First Snowfall

Out in the field

behind the chicken house

rows of asparagus

line the edge of the woods

kinked twisted…

bent over like a hundred old men.

Seed pods cling stubbornly to the tops.

In the woods,

bare foot paths

Disappear under a snowy blanket.

Painting: Dwight L. Roth

Today at d’Verse, Merril asked us to write a Quadrille of exactly 44 words, using the word blanket in any form we choose. It is still Fall here, but I immediately thought of snow in the winter where I grew up. It was such a beautiful sight to see that first snowfall blanketing everything outside.

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Writing the Roller Coaster

Up up they go…

climbing skyward as one

cresting the peak

a perfect arc

chasing the dip

pushing gravitational rush

G-forces build

engines roar

pulling the stick

planes rise

climbing next loop

tracks up

tracks down

coaster sky tracks

fade to blue

windy dissolution

Photos: Dwight L. Roth

Today at d’Verse, De Jackson asked us to let the sky be the limit and use sky as our prompt. This is Quadrille Monday, so we are to make a poem of exactly 44 words.

Every year on the first weekend of November our local airport sponsors an air show called War Birds Over Monroe. We live nearby so we can see a lot of the sky maneuvers from our deck. These are a few of the loop-t-loops!

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https://warbirdsovermonroe.com

Listen to the Wind

Younger days // pounds lighter // full of energy

I climbed the mountain at Hone Quarry

all the way to the top

where winds speak harshly

and pines bend and twist

downwind in their wake

I paused to rest // sitting still

eavesdropping on nature

whispering secrets

Today is Quadrille Monday, when we write a poem of exactly 44 words. Kim asked us to use the word eavesdrop in any form we like as our prompt. I decided to take my eavesdropping to the top of the mountain in the George Washington National Forest, in Virginia. I was amazed at how twisted the short scrub pines were up there. The wind up there never seems to stop blowing across the top. This is a train of consciousness poem.

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Photo: Dwight L. Roth

Summer Harvest

Spring garden planted // anticipating new growth

Tomatoes, beans, and a grape vines on posts

Sunshine and summer rains // sitting in extreme heat

Produce fruits and vegetables with Zinnias so neat

Now bees and butterflies share the bounty

Beauty worth waiting for, seldom comes quickly

Photos: Dwight L.  Roth

Today at d’Verse, Victoria Sloto ask us to write a Quadrille of exactly 44 words using the word Garden. My little terraced  garden is one thing that has kept me inspired during this time. So much beauty and nature is all around us. It brings me joy and a few tomatoes and green beans as well.

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Obsidian Dreams

Oh, blackberry bush // mine and mine alone

How beautifully green your leaves caught the light

Your plump ripe obsidian berries shone

Delectable sweetness // my tongue’s delight

*

But oh // gentle caution must be taken

As leaves part and berries are plucked

Roughness leaves bramble scars

***

Photo: Dwight L. Roth

Our d’Verse prompt today from Linda is bramble.  We are writing a Quadrille of exactly 44 words.

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Carolina Blue Sky

Blue sky embedded on flat rocks

Mountain stream gurgles over

wet stones

polished and shaped

during ten thousand summers and winters.

*****

Native Americans sat on these rocks

drank from the stream

enjoyed the beauty of the falls

long before we arrived…

to claim it!

Photos: Dwight L. Roth

Today the d’Verse group is back from summer break, and our prompt is Blue!  We are to write a Quadrille of  exactly 44 words using the prompt. Skies have be extra blue this summer, as pollution and smog are reduced due to Covid-19 stay at home orders. There is nothing more beautiful than the Great Smoky Mountains. The photos above are from our trip to the Pisgah National Forest in 2012. This is Looking Glass Falls near Brevard!

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Pallet Drums

When the economy was in a down turn and business bottomed out, the sales at the siding warehouse where I worked slowed down as well. During the down times I passed the time taking apart pallets and using the wood to make a variety of things from porch swings to drums.  It was a fun challenge to see what could come up with. I made a set of two bongo type drums and then a set of three for a friend. I got cowhide from a local saddle shop for my tops.

Repurposed oak pallets filled with life
Vibrations echo from tiny caverns
Each one unique
Pallets cleaned and strips cut;
all with a slight bevel
Glued together into cylinders
Cowhide stretched across the top
Stapled and tacked for durability
Rhythms echo for years to come

 

Photos: Dwight L. Roth

Today at d’Verse, Mish shared here experience with Native American drum making. She asked us to use the word drum for our Quadrille of exactly 44 words.

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Time Slippin’

As time slips by I find joy in moments
Beauty of yellow wildflowers swaying
Song of bright red Cardinal singing sweetly
The world around me struggles with rebirth
The same weeds come up from long hidden roots
Pulled so plump red tomatoes can grow

This is Quadrille Monday at d’Verse Poets Pub. Linda asked us to write a Quadrille of exactly 44 words using the prompt slip. My poem today deals with the passage of time; living one day at a time, and being in the moment of awareness of all that is going on around me.

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Potholes

The winter took its toll on our streets
As garbage trucks rolled by each week

*

Our potholes have grown so deep
Each time I hit one I shriek
The DOT did a fix without the right mix
Now the gravel back out slowly creeps

Today is Quadrille Monday at d’Verse. De Jackson asked us to use any form of the word Fix! Today I have been fussing with the DOT (Department of Transportation) about the poor job they did fixing the potholes in our street. They had to come back within thirty days and refill them. They just throw in a little gravel with some thin tar and hope it stays. But it doesn’t! Very frustrating!!

Photo taken today: Dwight L. Roth

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Summer Memories

Our first trip to Nags Head

North Carolina’s outer banks…

Camped in the dunes at Duck.

Two excited little boys

climbed the dunes

chased receding waves

created castles in the sand

collected sea shells

and sun rays in July’s heat.

Faces flushed // slept soundly.

Photo: Dwight L. Roth

Today at d’Verse, Mish asked us to used the word flush as our prompt. I decided to leave the tempting current toilet paper shortage behind, and write about a beautiful memory from forty years back. This is Quadrille Monday so our poems must be exactly forty-four words.

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