Ancient sea beds convulsing // rise into tall peaks
born of mud and salt water // as ancient stories
exposed slowly wear away // inevitably
with earth’s constant climate change // not controlled by man
Photos: Dwight L. Roth
Today at d’Verse, Laura has us writing a Japanese form of poetry called Imayo, withe our prompt being Rocks.
Join us at: https://dversepoets.com
Pisgah National Forest
Water roars over Looking Glass Falls
Thunder booms… Lighting flashes
Tons of shale hang out over the falls
unfazed by natures fury
*****
Photos: Dwight L. Roth
This is a poem I wrote a year or two ago. I reworked it and added to it so I could present it for an upcoming Old Mountain Press Anthology. I got word today that it has been accepted.
Imprints From the Past
Can you imagine a few eons ago when the seabeds shivered?
Earth’s crust groaned and cracked uplifting ancient sediments covering all
embedding living crustaceans in layers of mud and sand.
Hot molten lava sealed their fate forever in layers of stone.
Then, folding ripples of sandstone built the Appalachian Mountains.
Until…
One summer thirty years ago, I searched and found a chunk of rock.
Solid sandstone lay buried there on a western Virginia mountainside.
A new road cut into the ridge and rocks were pushed aside.
I found a chunk weathered and worn, but with faint imprints outside.
Excited, I cracked it open with my hammer to see what was locked inside.
As pieces fell apart from the whole, stunning treasures could no longer hide.
Creatures from a million years ago were perfectly preserved inside.
When I taught elementary school back in the 90s, I collected rock wherever I traveled to use in my classroom when we studied rocks and minerals. This was a wonderful find for me. It came from a camp that my boys were attending. I knew there were some fossils in the stream that ran through the camp, but when I found this rock halfway up the ridge, I was very excited. Cracking open the rocks revealed the unweathered fossils were just as they were when they were first formed. I thought I had lost these when we moved, but I found them today when I was cleaning up my garage.
Fossil Photos from Highland Retreat Camp: Dwight L. Roth
Even the river
flows across rocky rapids
crashes //churning white
thunders over rocky falls
Smooth flow continues
How many lifetimes
we have stayed in river’s flow
carrying life’s mud
eroding jagged edges
Then we drop it all
In the estuary of life
*
Photo: Dwight L. Roth
Foundations
No matter how solid
Crumble in time
*
Photo: Dwight L. Roth
Shared on d’Verse Poets Pub open link night
Rocky Mount, North Carolina is the place where the Coastal Plane meets the Piedmont. This location is called the Fall Line. It is defined by the place on the Tar River where you can no longer paddle upstream. As you can see, the Rocks emerging from the river make it impossible. The Fall Line stretches across several of the Eastern States running right through Rocky Mount. It is often marked with water falls flowing from upper level of the Piedmont to the lower level of the sandy Coastal Plane. At this point, cargo and boats had to be portaged across the falls, in order to continue the journey.
Towns grew up along the Fall Line because of the power that was gained from the river; and because this became the stopping off place for early explorers, as they traveled to the interior of the country. If you look across the river you can see Rocky Mount Mills. It was a cotton mill for many years, powered by the Tar River dam. It had its own electric generator that provided power to the machines. It is now being renovated into office space and restaurants.
Life’s flow starts smoothly
Only to find rocks waiting
Midlife marks Fall Line
Can we get past life’s challenge
Some can’t get beyond the rocks
Others rise above
Finding smoother sailing there
Whitewater ahead
Life’s wild ride
Photos: Dwigth L. Roth
Rocks don’t impede flow
Just make life more exciting
Before the sublime
Photos: Dwight L. Roth
Stones shattered // scattered
Revealing Earth’s upheaval
Iron-powdered sandstone
Ocean waves grind away cliffs
Even Rocks crumble with time
***
Photo: Dwight L. Roth
Mountains majestic / rising tall above us all
Solid and strong they stand immovable.
Until shaken, they crumble and tumble;
their strength broken and their high position
brought low, scattered across the landscape.
You see, mountains are simply rocks waiting to crumble…
Even the tallest mountains turn to sand in time.
Sand is the great equalizer!
Photos: Dwight L. Roth
‘Twas with storm and October gale she ripped the sail
Shredded last threads flapping / faceless flag without stripes
Into the gale / fearless calm / face of moon-ash-pale
Fate assured / as many feared the Orca axed rock’s sharp scrape
*
Tsumami waves… his pall bearers strong / buried him deep
neath igneous rocks, casket solid, lasting a thousand years
Pale moon shredding tears / hidden from all in view’s keep
Fate assured / guiding light / riding gears of hopeless fears
*
Now each October 31st she walks / cold quartz beneath her feet
Pale Moon brightly shines / smiles / mist kissing her ashen face
This night her last walk / gang plank of sand / calls from the deep
Assured fate / drawn to his siren song / moon follows her last trace
Waves wash the chalkboard clean….
Spectors walk hand in hand in the full moon’s light….
Painting: Dwight L. Roth
Today at d’Verse, Lucy is the guest host and asked us to write a dark ballad. October has many aspects of this ending with Halloween. I am not into murder, blood, or gore, so I wrote my ballad about a salor lost in a storm and his love who cannot take the loss any longer! Hope you enjoy it along with my painting that I entitled “All is Lost”.
Join us at: https://dversepoets.com Then click the Mr. Linkey box to read some of the other poets poems.
Roth Poetry 