Fragile yet so strong
Floating on the breeze of life
Special Valentine
*****
Photo: Dwight L. Roth
Fragile
Ocean Millipedes
Ocean piers are such interesting objects. They stretch out into the water beyond the breakers standing on fragile piling of wood. Wonderful for fishing, they draw lots of people to their ends. Casting line in the water men and women sit there waiting patiently for a bite. As I walk under the pier, I see the planks and bolts holding it together. It is strong but the next hurricane has the potential to twist it out of shape or tear it out of the water.
Ocean Millipedes
Pier stands strong // feet in the sand
Fall Storm // twists backbone
Photos: Dwight L. Roth
Fragile Beauty
Butterflies are fascinating and fragile insects. They are one of the most beautiful creatures on earth. It always amazes me that they can live, propagate, and migrate far distances. Their wings are so thin you can almost see right through them, yet they have such an artistic design one cannot deny the handiwork of our creator. As I watch these amazing creatures I am in awe of everything about them.
Tiny creatures
Flitting from flower to flower
Seemingly oblivious
To the world around
Carried about
On tissue thin wings
Masterpieces of design
Painted in vivid colors
Beyond art
Migrating on the wind
Programmed GPS
Chrysalises bursting open
Reincarnated
Ephemeral beauty
For us to enjoy
******************************
Butterfly Photo: Dwight L. Roth
Crown of Thorns
Without seeds life as we know it would cease to exist. Every year, as the summer comes to an end, plants dry up as the beautiful flowers and green leaves fade and fall to the ground. Most of us cut them, pull them up, or mow them up with the lawn mower. We give little thought to the importance of those dried up seed pods. They provide food for birds and animals in the winter, and still there are enough left to sprout and grow again in the spring. Farmers plant and harvest many grains for consumption. These seeds allow us to continue living year after year. This poem in in recognition of the seeds that sustain us.
Of what use are your long gnarled stems
Heads balding from the loss of fragile beauty
Sucked dry by bird and bee
Seeking the nectar of life hidden deep inside
Of what use is your thorny crown
Pocked and dried by sun and wind
Waiting in the remaining time
To be cut broken discarded
The glory days of ephemeral beauty gone
What’s left for the aging freckled head
What beauty remains for the dried and broken
It was not all for naught, the losing of ones crown
For underneath the crown lies the key to beauty
The ongoing genetics of life the giftwrapped wonder
Beauty is in the seed passing on and on and on
Since the beginning of time
Without the crown of thorns there would be no future beauty
There would be no life here after
Beauty is passing, life is fragile, but the seed remains forever
To once again spring forth from the ashes of the past
Bringing life and hope and from that dried crown of thorns
*********************************
Photos: Dwight L. Roth
