The Sweetest way to Die

The Sweetest way to Die

There’s no one at home, I don’t hear a sound

Said one tiny ant to another deep under ground

No footsteps, no TV, no voices to be heard

*

Tiny ants were sent out to assess the situation

Came back with the assurance, of the house’s evacuation

Time for a house party, they all shouted hurrah!

*

Through cracks in the floor, windows, and walls

Tiny ants marched in and went straight to the pantry

Slipped into the Wheat Thins, and crawled in the chips

But their favorite of all, Hungry Jack’s Syrupy sip

Under the lid they squeezed through the cracks

Into that bottle of heavenly smack

*

This is so great said one to the other

So they sipped and imbibed until all were quite hyper

Drunk on the sweetness they couldn’t find their way

back out the top, so they were stuck for the day

*

What will we do the tiny ants cried

How will we get out of this bottle alive

No need to worry said the tiny ant leader

This is like heaven, life couldn’t be sweeter

*

So they sipped and they sighed, and then they all died

For we all know too much sugar can can kill our insides

They partied their life away in a sticky death’s  dance

*

And when we arrived home, she said,

“Oh no, we have ants!”

For our Tuesday prompt at d’Verse, Sarah asked us to write about creepy crawlers. I chose tiny ants, because when we came back from our family weekend at the beach the little buggers were all in our pantry. They were so small I could barely see them. My wife found them, and so instead of sitting down to catch our breath, we had to clean out the pantry and spray for tiny ants. This is my poem from the ants point of view. How did they know we weren’t at home??

Join us at: https://dversepoets.com

Photos: Dwight L. Roth

Watermelon

Fruit of the vine of a different kind

Encased in green and white rind

Thick cartilage pulp protects the sweetness

Cut through the rind for a sea of sweet goodness

Red pulp encasing seeds of life

Black and white they live without strife

Spit the seeds and savor the pulp

Melts in your mouth with each big gulp

Juices running down both sides of your mouth

Savoring the goodness // it’s summer in the South

For our d’Verse prompt, Kim asked us to write a poem about a fruit, both before and after it is cut. I decided to call watermelon a fruit, full of sweet goodness.

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Photo; Free photos on bing

*Botanically Speaking. Any botanist worth his salt will tell you that watermelons are fruit, and believe it or not, they actually are placed in the “berry” subset of fruit.

*Ask a Gardener. A backyard gardener may classify watermelon as a vegetable based on gardening techniques. …

Bing search

Honey-makers

Today we had lunch and a great visit with some old friends. Dan enjoys beekeeping in his back yard. He built the hive tower from plans he found on the internet. He had some difficulty this spring with the hive swarming up into a tree, but he was finally able to coax them back into the hive. He is hoping they will continue to make honey as seen through the glass window. Each layer has a glass window so he can monitor their progress.

Pure natural sweetness

Organic gold stored in wax

We take a quick peek

Dan and his Bee Hive

Arrival and departure gate

Making Honey Combs

Bee Hives

IPhone Photos: Dwight L. Roth

Obsidian Dreams

Oh, blackberry bush // mine and mine alone

How beautifully green your leaves caught the light

Your plump ripe obsidian berries shone

Delectable sweetness // my tongue’s delight

*

But oh // gentle caution must be taken

As leaves part and berries are plucked

Roughness leaves bramble scars

***

Photo: Dwight L. Roth

Our d’Verse prompt today from Linda is bramble.  We are writing a Quadrille of exactly 44 words.

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The Close of the Day

Rain pours down at the close of the day
Thunder rolls
The storm blows through
Earth is refreshed
Lilacs are blooming…
So close I can smell their fragrance
floating through my screen door.
I drink in Spring’s goodness
at the close of the day.

Photo: Dwight L. Roth

Quadrille Monday at d’Verse and De Jackson asked us to use the word close or a form of it in our poem of exactly 44 words.

Join us at: https://dversepoets.com

 

Gumballs

Before I moved to North Carolina, I thought gumballs were those giant bubblegum balls you could get from a machine at the entrance of a store.  You put your nickel/quarter in the slot, turn the handle, and the ball would drop and roll into the cup below.  Then, I moved into a house with five giant sweetgum trees. They are a Southern specialty, very prolific in their production of spiky gumballs. The balls produce seeds that open and drop out or get eaten by birds in the Fall. The hard shells, covered in sharp spikes, keep falling all winter long. Just when you think you have raked the last of them, the wind come through and down comes another layer! As you can tell, I like the sweet bubblegum balls much better!

Sweet gumballs // all sugar

Not found on a Sweetgum Tree

Fall gumballs dropping

*

Hard prickly seedless shells

Hundreds cover my backyard

Photos: Dwight L. Roth

Cookies Anyone?

Some photos don’t need an explanation. These sweet little girls and their moms were outside our restaurant this evening selling Girl Scout Cookies!  It doesn’t get any better than this… Poetry Without Words!

Photo: Dwight L. Roth

Spring Around the World

 

Spring arrives in the northern hemisphere all around the globe.  I was communicating with Inge Wesdijk today, who lives in the Netherlands. She works with Karen O’Leary to edit Whispers. an online poetry publication. Poets from all over the world contribute to it.  She saw that I enjoy photographing flowers to put on my blog, so she sent me this beautiful photo of Spring apple blossoms in the Netherlands. She graciously allow me to use it on my blog, so this Tanka is for her.

Spring apple blossoms

Sweet fragrance to sweet taste

Rewards worth waiting 

Around the world they’re blooming

Fragile flowers // friends to bees

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Photo contributed by: Inge Wesdijk, Poetry Editor for Whispers

Check out Whispers here:

https://whispersinthewind333.blogspot.com/2018/05/special-feature-collaborative-poem-by_11.html

 

 

Rising Sweetness (a quadrille)

Naked Maples line the edge of the field

Shivering when March winds whisper

Hello!

Hints of warmth call forth

An adrenaline rush of sweetness

Rising in spongy bark. 

As spring calls each one by name

Spouts sink into bored trees

Knowing sweetness flows within

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This poem was accepted for publication in Whispers, an online poetry journal. Please check it out at:  http://whispersinthewind333.blogspot.com/  

Tree tapping photo: flicker.com

Today, Bjorn on d’Verse invited us to post a poem of our choice. I wrote this quadrille of exactly 44 words about the gathering of  rising sap in the sugar maples.

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