Celebration cheers
Expectations // palms waving
Hosannas’ // high hopes
***
Fade quickly during the week
Words change from joy to anger
***
Expectations often disappoint
Photo: Dwight L. Roth
Expectations
Expectations or Anticipation 2024
Entering the new year with great expectations
Yet knowing they are fragile shimmering bubbles
Blown from our minds… floating in front of our eyes
Some large… some small… rainbow colors of hope
One by one they pop leaving tears of residue
dripping on our well laid plans
*
All expectations should come with a disclaimer
reminding us that our perceptions cannot be projected
making others conform to our wishes
Circumstances, values, and baggage all come into play
often leaving our expectations shuffled like a deck of cards
Losing the magic when we cannot find the Ace of Hearts
*
Perhaps we should enter the new year with anticipation
looking forward to the positive things that will happen
Living with expectation, but knowing our thinking may
need to be adjusted and reconsidered as each day
Plans can change at a moment’s notice as we live
and work through this experience we call life
Anticipate that everything can be worked out
with a little work and in due time
*
bing photo
Quicksand of Expectations
Naturally, we view relationships through our own eyes
taking in all that we enjoy // perceiving what will be
Yet, as relationship expectations grow, the delusion increases
Wishful thinking, full of wants and needs draws us
to assumptions of crashing cataracts… leaving us dashed…
often broken on the rocks of unfulfilled expectations…
as life roars on around us // carrying away our dreams
*
Co-dependence is a quicksand of mutual expectations
turning a loving relationship into sinking turmoil
sucked under by our own needs and desires
to a point of suffocation
Photo: Dwight L. Roth
Crossroad
We are at a crossroad of the mind
Not of dirt and gravel // asphalt or cement
Rather, a crossroad of thinking…
One that permeates our being.
Elections are not about the man or woman
They are about a mindset
A way of thinking that affects attitudes and actions.
It is so easy to get lost in the superficial
Age, gender, personality, party, or politics;
But it is much deeper than that…
Elections are crossroads of the mind;
Forever changing the landscape of thinking;
Changes that cannot be reversed only adjusted.
Elections often come with lies and broken promises;
Expectations that repeatedly remain unfulfilled
Leaving us disillusioned at the next crossroad.
Remember, you are not choosing a person
You are choosing a mindset for the future.
Photo: Dwight L. Roth
He’s Gone!
Inhaling smoke from your flame
Burning in the heat of the moment
You were warned, you were told
Did you listen? No!
Now you will burn
Like flash paper in a magician’s hand
Combustible feelings up in smoke
That mind-blowing moment gone
Your all-consuming desire
Not quite what you expected
Leaving ashes for memories
Dust in the wind
He’s gone!
Painting: Dwight L. Roth
Expectations and Faith
After seventy-two years of observing the way Faith and Expectation works, I have come to the conclusion that we put way more expectations on our faith than the writers of our scriptures ever intended. The following is something I have been mulling around in my mind for a couple of years. This is the best way I can express what I personally have experienced. You may see it differently and that is OK. To me faith is simple and easy to understand. Many have made it complicated and demanding, filled with unrealistic expectations.
I’ve prayed but had no answers;
Believed in miracles // still waited my turn;
Had faith to move mountains
but the mountains remained;
Read the promises of comfort in times of trouble…
Believed I would find peace in the storm;
Yet saw only blackness and overwhelming sorrow.
Believed Jesus would carry me when I could not go on;
Instead, fell flat on my face crying to God for help.
Discovered there is a time for everything under heaven;
Everything in due season // sometimes sooner // sometimes later.
So, when you pray don’t expect expected answers;
You will usually wait for things to take their course.
Don’t lay on God expectations beyond what might happen;
Leave the miracles for the unexpected occasion.
Don’t let your faith become a denial of reality;
Most illnesses take their course // healing may or may not come;
Most troubles will blow over in due time with scars to show;
And yes, you will feel scared to death through it all.
So, hang on for a wild ride on this roller coaster we call life;
And, if in the end we are blessed with a loving caring family
and friends //consider them a blessing from God.
They will sustain us and walk with us
through the valley of the shadow of death.
If not, we will endure to the end…
When our spirit rises to rejoin our creator.
*********************
It is interesting to me how different most prayers are from this example Jesus gave his disciples!
Matthew 6:9 –
9 “This, then, is how you should pray:
“‘Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
10
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
11
Give us today our daily bread.
12
And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one…
NIV – Gateway Bible.com
Photo: Dwight L. Roth
Unique
Some don’t fit the norm
Expectations run deep;
Thinking all should look exactly the same
Full of petals // one upon another
But what of the ones who don’t fit that form
With petals fragile and few // spread open wide
Some mutations occur without warning
Does it make them of less value or less beauty?
No // beauty doesn’t come in just one size and shape
Uniqueness brings a beauty all its own
Photos: Dwight L. Roth
Rising Above the Grind
Rising above the Grind
You can be crushed battered by the waves
Or ride the surf for the thrill of your life
One must rise above to be free
Move beyond expectations
A resurrection of sorts
A new life of purpose
Beyond a crashing surf
Grinding you into a lifeless mass of sand
Freeing one’s self
Repositioning your life
Riding the swell
Carried by the crest
Letting it work for you
Not pound you into the sand
Free to be in control
Moving beyond the negative
Riding your wave of life
To vision and destiny
Paintings: All is Lost : Dwight L. Roth
Winslow Homer Restoration – The Herring Net : Dwight L. Roth
Poetry
“An entertainer gives people what they wanted… an artist give people what they didn’t know they wanted!” Josh Groban
Poetry
Which poem that I wrote
…stopped you in your tracks
…made you think
of what’s long forgotten
…challenged preconceived notions
or stretched your perspective?
What do you look for
when you read my poetry?
Are you left hanging…
Or pleasantly surprised?
My goal in writing poetry
is to write in such a way
that you will not
have to read it again…
And // you will not be able
to forget what you read
**************
Photo: Dwight L. Roth
Shared with d’Verse Poetry Pub for open link night. https://dversepoets.com
The quote from Josh Grobin came from his interview with Dan Rather on The Big Interview at AXS TV.
Dry Spells
Reverse Poetry is something I never heard of before Frank introduced it on d’Verse. It is when you take a set of lines your wrote for a poem and then turn them around and write them all backwards with perhaps with a few minor adjustments. The introductory lines of this poem were barrowed from a cousin on Facebook. I asked her if I could use them to create a poem. I wrote this yesterday. When Frank asked us to write a reverse poem, I realized I could turn it around and make it work. So here is my very first reverse poem.
Dry Spell
“Sometimes, dry periods
may endure
beyond your expectations.
Other times,
it might seem
like the rain will never end.”
The cycle of life
With ups and downs
Times for questioning
Times for success
Times to remember
Times to love
Somewhere in between
Is where living takes place
*****
Living takes place
Somewhere in between
Times to love
Times to remember
Times for questioning
With ups and downs.
The cycle of life…
Like the like rain // never ends.
It might seem
beyond your expectations.
May you endure…
Dry spells last sometimes
Photos from my dry, cracking back yard
Quoted FB lines from cousin Rosalyn and
the Washington Post’s Capitol Weather Gang!
Come join us at d’Verse: https://dversepoets.com
Roth Poetry 