Treasuring Poetry – Meet poet and blogger Dwight Roth and a review

Posted: June 10, 2026 | Author: robbiesinspiration | Filed under: Book Review, Books, Interview, Review, Treasuring Poetry | Tags: Bones of Inspiration, Book Review, Dwight Roth, Interview, Poetry, Robbie Cheadle, Treasuring Poetry, Writing to be Read |Leave a comment

A riverbed with stones, water, and grasses. Text: Treasuring Poetry with Robbie Cheadle and KAye Lynne Booth

Today I am delighted to introduce you to poet and blogger Dwight Roth. Dwight has a beautiful blog which you can find here: https://rothpoetry.wordpress.com/roth-poetry-home-page/. Dwight shares poetry, his lovely paintings, and other craft work on his blog.

Welcome Dwight

Tell us a bit about your writing journey and how you came to write poetry

Reading and writing were very hard for me in primary school. It seems like it took me until I got to the fifth grade to begin catching on to how learning worked. Over the years I dabbled in writing. I wrote songs that I played on the guitar and some poems in freestyle. What little I about poetry, knew was what I learned in my literature classes in high school and college.

After I retired, I began to participate in a live poetry reading at the Indian Trail Cultural arts center in 2013. It was led by Kym Moore, whom some of you know from our Word press blog. I began collecting my poems and had them printed into a booklet form at the local Office Max. She encouraged me to post my poems on a blog.

She introduced me to Word Press and in 2016 I decide to try and joined the Word Press blogging group. It was there I found a poetry community of people who enjoyed my poetry and it took off from there. I made so many wonderful friends over the years and found d’Verse Poets Pub to be a great help in learning to understand poetry in its many forms.

Kym also connected me with Tom Davis, editor of Old Mountain Press, who was a great help in writing my memoirs. He publishes a poetry anthology quarterly which I have contributed to for the past ten years.

I posted my photos and poems every day for over five years. My poems were all written in digital form so I got them published in spiral bound books at the local Office Max. I now have published ten books of poems and several children’s book along with a few my memoirs. Some of them can be found on Amazon Kindle.

Writing poetry has change my life and added purpose to my retirement years.

What is your favourite style of poetry to read?

My poetry of choice is freestyle but I do love writing haiku as well. Saying a lot with a few words is a fun challenge.

Share your favourite poem by another poet and why

I love the work of Billy Collins. His freestyle approach to the ordinary and everyday is so enjoyable to read or listen to. This was the first poem I ever read of his work. There was an immediate connection.

Aimless Love by Billy Collins

This morning as I walked along the lakeshore,

I fell in love with a wren

and later in the day with a mouse

the cat had dropped under the dining room table.

In the shadows of an autumn evening,

I fell for a seamstress

still at her machine in the tailor’s window,

and later for a bowl of broth,

steam rising like smoke from a naval battle.

This is the best kind of love, I thought,

without recompense, without gifts,

or unkind words, without suspicion,

or silence on the telephone.

The love of the chestnut,

the jazz cap and one hand on the wheel.

No lust, no slam of the door –

the love of the miniature orange tree,

the clean white shirt, the hot evening shower,

the highway that cuts across Florida.

No waiting, no huffiness, or rancor –

just a twinge every now and then

for the wren who had built her nest

on a low branch overhanging the water

and for the dead mouse,

still dressed in its light brown suit.

But my heart is always propped up

in a field on its tripod,

ready for the next arrow.

After I carried the mouse by the tail

to a pile of leaves in the woods,

I found myself standing at the bathroom sink

gazing down affectionately at the soap,

so patient and soluble,

so at home in its pale green soap dish.

I could feel myself falling again

as I felt its turning in my wet hands

and caught the scent of lavender and stone.

What is your favourite of your own poems and why?

As I get older, I enjoy pondering on life, death, and theology trying to understand what it all means.This poem is one that came from one of those times.

When My Spirit Rises by Dwight Roth

When my spirit rises

Unencumbered and free

No weight or worry accompanies me

Interesting that I value things

When in the end the spirit flies

Leaving them all behind

How much I worry and fret

But this too shall pass when I am gone

My spirit rises out of this shell

A virtual butterfly reborn

From caterpillar to chrysalis

Reborn in the image of God

Spirit, Creator, Redeemer, Savior

Knowing there is no place for the earthly

In the spirit world beyond

I can’t take it with me

But then again… Why would I want to

When my spirit rises

Leaving it all behind

What poetry projects are you currently working on?

My last project was a self-published book of poems called Bones of Inspiration.

I started publishing my own books using my home computer instead of going to Office Max. I have done the last three poetry books this way. I got a punch and bindings on Amazon that works very well for me. I print books for friends and family. I usually have about a hundred poems to compile every year or so. It is time consuming but I love the process.

My review of Bones of Inspiration by Dwight Roth

Picture caption: gorgeous cover of Bones of Inspiration by Dwight Roth

Dwight Roth is my kind of poet. He writes powerful and impactful poems and flash fiction using simple words and phrases. I don’t need a dictionary to read his work and his meanings and content are clear and precise. Dwight also writes about everyday issues and circumstances that I experience every day. This makes his poetry very relatable for me.

This collection covers a wide range of topics including love, fear, aging, and many others. He uses a technique of questioning in some of his poems which I also enjoy very much. An example of Dwight’s usage of this technique is in his poem Color in the Dark:

“What happens to color when the light goes out

Is the rainbow still there, dancing all about

Or do the colors all congeal to dark black ghosts

Spectors of nothingness seeking a place to float.”

Another beautifully written and insightful poem is about a time when the poet was seven years old and his mother was ill. He perfectly captures the confusion and anxiety of a young boy who doesn’t understand what’s going on but knows its a serious event in his family’s life. An intense extract from this poem, Childhood Trauma:

“Being only seven years old I did not know what to thing as they

carefully carried her down the steps and loaded her into

the back of the hearse that had windows on each side that

read: Honsaker’s Funeral Home – Masontown, Pa

It was a great relief to know the poet’s mother survived and lived to reach a good, old age.

My favourite poem in the collection is Silence … or My Noise of Choice. Although I do not suffer from tinnitus like the author does, I am often overwhelmed by the noise pollution living in a big city. During Covid lockdown, when I went outside to hang out the washing it was delightfully silent. I could write a poem in my head or listen to an audio book on low to entertain myself. Now that we are back to normal life, I find being outside very noisy. I can’t listen to an audio book even with the sound turned up because I can’t hear above the cars and motorbikes racing up the road or an airplane flying overhead. The neighbours play noisy music or speak loudly as do pedestrians on the road. I find the constant noise pollution very stressful. This is a short extract from this poem:

“Sounds around me seem to compete for attention

floating through my head competing with my tinnitus

constantly buzzing like high-pitched cicadas and little twitters.

To my left the return fan for the AC hums off and on

drowning out the questions on Jeopardy and the Wheel.

Finally, the AC fan goes off, the TV is shut off … Ahhh … peace and quiet

But no, as I settle back with my laptop and blog the fridge drops its ice”

If you enjoy honest, easy to read and relate to poetry that is well written and engaging, you will enjoy this delightful collection.

You can purchase Bones of Inspiration from Amazon US here: https://www.amazon.com/Bones-Inspiration-Poetry-enjoy-think-ebook/dp/B0GKQ3SDX3

About Dwight Roth

Picture caption: Amazon author photograph of Dwight Roth

Dwight Roth is a retired elementary school teacher of 29 years, who grew up in the mountains of Southwestern Pennsylvania. He enjoys writing, poetry, painting, and music. He enjoys participating in the Indian Trail Cultural Arts poetry group and has had works published in, and recent omp.com Anthologies. He has self-published three memoirs and a book of poetry two children’s books and three “a word from the Word” daily meditation books. He and his wife Ruth live near Monroe, NC.

You can find Dwight Roth on his blog here: https://rothpoetry.wordpress.com/

You can find Dwight Roth’s poetry collections and other books on Amazon US here: https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B017HW5AHG

About Robbie Cheadle

Picture caption: Robbie Cheadle author picture

South African author and illustrator, Robbie Cheadle, has written and illustrated sixteen children’s books, illustrated a further three children’s books, and written and illustrated three poetry books. Her work has also appeared in poetry and short story anthologies.

Robbie also has two novels and a collection of short stories published under the name of Roberta Eaton Cheadle and has horror, paranormal, and fantasy short stories featured in several anthologies under this name.

You can find Robbie Cheadle’s artwork, fondant and cake artwork, and all her books on her website here: https://www.robbiecheadle.co.za/

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This segment of “Treasuring Poetry” is sponsored by WordCrafter Press and the Poetry Treasures series.