Peony bloom
Bathes in morning rain
Gorgeous
**
Photo: Dwight L. Roth
Beauty
Rose
There you were // glowing
Blushing red as I walked by
Stopped me in my tracks
Beauty // standing all alone
Self-assured and confident
***
Sunday Morning Rose Photo: Dwight L. Roth
Heart Connection
Patinaed Farmall M
Seventy-seven years old
Just like me
Don’t let the exterior fool you
Heart’s Still Strong
Just like me!
Photos: Dwight L. Roth
I had to share one of my favorite memories of driving one of these beautiful machines in Pennsylvania when I was thirteen years old. How many machines built today will still run 77 years from now?!
This tractor belongs to a neighbor whose farm is next to our neighborhood.
The restored tractor sits along the road a few miles from here at Wesley Chapel. It is a 1939 model! Looks like it just came out of the factory!
Wounded Beauty
I saw this beauty, as I was eating my dinner, having its dinner on my butterfly bush. Drawn by the nectar of the purple blossoms it went from flower to flower posing for me to get my shots. Somewhere along the way it appears a bird took a chunk out of its tail. It did not seem to affect the Yellow Swallowtail at all.
Wounded beauty flits
Drinking deeply from flowers
Nature’s fine wine
Unexpected Gifts
Gifts often come in unexpected ways
Ways undeserved and unpaid for
like the small woodland lying
just beyond our back deck
filled with tall trees reaching for the sky;
a home to squirrels and birds
who come to my feeder
on a cold January day
*
The house finch with his crimson red head
jockeying with the sparrows and titmice
for a place at the feeder
*
I watch the downy woodpecker
who gently dances down the wire
to the suet feeder hanging almost against
the glass of my living room window
He peaks in our open window and knows
all is well as he and she eat their fill…
Much less work than pecking into shedding bark
hoping to find a bug or termite hidden there
*
And then there is the cardinal
wearing a beautiful red coat
who competes with the wren
for seeds other birds wastefully pull out
as they mine for black oil sunflower seeds
hidden in the mix
Their scratching scatters seeds to the ground
where doves, squirrels, and towhees
“eat the crumbs from the master’s table”
*
Yes, some gifts cannot be bought with money
but leave me grateful, blessed,
and thankful beyond measure
on this January day
Photos: Dwight L. Roth
Today at d’Verse, Sanaa asked us to write about our January days and how we feel about them. I chose to write about all the beautiful birds that entertain me as I sit in my chair and watch them come and go. We own none of the trees behind us but enjoy the benefits of them being there every day, as the seasons change.
Join us at: https://dversepoets.com
Signs of Spring
Midwinter sunshine
Reflected in a crocus
Calling for springtime
***
Daffodils pushing through leaves
Waiting while snowflakes will fall
Photos: Dwight L. Roth
Au Sable Scenic River Highbanks Overlook
While we were in Michigan a couple of week ago, we visited the Au Sable High River Overlook, near Mio! It was a gorgeous day and a beautiful view of the river. The fall colors were just beginning to show. I decided to do some notebook sketches and watercolors of our trip.
I did this one last Saturday when I was recovering from Covid. I thought I was about through it all and then this past Monday, I work up with a bad head cold and tested positive again! Ugh!! Today is the first I have felt better.
Fall colors shining
Nature paints stunning landscapes
Covid returns again
Photos and watercolor: Dwight L. Roth
https://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/hmnf/recreation/recarea/?recid=18550&actid=64
Destroying Elegance
Yesterday morning when I went out on my deck to fill the bird bath bowl, I noticed this gorgeous spider’s web hanging on the downspout! I am always in awe when I see such a beautiful piece of Nature’s artwork. I immediately got my camera and took a couple of photos. I am sure the neighbors thought I was shooting at their upstairs windows, but this was too good to miss. Sadly, when I went back out at noon it was gone. Not a trace left to see. I am thinking that a bird might have flown through it.
Spider’s Web
Even elegance
has its minor flaws
Gone in an instance
destroyed by lack of perception
or intention
Start over or go hungry
Perhaps in a new location
Creativity is never completely destroyed
Like matter, it just changes form
and life goes on
***
Photo: Dwight L. Roth
A Glorious Morning (haiku)
Morning Glories glow
Smiling duet shines brightly
Soon fade as seeds drop
Photos: Dwight L. Roth
Sunflower
Each year, volunteer sunflowers grow under the bird feeder outside my kitchen window. This year several came us and are growing well. This is my first bloom of summer!
Sunflower seeds drop
Some take root growing up tall
First flower bloom smiles
***
Photo: Dwight L. Roth
Roth Poetry 