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Contact: rwetheri@smu.edu
Ron's Ramblings
STORIES ESSAYS THOUGHTS
Welcome....
This is where I park links to my published fiction, essays, and other writing. It is also where I post random thoughts, questions, and conversational topics.
It's the best way for me to share with others and begin dialogue that can continue in other forms and modes.
Thanks for dropping by!
Ron Wetherington
About me....
I am a retired anthropologist. I was, for 53 years, a professor at Southern Methodist University. My research spanned both prehistoric archaeology and physical anthropology--from potsherds to primates, Mayan sites in antiquity to mutation sites in our genes.
Some of this background finds representation in my creative writing, which I share here. But, aside from a brief inventory, my professional writing--books and articles--won't be found here,
I'm done with that.
I also provide here a link to a blog I established when I was diagnosed with lymphoma. In it, I provided regular updates on both my medical and my personal journeys. Each entry--very brief--details the clinical and hospital visits first, followed by personal reflections. I no longer maintain it, but many friends with cancer in their lives still find it helpful. This link will take you there.
Contact: rwetheri@smu.edu
Creative Publications 2022
Fiction
Leaves, flash fiction, Words & Whispers, March
The Fairy Tree, Flash Fiction Magazine, April 9
The Interview, flash fiction, Adanna Literary Journal, Issue 12, pp. 139-141
Nonfiction
Aspen Leaves, The Ekphrastic Review. June 18
Rubens' Anatomy Lesson, The Ekphrastic Review, June 17
Creative Publications 2023
Nonfiction
Neanderthal, prose poem, The Literary Yard, April 6
The Magic Did Not Bring Her Back, prose poem, The Ekphrastic
Review, October 6
Creative Publications 2024
Fiction
Nonfiction
Touch, Androids and Dragons, #4, Winter
A Stitch in Time, Flash Fiction Magazine, August 16
Susan's Demon, flash fiction, Intangience Magazine, Vol.2, Issue 3, pp. 48-53, Fall (print only)
Sister Deborah, flash fiction, Suburban Witchcraft Magazine, Issue 7. December 21, 2024, pp. 194-196
Transfiguration, The Empyrean Literary Magazine, Issue 12, Vol. 3, No. 4, December 21, 2024, pp. 115-126 (online and print)
On Guillamet’s Sahara, prose poem, The Ekphrastic
Review, March 8
River, Penumbra Online, Summer
Wilderness. Abandon Journal, Issue 5, May
Cycles, The Ekphrastic Review, October 4
Creative Publications 2025
Fiction
Nonfiction
Remembering, Macrame Literary Journal, Winter
(Featured Author interview here)
The Woes of Hibernation. flash fiction, The Scalar Comet, April 22
Fog, The Human Narrative, January 23 (previously published
in The Dillydoun Review, Issue 10, November 2021, now
defunct)
The Egret and Me, memoir, The Orange Rose, Issue 3, November 7
Invasion of the Barbarians, prose poem, The Ekphrastic Review,
December 28
Christmas Wars, essay, Oddball Magazine, December 29
Reassigning Mortimer. Androids and Dragons, Issue 11 (June 30)
Knock-Knock, Sudden Flash, July 9
The Dozen. Bristol Noir (UK), Sept. 2
Beachcombing for Body Parts, Sudden Flash, September 24
Epsilon and Tau, Flash Fiction Magazine, October 13
The Haunting, Macrame Literary Journal, Fall (Oct. 14)
Creative Publications 2026
Fiction
Nonfiction
When the Bough Breaks, DarkWinter Literary Magazine,
January 29,
A Companion for Agnes, Sudden Flash, February 11 (a drabble)
Hans and Greta, The Argyle, Issue 7 (March 15)
Olivia and the Dryad, The Eternal Haunted Summer, Special
Feature, March 24
The Machine, Cafe Lit (UK), April 7
The Dragon at Lane's End, The Amethyst Review, May 11
Shall I Compare Thee? (with apologies to Wm. Shakespeare),
a sonnet, The Rush Magazine, March 20
The Machine Learner's Lament (or, What I Learned in My Chat with GPT), poem, Larina's Lit Lounge, May 29
The Mind's Eye, The Ekphrastic Review, essay, June 1
When All is Said and Done, a sonnet, Neologism Poetry Journal,
Issue 108 (June 2)
Slicing Through the Desert, essay, Halfway Down the Stairs,
June
Selected Newsletter Articles
Since 2021 I have been a regular contributor to the monthly newsletter of my community. These are humorous (mostly) takes on serious topics. The first selections are part of a science series--attempting to touch on each of the major fields.
Every science begins as philosophy and ends as art, wrote Will Durant. I aim to honor that sentiment.
Ancient Cosmology (in four movements)
Dec. 2022
Festivals of Light Dec. 2023
Vignettes and Pirouettes
(being bits of sense and nonsense that will occasionally appear without proper warning)
Becky Tuch’s Lit-Mag News [click]
How to Write a VERY Sensitive Rejection Letter (A Modest Proposal) --Lev Raphael, Jan 23, 2025
"We're in business to publish. But we’re also in business not to publish…"
My response...among others:
Dear Editor:
I submit this example of my award-winning literary style with the full understanding that it is possibly a bit too innovative for your rather promising magazine. I realize that you have many choices to make and voices to please, as you must necessarily aim for the middle despite your pledge to reach for the top. I get it, I truly do! I submit it nonetheless to give you a sense of what is possible. I know that you will continue in your efforts to achieve a stellar standing among your peers, even at the expense of rejecting this piece. You have my best wishes for your future efforts!
--R. Wetherington
The Moral Machine? (from The Observer, 3/31/26)
Anthropic has hired Father Brendan McGuire to provide moral guidance in constraining Claude, its version of generative AI.
"McGuire contributed theological insight to the Claude Constitution, offering a perspective on how to make the model 'more discerning.' A.I. has no soul, he acknowledges. But he sees parallels in how humans and machines develop judgment—through iteration, correction and exposure to the full spectrum of human behavior. 'That’s the genuine formation of a conscience,' he said. 'I think we have to help these machines be tilted towards good, otherwise they’re just going to reflect back the good and evil of the world—that’s a horrifying thing, right?'
Right. And if Claude (or the very idea) had a leg to stand on, we might even teach it to genuflect.
Obscuring the Obvious: (Just Sayin’)
Nothing to say
I recently read a Substack feed entitled “Nothing to say” in which the author used 961 words to say it. I have nothing to add to this. There’s nothing more to say.
Expressive Faces Make People More Likable (headline in Scientific American, Jan. 28, 2025)
Quoting from a scientific paper published in Nature (13 June 2024): “In a recent study, we found that people who were more facially expressive were more liked by a new social partner.”
Those I know without any facial expression are deceased. There’s a reason it’s called "deadpan"! [NOTE: The article covers 2.6 Mb of text, not including 91 citations.] Do grimaces count?
Jimmy Kimmel’s Show to Return to ABC on Tuesday Night
(NY Times online and my comment, Sept. 22, 2025;)
The network had removed Mr. Kimmel “indefinitely” last week after a top Trump regulator and many conservatives said he inaccurately described the politics of the man accused of fatally shooting the right-wing activist Charlie Kirk.
Exaggeration is itself misinformation. The exaggerated and impulsive reaction to Kimmel's (at best) ambiguous comment simply adds to the wealth of confusion served up daily by media, politicians, and even innocent bystanders. It says so much about the problematic value of human intelligence.
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