Dennis S. Martin's Blog, page 173

Only Time

How long is forever?

When did it begin?

Is existence a recurring thing?

Does anything really ever end?

Do spirits live inside our shells?

Do lonely souls continue on?

Is everlasting peace a dream

Or just another fabled con?

Do you have all the vivid answers?

Does reason plague your mortal mind?

Does life slap back at you when you

Pose questions seemingly unkind?

Is it our place to understand

The fleeting rhythm or the rhyme?

Or does the answer lie beyond this life?

Who knows?

Only time.

   Lulu Storefront: http://www.lulu.com/dsmartin

Out of Step... Out of Place

The army steps in step by step,

Each footfall neatly mapped.

With twelve to the front

And eight to the rear

Each arm swing has been choreographed.

Eyes straight forward,

Posture checked,

Weapons neatly held in place,

No syncopation is allowed

In this display of rhythmic grace.

No one allowed to miss a beat...

No one allowed to wander...

No time for stopping to reflect...

No time to pose or ponder.

Always in a rush,

Though I don't understand the race.

No wonder I feel out of step...

And even out of place.

   Lulu Storefront: http://www.lulu.com/dsmartin

Observation Point

Looking out from a vantage point

High above the masses,

Seeking all the wisdom left by ages eons past,

Yearning understanding as a guide

Through rocky passes,

Hoping against hope that every breath

Won't be the last.

Being an observer of

The human situation,

Learning how they deal with strain

And daily aggravation,

Seeing how they grow and go

In multiple directions,

Little secrets that they hide

Just to avoid detection.

Mumbled, jumbled lives so

Froth with muddled complication.

Amazing what one sees from this

High point of observation.

   Lulu Storefront: http://www.lulu.com/dsmartin

Nothing Left But Goodbye

I hate funeral parlors....

Never want to be the object

Of morose attention.

Sobbing, weeping, wailing, moaning

Mourners. Not to mention

All the things the undertakers

Do to violate the dead.

Filling them with fluids...

Pancaked cheeks of phony red.

 

Remembrance is in the heart,

Not lying in a box of steel.

Respects are paid conveying to the living

How we truly feel.

In the last analysis,

Though it be cause to cry,

There's really nothing left to say

Except a silent, fond goodbye.

   Lulu Storefront: http://www.lulu.com/dsmartin

Next Time

If at first you don't succeed...

You all know the rest.

You can fill the blanks,

So there's no need to have a test.

A lot of truth is handled in

That simple one line phrase

About persistence. How the human

Spirit can amaze

And rise above the petty failures

Caused by being unprepared,

Learning from mistakes,

Never running scared.

Climbing from the pit of doubt,

Eyes on the sublime.

Stars are out there.

You can reach them if you try...

Next time.

   Lulu Storefront: http://www.lulu.com/dsmartin

Notions

Vague thoughts, like mental clouds,

Come floating through the air.

Bubbles burst into a whim

Of unexpected quick desire.

A rush of strong adrenaline goes

Coursing through our veins

To raise imagination

Floating higher, ever higher.

Mental images abound,

Resound, repeat aplenty,

Views, opinions, vague beliefs,

A plan or an intention.

Notions come and notions go

As quickly as they started,

Father of discovery...

Mother of invention.

   Lulu Storefront: http://www.lulu.com/dsmartin

Metamorphosis

We often think of butterflies

When needing an example

Of metamorphosis in it's pure state.

Nestled safe in its cocoon the

Caterpillar undergoes

The multiplicity of changes

Meant to seal its fate.

 

Humans can't afford the

Luxury of a cocoon.

Our changes come more subtly and slow.

Unclothed to every whit and whim

Life throws in our direction,

Exposure is the kindling that

Makes our fire grow.

 

As the piper plays our tune,

Beckoning our ear,

As the crowd chants and the chorus sings,

We are growing,

Ever growing,

Through all our doubts and fears,

Ever closer to the day when

We too spread our wings.

   Lulu Storefront: http://www.lulu.com/dsmartin

Mirrored Images

You are me and I am you.

We are both each other.

Mother, father, friend or foe,

Sister, cousin, brother.

Members of a kindred species,

Born of earth and water.

Unexplained existence,

Universal teeter-totter.

Black or yellow,

Red or white,

Should we really care?

Images are mirrored

In the common bonds we share.

Loving is the fruit we seek,

Caring is our need.

A harvest grand when

Simple understanding plants the seed.

   Lulu Storefront: http://www.lulu.com/dsmartin

Memory Fails

It comes at the most inconvenient of times.

A thought that was there

Just as quickly is gone.

Then struggle is futile to

Bring back the wrinkle

Of gray matter.

We smile or yawn

And simply apologize.

We can't imagine what ails.

It's such an embarrassment,

So unexplainable,

So typical when memory fails.

   Lulu Storefront: http://www.lulu.com/dsmartin

Light the Way Home

Logs on the fire create a soft glow.

Torches enlighten the spirited night.

Candles illuminate corners and nooks,

While the night skies are sprinkled

With pinpoints of light.

Brash incandescent

Or softly florescent,

Halogen, laser, whatever...

The face of the moon forms a

Pool of reflection

Of sunlight that

Streams on forever.

 

Light is a seeker,

A giver of life.

It follows wherever we roam.

No matter how far

The journey may take us,

There will always be someone to

Light the way home.

   Lulu Storefront: http://www.lulu.com/dsmartin