Post No. 040: For My Friends, Part 5 — The Bright Sun Blessing

(Image from Transforming Truth)

The Bright Sun Blessing

How bright the sun
Warming your face!

How wise the star
Marking your path!

How full the moon
Guarding your rest!
__________

How clear the spring
Filling your well!

How fertile the soil
Yielding your seed!

How soft the breeze
Cooling your brow!
__________

How eternal the flame
Heating your hearth!

How sweet the love
Imbuing your home!

How kind the hand
Holding your own!

-Paul Whiting
(a.k.a., A Creative Writer)
"I maybe say too much about how life really is!"

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My Writing Notes:

The reason that I wrote this poem can be summed up with the following statement: I used to give poems as gifts for holidays and special occasions!

And I wrote this poem in as an any-occasion gift poem for anytime that I needed a heart-warming message, like a greeting card, but one general enough to be used for any special occasion.

And this poem was also published on my "Three Dark Horses" and "Small All White in the Forest" blogs (please see the hyperlinks below for the blogs), since I feel that the message in this poem applies to the message I am trying to convey through "Three Dark Horses" and "Small All White in the Forest." Plus, I feel that the message in this poem applies to the message I am trying to convey through my new "The Oneness Of God" spiritual practice!

This poem was written in Salt Lake City, Utah.

-Paulee

https://threedarkhorses.blogspot.com

https://smallallwhiteintheforest.blogspot.com

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This "Paul Whiting — A Creative Writer" Post No. 040 was edited on April 26th, 2026.

"Poetry is using the fewest words possible in order to describe all that is possible to describe." –Paul Whiting [June 1st, 2022]

Post No. 039: For My Friends, Part 4 — It Will Do

(Image from 7-themes.com)

It Will Do

What more can I
tell you of the way
I feel about you
that you don’t
already know?

Should I try to
conceal how deep
and still the water
of my trust is
drawn for you?

Would my lips—
blue in the undertaker's
dressing room—keep
silent my delight
for you?

Should I ineptly
proclaim the radiant sun
a candle, as to call
what burns inside
for you love?

Perhaps, it will do
to let what I feel flow
effortlessly to you, as
does the rising sea toward
the ascending moon.

-Paul Whiting
(a.k.a., A Creative Writer)
"I maybe say too much about how life really is!"

My Writing Notes:

The reason that I wrote this poem can be summed up with the following statement: This poem was inspired by "Chase" (which was his nickname) whom I met at a bookstore where we both worked. And we often got mistaken for "twin brothers," since we were so similar.

You see, we were friends for quite a while but, later on, we had a falling out over a multilevel marketing ('MLM') program in which we were both involved! You see, the MLM program direct marketed a great product called Intra® which is still sold "as a natural food supplement [that] helps balance and strengthen the body's systems with the essential nutrients that are lacking in most modern diets."

And using my credit cards, I paid for three of us (that is, Chase, plus his boyfriend, and I) to 'go direct' as Independent Distributors—which cost about $2,000 (as I recall) for each of us back in the early 1990s—so that we could all qualify to buy the Intra® product at the lowest possible wholesale price. But none of us were really 'salesmen' (or should I say 'salespersons'?) and we couldn't sell enough of the Intra® product in order to make money!

And, eventually, he gave me back all of the product that I bought for him and his boyfriend that they couldn't sell (plus, I still had my own product from that original purchase that I couldn't sell either—all of which I gave to my father, who simply loved Intra® as an "Herbal Juice Suitable for All Ages") and we never spoke to each other again!

But do not let that diminish your perception of Intra® which "is a precise formulation of 23 time-tested and trusted botanical extracts manufactured by Lifestyles Global Network Canada," because it really works!

And this poem was also published on my "Small All White in the Forest" blog (please see the hyperlink below for the blog), since I feel that the message in this poem applies to the message that I am trying to convey through "Small All White in the Forest."

This poem was written in Salt Lake City, Utah.

-Paulee

https://smallallwhiteintheforest.blogspot.com

This "Paul Whiting — A Creative Writer" Post No. 039 was edited on September 12th, 2023.

"Poetry is using the fewest words possible in order to describe all that is possible to describe." –Paul Whiting [June 1st, 2022]

Post No. 038: For My Friends, Part 3 — In An Envelope

(Image from mob.org)

In An Envelope

I cannot tell you
how much I care,

because my words
would be droplets

in a forest fire.

I cannot show you
how deeply I feel,

because my touch
would be starlight

in the autumn sun.

I cannot give you
all that I wish to,

because my adoration
would be the cosmos

in an envelope.

-Paul Whiting
(a.k.a., A Creative Writer)
"I maybe say too much about how life really is!"

My Writing Notes:

The reason that I wrote this poem can be summed up with the following statement: This poem was inspired by Gary who was "a total stud from the land of spuds!" He lived in Idaho and was 'married with children.' And Gary's wife knew that he was gay, but she had no problem still being married to him; however, I am not sure if his wife knew that he was sexually active with other men, since they were not sexually active anymore, due to his homosexuality. And, although I don't remember the specifics of how we met (I think we met at the antique store where I was working), we were "hot and heavy" for a while, whenever he came down to Utah from Idaho for his family-owned floral business.

And this poem was also published on my "Small All White in the Forest" blog (please see the hyperlink below for the blog), since I feel that the message in this poem applies to the message that I am trying to convey through "Small All White in the Forest."

This poem was written in Salt Lake City, Utah.

-Paulee

https://smallallwhiteintheforest.blogspot.com

This "Paul Whiting — A Creative Writer" Post No. 038 was edited on September 12th, 2023.

"Poetry is using the fewest words possible in order to describe all that is possible to describe." –Paul Whiting [June 1st, 2022]

Post No. 037: For My Friends, Part 2 — Do Not Ask Of Me

(Image from The Guardian)

Do Not Ask Of Me!

How can I love you?
How can I not?

Ask me instead
How I can possibly

Squint toward
The sun

Or stare at
The moon

Or lend an ear to
The rain

Or tiptoe through
The snow

Or wonder under
The butterfly

Or bumble around
The bee...

...But account for how
I can love you?

Do not ask of me!

-Paul Whiting
(a.k.a., A Creative Writer)
"I maybe say too much about how life really is!"

My Writing Notes:

The reason that I wrote this poem can be summed up with the following statement: This poem was inspired by Adam, my sister-in-law's coworker and friend. And she tried to "matchmake" Adam and I! You see, he and I dated for a while and he asked me once, "How can you love me?"

So, I answered him with this poem.

And this poem was also published on my "Small All White in the Forest" blog (please see the hyperlink below for the blog), since I feel that the message in this poem applies to the message that I am trying to convey through "Small All White in the Forest."

This poem was written in Salt Lake City, Utah.

-Paulee

https://smallallwhiteintheforest.blogspot.com

This "Paul Whiting — A Creative Writer" Post No. 037 was edited on September 12th, 2023.

"Poetry is using the fewest words possible in order to describe all that is possible to describe." –Paul Whiting [June 1st, 2022]

Post No. 036: For My Friends, Part 1 — To Love Your Fellow Men

(Image from Beyond The Stereotype)

To Love Your Fellow Men
(Or, "It Isn't Christlike To Love Your Fellow Men")

You and I at twelve,
holding one another;
looking for ourselves—
searching through each other.

You and I embraced
behind a bolted door,
chancing a lapse from Grace
for wanting to explore.

You and I desired
expression beneath a quilt
of thoughts brought to fire
that smoldered us in guilt.

You and I, my friend,
rehearsing to a tune,
moved in me again,
which I’m now dancing to.
__________

Strange how pain matures
and hate begins to breed,
till breathing needs a cure,
till death’s a remedy.

I would heed the men
who damn the ‘godless souls’
and cry, “To hell with them!”
when I was one of ‘those.’

Though they think their words
quote solely deity,
the only voice they’ve heard
comes from their misery.

So, I’ve declined their life,
which tells me where I’ll end,
since it isn’t Christ-like
to love your fellow men.
__________

You and I have kept
our scars discreet and these
wounds that haven’t wept
can only make you bleed.

You and I were taught
to cede our inner-selves,
suffer not our thoughts
and veil our anguish well.

You and I aren’t flesh
to fertilize the wheat,
as a life lived for death
won’t seed you soul to peace.

You and I, dear friend,
needn’t leave our ending
to a breath that’s spent
fearing breath we’re spending.

-Paul Whiting
(a.k.a., A Creative Writer)
"I maybe say too much about how life really is!"

My Writing Notes:

The reason that I wrote this poem can be summed up with the following statement: This poem took me a long time to write!

You see, I tried to challenge myself to write a really powerful poem about a very difficult topic for me: my childhood best friend Tim and I exploring our homosexuality together from behind "The Zion Curtain" of our upbringing in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints ("The Mormon Church").

And this poem was also published on my "Small All White in the Forest" blog (please see the hyperlink below for the blog), since I feel that the message in this poem applies to the message that I am trying to convey through "Small All White in the Forest."

This poem was written in Salt Lake City, Utah.

-Paulee

https://smallallwhiteintheforest.blogspot.com

This "Paul Whiting — A Creative Writer" Post No. 036 was edited on September 12th, 2023.

"Poetry is using the fewest words possible in order to describe all that is possible to describe." –Paul Whiting [June 1st, 2022]