Dennis S. Martin's Blog, page 121

A Party in My Head

Out of the stillness of

Chosen seclusion,

Out of the calm of a quiescent quiet

The silence belies all the endless effusion of

Babble and rabble that boils to a riot.

 

A blatant complacency seals off the borders

Of realms that would otherwise

Fill me with dread,

And I become sated and

Dance to the music of life’s simple party

That plays in my head.

 

Others may think me aloof, at a distance.

They cannot (or will not) in truth understand,

But I hear the laughter come reverberating

From every corner of fantasyland

Filling my thoughts, calming my fears,

A constant companion with nothing unsaid.

And happiness springs like a cat

-        Unabated -

As I keep the party alive in my head.

 Lulu Storefront: https://www.lulu.com/spotlight/dsmartin

No Judgement

First impressions…

          Judgements made

Based on superficial fizzle.

Like canceling the game for rain

When it was little more than drizzle.

Finding fault with fruitless facts and

Inconclusive inuendo

Breaks the seal of common sense,

Brings the score to its’ crescendo.

 

Weeds and flowers stand together

Side by side without regret

Searching equally for sunlight,

Neither in the others’ debt.

Raise the veil of mock suspicion

Meant to mask reality.

Open eyes and open minds to

Visions of diversity.

 

I will meet you without judgement,

Get to know you without pause,

Never hurt you without reason

Or desert you without cause.

 Lulu Storefront: https://www.lulu.com/spotlight/dsmartin

A Slave to the Past

History holds lessons that are

Vital to all understanding.

Sometimes poignant and demure,

Often tragic and demanding.

 

Duty bids us pay attention

To the subtle messages that

Cross the path of wisdom’s truth

In all its’ shapes and vestiges

To carry forth with confidence that

What was then applies to now,

That judgements may be better served

From fertile furrows erstwhile ploughed.

 

But in an ever-changing world

Where knowledge deepens as it grows

The choices seem to multiply

Or take the stage in different clothes.

 

The humble bow in quiet assent,

The meek retreat and acquiesce

But thoughtful souls of brilliance

Put the question through the acid test.

To learn the lessons of the past

Is smart and bright and brave.

Affix the facts to circumstance

And never be a slave. 

Lulu Storefront: https://www.lulu.com/spotlight/dsmartin

Oceans Deep

How deep are your canyons, oh,

Mighty blue ocean?

How high are your mountains that

Ne’er reach the sky?

How swift are your currents that

Roll with a frenzy?

How still are the depths of

Your sweet lullaby?

 

From largest to smallest

Your creatures abound,

Both strange and familiar,

Both odd and mundane

With secrets and silence

Below your green mask

No mind can imagine

No man can explain.

 

I only can wonder at

Your great expanse with

Eyes on horizons too distant to see.

The depths of the ocean,

The magical myths,

The beautiful fortune of

Her mystery.

 Lulu Storefront: https://www.lulu.com/spotlight/dsmartin

Dobro

Oh, mystical, magical strings

Of angelic essence,

Unfeigned and heartfelt

With truth as your muse.

Wise in your element

Strong in your diction

Your bold intonation

Splintering taboos.

 

Bring me your music,

Your passion, your power.

Sing with your strings til

My heart fills with glee.

Color the canyons with

Miracle rainbows to

Light up the sky

Without apology.

 

The saddest… the happiest…

The sweetest of sounds

Fly forth from your slide

On their way to my soul.

A tear to my eye,

A smile to my lips,

A miracle moment

More precious than gold.

 Lulu Storefront: https://www.lulu.com/spotlight/dsmartin

Ghost Story

Somebody tell me a scary ghost story.

I need to receive an adrenaline rush.

Make it feel real and creepy and gory

Til all of my senses are turned into mush.

None of that zombie trash,

Werewolves or vampires.

I’m not afraid of things that don’t exist.

Tempt me instead with a vision of spirits

So vivid and lifelike I cannot resist.

 

I do believe that the spirit, the soul

Lives on even after the flesh has grown cold.

And when they are troubled,

The business unfinished,

They become a menace

That can’t be consoled.

 

Lost in the haunting of conscience and caring

The angry ghost lurks in the shadowy dark

Waiting to leap and devour his victim

With swiftness of leopards

And jaws of the shark.

You may have doubts, you

May have suspicions or

Other hypothesis pillar to post,

But no one denies the rush that comes freely

From the spirited tale of an ireful ghost. 

Lulu Storefront: https://www.lulu.com/spotlight/dsmartin

Sing Out

Listen to the robin as

The dawn breaks in the eastern sky,

Calling out to every ear

Residing here in his domain.

Songs so gently sung the simple

Thought can spring a teary eye

As rivers fill to overflowing

Hearkening the sweet refrain.

 

And I am you, and we are they

As every note rings fresh and clear

To open hearts and lift refrains to

Corners far and corners near.

 

Voices sweet or voices coarse,

Voices loud or whispered low,

Voices calling up to Heaven,

Voices reaching deep below

Sing out with joy,

Sing out with glee

In subtle virtuosity,

Sing out to set your spirit free

In life’s magnificent jamboree.

 

Life can bring a breath of spring

If we can teach our heart to sing. So,

Sing out.
Lulu Storefront: https://www.lulu.com/spotlight/dsmartin

Secrets in the Stars

Infinity isn’t so far away.

It’s living in the nighttime sky

With millions of billions of angel lanterns

Keeping their secrets for only my ears.

I listen intently as they whisper gently

Sharing the wonders as they wink their eye.

Eons of wisdom are waiting and watching me

Hoping to quell all my curious fears.

 

Slowly I open much more that my eyes

To the visions before me,

The secrets they hold.

The miracles they must have known

In their journeys!

The stories unraveling, yet to be told.

 

Fealty unfailing,

Constant in countenance

Finding your way to the breaking of day.

Breathing the awe,

Beyond imagination,

Granting me gifts I can never repay.

 Lulu Storefront: https://www.lulu.com/spotlight/dsmartin

Tall Trees

Looking up to find the clouds

Beyond the waving canopy.

The sparseness of the pale blue sky

Sparkles there among the leaves

With beams of brilliant sunlight

Dancing here and there, to and fro,

Reminders of a distant dream,

A memory from long ago.

 

Sheltering in blissful peace

I hear the robin sing my name.

In language foreign to my ear

But crisp and certain just the same.

He does not mock or judge me here

Among the giants where I rove.

He knows the secrets undiscovered

Here among his treasure trove.

 

And I bear happy witness to

The miracles and ecstasies

That one may only truly find

Waiting here among the trees.

 Lulu Storefront: https://www.lulu.com/spotlight/dsmartin

Long Walks

Nothing quite refreshes like

An energetic walk outside

Finding the forgiving grace

Of Mother Earth in every stride.

The clock becomes a distant measure

Wandering the countryside til

All the complicated worries,

Every choice is simplified.

 

Breathing in the morning air,

Or evening if it be the better

Pacing every nimble step,

No ropes to bind

No chains to fetter.

Time loses all meaning

And space becomes unbounded

As petty problems melt away

And sorrows seem unfounded.

 

Pausing on this pleasing path to

Watch the willows gently sway.

Lingering to catch the breeze.

Must be on my way.

 Lulu Storefront: https://www.lulu.com/spotlight/dsmartin