Because You’re My Sister

I saw this sign in an old cabin when we visited friends in the mountains a few years ago. It made me smile. It could also apply to our parents. We can’t pick our family members, but we can learn to respect and love them.

My sister was five years older than me. I always looked up to her because she was smart and well liked by all of her teachers. She took time to read to me some of the stories she was reading, and brought me left over pizza from her dates. I am sure I was an aggravation to her from time to time, but we have always maintained a good relationship, even when we disagreed over the years.

Sisters are special

One of a kind friends for life

Smile / she’s stuck with me

Photo: Dwight L. Roth

Photo: Family Album

Me and my sister and little brother.

Sedimentary

Life is sedimentary

Limestone foundations

Full of embedded effervescence

Cemented together with Love

Holding up our house of cards

Fragile and beautiful creations

Each support essential

to the well being of the whole

Life is community

Cemented together with Love

Photos: Dwight L. Roth

Photos taken in Lititz, Pennsylvania

Music

Street Musicians – Tuba Skinny – in New Orleans French Quarter

Music

Music is life

The very essence of love

lost in sweet lyrics.

Lethal dose cuts to the heart

Deafeningly loud / lit and wild

Today, Bjorn at d’Verse, asked to write a poem using a list from google search. By putting in a word or two and a letter, the search fill in the rest for us. I used bing search and typed in Music is l… It filled in Music is life and then gave a sub-list of additional l words for music is life. See below.

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The poem above is in tanka form, based on the theme Music is Life… I highlighted the other words from the sub-list.

The music in the video is a group know as Tuba Skinny. They are a group of street performers in the French Quarter of New Orleans. I love listening to their music. The couples in the video dance so effortlessly as though the music flows right through them. Enjoy!

music is life

• music is love
• music is love lyrics
• music is lit
• music is loud
• music is lethal

music is life quote

• life is good song
• music is life tattoo
• music is life gifts

The Humble Servant

Bing photo

What do you think would happen if Trump and Biden washed each other’s feet?

Today is World Communion Sunday, remembering the suffering and death of Jesus. It is celebrated by many Christian churches. When I was young, our church celebrated communion twice a year. Along with the bread and the cup representing the body and blood of Christ, we also practiced foot washing. This also was a part of the original story where Jesus washed his disciples feet, and told them to do the same for each other.

In the time of sandaled feet walking dusty roads, it was common for a servant to wash the feet of guests who arrive. It was probably one of the lowliest jobs in the household. This was the humble act of service his followers needed to do for each other to remind them that in God’s eyes we are all the same. We are all humble servants of one another. This concept seems to be lost in today’s society.

I had this flash of a thought in relation of the upcoming election and the debates scheduled. Wouldn’t it be interesting if, instead of castigating each other, Trump and Biden would simply come on stage and with a basin and a towel and wash each other’s feet! And in this act of humble service say to the American public, whomever you choose, we will be the humble servant to the other! Wow my imagination really did run wild today!!

Let me wash your feet…

Humility and service

heal division’s wounds

To read the story click the link below:

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+13&version=NIV

Hang Loose

Last week I finally picked up this mess of string that had gotten extremely tangled. I thought I would begin rolling it onto a stick so I could use it in the future. I found the end and began to roll, but the harder I pulled the more knotted up it became. I tried weaving the stick through the loops, but it soon was tight again. Finally I picked up the loose ends and began to shake them in my hand. As I did, the end loosened up and I kept winding. It took awhile, but in the end I was able to shake this knotted mess loose and get it totally rewound onto the stick.

There are a number of analogies one could take from this, but I thought how much this is like our relationships. The harder we pull against each other the tighter the situation becomes. If we could just hang loose and let things shake themselves out, life would be a lot better for everyone. In a marriage there will always be knots somewhere down the line. If we could just hang loose and not take things so personally, perhaps we could find a way to untangle those knots. I realize some situations may require cutting the cord, but for most there is hope if both are willing to work at it.

Life’s knots and tangles

Need shakeups to work them out

Hang on… don’t jump ship

Ride out September’s gales

November brings Thanksgiving

Winter is coming

Photos: Dwight L. Roth

Waiting Spaces

New Book Reveal

“While searching for answers.

Staying in places of rest and growth, or unsure of where to call home.

Waiting Spaces explores the feelings of waiting through poetical thought and spoken word. 

Each poem is written as a letter to those who are in their own spaces of waiting.

 Perhaps you will find one written to you. “

*****

Above is the tag line from Waiting Spaces by Acacia Mitchell of thoughtsfromatree.com blog . She has written a new book of poetry is now on amazon. com

You can find it on Amazon Kindle at the site below:

http://mybook.to/WaitingSpaces

Acacia asked me to review her book and share my thoughts with you. I enjoyed her poems, especially a few in the middle that dealt with Grace and understanding who we are as God’s children…. letting go, and creating space in our lives. This is very important in understanding how God’s love for us carries us forward, in spite of the cracks in our sidewalk! Acacia’s form of writing seems to flows from a stream of consciousness and is not chopped up in thought. I believe you will find her book interesting and helpful as you face your own waiting spaces, especially in this time of Covid-19. ~ Dwight L. Roth

Herringbone

I’ve been told that the largest sex organ in the body is your brain. Hooked on dopamine naturally flowing in my blood, I have found this to be true. Without the brain game everything else falls flat. As I think back on our days during mid-life, many wonderful memories come to mind. Fantasy and imagination are wonderfully erotic. Sharing this with the one I love has been an experience like no other.

Heat of passion burns

Wearing gold herring bone necklace

And nothing more

***

Photo: Dwight L. Roth

Today at d’Verse, Saana asked us to consider erotic poetry in literature. She asked us to try our hand at writing a classy erotic poem. I decided to do a Haibun that recounts a favorite image and memory for me. I took this photo many years ago. It has long since faded to orange, so I changed it to black and white.

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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

Celebrating Moments in Time

My father-in-law turned 90 a few years ago and his family and long time friends gathered in his care facility to celebrate. He enjoyed it all very much, especially the cake and ice cream.  It was a wonderful time that we will long remember, although he only remembered for the moment.  Some might wonder why go all out if he won’t remember that it happened.  I believe that although he was not able to remember, the effects on his well being lasted much longer.  The goal for someone in Alzheimer’s is to create moments that make them feel alive now, and tomorrow they will still feel better, even if they do not know why. Time with loved ones is never wasted.

We celebrated

Ninety years of connections

Winter closing in

Chocolate cake enjoyed

A very special moment

Birch trees pushing buds

Photos; Dwight L. Roth

Today at d’Verse we are celebrating birthdays. Kim asked write about a special birthday we remembered. I don’t remember any special birthday parties that I had as a child.  I decided to write about our last birthday party for my father-in-law who lived at Lifestyles Care Facility in Edmonton, AB. It was a great day for all.

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My Life Goes On

If I should find this my last day
Looking back on my work and play
Life is the place where joy and sorrow meet
A roller coaster ride of ups and downs.

*
Struggles, pain, and joys abound
Making me stronger // standing my ground;
Becoming the man who bears my name.
The image of my creator reflected in my face;
Not perfect // but full of love and amazing grace…
A shadow of the divine embracing a much better place.

*
Life goes on be it here or there…
In our children // in their children
His face is everywhere;
Reflections of love immeasurable power…
Strength for today and hope for each hour
Passing on down through the thread of life
So fragile // so dear // so full of strife

*
If this were to be my last day,
With sorrow’s leaving I would surely say,
“I’m not gone I’m here to stay!”

Photo: Dwight L. Roth

Today at d’Verse, we were asked to write a poem written with the first person “I am” included in it.  This is a poem about ourselves. This poem looks a life from my aging perspective, realizing that even though I may pass on, my life goes on. We are created in the image of our creator and that is in our DNA. It gets passed on from me to my children and grandchildren. So in that perspective life goes on.

Join us at: https://dversepoets.com