Nature is my Muse

Today at d’Verse, Ingrid asked us to write a poem describing our muse. In the past poets were often inspired by a person who stimulated their imagination and brought life to their poems. My muse is Nature. One thing I enjoy as much as writing is getting a good nature shot. The bees and butterflies, birds and flowers all feed into my poetry in some way. When my mind goes dry, I can always count on my photo files to get my juices flowing.

Inspiration flows

from Nature’s muse to my thoughts

Honey of the mind

Photos: Dwight L. Roth

Join us at: https://dversepoets.com

Floating… or Floating?

Yesterday, our d’Verse Poets Pub prompt was on using Minimalist Photography as a source of poetic inspiration. “Minimalist photography often pays attention to one single subject in its composition, using nature as its background representative subject matters include geometric patterns, lines and textures, which can range between an apple, a mountain or a bridge, to name a few examples.” ~ Minimalist photography – Wikipedia

I took this photo last Sunday at a local park. When you view the photo you cannot miss the small bottle standing out in all that sea of color. The abstract water reflections surrounding the beer bottle give the illusion that it is floating in mid-air! I love the effects of the gently moving water distorting the reflections from the canopy above.

Bottle suspended

By lake water or by air?

Green canopy shines

Photo: Dwight L. Roth

More Memories of Travel on the Rhine 2019

Kiser Wilhelm at Coblenz

Fortress at Coblentz

Cruising on the Rhine

Fallen Heroes Memorial at Colblentz

Sunset on the Rhine

Industries all along the Rhine

Bridge checkpoint on the Rhine

View of the Cologne Cathedral from our room

Our ride up the Rhine

Open air seating in Strasbourg

Evening on the Rhine

Cruising up the Rhine

Tourists packed on a cruise ship

Only mem’ries now

Thank You!

This week I passed 5000 followers on Word Press. Seems like an impossible dream for me. I thought it was really something when I reached a hundred followers. Then it was three, then five and now five thousand followers!
I am most grateful to all of you for your friendship, inspiration, and kind support. I learned to know so many people from all over the world who appreciate poetry and enjoy my photos and art work. You have been most generous with your likes and comments.

Here are a few thoughts on creating a successful blog:

* Write your blog because it makes you feel good.

* Be authentic in your writing… share your life and imaginations.

* Colorful photos are a great eye-catcher and compliment your work.

* Don’t try to imitate or copy someone else’s style of writing.

* Keep posts short and crisp. Say what you say and stop!

* Present a variety of subjects that are unique and interesting.

* Join a group of bloggers who enjoy what you do.

*Most importantly practice networking:
-Put likes, comments, and follows on other people’s blogs.
-Always respond when someone takes time to comment on
your work. Thank yous are important!
-Develop personal life interactions with some of your bloggers.
-Plan to spend a lot of time each day on your blog.

*As followers, increase you won’t be able to read everyone’s blog who follows you, but it is important to check in with them from time to time.

Have fun and see the world through others! Thank you for being a part of my life!

Dwight

P.S. … and I am still using the Free Word Press Blog!

 

Silly is as Silly does…

Silly is as silly does // riding a horse that has no fuzz

Sunglasses all askew // he knew he was Mr. Cool

A three year old’s imagination // carries on through generations

Laughing hilariously at silly stuff // seems we never get enough

Full of grit he rides his steed /// if you’re in his path better take heed

Although it was so long ago // seems like only yesterday you know

Silly is as silly does // these photos fill our hearts with love

Photo: Dwight L. Roth

Today at d’Verse, Lillian asked us to be lighthearted and Silly. This is my son from many years ago.   You can join us at:  https://dversepoets.com   Smile!!

One of the things I am doing during this time in seclusion is to go through our old albums and copy the best of them photos with my iPhone. It makes very sharp copies which I then load into my laptop for editing. We probably all have photos in acetate that faded and lost their original color. I found if you use the editing tools in your computer you can turn them into nice sharp black and white photos.  This is much better than tossing them!

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It just dawned on me that this was supposed to be Quadrille Monday. (only 44 words) My apologies to Lillian for doing a double Quadrille. I got carried away with the prompt and forgot what I was doing!!  Must be getting old! I turned another year older today!!

 

Short-lived Masterpieces

Day after day // year after year
The ocean paints masterpieces.
Wonderful designs come and go
Ebb layers paint
Brushed out with the flow;
In sepia tone colors
they put on quite a show.

If you care to take note
As you walk real slow…
A masterpiece of nature
Appears in each flow.
Better have a camera
If that masterpiece you would keep;
‘Else it will be gone…
The painter never sleeps

Photo: Dwight L. Roth

Today we have Open Link at d’Verse, where we can post a poem of our choice. We spent a couple of warm days at the beach this week where the ocean’s art work in the surf was spectacular. This poem comes from the awesome masterpieces I saw while we were there. The photos are just a couple of many wonderful abstracts on the sand!

Join us at:  https://dversepoets.com

Sorting History

Siblings sift photos

From boxes and albums past

Reviewing childhood

Picking and saving a few

What can we do with the rest?

 

Photos: Dwight L.Roth

Open Link night at d’Verse. This is my poem from our day in Edmonton, Alberta.

Join us at: https://dversepoets.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Snowy Day (A Hai bun)

One of most beautiful things to watch is snow falling on a winter day. We had a snowfall a couple of weeks ago that left everything covered with a  coating of about four inches of white snowflakes. Watching the snow fall is like a day at the beach, very therapeutic. Today I am sharing with you some of the short lived beauty of  our winter snowfall. Enjoy!!

Dancing flakes of ice

Getting their fifteen minutes…

Knowing clock’s ticking

Photos: Dwight L. Roth

Mirrors

 

Who needs mirrors //we have selfies!

Gone are the days of looking in the mirror

Only to leave and forget what we saw

Now we have photos // permanent images

Wild and crazy images posted across the net

So close, we can count the pimples and pinch the zits

Mirrors are so uncertain //fleeting images

Liars we can rationalize and refute

Going back to pretending dementia

Just like the scale’s high numbers

But with Selfies, the narcissistic addiction

We are so enraptured with ourselves

We think others on the web will all agree

Perhaps we need to go back

Look in the mirror and leave it there

Selfies make liars of all

“Like” is a relative term

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Clip Art: Dreamtime.com

Our poetry challenge prompt today on d”Verse comes from Bjorn, who asks us to write a poem about mirrors.  Any poem using the word mirror is ok. Come visit us at d’Verse~Poetry Pub.

https://dversepoets.com/

 

Life is a Collection

Life is a Collection

From birth announcement to death certificate

Life is a collection of items saved or tossed

Valued pieces set aside and preserved

Carefully kept along with memories

Bronzed shoes remembering first steps

Crayoned pictures from primary school

A red heart with an “I love you mom!”

Certificates in a box mark accomplishments

Cards from special people for special occasions

Jewelry passed down from mother to daughter

Memories of Grandmother reading stories

Trips taken, cups and teaspoons collected and saved

Photos in the family album now transferred to digital

Grandmother’s china carefully set for special occasions

A box of keepsakes valued only by me

A pocket knife, a baseball card, cufflinks, a bowtie

Memories soon to be forgotten by those coming after

Preserved history like the rings on a tree

Soon to be cut down and chipped into paper

Recording their memories of the future

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Photo of the Russian Dolls and Spike the Tomato : Dwight L. Roth

Read the story of Spike the Tomato on my Amazon Kindle collection….