In the Christian faith we celebrate Good Friday, remembering the suffering and death of Christ on the Cross at Calvary. But it is not the dark night of the soul that draws us to God’s Love and Grace. It is the joy of Easter and the Light of the Resurrection that gives us hope. The Light at the end of the dark tunnel is Jesus!
Friday night’s darkness
Seems like dark evil has won
But Sunday’s coming
*
Light overwhelms sad darkness
Drawing us all toward bright hope
*
Photo: Dwight L. Roth
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.
Join us at: https://dversepoets.com then click on Mr. Linkey to read more.
Daffodil’s first bloom
Basking in bright warm sunshine
Buds waiting their turn
*
Dark clouds brought cold rain today
Chilled blooms wait another day
*
Photo: Dwight L. Roth
On the go..
Colloquial term
Used by many when I was young
Little Phil is learning to walk
Took his first steps yesterday
Now he is on the go!
Granny broke her hip last fall
Now she is healed up and on the go!
Today at d’Verse, De asked us to make a quadrille of exactly 44 word using the word go! What came to mind immediately was a term I heard very often when I was a boy. It was the term, … on the go. These days we are not on the go as much as we used to be. I can’t wait to be on the go again!
Join us at: https://deversepoets.com then click on Mr. Linkey’s box to read more.
Photo – Streets of Stasbourg, France: Dwight L. Roth
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
Spirit seems at home in this flesh and bone
Fragile body // heart pumping till it bursts
*
Where does my spirit dwell when life is done
As eyes close in death and the race is run
Breath leaves the body and the spirit rises
Rejoining spirit with Spirit // lives on
******
Photo: Dwight L. Roth
All the world around me glows
Atop trees red leaves whisper
As birds sing sweet lullabies
Arias unique to each
Ants build hills under my feet
Albatross soars high above
Azure blue skies call me home
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.
Join us at: https://dversepoets.com Then click on the Mr. Linkey box and read other poems.
Photo: Dwight L. Roth
Sharing poetry
Friendships all over the world
6000 follows
Who would believe this number
Four years ago
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!
Thank you,
Dwight
Cruising up the Rhine
Tourists packed on a cruise ship
Only mem’ries now
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
I am posting this one for open link night at d”Verse. A diversion from the foolishness going on in our society theses days!
Join us at: https://dversepoets.com Click on the Mr. Linkey box to read our poems.
Morning bursts forth in all its radiant glory
Peering into the dark sheltered woods
Highlighting the trees dancing on flowers
The stepping stones draw me to the trees
To the mysterious woods sheltering the creek
Turning to mush in summer’s heat
Frogs buried in the mud keep cool
Sending out their sharp croaks
calling for someone to hear
Morning breezes soon shift
to a sauna of heat and humidity
But for now the glorious morning rests
on the yellow buttercups
Red salvia bathed in the sunlight
reach toward the heavens
Calling me to come join them
In the exhilaration of the beckoning day
Photo: Dwight L. Roth taken this morning
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!
