass. The overcast day tuned our Low-E windows into mirrors. He was trying very hard to chase away that bird he saw in the window. So funny! How often do we want to try to chase away that person we see in our mirror!
Photos: Dwight L. Roth
