Dennis S. Martin's Blog, page 201
January 25, 2020
Commitment
The world can be a frightful beast
With gnarled fangs and cuspate claws
That author pause, creating cause for
Hesitation to commit.
Decision this, selection that,
The oddest twist of tit for tat,
The sinking feeling of concern for
Premonitions of regret.
Fear invokes the perfect storm of
Doubt and indecisiveness,
Trails lined with divisiveness
Of baleful bane and benefit.
Cannot opt for second best
When mettle quickens to the test.
Make a choice, reject the rest
With no prerequisite.
There’s no need to please the masses.
Seize the moment ere it passes.
This may be the perfect fit
If fate is kind and you commit.
Lulu Storefront: http://www.lulu.com/dsmartin
With gnarled fangs and cuspate claws
That author pause, creating cause for
Hesitation to commit.
Decision this, selection that,
The oddest twist of tit for tat,
The sinking feeling of concern for
Premonitions of regret.
Fear invokes the perfect storm of
Doubt and indecisiveness,
Trails lined with divisiveness
Of baleful bane and benefit.
Cannot opt for second best
When mettle quickens to the test.
Make a choice, reject the rest
With no prerequisite.
There’s no need to please the masses.
Seize the moment ere it passes.
This may be the perfect fit
If fate is kind and you commit.
Lulu Storefront: http://www.lulu.com/dsmartin
January 24, 2020
Cleanliness
I cannot speak to Godliness, as
It’s never been my bailiwick.
If holy scripture was my sea
I’d wind up floating like a brick.
But cleanliness is something that,
As age advances, I embrace with
Open visage as a sign of
Elegance and humble grace.
The great unwashed may have their reasons,
Muck and mud may have a season, but
It seems barely short of treason
With soap and water near at hand.
Stop the crying, no more sighing,
Doesn’t take a lot of trying.
There is simply no denying,
No way to misunderstand.
Nasty has a time and place.
Grungy has its hour,
But when the dirty work is done
Be kind enough to bathe or shower.
Lulu Storefront: http://www.lulu.com/dsmartin
It’s never been my bailiwick.
If holy scripture was my sea
I’d wind up floating like a brick.
But cleanliness is something that,
As age advances, I embrace with
Open visage as a sign of
Elegance and humble grace.
The great unwashed may have their reasons,
Muck and mud may have a season, but
It seems barely short of treason
With soap and water near at hand.
Stop the crying, no more sighing,
Doesn’t take a lot of trying.
There is simply no denying,
No way to misunderstand.
Nasty has a time and place.
Grungy has its hour,
But when the dirty work is done
Be kind enough to bathe or shower.
Lulu Storefront: http://www.lulu.com/dsmartin
January 23, 2020
Caution
Danger walks on narrow paws. It
Prowls and stalks on quiet haunches,
Shadowing the tremulous and fearful
Masses to their peril.
Virgin corners wreak from watchful
Challenges of gut and grit
Putting mind and matter to the test
Against the fit and feral.
Little wonder caution speaks in
Measured whispers, “Warning, warning.
Take your time as you approach
This nameless path. Use extra care.”
Break the reckless roller coaster rush
That wants to bleed the bone by
Heading herald’s harbinger to
Sidestep hazard’s baited snare.
Choices seethe with consequences
Where the seas of fortune flow.
Caution, deftly contemplated
Helps avoid the undertow.
Lulu Storefront: http://www.lulu.com/dsmartin
Prowls and stalks on quiet haunches,
Shadowing the tremulous and fearful
Masses to their peril.
Virgin corners wreak from watchful
Challenges of gut and grit
Putting mind and matter to the test
Against the fit and feral.
Little wonder caution speaks in
Measured whispers, “Warning, warning.
Take your time as you approach
This nameless path. Use extra care.”
Break the reckless roller coaster rush
That wants to bleed the bone by
Heading herald’s harbinger to
Sidestep hazard’s baited snare.
Choices seethe with consequences
Where the seas of fortune flow.
Caution, deftly contemplated
Helps avoid the undertow.
Lulu Storefront: http://www.lulu.com/dsmartin
January 22, 2020
Charity
Wedged between a smoky screen
Of muddled muck and clarity
Where choices wan to fits of pain
And hope grows cold and ashen.
No one wants to be the one
In need of parceled charity,
Even when the offer comes from
Kindness and compassion.
We are one when come undone
And standing in harm’s path
Where fate demands a helping hand
To assuage fiendish wrath.
Too often pride’s impediment
Stands staunch in firm embrace
Til charity is left to
Disappear without a single trace.
But when accepted as is given,
With humility,
She carries high her
Consequential banner of nobility.
Lulu Storefront: http://www.lulu.com/dsmartin
Of muddled muck and clarity
Where choices wan to fits of pain
And hope grows cold and ashen.
No one wants to be the one
In need of parceled charity,
Even when the offer comes from
Kindness and compassion.
We are one when come undone
And standing in harm’s path
Where fate demands a helping hand
To assuage fiendish wrath.
Too often pride’s impediment
Stands staunch in firm embrace
Til charity is left to
Disappear without a single trace.
But when accepted as is given,
With humility,
She carries high her
Consequential banner of nobility.
Lulu Storefront: http://www.lulu.com/dsmartin
January 21, 2020
Caring
God will bless the caring soul
With treasures unexplainable
To those whose focus can extend
Beyond their own perimeter.
Expanding auras often offer
Fostering that otherwise might
Go unnoticed in a world
Ambiguous and immature.
In the tasking and the asking
Will we stop to lend a hand?
In the helter of the skelter
Shall we help our fellow man?
We take and shake an offered hand
Presented with sincerity,
Then fill our hearts with kindness
For the plight of all humanity.
Haste to attend a needing friend,
Give ear to his concern.
You never can be certain when
There’ll be a lesson to be learned.
Lulu Storefront: http://www.lulu.com/dsmartin
With treasures unexplainable
To those whose focus can extend
Beyond their own perimeter.
Expanding auras often offer
Fostering that otherwise might
Go unnoticed in a world
Ambiguous and immature.
In the tasking and the asking
Will we stop to lend a hand?
In the helter of the skelter
Shall we help our fellow man?
We take and shake an offered hand
Presented with sincerity,
Then fill our hearts with kindness
For the plight of all humanity.
Haste to attend a needing friend,
Give ear to his concern.
You never can be certain when
There’ll be a lesson to be learned.
Lulu Storefront: http://www.lulu.com/dsmartin
January 20, 2020
Bravery
I’d like to think that I am brave,
But in the ‘over all’ of things
I shudder as I stutter and I
Wonder just what I would do
If, when confronted with the dangers
Tribulation often brings,
I would rise to the occasion
Or melt into a mound of goo.
Face to face with fierce encounter
Might I find the fearless fervor
To resist the fancy of flight,
Stay my station, test my might.
Or do I quiver, shake and shiver
Ever hapless to deliver,
Fearful to rise to the height and
Do what I believe is right.
Mournful woe? Unnecessary.
No want for reckless rant or rue.
When time sings out for bravery
I’m sure I will do what I have to do.
Lulu Storefront: http://www.lulu.com/dsmartin
But in the ‘over all’ of things
I shudder as I stutter and I
Wonder just what I would do
If, when confronted with the dangers
Tribulation often brings,
I would rise to the occasion
Or melt into a mound of goo.
Face to face with fierce encounter
Might I find the fearless fervor
To resist the fancy of flight,
Stay my station, test my might.
Or do I quiver, shake and shiver
Ever hapless to deliver,
Fearful to rise to the height and
Do what I believe is right.
Mournful woe? Unnecessary.
No want for reckless rant or rue.
When time sings out for bravery
I’m sure I will do what I have to do.
Lulu Storefront: http://www.lulu.com/dsmartin
January 19, 2020
Benevolence
Ply me not with compensation
For any gift of charity.
I ask for nothing in return
But commonplace civility.
Many may, in many ways,
Begrudge blind generosity
With but one question to be answered:
“What’s in it for me?”
Benevolence begs no return,
No payment for its gracious favor.
All it needs are fronds of fondness
Bathed in altruistic flavor.
Kindness makes its own reward
To stroke congenial behavior.
Steadfast to the test of time
Its sweetness is a treat to savor.
The world may judge us with despair,
Devoid of human common sense,
But praise to he whose epilogue
Is one of pure benevolence.
Lulu Storefront: http://www.lulu.com/dsmartin
For any gift of charity.
I ask for nothing in return
But commonplace civility.
Many may, in many ways,
Begrudge blind generosity
With but one question to be answered:
“What’s in it for me?”
Benevolence begs no return,
No payment for its gracious favor.
All it needs are fronds of fondness
Bathed in altruistic flavor.
Kindness makes its own reward
To stroke congenial behavior.
Steadfast to the test of time
Its sweetness is a treat to savor.
The world may judge us with despair,
Devoid of human common sense,
But praise to he whose epilogue
Is one of pure benevolence.
Lulu Storefront: http://www.lulu.com/dsmartin
January 18, 2020
Assertiveness
Power is born from a fearless thirst
Of fierce combustibility
That must be sated at all cost,
But begs responsibility.
Must admit to overstepping,
Hardly taking time for prepping or
Thinking through before accepting
Sense and sensibility.
Vaulting forward in a rush of
Mad disquiet brushed and flushed
And pounded into paltry dust
Til all control is lost.
Wait! Back up and start again.
Consider what it takes to win
And keep your conscience as a friend,
All while pondering the cost.
Nothing wrong with taking charge;
Someone has to do it.
But ego oft gets in the way
And before you know the score…
You blew it.
Lulu Storefront: http://www.lulu.com/dsmartin
Of fierce combustibility
That must be sated at all cost,
But begs responsibility.
Must admit to overstepping,
Hardly taking time for prepping or
Thinking through before accepting
Sense and sensibility.
Vaulting forward in a rush of
Mad disquiet brushed and flushed
And pounded into paltry dust
Til all control is lost.
Wait! Back up and start again.
Consider what it takes to win
And keep your conscience as a friend,
All while pondering the cost.
Nothing wrong with taking charge;
Someone has to do it.
But ego oft gets in the way
And before you know the score…
You blew it.
Lulu Storefront: http://www.lulu.com/dsmartin
January 17, 2020
Accountability
Not my fault,
Not your fault,
Not their fault,
Not our problem.
Yes, things happen. Understood.
Mixed results both bad and good.
Did we? Should I? Wish we could’ve
Made a better stratagem.
Owners need to take the knock,
Shouldn’t be a test of will.
Time for someone to step up to
Take control and foot the bill.
Prone to seek the easy out,
To hide behind convenient lies.
But lies are feeble to disguise
The truth echoed in guilty eyes.
Let me stand the reprimand,
Bear the blame for all to see.
Justice finds its best reward
Linked with accountability.
Lulu Storefront: http://www.lulu.com/dsmartin
Not your fault,
Not their fault,
Not our problem.
Yes, things happen. Understood.
Mixed results both bad and good.
Did we? Should I? Wish we could’ve
Made a better stratagem.
Owners need to take the knock,
Shouldn’t be a test of will.
Time for someone to step up to
Take control and foot the bill.
Prone to seek the easy out,
To hide behind convenient lies.
But lies are feeble to disguise
The truth echoed in guilty eyes.
Let me stand the reprimand,
Bear the blame for all to see.
Justice finds its best reward
Linked with accountability.
Lulu Storefront: http://www.lulu.com/dsmartin
January 16, 2020
Best Friends
Bobby Lee and me
We grew up together.
We were always the best of friends.
Swore our kinship in blood,
Fought the world side by side
Never thinking our friendship would end.
Taught to love God and country;
They were worth fighting for.
So, we joined up together,
Headed off to war.
Made the best of all the worst times
And finally made it back home.
But through it all,
No matter how hard the fall,
If we needed someone to lean on
We knew just who we could call,
One who’d be there til the end,
‘Cause we were best friends.
Carried each other through thick and thin.
Marched all the way through Hell
And made it back again.
Now I have to carry him one last time
And go it alone.
Ashes to ashes, back to Mother Earth.
Praying for angels to kindle rebirth,
Lost in the memory
As I carry him home.
But through it all,
No matter how hard the fall,
If we needed someone to lean on
We knew just who we could call,
One who’d be there til the end,
‘Cause we were best friends.
Lulu Storefront: http://www.lulu.com/dsmartin
We grew up together.
We were always the best of friends.
Swore our kinship in blood,
Fought the world side by side
Never thinking our friendship would end.
Taught to love God and country;
They were worth fighting for.
So, we joined up together,
Headed off to war.
Made the best of all the worst times
And finally made it back home.
But through it all,
No matter how hard the fall,
If we needed someone to lean on
We knew just who we could call,
One who’d be there til the end,
‘Cause we were best friends.
Carried each other through thick and thin.
Marched all the way through Hell
And made it back again.
Now I have to carry him one last time
And go it alone.
Ashes to ashes, back to Mother Earth.
Praying for angels to kindle rebirth,
Lost in the memory
As I carry him home.
But through it all,
No matter how hard the fall,
If we needed someone to lean on
We knew just who we could call,
One who’d be there til the end,
‘Cause we were best friends.
Lulu Storefront: http://www.lulu.com/dsmartin
