Light in the Darkness

Reach for the Light

Trees reach for the light

Following the sun

As it reclines on the edge of the world

Knowing that without light

There is no life

In a world filled with darkness

My soul rises toward the light

Evil presses in to overwhelm me

Terrors of darkness distract

Let your spirit rise with mine

Reach for the (sun)/son

An example for everyone to follow

Source of Light and Life

Always shining never hiding

Spirit touching spirit

Reflecting the Light of God’s Love

My escape

From the eternal darkness around me

Politics as Usual

Politics as Usual

Raspy murder of crows sit on the Capital power lines

Feeling the hum of 25,000 volts flow between their claws

Sharpening their lies, innuendos, and accusations

against their rival ravens

Discussing how they can harness all this power

for their own personal gain…

While more children died today

from unpredictable gun violence…

And the Eagle flies and cries alone

Photo: Dwight L. Roth

Today at d’Verse Ingrid asked to write a poem from the Corvid family of birds.  As the nation morns and parents cry once again, I chose to write about the politicians who can’t seem to get the job done. This time it is 19 elementary school children and 2 teachers in Texas shot today by a deranged teenager, in their school classroom. This is unthinkable! My sad condolences to the families.

Join us at: https://dversepoets.com

The Atrocities of Being Right

On this anniversary of the violent attack on the US capital, I thought perhaps this poem is a good one to reflect on as we think about the motivation behind it all. It a time when the country is divided politically and philosophically, it all boils down to who is right!  When one is convinced, he/she is right anything can and will happen. We never seem to learn from history. Religion and Politics have both lost their way time and time again.

This poem is written from a semi-theological point of view but crosses over into all aspects of being right. 

Who decides what is right or wrong?

This question is decided before we’re born

So, who is really right and who is all wrong?

Really depends on where you’re born

In India, in Iran, in China or Japan

Truth there is dealt a different hand

*

So sad the atrocities that have been done

Killing and maiming and burning the one

Who might disagree with our chosen one

*

How many buildings must we burn

Or suicide bombers take their turn

Is life not important?

Have we no regard?

As long as we’re right killing is not hard

All is done in the name of our cause

Blessings on us and curses abroad

*

What atrocities we’ve exacted

On the brotherhood of man

Torture, stoning, and fire, is our plan

With bombs and guns and deadly airplanes

*

All because “WE” have the “truth”

*

We forget that in the heart of every man

Love crosses every span

Love can bridge the gulf of war

Of bombs, of hate and so much more

Ironic that in every Book

Loving your neighbor is what it took

*

To change the world, it takes God’s love

Overcoming hate comes from above

Stop the atrocities // demanding our rights

The truth of God’s Love is what brings Light

*

Race, Religion, Politics, and Creed

Will one day disappear

Only God’s love will still be there

So believe what you choose, and be happy in it

But don’t demand that all must fit in it

Your perception of right or wrong

Will one day soon be gone

Only Love remains!

I Corinthians 13

*

Dwight L. Roth 12-2014

Painting; Dwight L. Roth

Sharing for open link night at d’Verse Poets Pub.

Join us at: https://dversepoets.com

It Bothers Me

It Bother’s Me

Something about being right

Stirs righteousness indignation

Even when I am sometimes wrong

*

It’s that visceral fire that lights

Every time my buttons are pushed

*

As life’s paradigm shifts

It bothers me when I know I’m right

When no one addresses the real problem

*

Today at d’Verse, De Jackson asked us to write a Quadrille of exactly 44 words using the word Bother!

As I get older, there are a lot of things that bother me, especially when I watch the evening news. It bothers me how things get twisted to fit an agenda, while the heart of the problem gets little or no mention. Perhaps I am getting to old to worry about it. But it still bother’s me greatly!

Join us at: https://dversepoets.com

Photo: Dwight L. Roth

My 12 page children’s book Dreamer is available on a pdf. printable format for anyone who would enjoy a free copy. Just email me your request at dwru27@aol.com This was my spin-off from Lillian’s prompt last Monday!

Steps Toward Peace

Zig Zag steps climb toward

peace, while senseless violence reigns

Flowers pray for Light

***

Photo: Dwight L. Roth

Violent Ideology

When ideology supersedes the common good

the cause becomes a righteous one;

Rhetoric gets substituted for truth

and action replaces common sense.

*

Trying to guard our constitutional rights

while neglecting our social contract…

“that all men are created equal”…

is a failure of moral responsibility.

*

If we are to survive as a country

we must show one another

respect and dignity

in the face of disagreement.

*

Without cooperation and compromise

our dreams get squelched by violence

as we implode on ourselves…

knowing WE are right!

Painting: Dwight L. Roth

My poem today was inspired by thoughts from John Paul Lederach’s Saturday news letter , The Pause.

John Paul Lederach 
Senior Fellow at Humanity United and Professor Emeritus at the University of Notre Dame University.

Winter of my Mind (in this summer of my life)

I am in the winter of my mind, where shadows creep

and darkness comes early // seeming never to sleep…

closing in and overshadowing my thoughts.

 

Creativity remains with each bright new day

bringing a spot of sunshine from friends far away

of like minded bloggers and a few online friends.

 

I must close off the darkness // of  “hurricane News”

and “tornadoes of fear” // with darkness infused

leaving my mind destroyed by what I hear.

 

I’ll go back to my writing and pretend not to see

the streets in upheaval and the mothers who plea

for children caught in the crossfire // each day, it seems.

 

For truth these days seem more one’s perception

with marching politicians and Covid physicians

and dissent is met with racial accusations.

Photo; Dwight L. Roth

I am sharing this on open link night at d”Verse poets night.  With all that has been going on the past five months, I feel a little stir-crazy at times. Seems a lot of others feel the same way from all chaos I  see happening across the country, on the evening news. It pains me to see children shot, and no one seems to raise a voice or carry a sign for them. Very sad indeed! These are some of my thoughts as I stay in my cocoon!

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I got my inspiration for this poem today, after reading Lynn’s Poem this morning:

window to writer’s world

Choices

It pains my heart to see the way one policeman’s deadly action has reopened the door to division and strife that has been stewing for years in the United States. Peaceful protests are very much in order, but the violence of opportunistic looters and destructive vandalism in no way honors the memory of George Floyd. How can one call for respect when their actions show otherwise. The lack of wisdom and understanding in this situation is very disheartening!

Choices affect everyone;
changing the course of a nation
Choices are the difference between life and death;
altering the lives of everyone around us.
Wise choices lead to life…

“Above all, seek wisdom and understanding…” Proverbs

Painting: Dwight L. Roth

History Repeats

Seems we never learn from history, so we are doomed to repeat our mistakes over and over again.  The Civil Rights era of the 1960s was a violent time of racial prejudice and hate played out on the streets of the South. Here we are almost forty years later still repeating the prejudice, hate and violence against our fellow men.

Today’s events

Take me back to the sixties

“Blowin’ in the Wind“

*****

“How many ears must one man have

before he can hear people cry?”

Bob Dillon –  Blowin in the Wind

Photo: Dwight L. Roth

My preference is Peter, Paul and Mary’s version of the song. Click below to listen…

 

Katydid Still Sings

Once again we hear of senseless shootings in El Paso, Texas and Dayton, Ohio. In a world filled with stress and divisiveness this has sadly become something to be expected.  Without addressing the root problem of mental illness it will continue on into the future. The song of the Katydid reminds us that life will go on in spite of us.

Sounds of shots echo

Evil rears its ugly head

Katydid still sings

*

Photo: Public Domain

Frank Tassone asks us to write a Haikai poem that includes the Katydid.

Join us at:  https://frankjtassone.com/2019/08/04/haikai-challenge-98-8-4-19-katydid-kirigirisu-haiku-senryu-haibun-tanka-haiga-renga/