Uncategorized – Ronald Whetsell's Creative Writing and Poetry Blog

Death Doth Cry

The life beneath but skin and bone,Too soon gone, souls scream home,Jump rare beauty upon the dash,Iron clad hooves their rearing clash,Against the steel of Rome.War hammers render armor shine,Mail impaled with pikes and flail,To bludgeon flesh of sinewed flanks,Corrupt in pools of fear filled ranks.Splashing soup of blooded water,Drink for kings and royal daughters,WhoContinue reading “Death Doth Cry”

New Passions

What colleges have you attended? I spent my “working life” in finance and banking. My first job was door-to-door, collecting late mortgage payments while getting spit on and cussed out. It became clear that more education was important. The problem was that I already had a young family with all the accompanying bills and obligations.Continue reading “New Passions”

Ice Block

Near the Sea of Galilee

“So little, it’s impossible;five thousand need to eat,”But in His love and mercy,His bounty came complete. Five loaves of stale bread cracked,Rain fell like random crumbs,As Jesus prayed for man,In new life soon begun. Two fish, skin crinkled dry,From sands of moisture lost,In punnets passed ne’er emptied,His gratitude the cost. The fruit of love’s abundance,TheContinue reading “Near the Sea of Galilee”

Roads Not Taken

I thought about joining the Navy instead ofgetting married. I might have been a pilot,or a battleship commander – and diedat the bottom of the sea. I could haveplayed on the college baseball team,become an All-American or been that guy – the final cut. I considered retiring in the Sonoran Desert,joining the fat Saguaro cactusContinue reading “Roads Not Taken”

The Bus Ride to Indifference

I sit on the sunny side,no shade to hide the flashlight glarein my eyes. I turn away from theintruding fireball and see a prettylady next to me, dark as night. Shesits quietly, hands folded, rubbingher arthritic fingers.I can sympathize. She’s from Jamaica, Queens; aneighborhood in New York City.We both mumble somethingunintelligible as we pass aContinue reading “The Bus Ride to Indifference”

You’re writing your autobiography. What’s your opening sentence? The whoosh of the ocean’s waves lap the beach like a black lab. I can’t help but stop, and look, and listen. Creepy how the wet sand grips my feet. How did a little boy from small town Oklahoma get here on the edge of the mightyContinue reading

Brave Bull

I smash through the brushin the Hindu Kush, splattering cold rainwater,with its melting ice shards perched peacefullyon green leaves, where the snow leopardand two-inch thorns of the acacia honey locustlay hidden. I blow through and look backlike the toro bravo sufferingthe bullfighter’s sword. The red cape dripsa blood river into muddy rivuletscut by rain underContinue reading “Brave Bull”

If you had a million dollars to give away, who would you give it to? I would get half to my two daughters to split. Of the remaining half million, I would give $100,000 to my church, $200,000 to Saint Jude Hospital, $200,000 to Red Cross.

The 9/11 Stairwell

My words become a chant,“Follow in single line,We’ll all get out together,One step at a time.” Choking smoke thickens,The walls close in,A darkness squeezes the light,No sun to shine again. We stop to the rumbling,From above comes falling clutter,Sounds reach ever closer,Our stairs groan a shudder. One falls, then another,As I yell to go faster,IContinue reading “The 9/11 Stairwell”