An old man was meandering up the sidewalk with a cane and the button on his tweed hat read ‘ Peace begins with a smile ‘

I thought to myself, so does deception; but it was early and I hadn’t had my coffee yet.

Dennis Mantin

The bad luck raised suspicions, on a path that was beat down.

No one dared to look within or see the wise men in the town.

It was happening for eons, as long as Grandad could recall.

Like a dark foreboding plank walk or a dream in which you fall.

Until the child spoke her words that, “Maybe somethings wrong with me?”

So we made a meeting with the Doc, down at the Family Psychiatry.

The doctor raised awareness and we all took a look.

Things are looking so good now, might take Grandma off the hook.

Now life is far from perfect however the family’s not so sad.

Looking in the mirror, not blaming blind luck, good or bad.

I don’t know why my baby loves clowns.
Whose painted on tears never fall down.
I don’t know what she sees in their eyes
Perhaps the line between horror/surprise…

I don’t know why my baby can’t sing.
Why carnival music isn’t her thing.
It fills my head when I’m at the fair.
Searching for clues in clowns everywhere.

I don’t know why she screams at night.
I hope it’s not why she holds me so tight.
Because I’m the type I’m weak for love.
Carnival music I rise above.

Is it the pain or is it the tears?
For some carnival crime from yesteryears.
Maybe it’s you, maybe I’ll never know.
Maybe it’s me, baby let go.

(chorus)

Humpty Dumpty sat on the wall. Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.
All the kings horses and all the kings men.
Tried and they tried but she fell down again.

Humpty Dumpty sat on the wall Humpty Dumpty had a great fall
She went to her shrink ended up at the mall.
Humpty Dumpty wanted it all.

Dennis Mantin

A dory is a small row boat used by fishermen.
I knew we were in trouble when I couldn’t get Dexter to sit down as he tried to untangle the net, rocking the dory; taking on river water.
My warning, ” We’re going to sink if you don’t sit down . ” Seemed to fall on deaf ears.
I remembered Harold’s wise words. ” If you think you’re going under, remove your rubber boots, or you will drown.”
I was sitting in my socks in the middle of the river, bailing water with a rubber boot as the dory disappeared beneath me.
We had reached the tipping point.
The Atlantic Ocean water is cold in late October and adds weight to sweaters and wool.
I heard Dexter splashing. However, my main focus early on was to not get tangled up in the net. When I was sure I was clear, I decided to allow my body time to recover for another push to shore. This required holding my breath and allowing myself to sink to the bottom Deception River.
It was here in the estuary with approximately 10 feet of the Atlantic Ocean over my head that I realized that it had been perhaps decades since I had prayed and this might be an opportune time to return to the practice. The prayer went something like this.
“Dear God… If you get me out of this; I will never drink again. ”
I pushed off the river bottom and swam towards shore in the darkness. I remembered Persy’s warnings, ” Don’t panic… to panic is death.”
I sank, stayed calm, repeated, and reached dry land .
Dexter yelled from the opposite shore.
I sat for a moment cold and grateful to be alive and thought to myself… If I don’t get out of here, I’m going to die.Dennis Mantin

That opaque interlude of childhood is far behind us.

Worn and tattered and splayed by uneven, unreliable memory…

Spread thin until it’s meaningless, no flavor, no substance…

Just unrelenting nonsense that needs to be stared down; gone but not forgotten.

We are in the heart of meaning NOW!! Standing, pacing, one step in front of the other, dealing with what needs be…

Maybe the opaque is required… maybe we need to grow before we can see behind that curtain and roll into the arms of Angel’s.

Dennis Mantin

I’ve always been a leader… Natural leader above all.

When I was just a baby I led baby marches by the crawl.

Influencer, public figure, I’m now a man about the town.

Or I might be a woman, it’s whatever’s going down.

If I post it and you’ll like it then you can be my friend.

I’m an influenced public figure I major at pretend.

All the other babies they gave me the brightest ball.

None of us could stand so there wasn’t far to fall.

Influencers and Public Figures… lift your faces from your phone.

Take a look around you, you do look so all alone.

Dennis Mantin

He’s a beggar and he’s filthy and he sits across the road.

He’s shoeless and he stumbles, from the burden of his load.

I can’t see his burden but he’s carried it for years.

I’ve never seen him cry though I know he’s shed some tears.

He sits across the road as if he’s held there by a force.

Which is really quite invisible except for him of course.

There’s a mother or a lover or both you can be sure.

Someone got abandoned and for that there is no cure.

Except my few small dollars and the ease that drink it brings…

And for a few small moments he hears theangel as she sings.

Dennis Mantin

I was told that I didn’t suffer fools…

I couldn’t imagine anyone who would.

A coworker said about the man we work for, “He suffers fools gladly.”

Then he added, “He sees the big picture… doesn’t swet the small stuff.”

We have no shortage here and I have been shown true leadership.

I am humbled… and that is wonderful!

Dennis Mantin