Bridge Over Troubled Water

One of the most iconic songs of my lifetime is Bridge Over Troubled Water. It spoke to the turbulent times of the 1960s Civil Rights/Viet Nam War Era and it speaks to our situation today. As we wait for the final vote count in US Presidential election, we wonder what the reaction will be. The days ahead may be just as turbulent as the 60s, or we can choose to build bridges that bring the nation back together again. This song, I believe, speaks to the choice we make. Our future as a nation depends on it.

Angry words divide

Time to build bridges of peace

Winter’s discontent

This is a very interesting back story telling how the song came to be!

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Living With Diversity

We must rise above the demanding;
Those who would hold us back…
Covering our light with darkness;
Telling us we must conform.
Some would have us call
Darkness light and light darkness;
In a world where darkness rules
Always distorting the truth.
Others would like us to believe
Conformity is the answer to faith…
That questioning or having a different view
Needs to be held in question.
Sad that we can’t enjoy our diversity;
Without one side or the other
Feeling like they have to control
The way everyone else thinks.

Photo: Dwight L. Roth

January Birds

Cold weather in January always brings the birds to my feeder. They bring me a lot of joy as I watch them gobbling down the sunflower seeds and millet. The Red Bellied Woodpecker and Mourning Dove share the feeder together. This is nice to see since birds are often very competitive for the food. Perhaps we could learn from them how to get along.

Woodpecker and dove

Share my winter bird feeder

A lesson for all

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Photo: Dwight L. Roth

Kim at d’Verse asked us to write a Haibun that talks about January and all it brings with it. I love my winter birds so I chose to write this one.

Come join us at: https://dversepoets.com

How High Can a Rabbit Jump?

Leaping Rabbit!!

I watch a mama rabbit and a squirrel

Eating bird feeder droppings acting polite

Me snapping shots and to my surprise

Mama Rabbit suddenly took flight to the sky

When the squirrel got disgruntled and bit her

Shutter clicked at just the right moment

She left the ground floating for an instant

Rising to heights I could not imagine

*

Who ever saw a leaping rabbit

One that goes straight up in the air

Well I did  this is it

And I have a picture to prove it

This one you really must see for yourself

Without pictures no one would believe it

For me I could hardly believe it myself

A prize-winning shot to set on my shelf

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Photos: Dwight L. Roth

Living With Diversity

Diversity is one of the buzz words that is used on almost every news broadcast we hear these days. It is sad to me that diversity seems to be the thing that divides us rather than bringing richness an mutual understanding to our society. It appears to me that extremes one way or the other do not help us. Attempting to force diversity on society rarely works. Instead it brings about the divide we see between the left and the right in our country today.  If we could learn to accept diversity without one side or the other trying to dominate and push its position on the other, I believe we might learn to appreciate each other better.

Living with Diversity

We must rise above the demanding

Those who would hold us back

Covering our light with darkness

Telling us we must conform

Some would have us call

Darkness light and light darkness

In a world where darkness rules

Always distorting the truth

Others would like us to believe

Conformity is the answer to faith

That questioning or having a different view

Needs to be held in question

Sad that we can’t enjoy our diversity

Without one side or the other

Feeling like they have to control

The way everyone else thinks

*********************************

Photo: Dwight L. Roth

We Live Among the Stones

This poem began in an early morning dream and continued while I waited for the dental hygienist. People are like stones. Some hard and rough. Others smooth and round. Some are precious and very  valuable. Stones, like people, are reflections of the life they have lived. The bumps and grinds of everyday life shape us into what we are today.

We Live Among the Stones  

We live among the stones

Some rounded and smooth

Others sharp and jagged

Stones fresh and raw from upheaval

Laid bare by heat and pressure

Scorched and Broken

Stone surrounding the fossils of life

Embedded ancient remains

Relationships yet to be excavated

Stones in the river of life

Hard yet rounded smooth

Shaped by the flow of life

Stones cut and shaped to perfection

Stacked and fitted with keystone and arch

Support and strength for all above

Stones of beauty shaped with loving hands

Smoothed and polished

Exquisite beauty stately and cold

Stones of hurt hurled to harm

Smashing killing with devastating force

Leaving only piles of rubble behind

Stones of moraine crushed under ice

Laid bare by the receding foot

Cold snow pack fading fast in the sunlight

Precious stones forged with extreme heat

Pressures that forever change

Leaving a greater metamorphic glory

Stones of love left in sweet memory

Of loved ones gone

Now only names carved in stone

We are all precious stones

Jewels in our creator’s crown

Reflecting love and grace