Dennis S. Martin's Blog, page 225

Change

Never fear change. 
Without it there can be no progress. 

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

Office Gossip

Gaggling, babbling, rambling on,
The office grapevine yields its wine;
The vintage often unimportant,
Bottled quickly, swallowed fast
Then passed along in bits and snippets
Changing as it passes hands
'Til uproar lifts its ugly head
As ire is raised and doubt is cast.

Still we listen, still believe,
Though third and fourth or fifth-hand told,
And take to heart and pass along
Like tall tales told as lullabies.
And even though discovery lies somewhere
Just beyond our reach,
We take without a grain of salt
And gladly swallow all the lies.

I shall not be part and parcel.
I will dig to find the facts
When office gossip rears its ugly head
And, without shame, attacks.

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

Freedom

The only limitations freedom should have 
are those we put on ourselves.

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

Saint or Sinner

Mother Theresa, save the children.
Be their beam; their guiding light.
Show them by your pure example
Good from evil...right from wrong.
Keep a distance from their praise
That you may not be vainly turned,
And hold your candle in the air
So you may lead and not be burned.

Had young Adolph known your wisdom as
A growing Aryan child,
How much grief might have been spared
A World beleaguered and beguiled
By his charisma at a time
When hope wore out and hearts were sore;
Finding audience to lead
A world embattled, primed for war.

Worlds apart, yet oh, so near;
Subtle differences abide.
Choosing between saint and sinner;
Sailing off with evening tide.

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

A Fox in the Henhouse

Someone must have left the latch
Unhinged and open overnight
For the late night hunter, nocturne villain
Hiding in the faded light.

The crickets cry, the bullfrog sings,
The night owl questions, "Who is there?"
But not a sound the stealth night raider
Makes as he roams far and near.

Could I have faltered so unwary?
So Assured? So confident?
Must I now pay for caution's flaws?
The answer is self-evident.

The fox will raid but to survive,
And he will journey far and wide
To find the point of least resistance
In the shadows where he hides.

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

The Mighty Have Fallen

Such a tall parapet to be stood upon;
All the world gazing up, anxious to see
If your wings will carry you over the rainbow
That rides, like a crescent, your haloed head.

Humanity worships its coveted heroes,
Lifted on shoulders of sinewy brawn and
Placed on a pedestal, put on display;
Rose petaled path on a carpet of red.

You never asked to be part and parcel
To overwrought passion carelessly aimed
In random direction, seeking a savior
To fill the void of the grossly mundane.

Yet favor has fallen in your direction
Placing a laurel-leaf crown on your head
That doesn't quite fit and strangely has thorns
That start early on to harbinger pain.

And those who placed you there gather below
Holding their breath to see how you will fly.
Waiting to see how the mighty have fallen,
Giving no pardon...
No alibi.

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

Decisions

Decisions need not be difficult 
if you know what is truly important.

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

Flying Downhill

I had a recurring dream as a child
That I could stand on the crest of a peak
And, with the aid of a running start
And a trailing wind, could fly downhill.

Light as a feather I glide on the current
Of upswept air beneath my feet,
Gliding the wind to converse with the eagles,
To share their adventures, the uncommon thrill
Of the danger inherent when anyone tries
To defy the nature of gravity's rule.

But in a dream rules stand for nothing;
Everything's possible; anything goes.
Worlds expand and vision increases
Beyond the horizon and into the future
Where eyes are born of imagination,
And rules can never restrict or impose.

Ah! The wonder!  The absolute thrill!
Capturing Heaven...  Flying downhill.

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

Backlash

Maybe I should have been more in tune
With her sea of emotion racing to shore.
Always obsessed with the raving and craving
Attention, I often neglected her needs.


Pity the soul who is blind to the passion
Of everyday Odyssey born on the wind.
The caring and giving is lost in the shadows,
And naked compassion is measured in deeds.

There comes a time when the piper needs paying.
It usually comes at the end of the dance
When it's too late to take back the words
That were spoken in anger like hurricane winds.

The backlash has torn every stitch of her fiber,
Ripped at the seams and carried away
All the essence of caring leaving a void. Filled
With rock-hard emotion of hearts on the mend.

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

Tomorrow

There’s nothing wrong with making plans 
for tomorrow as long as you live for today.

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