Love or Cancers

He was looking for the answers.

Not for money, nor for fame.

Not brought down by love or cancers.

So informed by guilt and shame.

He lied about so many things.

Just to keep them on their toes.

The rich, they yacht. The poor they sing.

The lies are everybody knows.

Some said he was a poet.

Some said he was insane.

But they could never know it.

What was running through that brain.

He was looking for some answers.

Not for money or for fame.

Not brought down by love or cancers.

Not informed by guilt or shame.

There’s such a quiet in the morning.

It’s just a silent cooling still.

It’s hard to know what is a warning.

When you’ve calmed that urge to will.

Dennis Mantin

Pretty Things [Ode To Banff in the mid 1980s]

The pretty things were all dancing.

And we were looking for a sign.

Dexter danced and shook it off.

Like a Madman on the shine.

We were drinking at the Cascade.

At Leo’s five and dime.

Nothing much was making sense.

Until The Villians were the crime.

It came and went so quickly.

Like a fever at high pitch.

The Era went, and no one saw.

In silent darkness came the switch.

No one gave us warning.

Or at least not one that I heard.

And all the pretty things were dancing.

And the lines were kinda blurred.

Dennis Mantin

Smoke

She came out of the smoke…

It was always the same.

Beauty flawed.

I couldn’t get enough. So it couldn’t last.

It’s odd how we find the way. The strength.

I left her there. It’s what she wanted.

I see her in my dreams. Always the same.

Beauty flawed. She comes out of the smoke…

Dennis Mantin

Broken

I was thinking, partly listening. I was nodding, but deep in past.

You were talking. I know it’s shocking. You were thinking this can’t last.

The balance is fractured broken. . There’s a movement in the air.

All that talking, and no listening. Spinning stuck in, ‘I don’t care.’

Dennis Mantin

THE UNFORGIVEN EPITAPH 

I am sad to hear that you have passed. 

You gave me a great gift – Your time.   Your honesty. Your art. I first saw you in THE UNFORGIVEN… which to my surprise, really wasn’t about me.

I was proud to call you my friend…

You changed my life and gave me hope and I am grateful for you and you listened. 

You bought my paintings when I was a starving artist and that puts you in a very small exclusive group.

I was attracted to your passion and I loved the sound of your voice. I miss you already, as I always have. 

Cheers, thank you and warm regards Ron White…

Dennis Mantin 

Shot Down (2005)

Another day, sundown.
Another night, sundown.
Orange to black, sundown.
Fades to midnight blue.
There’s nothing I can’t do.

And here comes the night
And I don’t know why
I hear your voice
And I lose my way.
Where are you now?
Can I touch you somehow?
You’re somewhere near sleep where images fade.
And here comes the sun.
Another night is done.
Here comes the sun.
And here I go again.

Saw the man, shot down.
Heard his voice, shot down . Eyes rolled white, shot down. Breathe goodbye that sound. Fades to midnight blue. There’s nothing I can do.

Another day shot down.
Another night shot down.
Orange to black.
Shot down.
Fades to midnight blue.
There’s nothing I can do.

DENNIS MANTIN

Mother’s Day

I don’t think Mother’s get enough credit… There is great sacrifice in motherhood. Physical, emotional, financial… all of this and more.

The dependence that children have on their mothers is paramount.

My mother was Margaret MacIver and her mother was Mary who died when my mother was 13.

Margaret died when I was 11. I don’t know if I ever got over her passing.

My daughters mother lost the ability to cope with parenting when my daughter was 8 and although I have never given birth, I am a father and a mother to my girl; according to her.

I take the job and privilege of parenting as the highest priority in my life. I have learned that not everyone can be a parent in spite of the fact that they can give birth. There are many reasons for this and some of them are even valid…

Dennis Mantin