Another year older no balder –
dash,
Wishing I could write my life ('s)
perfect poem before I
pass
Out of this world to the other
side,
While dreaming of my mother
And can’t wait to
fly.
One more circle around the old solar
disk
And it won’t be long before I’m not forgetfully
missed.
Not that I’ve done momentous things
Deserving of remembrance too sad to
sing
But only that I’m still here today, thankfully
having another undeserved birth
day.
© Terrell Martin. 01/17/2025
Categories:
undeserved, birthday,
Form: Free verse
Unheard voices cannot be spoken louder,
Unknown persons cannot be known quicker,
Unseen masks cannot be revealed sooner,
Unspoken words cannot produce a marker.
I died with a human once,
I made a voyage through the dead ship twice,
I forced someone quite a long ago,
I asked for his favour, leaving behind my ego.
You were quintessentially okay,
You were perfectly good,
You asked something beautiful,
You played something wonderful.
My throat never speaks quieter,
Your appearance is really better,
My head never thinks of someone else twice,
Your mind is never diverted from vice.
We will pay tribute to the sacred and profane at the same time,
Your gestures are unreliable to my paradigm,
You and I will begin the flight to the blessed hell,
Nobody, except me, can hold your hand throughout this expedition quite well.
Categories:
undeserved, depression, emotions, extended metaphor,
Form: Free verse
You deserve our adoring praise
For You alone are worthy of honor
Making our playing field more even
Gifting us with strength and power
To vanquish our enemies' schemes
We cannot express our thanks enough
For Your name is our provision
Let Your favor and mercy flow
This year will be one of recovery
Be still and know, trust in Your plans
For all that You died for us to gain
We will inherit in Your holy Name.
Categories:
undeserved, anxiety, appreciation,
Form: Rhyme
I forgave you when you hurt me and brought tears pouring from my eyes. You didn't deserve forgiveness for keeping secrets and telling lies.
I forgave you when you would just run away and disappear without a trace. You didn't deserve forgiveness returning only to lie right to my face.
I forgave you when used me and I would do anything you would ask. You didn't deserve forgiveness because you never gave anything back.
I forgave you for the cold cruel words that crushed my self esteem. You didn't deserve forgiveness, you repaid my kindness with your heartless and mean.
I forgave you tossing me aside when another girl you chose to find. But you didn't deserve forgiveness when you just used me everytime.
Sadly I loved you so much I forgave time and time to no end. But you underserved forgiveness when you repeatedly returned to hurt me again.
I forgave you for not loving me the way that I loved you. But you didn't deserve forgiveness when the person undeserving of love was YOU!
Categories:
undeserved, abuse, betrayal, emotions, endurance,
Form: Rhyme
It pains me to confess the unadulterated truth,
Once I strung together some distantly related words
[and by that, I mean “really” distantly related, too!]
And, tongue-in-cheek, submitted to a poetry contest
Which, surprisingly, I won … First Place!
Feeling rather badly about my obnoxious behavior
Which was rewarded so bountifully with applause
I tried to convince the sponsor I was only spoofing,
I was trying to make a point [no one wanted made]
Surprisingly, I got a note … of thanks!
Feeling even worse, I decided to decline the prize.
I wanted to do the right thing, in my way of thinking,
So, I tore up the sponsor’s check and threw it away
I wrote telling them what I had done, and I got
Surprisingly, another check … with thanks!
By now, I was completely over the whole situation
Which began with my twisted way of making a point
So, I cashed the check and spent the prize money,
And winding up the matter with a generous gesture,
Surprisingly, I sent them a note … “Thanks!”
written February 2, 2022
Categories:
undeserved, fun, humor, writing,
Form: Light Verse
In that lonely room on the third floor
overlooking the town of Everett,
a town on the outskirts of Boston,
I fell asleep while murmuring a prayer
dreaming of mom through many a night;
in those dreams distance
became an absence,
a devoted brother and son
longing for mother and sisters...
cried remembering their sweetness!
In that lonely room on the third floor,
I wrote long letters with emotional words...
telling mom I wanted to desperately come home;
and that room was a prison filled with horror
and not getting enough rest, I hid under the linen sheets
fearing ghosts and listening to their horrendous sounds:
what I left was the ideal home,
where I could feel motherly love!
In that lonely room
shut to smoggy air that clogged my lungs,
nights had no glittering stars,
only cloudy and bleak skies...
sulkier than absurd thoughts
crossing a youngster's mind;
did I deserve solitude,
loneliness and gloom?
What was the purpose to seclude
myself and miss someone's human touch?
All those years were extremely tough
without a comforting hand
touching mine and assuring me I was loved!
Categories:
undeserved, anxiety, depression, family, fear,
Form: Lyric
Blue is labelled a moody color of low spirits
but so many beautiful things are of this hue.
Like wavy oceans with streaks of silver that fuel us.
Cornflower-iris -prairie bells garnishing our hearts
the blue gaze of newborns harboring the purist love
a robin's egg that will soon turn into nestled song
sapphire skies that bring us closer to our god
keeping galaxies and pink granite dreams aloft.
Blue is not a hue of the down and lowly,
but a splash of peace-tranquility and hope.
Categories:
undeserved, blue, romance,
Form: Free verse
How many fools who know my name
And what I do will dare
Walk with me and talk to me
As if, for me, they really care?
None, I used to think
Would be stupid enough to try
To put up with the fool who often
Turned his victim's blood to clothing dye.
And even when you approached me
I thought you friendship was a lie
A ploy to torture the psychopath
Who doesn't care when people die.
Surely, you weren't naïve enough
To think I deserved a second chance.
Baby boy, I've killed so many,
Even with death, I'd kissed and danced.
But you were, innocent little insect,
And even if you say you hate
Me, how many heroes would give a murderer
The chance to change for great?
And the hopeful way you talk about me—
It makes the boxes — and me — go insane
Because I believe, somehow I think,
I can make up for all the pain.
Categories:
undeserved, anxiety, best friend, change,
Form: Ballad
God gives people kindness whether we deserve it or not.
He gives us undeserved kindness because he loves us a lot.
The Lord will give us kindness even though we make mistakes and sin.
If we repent and turn to God, he will help us with the trouble we're in.
God gives us underserved kindness when we have food on the table.
There are starving people who want to eat but they are not able.
We should be thankful when God gives us undeserved kindness.
When he is kind to a man or a woman, he or she has been blessed.
Categories:
undeserved, god, religion, truth,
Form: Rhyme
Eager but lazy,
Salivating jealousy,
They want the rewards;
Should the gold come undeserved,
They'll pay the price with a curse
Categories:
undeserved, character, corruption, desire, jealousy,
Form: Tanka
this soul i don't deserve
i stomp it through the ground
take this chain and practice your latest studies on the effects of flagellation
when it is to late to mend a broken heart, regret is life acid in the eye of your life
my chapped lips prevent me from speaking clearly
my cracked asking keeps me from freely moving
this conscience i won't preserve
i toss it in the blackest water i wait for it to drown
eventually i go on with life finding the seat still warm where you found me
when i sit in it to reclaim and recall, suddenly Somebody does the job for me....
Categories:
undeserved, absence, lost love,
Form: Free verse
V iolet M a loVe UndeserVed
V iolet M a loVe UndeserVed
V is for loVe
I is for vIolet
o is for the wonder
L is for the fLower
e is for the many of each moment
t is for my time
M is for loVe Mine
Categories:
undeserved, love, uplifting, wife, love,
Form: Free verse
early morning walks
through grassy slopes
awaken deep in me
wonderful weird feelings
of being lifted up, floating
high, joyfully buoyant
as I slowly pick my way
down from breezy crests
to softly murmuring creeks
'neath the foliage below,
of being loved by the sun
and earth and sky, caressed,
of being so fortunate,
so undeservedly
blessed !
Categories:
undeserved, nature, peace, seasons,
Form: Free verse