Whiskey and Cigarettes at the End by Ronald E. Shields is a somber meditation on aging loss and the quiet rituals of life nearing its conclusion. Set against the backdrop of a desolate cemetery and a fading winter landscape the poem captures an intimate moment between an elderly couple quietly waiting and reflecting. With stark imagery of dying trees and abandoned times it conveys a sense of resignation and the bittersweet nature of memory. The poem contemplates the finality of life where the remnants of the past--the taste of whiskey the comfort of cigarettes--linger like a last connection to a world that has largely faded away.
The Moment by Ronald E. Shields is a contemplative poem that explores themes of forgiveness divinity and the miraculous order of the universe. Through the image of Jesus on the cross the poem reflects on a transcendent moment of clarity and grace. Looking down from his "wooden tower " Jesus sees the beauty and perfection of creation even in something as small and humble as grains of sand. The poem suggests that every element of life is interconnected and purposeful infused with the divine presence and calls attention to the power of forgiveness and the sacredness found in each moment.
In Breaking Branches Ronald E. Shields captures the fragile boundary between life and death. A nephew returns to guide Aunt Vicki toward her final rest where sunlight shadow and memory intertwine under a shattered sky of breaking branches
In The Owatonna Library Ronald E. Shields links prairie and page a black bear's ripple in grass a cold lamp's echo and the quiet touch between reader and Lakota woman. Past and present meet where footsteps of generations still move beneath our fee