.

Cold Blooded Murder

It is a hot and muggy
Sort of Texas day.
Time to do my stalking
And hunting down my prey.

I’m armed and dangerous.
My weapon I half-hide.
When killing I am cautious
And patiently abide.

The blood flows to my eyes.
I sharply squint to kill.
There’s something in the hunt
That still gives me a thrill.

So stealthily I creep
Along the inner wall.
I might confront my prey
While going down the hall.

I peek around the corner.
My prey is hunkered down.
He can’t see he’ll be struck
By this hunter of renown.

Like Death, a floating shadow
A dagger wielding spy.
Then, Bang! I kill the villain;
Another dirty fly.

.

.

LTC Roy E. Peterson, US Army Military Intelligence and Russian Foreign Area Officer (Retired) has published more than 5,000 poems in 78 of his 101 books. He has been an Army Attaché in Moscow, Commander of INF Portal Monitoring in Votkinsk, first US Foreign Commercial Officer in Vladivostok, Russia and Regional Manager in the Russian Far East for IBM. He holds a BA, Hardin-Simmons University (Political Science); MA, University of Arizona (Political Science); MA, University of Southern California (Int. Relations) and MBA University of Phoenix. He taught at the University of Arizona, Western New Mexico University, University of Maryland, Travel University and the University of Phoenix.

NOTE TO READERS: If you enjoyed this poem or other content, please consider making a donation to the Society of Classical Poets.

The Society of Classical Poets does not endorse any views expressed in individual poems or commentary.


CODEC Stories:

26 Responses

  1. Phil S. Rogers

    Cute, made me laugh. I admit I had no idea where this was going. A smile to start the day.

    Reply
    • Roy Eugene Peterson

      Evan picked the perfect picture to set off the poem. That helped a lot in my efforts to carry the illusion to the end. Thank you, Phil.

      Reply
  2. Mike Bryant

    This one really connected, Roy. For most of my life, I didn’t realize that I was a hunter… until I received this life changing gift:

    https://www.amazon.com/BUG-A-SALT-3-0-Yellow/dp/B089CDCCR1/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?crid=3MH6VN6Q4S3C9&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.oKJrcTYPWisG0h-7ra8SfmoXzEjhpibTwlvWmu7tl29Fv1rjeD-29GZUqdUWqbfgSxrDqV3x3MvIs8sdnF7K90YNkaoj7sqbhyxm932JX4PQ0Pg3-J2N6VYpX0KbPT9ppcaMSD_BIW2klqHWBrl7urBvn-kgbI2Tmj820PvvZboWfPxh3wKAZWFYzF04VsmfpooAn_c85C82-haFr1TT4mp7AisKZ7EFWuervkfk_HxN6JT80i2PBEhHfAB01PbpAqUwUKE4jKzvqG760isPjUOCrJ7BxT6-LkkKqi-GTMg.6cmt7JohVbhGGyaWfpFWPv6SHKoCM_NolkIfWGiDQXk&dib_tag=se&keywords=Salt+rifle&qid=1723034776&sprefix=salt+rifle%2Caps%2C132&sr=8-1-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9hdGY&psc=1

    Reply
    • Roy Eugene Peterson

      Mike, rest assured your hunting ability secret is safe with me! You made my day.

      Reply
  3. Martin Rizley

    This is a fascinating read, Roy, in which you first build tension slowly by describing the hunter´s movements as he draws nearer to his prey, then you suddenly pull away the veil of mystery cloaking the hunter and his prey with a surprise ending. On my first reading, I did not catch the joke. I thought that the hunter was a law enforcement officer describing a villainous sniper metaphorically as “another dirty fly”, sort of like the term “human scum.” Then I realized that the description was literal, and the bang was not from a gun at all but from a fly swatter. Was I just slow, or is there intentional ambiguity here? Changing the semicolon after the word “villain” to a colon will help to clarify the intended literal meaning.

    Reply
    • Roy Eugene Peterson

      I really love hidden meanings, but in this case my intention was as you suggested–building the suspense of literally killing a fly. I noted your suggestion and will consider it when published in one of my books. Thank you, Martin.

      Reply
  5. Gigi Ryan

    I am not a hunter and was not sure I would even read this…but you caught me right away with the great story and rhythm of your poem. The end delighted me. And, I suppose I am a hunter after all; my weapon is usually just a damp tea towel, though. I might need to invest in one of the weapons that Mike links to, at least for my kids to join me in the battle of the flies. Thanks for this great poem!
    Gigi

    Reply
    • LTC Roy E. Peterson

      Thank you, Gigi, for deciding to read my poem and for the kind comments. I immediately loved the Bug-A-Salt weapon on the link Mike posted. I was not aware of such a weapon or such a great name for one, but I will be buying one soon!

      Reply
  6. Brian A. Yapko

    You certainly had me going there, Roy, with this blood-curdling story. Very good suspense building until we get to that surprise ending. You made me laugh. And you made me relate. I hate those pesky critters!

    Reply
    • LTC Roy E. Peterson

      Your kind comments, Brian, are greatly appreciated! I am so glad someone such as yourself can relate to my humor.

      Reply
  7. Susan Jarvis Bryant

    Roy, I love your poetic humor! What huge fun! Your words reminded me of when I first came to Texas and Mike picked up an electric fly zapper in the shape of a tennis racquet to electrocute those poor little pests. I was startled at the barbarism surrounding fly control in the USA and made my feelings known to Mike. “Well, how do you deal with flies in England?”, he asked. I thought for moment before realization dawned. We smash their brains and guts out with a fly swat… frying them or killing them with a salt rifle seems so much kinder. 🙂

    Reply
    • LTC Roy E. Peterson

      Susan, thank you for your story and kind comments. I am so happy you and Mike came to a mutual accommodation. As I mentioned above in a comment, I did not know such a weapon existed, but I thank Mike for sharing that with me/us.

      Reply
  8. Joseph S. Salemi

    A great little poem with a surprise ending. H.L. Mencken in his autobiography writes about how he and his brother would kill flies by using their fingers and a rubber band to make a slingshot, and shooting dried-up pieces of orange or lemon rind at them. Of course that was around 1900, when there were still plenty of big horseflies around, and they were larger targets.

    Reply
    • LTC Roy E. Peterson

      Dr. Salemi, that was a great reference to bring up H.L. Mencken and how they would attack the fly problem back then. Thank you for your kind comments and for sharing that story.

      Reply
  10. Shamik Banerjee

    The picture made me think this was going to be some kind of out-of-the-cold, hunting poem, but no, the end really had me and I burst out laughing! Great poem and a nice, tricky picture by Evan. Well done, Mr. Peterson!

    Reply
  11. Russel Winick

    Roy – En route to the ending, I had about eight ideas for where you might be going. All wrong. Great job!

    Reply
  12. Margaret Coats

    Well, Roy, you confess premeditation and intent to kill, so it is cold-blooded murder. I became suspicious about the victim, though, as you were creeping along the inner wall while going down the hall. Not big game, obviously, and you would hardly want to half-hide your weapon from a burglar. Still, the end is just as much fun to find out most of us are as murderous as you!

    Reply
    • LTC Roy E. Peterson

      I had to laugh at the beginning and conclusion to your comment! Thank you for sharing your thoughts and realizing we all have a similar intent.

      Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.

Captcha loading...

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.