Roots lying unseen
Giving strength to what is seen
The same with our Faith
Photo: Dwight L. Roth
roots
To Be a Leaf…
Oh… to be a leaf, t’would be a delight
High in a tree on a warm summer’s night
Poking my head out the door
Warm seduction of spring calls me fore
Coming out half dressed in the morning light
A red bathing beauty all shiny and bright
Stretching extending my fingers unfurl
Semi-frosty nights will nip at the curl
Turning green without envy my hands open wide
No jealousy here I’m filled with pride
Ever expanding to the size of a hand
Not to be shaken by woman or man
Blown in the wind by breeze and ‘cane
Hands lifted in praise then baptized by rain
Waving high over lovers’ joy without end
Old folks and children consider me their friend
Enduring the heat of hot summer’s blast
Knowing all too soon it will be past
Blushing with color… yellow, orange, and red
My crowning glory before I land with the dead
Photographed by families, travelers, and friends
A model’s envy we all join hands
Waving our boughs and then we’re gone
Floating to the earth but I’m not alone
Lying with friends we await our fate
Raked in piles while the children wait
Jumping and squealing they all roll and tumble
All in a pile as big brothers grumble
Bagged and stacked on the curb for recycling
Back to the garden it’s not really frightening.
Or perhaps simply falling staying were we alight
Putting roots to bed for the long winter’s night
Photo: Dwight L. Roth
A rerun for Fall!
You Can’t See My Roots
You cut me making me bleed
Liquid of life flows down my trunk
You strike and bruise me tearing my skin
Yet I stand tall // strong and mighty
For you can’t see my roots
*
You cut off my branches take off all my leaves
Thinking surely he will die
You burn me stripping me bare
Leaving me exposed to the elements
Yet I stand tall // strong and mighty
For you can’t see my roots
*
You cut me down to a stump and haul away my trunk
Not much of me left to show
“Surely we have killed him this time…
He has nothing left // his strength is gone”
They do not know // they cannot tell I will rise again
I will come back with exponential strength
For my strength is in my roots
Photo: Dwight L. Roth
Posting on d’Verse open link night… Join us at: https://dversepoets.com
Nature’s Breakdown
Nature recycles
Changing matter never stops
Just like you and me
Even solid rock
crumbles… flakes away in time
Just like you and me
Photos: Dwight L. Roth
Your Roots
Beneath every tree are roots
Holding… interlocking… feeding
Bringing strength foundation
Roots the source of all beauty we see
looking at a tree
You’ve heard, “Behind every successful man
is a good woman.”
My mother was that good woman
holding interlocking our family
feeding… caring for each one.
My father was a pillar of the community
on strength and nourishment
of my mom who was always there for him.
An unsung hero
she was the roots of our tree.
Without her none of us would be
standing as we are today.
My father died at age 70. My mom lived to be 93!
Photos; Dwight L. Roth
On and Off
Painting by: Piet Mondrian, ‘Broadway Boogie Woogie’, 1942-43, moma.org
Kim at d’Verse, introduced us to the painting above, and asked that we use it as inspiration for our *Haibun Monday. As I looked at the implication of streets and intersections, I thought that would be too obvious to write about. My wife thought it looked like a circuit board, which really connected with me.
Circuit boards have gone from large boards of soldered tubes, transistors, capacitors, and switches to boards so small you can’t even see the pathways. My hearing aids have four channels and three volume settings, and are hidden neatly behind each ear. Pushing one button controls both at the same time. Now we have wrist watches that can check body functions and even do electrocardiograms. Who knows what they will come up with next.
Hidden solder paths
Connect on and off switches
Summer tree roots ‘twined
******
*Haibuns are a form of Japanese Poetry with two or three short crisp paragraphs of prose followed by a traditional Haiku, that references a season.
Join us at: https://dversepoets.com
Laid to Rest
Leaves are laid to rest;
Blanketing the ground around the stones
of those already laid to rest.
Golden brown they fall
scattering in the wind // drifting gently;
A covering for those who have already
passed the winter of their life…
and those who left much too soon.
Soon the oak will be bare of leaves
its branches reaching up toward the blue sky.
Standing tall and stately over the cemetery
it knows when Spring comes
new life
will be drawn from its roots.
And, when this winter is past
it will put out new leaves
that will, once again, shade those
who have already been laid to rest.
Photo: Dwight L. Roth
I am also posting this for d’Verse Poets Pub open link night.
Join us at: https://dversepoets.com
Rooted in the Rocks
Along the banks of the James River, in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia, we found this giant oak tree, standing seventy or more feet tall. It was obvious that over the years flood waters washed against the roots exposing them to the elements. The roots adapted by covering themselves with bark. But even more importantly, they embedded themselves between the layers of uplifted rock. As a result of these muscular roots, the tree has withstood the ravages of nature and still stands today!
Oak’s muscular roots
Flex against layers of stone
Branches reach the sky
*
Photo: Dwight L. Roth
Posted on open link night at d’Verse Poets Pub
Join us at: https://dversepoets.com
Rise
Red Maple seed floats merrily on wings;
hoping to find a place from which to rise.
Landing between the crack of a rock;
with little soil, and almost no chance of survival;
it puts down a root;
forever changing the future of that rock!
**********
Photo: Dwight L. Roth
Quadrille Monday, and Merril, at d’Verse, asked us to use some form of the word rise. I decided to put a little different Spring twist to it and came up with this Quadrille of exactly 44 words.
Join us at: https://dversepoets.com
You Can’t See My Roots
You Can’t See My Roots
You cut me making me bleed
Liquid of life flows down my trunk
You strike and bruise me tearing my skin
Yet I stand tall // strong and mighty
For you can’t see my roots
*
You cut off my branches take off all my leaves
Thinking surely he will die
You burn me stripping me bare
Leaving me exposed to the elements
Yet I stand tall // strong and mighty
For you can’t see my roots
*
You cut me down to a stump and haul away my trunk
Not much of me left to show
Surely we have killed him this time
He has nothing left // his strength is gone
They do not know // they cannot tell I will rise again
I will come back with exponential strength
For my strength is in my roots
Roth Poetry 