Carl Martin Johnson
Poet, Author, Slayer of Dragons
© Carl Martin Johnson, All rights reserved
KISSING LIFE
By Carl Martin Johnson
I lifted sweet Life to me
To kiss her baby cheek.
She smiled as if she knew me
And what answers I would seek.
I gazed deep into her eyes,
Searching for her soul.
But I could not find the prize
That would make my being whole.
She was an infant but would grow.
I would nurture her with care.
One day I would know
Life’s secrets should I dare.
_______________________________________________
LONELY MAN’S MASK
By Carl Martin Johnson
I am lonely, but I smile.
To help disguise my sadness.
If only for a while,
It drives off the madness.
Perhaps a happy face,
False though it may be,
Will lead me to a place
Where I’ll find solitude’s key.
Somewhere along the way
I pray there’s someone waiting.
If I find her I will stay
And spend life celebrating.
_______________________________________________
THE HOWLING WIND
By Carl Martin Johnson
I love the howling wind.
She is the storm god’s greeting.
She marks me as a friend,
One the storm is meeting.
She was a breeze before a gale.
Like a spark grows to a flame.
As her purr became a wail,
She whispered me her name.
In Man’s tongue it can’t be said,
But it flowed into my being.
The sound vibrates in my head
With the wind the storm is freeing.
She said the tempest’s song
Is the dirge for souls just dying.
It carries them along
And blocks their loved one’s crying.
My name one day she’ll scream.
Her music sung for me,
Escorting me to the dream
That is Eternity.
_______________________________________________
GHOST IN THE MIRROR
By Carl Martin Johnson
Her image in the mirror
Was a ghost and nothing more.
No magic words could cheer her.
Life had left her years before.
She stared at the reflection,
At the dead look in the eyes.
She once sought resurrection,
But that hope was full of lies.
Her spirit was sucked dry.
Life had taken heavy toll.
No more tears to cry
From her dusty, weary soul.
Her youth had not been wasted.
She’d known love and joy.
Forbidden fruit she’d tasted,
Then learned beauty could destroy.
Her heart had made mistakes.
Now penance she was paying.
Life permitted no retakes,
In spite of all her praying.
But in her eyes, far deep,
Hope sparked, though nearly gone.
It held despair in keep,
And made her carry on.
Then a smile came near,
One none could see but she,
From a dream she still held dear,
Someday she would make it be.
_______________________________________________
IN THE STILL
By Carl Martin Johnson
In the still I hear life flowing,
A river rushing by.
Deep, intense and growing,
The writhing cosmos’ cry.
The current draws me in,
Pulling me to the center.
Whirling in Being’s spin,
Challenging me to enter.
I close my eyes and listen,
Drowning in the joy.
Feeling the wavelets glisten,
As my sorrows they destroy.
I float softly in the stream,
All living things around me.
Loving my soul’s dream
And the wonders that surround me.
_______________________________________________
FOLLOW
By Carl Martin Johnson
Follow me, my friend.
I’ve found where I am going.
Far past this life’s end
Into the realm of Knowing.
_______________________________________________
THE FACE OF WAR
By Carl Martin Johnson
I stared into the soldier’s eyes.
I saw the killing there.
The fighter wore a man’s disguise,
But Death lurked in his stare.
I saw sprawled bodies of those he’d slain,
Rivers of blood he’d shed.
I gasped at the horror and the pain
On the faces of the dead.
I spied countryside laid waste,
Armageddon by his hand.
Fumes of annihilation I could taste
From the ruined, butchered land.
Then I reached for my reflection,
Touched the hard face on the glass.
Saw a man with Death’s complexion
Who had earned the Devil’s pass.
I would overcome death dealing
Though that fight be long and hard.
But I had lost man’s finer feeling
And my soul forever scarred.
_______________________________________________
A STRANGER’S SMILE
By Carl Martin Johnson
A stranger saved me with a smile
On my way to suicide.
I had been down for a long while.
I envied those who’d died.
I judged my life a hopeless path,
With no hope for tomorrow.
My soul was filled with futile wrath.
My heart was filled with sorrow.
But his smile a memory brought to mind,
And that one sparked another,
Of days past that were warm and kind,
With every man my brother.
Now when I rise to see the dawn,
I thank that smiling stranger.
He encouraged me to carry on.
He saved my soul from danger.
_______________________________________________
A MAN WORTH KNOWING
By Carl Martin Johnson
He was a man worth knowing,
The sort you rarely find.
He’d been where I was going,
And freely shared his mind.
His wisdom was well-earned.
His opinion sought by many.
No question ever spurned.
Enemies? …He’d not any.
As he learned more each day,
The knowledge made him smile.
The lessons he’d convey
Made time with him worthwhile.
But as he pursued his knowing feast,
His bright smile lost its shine.
He had found Mankind a beast,
More animal than Divine.
One day he simply left.
No one knew where he was going.
For a time I was bereft.
He was a man worth ka nowing
_______________________________________________
THE DECLARATION
By Carl Martin Johnson
Seems they signed a declaration,
Our educated men.
Says we are now a nation,
That our future can begin.
To a simple man like me
It is a mighty plan.
No more colonist I’ll be.
I am American.
King George won’t let us go.
There’ll be a damned big fight.
Many will die, I know,
But we must do what’s right.
I best get to the farm.
I need to tell my wife.
Time has come for risking harm.
Time has come for risking life.
And though we be ordinary,
What we will do is great.
The burden we will carry
Will forever change Man’s fate.
_______________________________________________
STAND FAST
By Carl Martin Johnson
Stand fast against the foe.
Do not let him win.
If we fight him, he will go,
And a better world begin.
Let not terror rule our lands.
Take up arms and fight.
With weapons or bare hands,
It is we who share God’s might.
_______________________________________________