Grow Where You are Planted

Maple seeds fly

with the advent of Spring.

Miniature helicopters,

blades spinning in the wind.

Caught

carried

like a kite on the breeze;

Only to float to the ground…

the roof… the gutter… or rain barrel

destination unknown…

deposited for growth.

New life begins

Today at d’Verse, Merril gave us seed as our Quadrille (exactly 44 words) Prompt. Every spring the maple trees are the first to open. Their seeds drop in abundance and land everywhere. We called them helicopters, when I was young, and threw them back up in the air to watch them spin around to the ground. Nature has so many ways to keep the growth cycle going. Just about anywhere they land they will put down a root and try to grow. A good example for all of us!

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It Bothers Me

It Bother’s Me

Something about being right

Stirs righteousness indignation

Even when I am sometimes wrong

*

It’s that visceral fire that lights

Every time my buttons are pushed

*

As life’s paradigm shifts

It bothers me when I know I’m right

When no one addresses the real problem

*

Today at d’Verse, De Jackson asked us to write a Quadrille of exactly 44 words using the word Bother!

As I get older, there are a lot of things that bother me, especially when I watch the evening news. It bothers me how things get twisted to fit an agenda, while the heart of the problem gets little or no mention. Perhaps I am getting to old to worry about it. But it still bother’s me greatly!

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Photo: Dwight L. Roth

My 12 page children’s book Dreamer is available on a pdf. printable format for anyone who would enjoy a free copy. Just email me your request at dwru27@aol.com This was my spin-off from Lillian’s prompt last Monday!

Celebration

Celebratory gift on a cruise up the Rhine

Left in our room, a bottle of wine

Marking the celebration of a lifetime

A nice surprise midway through our journey

Remembering fifty years together

A wonderful achievement

Shared at dinner with friends we just met

Photo: Dwight L. Roth

Today at d’Verse Linda asked us to write a Quadrille of exactly 44 words celebrating the fruit of the vine, Wine! On our 50th Anniversary trip in 2019 we were treated to a complimentary bottle of Champagne. that we found in our room when we returned from our morning excursion in Cologne.

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Nature’s Outie

Dried stretchmarks wrap around sawed-off knots

Straining against pregnant life swelling within

Nature’s outie / where life separated from life

Puckered up smirking at everyone who comes by

Covering scars of knots buried / healing over time

Creating a beauty all its own

enjoyed by all

***

Photo: Dwight L. Roth

Today at d’Verse, Mish asked us to write a Quadrille of exactly 44 words using some form or the word knot. I saw these knots on the side of a tree when we were at the park a couple of weeks ago. I thought they were interesting, so I took a couple of photos of them.

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From There to Here

How swiftly time flies from there to here

Ten lifetimes rolled into one sweet moment

Today I’ll sit, in cool warming sunshine

Watch hawks soaring overhead

Listen to wrens and cardinals sing

And watch my drying little creek

Slowly turn into curdled algae yogurt

Today at d’Verse we are to write a Quadrille of exactly 44 words, using the word swift or a form of the word. I was immediately drawn to how fast time has passed in my lifetime. These are my reflections.

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Photos: Dwight L. Roth

Worth the Risk

I am not afraid of dying

It is the fear of loneliness that haunts my mind

Family disconnect is unacceptable for me

Visits and hugs are worth the risk

Embracing Covid with masked precaution

I’m pushed into the pool

It is sink or swim

Photo: Ruth Roth

Today at d’Verse, it is Quadrille Monday. We are to write a Quadrille of 44 words that includes the word embrace. This has been a long lonely year for many of us, not being able to socialize with friends and family like we used to do. Covid-19 is taking its toll around the world. One of the worst effects of Covid is the separation of families at the time of death. This to me is unacceptable, even with the risks involved. We have decided that connecting with family is worth the risk, and though infrequent, we get together from time to time. My poem today expresses that sentiment.

The Way to the Top

Some inherit their position with little effort

Entitled and inexperienced leaves little empathy

Social status // production // and the bottom line

It’s their way or the highway…

The way to the top usually starts at the bottom

Hard work providing experience and understanding

Brings success

Today at d’Verse Lisa asked us to write a quadrille of exactly 44 words using the prompt way. Join us at: https://dversepoets.com then click on Mr. Linkey to read more…

George Washington at Valley Forge stamp art: Dwight L. Roth

Hair Daze

Oh, the glorious memories of past days

Combing long flowing hair with swept back duck-tails

Smooth waves that would make a surfer gaze

Sadly the glory days leave only tales

But, I do remember the TV ad…

”Brylcreem… A little dab’ll do ya!”

Photo: Me in about the seventh grade!

Today at d’Verse, De Jackson is taking me into my past, asking us to write a Quadrille poem (exactly 44 words) with the word dab in it. When I as an adolescent, I had lots of hair. Brylcreem was my hair cream. It is amazing what you could do with it when combing it back into the Elvis Presley style duck-tail wave. Funny how the jingles never seem to leave your brain. 😎

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Fifty-One Years Today

Our Love (A Quadrille)*

Our love’s a poem

Written in the tide…

Spelling out our dreams

On the shore of life

Poem of lasting quality

Ebb and flow from day to day

Smooth, serine, mirroring the sky…

Crashing // bold from deep within

Our Love…

Written for the ages

Photo: Dwight L. Roth

*A Quadrille is a a poem of exactly 44 words, created by d’Verse Poets Pub.

Abiding Love

In the cold of winter, we said, “I do”

with December snow on the ground

and candles burning brightly.

And now my love,

winter is fast approaching;

And, after fifty-one years

we’re still together.

Our abiding love lives on…

“till death do us part”

Photos: Dwight L. Roth

Today is Quadrille Monday at d’Verse. Lisa asked to use the word abide for our prompt and write a poem of 44 words. She gave us various uses of the word, one of which was the old hymn Abide With Me. That took me back to the songs of my childhood. I decided to use write in reference to love. The end of December will be fifty-one years for us. It just seemed fitting to write of our abiding love; resting on, depending on, secure in the vows we made so many years ago.

I took these flower photos at about 3:30 this afternoon, blooming in my back yard on November 30th! Who would believe? Frost comes again tomorrow morning.

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