Dennis S. Martin's Blog, page 142
October 9, 2021
Looking Back
It wasn’t all that long ago,
And not so far away,
That “Once upon a…” storyline
Danced free across our dreams,
And “Happ’ly ever after” seemed
A possibility
As real as any everyday
And not just some grand scheme.
We look back
And maybe smile
And sometimes laugh out loud,
A salty sense of bittersweet
Left resting on the tongue.
Nostalgic for the memory,
Longing for the touch,
Savoring each sultry note of
A familiar song.
Days slip by as we reflect
On things that used to be.
Sweetest truffle in the box…
Revive my memory.
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October 8, 2021
Coming Soon
Coming soon to a lifetime near you:
Horror! Excitement! Thrill upon thrill.
Eighty kilometers done in a heartbeat.
Buckle your seatbelts.
Wait for the crash.
Hoof beats of thundering echo the distance,
Block your horizons with mushrooming clouds,
Speak through the darkness in whispering omen
To land on your back with the crack of a lash.
Car-crashing demons emerge in your mirror
Looming much larger than they should appear.
Bashing your bumper, bold in their efforts to
Leave you in rubble, a horrible heap.
You have the expertise, you have the power,
You have the fortitude to overcome.
You are the hero who leaps to the rescue
Saving the day without leaving your seat.
Action on action…
Whistle a tune of
Unique satisfaction…
Coming soon.
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October 6, 2021
After
After the darkness,
After the rain,
After confession delivers the soul,
Long after vision has risen again,
After the guilt has taken its toll.
Just before daybreak,
Silent and calm,
Cracking the silence,
Breathing a sigh,
Facing the morning with nary a qualm,
No need to shout,
No reason to cry.
Crying was yesterday;
No going back.
See it as history,
Lessons to learn.
Here in the aftermath of the attack
There is tomorrow
To lend concern.
Torches are burning
To lead the way.
Step through the portal
Of a new day.
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October 5, 2021
Finish
There’s an ending out there somewhere.
Every story must evolve, must resolve
To grand conclusion,
Bland illusion set aside.
I am, you am, we am puppets
In this Punch and Judy show
Waiting for the plot to catch us
In the house where we reside.
Someone called it criminal.
Someone let the devil in.
Someone stumbles through the darkness
Desperate to get away.
No one knows the final answer.
No one dares to take a guess.
No one angles to impede
Progression toward the yea or nay.
There will come a summing up.
There must be a hit or miss.
All that’s precious, all that’s sure…
Someone has to finish this.
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October 4, 2021
Keep Going
Rush, push, rest, review…
Rush, return, then rush some more.
Quick completion of each quota,
Questful queries coincide with
Sequences of synergy to
Forcefully facilitate the
Fateful flow of each endeavor.
Never stop until it’s done.
Baseless basking
Barters little.
Tasteless tasking
Garners less.
Graceless grasping
Suffers reason
Leading to a
Muddled mess.
Sleep becomes unnecessary.
If it threatens, take a pill.
Just keep going til it takes you.
Someone else can pay the bill.
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October 3, 2021
Get Started
Sitting here with pen in hand
Wondering where to start,
Killing time before I go,
Whittling on a stick.
Blocking out the blocking in,
Try to clear my mind.
Thoughtful in my reverie of
Peaceful days gone by.
Will the pages fill with ease
With muses from the heart?
Spill the ink onto the page.
Give a little kick.
Does the bastard steal my thoughts
And leave me far behind?
Blown away by winsome words,
Left to wonder why.
Getting started is the key.
All the rest is flow.
How it gets onto the page
We may never know.
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October 2, 2021
Arrest My Soul
When all of the pleading and kneading is over,
After the bleeding is finally stopped,
Will we be feeding on fodder from yesteryear?
Will we be heeding the soothsayer’s song?
Who will be leading and lighting the torches?
Seeding our thoughts through the torturous times?
Reading the headlines in horrible hopelessness?
Weeding out suspects who stand in the way?
I stand in horror watching the spectacle.
I stand in fear as it touches my walk.
I stand defiant, defending my doorstep from
Goose-stepping Cretins who crash through the night.
Arrest, if you must, this pitiful visage.
Arrest, if you dare, this intolerable toad.
Arrest if you think me a threat to your manhood,
But you will never arrest my soul.
There will be judgment.
There will be justice.
There will be reckonings all have to face.
Patience be teacher,
Watchdog to freedom,
Standing in front at the end of the race.
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October 1, 2021
Another Fine Mess
Oh, if we could only go back in time,
A day, a week or even a year,
Know all the pitfalls,
The potholes,
The pratfalls,
See all the bumps in the road up ahead.
But vision is weak, impaired if not blinded by
Heart-felt passion’s irrational rush,
And we keep making the same mistakes
That leave us to sleep in an empty bed.
Wellsprings of happiness don’t merely happen.
They must be constructed of labor and love.
Truth is the shovel, compassion the pick so that
When mistakes happen there’s room to confess.
You could have…
I could have…
We could have been more
Deductive,
Seductive,
Productive at best
In our effortless efforts to find resolution.
Instead we are left with another fine mess.
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September 28, 2021
Pintos, Okra and Fried Green Tomatoes
Some harbor favor for gourmet cuisine:
Caviar, pheasant or filet mignon.
Trendy like crepe suzettes, crème brulee, sushi,
Mildly to wildly exotic in theme.
Others, like me, have a simpler palette:
Meatloaf, potatoes, hot apple pie,
Pintos, okra and fried green tomatoes,
Coffee, no sugar, and light on the cream.
Buttermilk cornbread to crumble like sugar,
Biscuits with jelly, a savory sweet,
Mother’s fried chicken, a finger-food favorite
Served up on Sunday, a family buffet.
I would not argue or offer a protest
To anyone’s favor for fanciful foods, but
Pintos, okra and fried green tomatoes are
More than enough to get me through the day.
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September 27, 2021
The Green of Summer
The passing of unsettled skies
Makes way for more pastoral days
Where green is nature’s uniform
And sunlight clings to the horizon.
Bold the forest spreads its welcome,
Gives itself up willingly to
All who seek its gentle comfort,
Shelter from the noonday sun.
Fields and meadows roll with laughter.
Children’s voices ringing bells of
Simple joy while we sit watching
Keeping vigil as they play.
Nighttime cannot quench your colors,
Hide the flavor of your hue.
I can taste the green of summer
Though my eyes see only gray.
Oh, that you could stay forever,
Wear your magic on my sleeve, but
Seasons come and seasons go
Leaving little time to grieve.
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