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© Carl Martin Johnson, All rights reserved

Kill The Demon
Leaving

LEAVING
By Carl Martin Johnson

I touched my lips softly to your own,
Afraid that I might wake you.
I heard your dreamy moan,
And felt strong need to take you.

But I held my urge in check.
If you saw me leaving, you would cry.
I breathed the aroma of your woman’s neck,
Sorry to be parting in a lie.

I must go and I must fight.
It is for you, though you don’t see.
You will be proud I did what’s right.
Still, you’ll be angry for a time with me.

I will return when it is done,
When the battles are all through,
When good over evil has won,
When the world is safe for you.

 

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SLEEP, MY BABY
By Carl Martin Johnson

Sleep, my baby…Sleep, my child.
Curl up here in my arm.
There is no evil, nor creature wild,
That can do you any harm.

The dragon is in his cave.
I will keep him there.
So, little one, be brave.
He cannot hurt or scare.

Soon the fairies will awake.
They will meet you in your dreams.
They will feed you pixie cake,
And take you riding on moonbeams.

I will be here ‘til you wake,
‘Til dawn’s sundrops kiss your face.
I stand guard here for your sake,
You are safe in a warrior’s embrace.

 

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WAR SONG
By Carl Martin Johnson

Chant me a battle verse.
Sing a song of war.
Where warriors fight the curse.
Where the brave men are.

Let me hear a hymn
Of heroes and their deeds,
Who give up life and limb
So humanity succeeds.

Roar a ballad of great men,
They who came to dragons fell,
They who saved Man when
The demons rose from Hell.

Men who died so we may live,
Whose blood nourished our aspirations.
They gave all they had to give
So others might build nations.

Let us join the chorus
To cheer the warrior breed.
If cruel men ignore us.
Then our vengeance they will feed.

 

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MAKING AN ANGEL CRY
By Carl Martin Johnson

I looked down through tears from the firmament,
Watching humans from my perch in the sky.
“It is only Man,” was my lament,
“That can make an angel cry.”
 
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RUN AWAY WITH ME
By Carl Martin Johnson

Run away with me to paradise.
Leave the place that pains you.
You’ve already paid a heavy price.
No obligation now restrains you.

I will clasp you to my heart.
Make sure you never cry.
We will never be apart,
Not even when we die.

Our love will be immortal,
A constellation in the heavens glowing,
Reached only through our two hearts’ portal,
Blessed beyond all knowing.

Let us grab a passing moonbeam.
We will flee while the world is sleeping,
Escape into a soft dream
And have a life worth keeping.
 
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THE STORY OF THE FLAME
By Carl Martin Johnson

It struggled to survive.
Falling rocks had caused the spark.
Desperate to stay alive,
It flickered weakly in the dark.

It fed upon a crumbling leaf,
So that it grew just slightly.
For a moment, very brief,
The nascent flame glowed brightly.

The yellow light soon subsided,
Reduced to a tiny cinder.
Its fate appeared decided.
Only a brief flash in the tinder.

Then came a roaming forest wind.
The flame’s death seemed assured.
Blown out like a soul that’s sinned.
Yet the little flame endured.

The wind became a bellows,
Stirring the flame into a fire.
Creating many fellows.
Together they climbed higher.

The tall blaze lit the trees
In devouring conflagration.
The inferno would not cease
Before the forest’s devastation.

It roared for days ‘til it diminished.
When there was nothing left to burn.
Then, at last, the flame was finished.
Leaving only ashes for the urn.

Suddenly a gust raised up a spark.
Carrying it glowing on the wind.
Toward another forest in the dark.
The flame will never end.
 
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JUST LIKE ME
By Carl Martin Johnson

You are human, just like me.
We have kindred souls.
Despite the enmity we see,
We have largely the same goals.

We love like one another.
Yes, and we both hate.
We both cherish our mother.
We mate and procreate.

We get cut and bleed.
We have bones that can be broken.
We cry when there is need.
Hurt when cruel words spoken.

There are times we fight.
When we fight, we kill.
Even when it’s right,
Killing makes our spirits ill.

If we meet one day
On a field of blood and strife.
May we both give time to pray
Before we take each other’s life.

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LOOKING FOR YOU
By Carl Martin Johnson

I’ve been searching for you.
I’ve prayed that you were there.
You’re not an illusion, are you?
‘Cause I need to make you care.

I’ve been looking for an angel with wings.
I’ve been hunting for the devil’s daughter.
I’ve wanted a woman who is both of these things.
With you now I think I’ve got her.

Sometimes I see Heaven in your eyes.
Sometimes I see fire.
There’s music in your passion’s sighs.
Life dances in your desire.

When our naked bodies meet,
And our love makes the comets glow,
The universe will feel our heat.
Then you’ll be mine, I know.
 
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SKY DIAMONDS
By Carl Martin Johnson

Billions of diamonds in the black night sky,
The work of Hands Divine.
There to please our human eye,
Letting glimpses of Heaven’s light shine.

Between their glows the angels fly,
Too fast for us to see.
Swooping down but pass us by,
Until our souls are free.

Watch the starlight’s glimmering smiles.
Each one a magic spark.
Tiny white fairy isles,
Lending beauty to the dark.

Gaze up into the midnight skies.
The firmament’s grandeur whole.
The stars are God’s innumerable eyes,
Searching lovingly Man’s soul.
 
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MY LAST SPRING
By Carl Martin Johnson

 

This may be my last Spring.
Last time I smell the flowers.
So I’ll just listen to the songbirds sing
And rest beneath this tree for hours.

 

The robin on that limb
May be bidding me farewell.
Whistling soft my funeral hymn.
You can never tell.

 

Those clouds in the western sky
Mean a shower’s likely coming.
Then clover blossoms will not die,
And the honeybees keep humming.

 

After long Winter sleep
The world has a rebirth.
Life has promises to keep,
And they are sprouting from the earth.

 

Be or not my life’s last Spring,
I will clasp it to my heart.
With the joys that it will bring,
My soul will have fresh start.

 

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KILL THE DEMON
By Carl Martin Johnson

Draw your sword against the beast.
Let him fear your righteous wrath,
Lest he make of your children a feast,
And force you onto a backward path.

We did not see him coming,
Crawling low into our midst.
Now we know what he’s becoming.
The danger cannot be dismissed.

He would destroy mankind’s free soul.
Taint it with his vile, foul smell.
Man’s submission is his goal.
He serves the Prince of Hell.

There is poison in his word.
It is corrupt with lies and hate.
When his wicked roar is heard,
Make haste….you cannot wait.

Today he stands and taunts us,
Bloody in tooth and claw.
Memory of his brutality haunts us.
Greater horror we never saw.

This monster we must kill
Along with all who take his side,
Or submit to his cruel will
Until we all have died.
 
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SWEET SIN
By Carl Martin Johnson

 

Our love is a sweet sin.
Forbidden but exciting.
Hotter passion has never been
Than from the flame we are igniting.

 

We share its heat in hidden places,
Our bodies burning in the night.
Lighting the dark with our embraces.
Intertwined and glowing bright.

 

We lie naked in caressing moonbeams,
In the soft grass wet with dew,
Acting out illicit schemes.
The world is only just we two.

 

It would go hard should we be found,
For neither one of us is free.
Yet our souls are by love bound.
I am you and you are me.

 

Forbidden fruit has the sweetest taste.
Taboo lust stokes hot the fire.
Not a moment do we waste
In satisfying our desire.

 

Should Paradise we be denied,
We have our Heaven here.
And all the stolen nights we lied,
We will hold forever dear.

 

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THE COYOTE
By Carl Martin Johnson

His yellow eyes held me fast.
So close I smelled his breath.
He would have continued past,
Were I not so close to death.

The moon shined his fur reddish gray.
His teeth gleamed sharp and white.
Bad luck he came my way.
I was too weak to fight.

My revolver’s shells were gone.
I might as well be the coyote’s meal.
I would not live to see the dawn.
Not likely my wounds would heal.

He was tempted by the blood.
He was hungry...couldn’t blame him.
To a coyote I might taste good,
And I had no time to tame him.

He gave a kind of nod.
I could swear I saw him smile.
I know it will sound odd,
But I talked to him a while.

He made no reply,
Just gazed into my soul.
Fixing me with his eye,
A glowing amber coal.

Then he left me to live or die.
Just turned and let me go.
I did not understand why.
I guess I’ll never know.

 

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THE FAT GIRL
By Carl Martin Johnson

The girl looked straight ahead
As she passed through the schoolyard gate.
She knew what the others said.
She’d heard their words of hate.

She had lovely deep blue eyes.
Yet no one noticed that.
People only saw her size,
Sneering because she was fat.

No words of praise for her auburn hair,
Though it was silky-smooth and long.
Only insults, mean and unfair.
But she tried hard to be strong.

Her heart she had to hide,
For fear someone would break it.
She kept her dream inside,
And she would not forsake it.

She had beauty trapped within,
If she alone could see it.
Beneath her fat was a body thin,
And someday she would free it.

For now, when she felt sad,
There was a place inside her mind,
Where she was never treated bad,
Where everyone was kind.

 

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HOPE
By Carl Martin Johnson

Fluttering within my grasp,
I will not misplace you.
I will hold you, firmly clasp.
Lovingly embrace you.

I must have you in my heart.
It is you who feeds my dreams.
Without you I cannot start.
With you, the future gleams.

It is you who makes life sweet.
Lifts my spirits when I’m down.
Gives me the will to endure defeat,
And rise up to the victor’s crown.

When I am drowning in despair.
When trouble pulls me under.
Show me then you care.
Let me see you work your wonder.

When my life comes to its end,
Help defeat my fear.
Stand with me, my trusted friend.
Let me always keep you near.

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BRIDGE OVER TROUBLED WATER
By Carl Martin Johnson

As sings the song, I will lay me down.
I swear that to be true.
I would die without a frown
To keep the flood from you.

When your eyes come wet with tears,
I’ll be there to dry them.
When your tired brain flames with fears,
I will terrify them.

When night falls on you hard,
And darkness blocks your sight,
I will be standing guard.
I will bring the light.

When dreams become nightmares,
Wearing your spirit thin,
I will find the right prayers
To bring you happiness again.

When you rush toward life’s danger,
When the world is too unkind,
I will not be a stranger.
I will ease your troubled mind.

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THE LIFE I’VE LED
By Carl Martin Johnson

I close my eyes and wonder
At the life that I have led.
I’m sure it’s just Fate’s blunder
That I am not yet dead.

My angel sent to guard
Is tired of my lifestyle.
He finds it very hard.
He’d like to rest a while.

If I were a cat,
I’d have used up my nine lives.
The miracle is that
I’ve survived where no one thrives.

I could be dead tomorrow.
I would not be surprised.
It would cause me some sorrow,
But I’d know it was karma realized.

 

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CRYSTAL VISION
By Carl Martin Johnson

I view Life with crystal vision
To see the wonders there.
I see things with precision
Floating past me in the air.

They go unnoticed by most my kind
These scenes of wondrous grace.
At my best, some days I find
I can glimpse my angel’s face.

I observe the inside of rainbows,
The hidden tops of lightning.
I witness the dull pain flows
When loneliness gets frightening.

And I can see the world’s fine soul
In all its supreme glory.
With all the beings that make it whole,
That tell its wondrous story.

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YOU CAME THROUGH A DREAM
By Carl Martin Johnson

I woke up with you in my heart.
You snuck in through a dream.
Your full body a work of art.
Eyes glowing with starbeams.

You made a home inside my mind.
You said that you would stay.
That your life and mine were intertwined.
It was our fate to love this way.

But our bodies will not be denied.
They too must unite.
We’ll find a place for our souls to hide,
While we enjoy the night.

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Sleep, My Baby
Sweet Sin
War Song
The Coyote
Making An Angel Cry
Run Away With Me
The Fat Girl
The Story Of The Flame
Hope
Just Like Me
Bridge Over Troubled Water
Looking For You
The Life I've Led
Sky Diamonds
Crystal Vision
You Came Through A Dream
My Last Spring
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