I wrote this a few years ago for the d’Verse Poets Pub. I thought it would be good to reflect on as we exit 2020 and enter 2021. We have lost a multitude of people this year to Covid-19. Death has a way of bringing things into focus. It brings us face to face with our own mortality. The thoughts in this poem reflect on spirit within each of us.
Where dwells the spirit before life begins
Waiting to entwine with genes at man’s whims
Does it float in space riding red stardust
Or in ocean waves where the raindrops swim
*
Where dwells the spirit when I took my first
Breath of life // of heart and lungs merged thirst
Today at d’Verse Laura introduced us to a form of poetry called Pleiades. We must pick a ONE-WORD TITLE then write a SEVEN-LINE poem of SEVEN SYLLABLES whereby each line begins with the FIRST LETTER of your title.
Thank you to all of you who have become my friend over the past four and a half years. It has been an amazing journey sharing and reading your poetry and posts. I never dreamed when I started this blog that I would get even 100 followers, let alone over 6000! You all are a gift to me and I am humbled that you take time to read my poetry! It has been such a pleasure getting to know many of you in a more personal way through this blog!
I must add a note of thanks to my dear Poet friend Kym Gordon Moore ( https://kymgmoore.com/writing%2Fvideos ) for encouraging me to start this blog. If she had not urged me more than once, I would never have considered such a thing as blogging!
Kiser Wilhelm at CoblenzFortress at CoblentzCruising on the RhineFallen Heroes Memorial at ColblentzSunset on the RhineIndustries all along the RhineBridge checkpoint on the RhineView of the Cologne Cathedral from our roomOur ride up the RhineOpen air seating in StrasbourgEvening on the Rhine
I have always had a love for trains, especially steam trains. Living in coal country, in Pennsylvania, I loved seeing the big black engines come rolling down the track. Now in my adult years I refer to them as the Pennsylvania Dragons. Many of them were built in the Baldwin works in Philadelphia. The tremendous power it takes to move all that weight is breathtaking!
Some of the old engines are being restored and changed over from coal burning to oil. That is what was done to the engine in the Video. How can one not stand in awe while watching one of these going down the track.
This is a song I wrote a few years ago in memory of those childhood steam trains I enjoyed so much. The blog won’t let me post a video of me singing it so you will just have to use your imagination!
The Pennsylvania Dragon
(refrain)
Steel wheels keep on turning
Keeping rhythm perfect time
Hauling coke from the ovens
Hauling coal from the mines
*
Down along the winding river
Monongahela was its name
Comes the “Pennsylvania Dragon”
Belching smoke & shooting flames
*
Engines 29’s a coming
See the light and hear the steam
As she passes Martin crossing
You can hear that whistle scream
*
Whistle blowing at the crossing
Black smoke pouring from her stack
On to Pittsburgh she’ll be rolling
Tomorrow she’ll be coming back
*
Counting coal cars as she passes
Waving to the engineer
100 cars hauling heavy
Red caboose at the rear
*
Now the trains of my childhood
Are all silent lost in time
And those “Pufferbilly Dragons”
Are just memories on my mind
*
Down along the winding river
No more smoke or shooting flames
Just the rumble of the diesel
…but it’s just not quite the same
Painting: Dwight L. Roth
I am posting this one for open link night at d”Verse. A diversion from the foolishness going on in our society theses days!
I wrote this four years ago, but I felt like it was time to post it again as I looked out across the bottom filled with blooming wildflowers covering the creek!
The Oregon coast is a wonderful place to visit. We hiked down the long set of stairs to the beach below. An old man rested on the bench with his dog. He lives nearby and hikes down and up those stairs every day. A rest was needed for some of us at bottom and top. The ocean coastline with all its beauty also holds dangers of slipping and falling over the edge. Warning signs posted tell us to stay back. The breathtaking view makes it all worthwhile!
Hiking on the beach
Our footprints gone with high tide
Only sand remains
Photos: Dwight L. Roth
Today at d’Verse Frank asked us to write a Monday Haibun using the word hike. A haibun is a short piece of prose followed by a complimentary haiku.
Last October we attended our niece’s wedding. While there we traveled to the coast and spent a couple of days enjoying the glorious view. My haibun today is about our time hiking on the beach.
I saw this cute little guy sitting on my bird feeder a couple of weeks ago. He’s a young one with only half his molting feathers. Rather scruffy and hot it seems. Then again, I think we would all look a bit scruffy in this extreme summer heat!
If, as many believe, we we evolved from the primordial oceans
evolving into the innumerable living creatures populating our planet
Then where did our soul/spirit come from… that intangible part of our being
that has no mortal substance that will grow or decay with our bodies
Some call it the breath of life and others the image of God
If, as many believe, we come from the primordial oceans
How did we end up with a soul and spirit seeking a creator
Seems obvious that soul and spirit are not part of an evolutionary process
But rather, given and taken as we live and die leaving the mortal behind
So how can one not believe in a creator; a spiritual force far greater
than the universe that presides over everything that exists
How can one believe that our soul and spirit nature will not go back
to the one who gave it, as our mortal body decays and returns to dust
Science may attempt to explain evolution, but seems to have no answer
to the question of soul and spirit that resides within each of us
*****************
Body, Soul, & Spirit painting: Dwight L. Roth
This poem is written in the stream of consciousness form that lets ones thoughts flow onto the paper without much editing of any kind. This was our prompt for the d’Verse Poets Pub prompt this past week.
Seems like only yesterday that he played with this little red wagon Now he’s moved on to other more interesting things. Today, he is over six feet tall and moving on again to other new and interesting things. He’s my grandson, and I am very proud of him!
