Carl Martin Johnson
Poet,  Author,  Slayer of Dragons

© Carl Martin Johnson, All rights reserved

SWEET SILENCE
By Carl Martin Johnson

Sweet Silence, I can hear you.
Tell me all you know.
I feel Truth is near you.
If I listen, I will grow.

I kiss your soft still lips.
As we touch I’m lost in wonder.
I taste your knowing as it drips.
Unseen lightning, unheard thunder.

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SOLDIER DYING
By Carl Martin Johnson

He looked over his shoulder
At my torn body in the dirt.
He saw my life-fire smolder.
Knew I’d not survive the hurt.

His bayonet had found me,
Plunged deep into my heart.
I was leaving the world around me.
That journey would soon start.

For an instant in his eye
I saw regret for what he’d done.
But we soldiers do not cry.
Our wars must be won.

 

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TO BE ALONE
By Carl Martin Johnson

It’s better, I think, to be alone,
Than to be with you and lonely.
You are the best love I have known,
But I am not your only.

In another you confide.
He knows secrets kept from me.
The care for him you hide,
Yet the affection I can see.

Still, I will bear the sorrow
As long as my heart can.
I’ll hang on ‘til tomorrow,
Try to forget the other man.

 

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I KISSED THE FACE OF GOD
By Carl Martin Johnson

Last night I kissed God’s face
With my full and loving soul.
He returned my warm embrace
And I felt myself grow whole.

Then He breathed me in,
Absorbed me into His Mind.
I felt my life begin
Only when our souls combined.

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BREAKING THROUGH INFINITY
By Carl Martin Johnson

Can you catch me, Lord?
You’ve bred me as a Man.
The Light I race toward
Shines from your Great Plan.

Have you created me as heir?
Will Mankind so evolve?
Will we surpass your care?
Must we the Riddle solve?

I am speeding, Father, to You.
Catch me as I go past.
Tell me if I outgrew You,
Or if I’m moving far too fast.
 

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LIFE BREATH
By Carl Martin Johnson

Life breathed between my lips.
She did not wish to lose me.
Not yet the Apocalypse.
She did not let the Reaper choose me.

One day will be my turn,
And she will let me go.
Life’s flame will flicker and burn
Then she’ll purse her lips and blow.

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ANGELS HAVE THE GRACE
By Carl Martin Johnson

Angels have the grace,
But Mankind has the heart.
Angels see God’s face.
Man is of Him a part.

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LOVE AND COLD
By Carl Martin Johnson

The cold wraps tight around me,
But it cannot reach my heart.
The icy tentacles that have found me
Won’t force Love’s shield apart.

Icy wind slaps my face,
Yet cannot dim my smile.
The thought of your embrace
Will warm me a long while.

My blood is lava flowing.
Winter’s freeze cannot chill it.
Your love will keep it glowing.
No arctic blast can chill it.

It is love that lights Life’s fire.
While it stays so will the flame,
Heating passion and desire.
Love and Life are both the same.

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NEW MAN DYING
By Carl Martin Johnson

That man dying there
I only met tonight.
He is from the South somewhere.
Seems they always fight.

I’d crawl to him if I could.
Maybe stop his bleeding.
I’m also hit real good.
But I can’t block his pleading.

The look in his wet eyes,
I’ve seen a lot before.
Heard those weakening cries
Calling at Heaven’s Door.

I’ll try to make it to him.
I can’t stand to hear him moan.
I can’t say I knew him,
But I won’t let him die alone.

 

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ROMANCING LIFE
By Carl Martin Johnson

Life, come now and tempt me.
Let me embrace your fire.
From no sin exempt me.
It’s your lust that I desire.

I seek no wages I’m not due,
No happiness unearned.
Yet for wild romance with you,
I will risk being burned.

Take me in your arms.
Teach me how to live.
Show me your sweet charms.
I want all you have to give.

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THESE ARE NOT TEARS
By Carl Martin Johnson

These are not tears running down my cheek.
I am sure it must be rain.
A sobbing man is shamefully weak,
No matter what the pain.

I am combat hardened,
Accustomed to much death.
My enemies go unpardoned.
I cut off their final breath.

But this battle is one too far.
Piles of dead and dying.
I am sick and tired of war.
It is my soul that is crying.

One day men will kill no more.
That is what I pray.
My bloody actions I abhor.
The scenes won’t go away.

Yet warrior is what I am.
I disdain to weep.
Rain, not tears, by damn.
Although my hurt is deep.

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NO SUN TO WARM ME
By Carl Martin Johnson

I need no sun to warm me.
I have fire inside.
A great hope to transform me,
To make me satisfied.

I see Mankind as new breed,
Angel cousin, yet new being,
Evolution’s new seed,
Wondrous future I am seeing.

We are growing, but not grown,
Yet I feel the change within.
That will blossom which was sown,
And a new world will begin.

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I EMBRACE YOU, FRIENDS
By Carl Martin Johnson

I embrace you, friends,
Each and every one.
And I swear to make amends
For any hurt that I have done.

 

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IT’S A GOOD DAY
By Carl Martin Johnson

It’s a good day…I’m alive.
I will grow and I will thrive.
I kiss the Angel of the Dawn
For waking me to carry on.

Today I’ll do a kind thing.
I’ll make a sad heart sing.
When I see a frowning face,
I’ll put a wide smile in its place.

With a plain girl I will flirt,
Making up for others’ hurt.
Let her know I see within
The beauty beneath the skin.

A man homeless on the street,
I’ll befriend and ask to eat.
My affection real, you see,
That man could be me.

When this day is done,
If my goals I’ve won,
I will feel my live has worth,
And there was reason for my birth.

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HELLO, NEW YEAR
By Carl Martin Johnson

Goodbye to the Old Year.
It will not come again.
New days will soon be here.
Welcome! Let’s begin!

All together, we’ll move on
Toward Life’s final goal.
With what’s coming, not what’s gone,
As the focus of the soul.

Soon, I know, we’ll find
That every day is bright.
Then all of Humankind
Will have traveled to the Light.

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GOLDEN SUNRISE
By Carl Martin Johnson

I saw the sun rise golden,
Giving praise to the new day.
To Life I am beholden
For allowing me to stay.

I have another chance to learn,
To become a better man.
Perhaps the Divine Grace I’ll earn.
I’ll do the best I can.

Every moment I am granted
Will be one that I will use
To grow the seed Life planted,
Flowering the bloom I choose.

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NOT A BAD DAY
By Carl Martin Johnson

Not a bad day,
Just not sunny.
So look beyond the gray.
Think of something funny,
And scare the blues away.

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WIND WHISPERS
By Carl Martin Johnson

The soft wind whispers to me
Secrets she only knows.
Makes me smile when I am gloomy
With her poetry and prose.

She is an angel’s voice
Sweeping gently o’er the earth,
Telling me I should rejoice
That God gave my soul birth.
 

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A CHILD’S ANGEL
By Carl Martin Johnson

My child, sleep soundly in your bed.
God has sent me to protect you.
I’ll chase all sadness from your head.
I never will neglect you.

I’ll put happy thoughts behind your eyes,
Loving creatures in your dreams.
In your heart you’ll find a prize
Of starlight and moonbeams.

You will feel me at your side.
I am with you when you’re lonely.
In you I take great pride.
I’m your angel, and yours only.

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RUN QUICKLY TO THE DAWN
By Carl Martin Johnson

Run quickly to the dawn.
Run quickly to the sun.
Before the light is gone.
Before your day is done.

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GLOWING DAWN
By Carl Martin Johnson

Gold-red dawn comes glowing,
Burning off the chill of night
Bringing a new day’s knowing
Of secrets, both dark and bright.

Yet, should the sun not rise,
Or our eyelids be glued tight,
We would find we need no eyes.
It is our soul that sees the Light.

 

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LET YOUR WORDS FLAME
By Carl Martin Johnson

Let your mouth spout flame.
Let your words strike hot as lightning.
Truth can know no shame.
Only to evil is it frightening.

Let your phrases burn the night.
Incinerate foul lies.
Illuminate what’s right.
All that’s wrong chastise.

Make your verse a fiery blast,
A funeral pyre for hate,
‘Til ignorance is ash at last,
And only truth we celebrate.

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TORCHES IN ETERNITY’S MIST
By Carl Martin Johnson

There burn torches in eternity’s mists,
Lit to steer Man on his way.
Markers to show where truth exists.
Where night gives way to day.

But some flames may mislead,
Lit solely to confuse.
We must determine which to heed,
Which to pass and which to use.

Look closely at the fires,
Those you choose as guide.
More than ignite your desires,
They must spark the need inside.

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THE MAN ON THE TRAIL
By Carl Martin Johnson

I passed a man coming down the trail.
He looked a lot like me.
Except that he was torn and frail,
And drained of energy.

I slowed and nodded as he neared.
My greeting was not returned.
Yet I could tell I was not feared,
Rather a creature to be spurned.

I looked back when he had gone,
Dissolved into the mist.
I just kept moving on,
Wondering how such men exist.

Then another, near my twin,
But joyful and well-dressed.
Every contest he would win.
A man, indeed, full blessed.

He waved as he reached my side.
I returned his happy smile.
Into the fog I watched him glide.
I stood there for a while.

When appeared a faceless thing
Which spoke in a deep voice:
“You are in Life just what you bring.
Yours, friend, is the choice.”

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GLOOM, PASS BY
By Carl Martin Johnson

Pass softly by my window, gloom.
Do not disturb or wake me.
I sleep soundly in my room,
My soul where dreams will take me.

I leave my cares behind,
Troubles of conscious living,
To seek, and often find,
The joy that slumber’s giving.

You may catch me in the day,
But you will not hold me long.
I will quickly slip away.
My daydreams, too, are strong.

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EYES SHUT
By Carl Martin Johnson

Eyes shut, do you glimpse rainbows,
With colors multi-hued?
Can you tell when the moon glows
Though her silver face not viewed?

Can you feel a great storm’s lightning
From the depth of a dungeon cell,
As it rips the black sky, whitening,
Like a fiery spear from Hell?

Do you know dawn’s golden rays
Before night’s dark is done,
And the morning sky’s ablaze
With the fire of a new day’s sun.

Do you have eyes in your soul
That look past eternity?
Then you’re a being whole.
And you, my friend, can see.
 

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BLESS ME, LIFE
By Carl Martin Johnson

Come here, Life, and bless me.
Let me feel your beat.
Make your breath caress me.
Let my and your soul meet.

Do you know I’m here?
Know that I exist?
I’ve held you very dear
Since at birth we kissed.

So, in your arms enfold me.
Each other we will share,
Until you cannot hold me,
And I move on to Heaven’s care.

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LIFE’S FLOW
By Carl Martin Johnson

Fools worry about Life’s ending,
Instead of swimming with its flow.
Why care what fate’s impending?
Why should they want to know?

Rather revel in the minute.
Exist only in the now.
Enjoy the world and all that’s in it.
Your soul will show you how.

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GOD MADE MAN A GROWING SEED
By Carl Martin Johnson

God made Man a growing seed,
No limit to what we could be.
He will help us when we need.
If that’s not true it should be.

 

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