Dennis S. Martin's Blog, page 155

May 12, 2021

The Irony of it All

Did you ever notice the sky at sunset?

When feathers of fire gently flicker and wave

As they roll up to heaven, stretching to reach for a

Point where they penetrate God's holy shrine.

 

Stars are not visible yet as the sun settles

Over the crest of a far away hill;

And sometimes the Moon has awakened too early

And peeks like a ghost through the shadowing clouds.

 

This is as close as we Earthlings will come

To seeing the face of our eternal God.

This is the beauty, both real and imagined,

A preview, a prelude to afterlife

Where sunsets are constant and beauty surrounds

Every moment of wait for eternity.

 

But we ignore sunsets,

Look to tomorrow...

Too busy to stop...

Too blind to see.

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Published on May 12, 2021 02:47

May 11, 2021

And the Walls Came Down

Old man Millsap was a sad little creature.

He lived down the road with his wife and daughters

Who, sad to the world, had their father's features

And grew to be spinsters with no social graces.

 

A quiet sort, old Millsap, the handyman;

Skilled with a hammer and saw or a wrench.

He could build a shed in the spit of a minute,

Clean up and be gone without leaving a trace.

 

Everyone thought him an odd little man;

Someone to pity, perhaps even fear.

Though his heart was awash with the kindness of ages,

His stoic demeanor was misunderstood.

 

And the tattered attire and ramshackled pickup

He drove didn't help his persona at all.

People had such a hard time seeing past the surface

To find that part that was good.

 

Old Millsap took masses of teasing and taunting

From self-righteous hypocrites lost in themselves;

People who joy at the expense of others,

Who laugh and cajole as they pull on the reins.

 

Little wonder they could not imagine

What must have possessed him that fateful evening

When all the walls came tumbling down.

Old Millsap went home and blew out his brains.

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Published on May 11, 2021 02:43

May 10, 2021

Let's Be Honest

With all the back biting going on

It was hard to declare a decisive winner,

Like needles and darts thrown 'cross a room,

A Friar’s roast, or a Toastmaster's dinner.

 

Impossible to distinguish the truth

From the lies and deceits being bantered about.

One can only hope your detectors are functioning,

Sniffing the air 'til the truth finds you out.

 

Pity the openness lost in your youth

Can't carry its' weight as the years pass you by.

Suffer its' loss with the loss of innocence

Grown to a beast as you covet your pride.

 

Can you imagine a World without lies?

A World without people you'll more likely see.

Let's be honest... To ourselves and each other;

Leaping the mass of humanity.

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Published on May 10, 2021 02:20

May 9, 2021

The Best of Friends

Even the best of friends have trouble

Sometimes seeing everything eye to eye.

The multifaceted multiplicity

Pacing life's queer circumstance

Contrives, deprives and even connives

To offer more choices than we can bear.

Do we seek shelter to hide in the sand

Or ruffle our peacock feathers and prance

Around naked before God and company,

Playing the fool,

Breaking the rule,

Flaunting the school of traditional dance?

 

All the alternative options and choices,

Changing experiences, motion of growth.

Little wonder we cling to a constant,

Yearn for stability,

Pray for a rock to hold on to

When winds seer the night

With it's passionless kiss

Hiding from sight.

Who will be there when you turn on the light?

The best of friends never study the clock.

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Published on May 09, 2021 02:22

May 8, 2021

Mine Forever

In a world that makes us quiver

Every day at 6 PM when

Local News sends shard and shiver

Of the tragic days events;

Missiles fire and miss their target

Finding innocents instead;

Miltimediated markets

Often leave the conscience spent

To dwell in anguish, jaws agog,

Praying that the world repents;

I have only one true treasure

That consoles my every pore of

Being to the fullest measure,

Though the World beats down my will.

Knowing you are mine forever

Wards away pernicious harm

That baits and goads to pull the lever

That would leave me cold and still.

Until such time, we stride together,

Hand in hand we climb the hill

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Published on May 08, 2021 02:15

May 7, 2021

Love Hurts

Her's was a story so often told

Of hopelessly hopeful futility.

Blinded by love she did not foresee

That he would be gone before

Springtime was done.

Men are such animals,

Grunting and rutting,

Breaking the rules of polite company

Until all that is left

Is the cheap pick-up line

That lingers in anguish

Long after he's gone.

 

No moral dilemmas,

No great philosophical edicts

Are written to which he adheres.

No conscience to bother,

No groundswell of feeling

Comes rushing to make an emotional plea.

Only the bodies he leaves in his wake

To languish and drown in an ocean of tears -

Waiting for someone to throw her a lifeline -

As he sails the trade winds of tropical seas.

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Published on May 07, 2021 02:02

May 6, 2021

Cuts to the Bone

Traces linger all around

In cold deserted streets and byways.

Dark back alleys hide the tears

Which, wept in acid, burn the flesh

And blur the vision,

Making life just slightly less intolerable

Until a calm can settle in

Encircling fears with an iron mesh.

 

Memories are like the swallows

Flying back to Capistrano.

Even if we tried we couldn't

Fight the fate of their return.

Finger poised on trigger,

Ready to explode when beckoned.

Secrets known to one alone;

A private lesson to be learned.

 

Who can say which love endures?

Who can guess what fates allow?

The starting and the ending find

Us standing naked and alone.

The memory of how it was,

Of how it cannot be again,

Becomes a slashing saber's edge

That cuts you to the bone.

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Published on May 06, 2021 02:11

May 5, 2021

Fish

I'm no big fan of seafood;

Never have been;

Never will be.

Though many love it, I find fish

Is not me cup of tea.

Those funny little aliens

Snatched from another world,

Where we would die in minutes

Were we untimely hurled.

I love to watch them flying

Through their liquid atmosphere;

Courting danger every moment

With no trace of fear.

Eyes that gaze expressionless

Into the sea ahead.

Caution-tempered innocence,

Unaware of dread.

 

Yes, fish are fascinating,

And to watch them is a treat;

Just as long as they're not placed

In front of me to eat.

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Published on May 05, 2021 02:06

May 4, 2021

Lawyers

They say the way to fix the law

Is to get rid of the lawyers;

A theory of some merit, I suspect.

A certain small percentage

Gives them all the "nom de plume"

Of a greedy, slimy, hateful, horrid sect.

Ethically unethical...

Self-serving in their creed...

Praying on the avarice

Inherent in mankind...

Hiding truth deep in the dark...

Keeping justice blind.

But hope lies in awareness

If we only take a look.

The advocate can change;

Can write a new page in our book.

With true concern and real compassion

We can turn a leaf,

And lawyers lose their reputation

Of praying on our grief.

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Published on May 04, 2021 02:27

May 3, 2021

Competition

Don't be too hard on yourself

If you don't win each time you try.

It's the trying that's important.

You never need an alibi

If you have given every measure

Of true effort in your quest.

Competition stirs the spirit

Bringing out your best.

Demons try to undermine us.

Selfish dragons snap and snarl.

Pushing, pulling, nagging, yelling,

Baiting... Begging not to quarrel.

Just remember in the end

You've just one life to save.

You can't let competition

Put you in an early grave.

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Published on May 03, 2021 01:58