A SPLAYED FERN’S FROND
TAPS A DANCE ACROSS THE SURFACE STILL
A SWIRLS QUIET REPOSE IN A SHADED POOL
REACHED TO THE BRIM CASCADES IT’S FILL
A FRESHET HELD NO LONGER AT WILL
OVER GRASPING ROOTS OF A HEMLOCK HUG
THE MENDING YET MIGHTY STREAM
SKIRTS THE LIP AS IF MAD WITH JOY
FROM A TURN OF FROLIC
AND A FROTH OF TOSS
DAPPLING THE DARK AND GREY
STONE CORRIDOR OF LICHEN AND MOSS
NOW THRILLED THIS ONCE QUIET RILL
WHITTLES A VALLEY ALONG ITS WAY
FOR WHO KNOWS FOR WHICH IT FLOWS
OR GOES

A native of New Hampshire, Ron Roberts recently retired from a life of working with his hands. From his early days on a family farm to a career as an industrial welder boilermaker, he has always felt a kinship to the land. Comfortable working with timber, granite and soil, Ron, with his wife of 32 years, raised their family in a home he designed and built in Stratham. Only recently has he turned his artistic talents from timber frames and barn raising to poetry and photography as displayed here, from his self-published book “LABOR and LOVE.”