Friday, October 29, 2010

Hideout....


She made a little hide-out
To get away from the ‘crowd’
And on the outside she wrote
‘NO BOYS ALLOWED’………….

And it made me ponder
If I have a hide-out
With a sign on the door
Saying…..’NO GOD ALLOWED’

Janet~

Big Shoes..........


Dear God………….

Sometimes when I look at my children
I feel so very small…………
Funny…..because when I was a kid
I thought parents were tall!!!

….now the shoes that wait for me
Seem mighty big to fill
Dear God, help me to walk in them
According to Your will

Janet~

On some days its easier to see the humor in it
than on others:)

A Picture of Life......


It’s a kaleidoscope of color
It’s a quadrille of change
It’s a shift in the weather
It’s warm sun and cold rain
It’s a flaming vesture
Of orange, red and gold
Until it’s stripped of its rainbow
And left bare and cold


It’s cantankerous and moody
It’s laughing and gay
It’s stunning in beauty
It’s chilling and gray
It’s a landscape of emotion
It is grief and delight
It's contrast in an ocean
Of darkness and light

Life; I’ll compare thee
If, perchance I may
To the sorrow and beauty
Of an autumn day
Life is a season
Of laughter and strife
Oh the season of autumn
Paints a picture of life

All Rights Reserved
Janet Martin

As I drove my daughter to work this morning
The fields which not so very long ago
Were brilliant green and gold
Are now a dull and somber brown…….
But the sun was shining so when I returned home
I hung out a line of laundry…….
Twenty minutes later it was pouring a rain/sleet mixture….
So I dashed out to bring in the laundry!!!!
It’s sunny right now:)
My laundry is in the dryer!!!!

The picture collage was taken the other night
When the eastern sky was a deep foreboding blue
And the west flaming pink, purple and fiery gold!!!!
AND IT WAS RAINING!!!! It was eerily beautiful
Because of the tornado warnings!

Thursday, October 28, 2010

Almost November


The perfumed haunts of late July
Lay cold and barren ‘neath the sky
A sky of moody blue and gray
Where low cloud drives the sun away
The sun which seems a little pale
It’s valiant beam a little frail


The purple pansy bows her head
Nestled in a leafy bed
She listens to the lonesome tune
Of winds that used to laugh in June
But now they sweep across the earth
Weeping with a chilling mirth

In the frigid morning hush
The paint upon the artist’s brush
Has turned from gold, scarlet and bronze
To cold and muted under-tones
Almost November……is what it would say
If the sky were turned into a painting today…………..

All Rights Reserved
Janet Martin

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

What Might Have Been........


Not for us to plead
For brilliant field
Or question cold and
Grievous streams
Tumbling by.......
All the fruit
That thought can yield
And all the yearning
Of vague dreams
In barren reaches lie
Does wisdom fall
To those who patiently abide
Trusting higher Hands
Life's undulating echoes call
Across the shifting tide.......
Life's shadows dance
And shimmer on time's whitewashed sands
With joy and sorrow drifting low
A transcient sheen
Not for us to clutch within our hands
The elusive glow
Of what might have been

What Was It?


What was it about that night?
Was it the way the pale blue moonlight
Was slightly diffused by the ragged cloud
That hung like a muse or a misty shroud
On the Shoulder of the autumn eve
Or was it the sight of that lingering leaf
Shivering like a lonely Straggler on the street
That is silent now, though all day busy feet
Moved by Him, and no one said ‘hello’
Was it the Sigh of the naked willow?
Or was it the ivy that clung to the wall
Where I could see the Shadow fall
Of the tree where the lonesome leaf still clung
And far-off on the breeze the town clock strikes one
And I should be sleeping like the fit and the wise
But for some reason slumber evades my eyes
For I cannot forget that mood in the air
Akin to that night I met You there
Ah yes, I remember it now…I do
What made that night special; it was You

All Rights Reserved
Janet Martin

I Suppose............


I suppose this searing, tender, yearning
gut-wrenching, inexplicable timeless ache
Beginning in my heart and spreading out to
the tips of every finger
is simply the part of love
that lingers
to remind me of how incredibly
incomparable to any other emotion....
.............love is
It cannot be described as a feeling
though initially it may leave us reeling
it indwells us like a Being,
It is the wonder with which we weep,
forgive, continue,cherish, caress, let go...
and yet forever keep
It is the hope which lets us feel
I suppose with love pleasure and pain
are eternally intertwined.....
I suppose................
I love you

All Rights Reserved
Janet Martin

No Words............



For all the deepness of a sigh
For all the weeping of the sky
For all the fondness in my eye
There are no words
For all the memories that I hold
For all the music, silent, cold
For all the yearning thought untold
There are no words

Janet Martin

Stepping Stones


We step on them in
Our fixed determination
To get to where we’re going
Our eyes focused
On our purpose and destination
And that’s too bad
Because hearts have never made
Good stepping-stones
We turn………
Our intent
To return the way we came
But instead
All that remains
Is a sea of red

All Rights Reserved
Janet Martin

Helpless....


I can never give too much
And I can never get enough....
Love
I cannot tire of its touch
Keeps me fragile, makes me tough......
Love
I cannot hold on to it
But I cannot let it go
It's harder to love a little bit
To love but never let it show
I've learned a few things about
Love
It can hurt; it can be rough
But no one ever showed me how
To un-love
It's hard to love sometimes, I know
But it's harder to un-love
And let love go

All Rights Reserved
Janet Martin

Solitary Confinement....


The solitude
Of a self-erected prison
Is indeed lonesome
The cold iron bars
Put carefully in place
Simply cannot keep out
The shadow of a face
Or the echo of a sigh
As the days, months and years
Pass silently by

All Rights Reserved
Janet Martin

Leaves.............


Leaves...........
If they were leaves
they would drift
aimlessly, on the breeze
then settle at last at our feet
or be that miniature raft
on a rippling avenue
its destiny; the great big sea
or a forgotten shore
where they would never be remembered
anymore
If they were leaves I could
gather them and burn them......
Destroy them.......
They would be so numerous
with none significant
in a soundless descent.......
and eventually
the last leaf would fall.......
and there would be
nothing
left
at all.................
to remind me of you
But thoughts are nothing like leaves
There will never be a last one to fall.........
and no matter how many thoughts compile
they will never be too numerous
to bury or crowd out
or make insignificant
my
every
thought
of you

~Janet Martin~

Muse's Fire



While bolder poets fan the flames

Of passion and desire

Quietly I will remain

Beside the muse’s fire

What comfort in the flickering light

What mysteries evoke

The painful hunger and delight

Within this flaming cloak


No Spartacus on stallion grand

Or gladiators glory

Weaving red trails on the sand

In some great, chilling story

I’ll choose to wear the luckless crown

And silently admire

The grandeur of a sigh far-blown

Beyond my muse’s fire


Within the flames I see the dance

Of dreams and memories haunting

I glimpse a form of Time and Chance

Swaying, laughing, taunting

But then I hear the echoing

Of murmurs that inspire

With wild and distant beckoning

From the muse’s fire


My arms would be your prison bars

But still I draw you near

I cannot teach my heart of hearts

To unshed every tear

For as the dew clings to the rose

And ivy to the spire

Darling, I will hold you close

Within the muse’s fire

Caught Looking......


What do you think about, dear little boy
Gazing off into the blue
Is it a dream of what you will be?
Or the things you are going to do?
I’m willing to bet in that far-off gaze
That you are not looking back
But looking ahead to your ‘glory days’
The future, a sparkling track

What do you think about, young woman, today
With that dreamy look in your eye
You look as if you could fly away
Like a beautiful butterfly
Is it young love whispering in the dream?
Fair hopes of what will be
Would you share the thoughts that silently gleam
But only you can see?

What do you think about, mother dear
Caught in sudden reverie
Are you looking ahead; oh when is that year
We begin to look back tenderly
What images drift before your eyes
In this momentary trance
Are you softly beginning to realize
How fleeting is this dance?

What do you think about, dear old man
As you sit in your rocking chair
Won’t you tell me if you can
Who it is that you see out there
Who is the voice in the echo that drifts
Over the hill and valley
Are you looking back…do you still look ahead?
I wonder what you see

All Rights Reserved
Janet Martin

So where exactly does it do the flip?.....
where we start to look back more often than we look ahead.

I Reckon......


I reckon there will always be
A thirst that can’t be filled
And I reckon the tranquility
Of the hours when daylight has stilled
Will always play a haunting tune
A sweet, sad melody
Rippling from the harvest moon
Across the land and sea

I reckon within every woman and man
Resides a trace of their youth
And I reckon we should still dream if we can
And never stop searching for truth
I reckon wisdom is life’s reward
When lessons are finally learned
I reckon we’ll never totally figure it out
Or get what we think we earned

I reckon there’s nothing new under the sun
Though there seems to be ‘news’ every day
I reckon that somewhere its all been done
By someone along the way
I reckon we’re never too old to learn
And never to young to try
I reckon there’s nothing we really own
Beneath the deep blue sky

I reckon freedom will never be free
Nor ever fully paid
I reckon we should live more thankfully
In this day the Lord has made
I reckon if we realized in full
How short this life will be
We'd care less for the temporal
In light of eternity

All Rights Reserved
Janet Martin

Monday, October 25, 2010

Education............



I learned how to crawl and I learned how to walk
I learned how to listen and I learned how to talk
I learned how to get up after a fall
I learned how to love without trying at all
I learned how to add, multiply and subtract
I learned how to read, how to write…..even act
I learned how to laugh and I learned how to cry
But I’m still learning how to say good-bye

~Janet~

Looking Back.........


We all have treaded that beaten path
The one we call ‘looking back’
As we silently gaze at the weathered maze
And the echoes along its track
Perhaps tis with tears we recall bygone years
Or with the trace of a smile
We hear the knell of that distant bell
Drifting across each mile

We recall the joy of a girl or a boy
The music of carefree laughter
Yet there’s nothing to say as it fades away
For we do not know until after
The years have met with cheer and regret
Then suddenly we realize
The undeniable truth; our childhood and youth
Are a faded paradise

So let’s cherish today; try to find a way
To make it the best it can be
Then as we look back across this track
To hear its melody
Though our hearts may ache they will not break
As its music stirs our mind
And we pause to look back across the track
Of moments we’ve left behind

All Rights Reserved
Janet Martin

Equality........


Today the cobalt wave
Which sweeps across the sky
Is hovering above
The lawn where carpets lie
The summer branch relinquishing
Her fair and leafy gown
No gain in distinguishing
The red leaf from the brown
They slumber now upon the grass
Where all the endless seasons pass………

Today the lonely grave
Lies still beneath a sky
Where heavens wind and wave
Each croons their lullaby
Human breath relinquishing
The ranks they held before
In death there’s no distinguishing
The rich man from the poor
They slumber now beneath the grass
Where all the endless seasons pass

All Rights Reserved
Janet Martin

Rich and poor have this in common,
The Lord is Maker of them all. Prov.22:2

Saturday, October 23, 2010

Some Day.........


Some day someone will wander
Across this plot of grass
Perhaps they’ll stop and ponder
The years that quickly pass
They’ll say that they remember
So very long ago
How oft they used to come here
Then the memories start to flow
As they recount carefree hours
Spent romping on the lawn
How they used to pick the flowers
And they'll ask, ‘where has time gone?’
As they peek in through the windows
Hear the echo of a day
Gathered ‘round the kitchen table
In a childhood far away
They taste the milk and cookies
Of the distant faded years
Suddenly becoming vivid
In an eye now dimmed with tears
Oh, today the house is noisy
As they dash and yell and run
And the only thing important
Is the quest of having fun
While mother wipes the dishes
And the spills, footprints and tears
Yet silently she wishes
She could slow these speeding years
For she knows as she looks on them
In their tender hour of play
Far too soon their little freedom
Will have softly slipped away
And she wonders if they’ll wander
Someday across this grass
If perhaps they’ll pause to ponder
How the years so quickly pass…………

All Rights Reserved
Janet Martin

Incredible.........


Far beyond the reaches
Of the earthbound human mind
Is the One who guides and teaches
And without Him we are blind
For what is man? yet this great God
Who holds infinity
Within his palm; knows every thought
And cares for you and me

~Janet~

I believe......


I saw it today
In the trusting gaze
Of a young child’s eyes
I heard it today
In the aspirations of a lad
And the words of the elder; wise
I felt it today
Even as the wind moaned
Obdurate and bold
I touched it today
In the fragile bloom
Clad in frosty cold
I knew it today
As we tucked
The last threads of summer away.......
As long as the earth remains
There will be night and day
Summer and winter, sun and rain
In the heart that believes
Hope lives
I saw it today

All Rights Reserved
Janet Martin

Friday, October 22, 2010

Snooze.......


Ten minute bliss
Before toes touch down
On the runway of life……

~J~

Yesterday's Story......


Yesterday’s story
Stirs images of glory
Victory and defeat
We gaze ‘cross the stages
Of yesterday’s pages
With sighs; bittersweet
But then we remember
It will soon be November
And tomorrow we’ll look at today
Simply a memory
A small piece of history
As today becomes yesterday
So we dare not waste it
We will touch, feel and taste it
Not stand here in useless worry
As we cherish the hours
Like summer’s sweet flowers
Soon today will be yesterday’s story

All Rights Reserved
Janet Martin

Thursday, October 21, 2010

In Autumn's Song...........


Long blue shadow
Sprawls across the yard
Smoke curling aimlessly
Creates a lower cloud
Beneath iron gray shutters
Encasing the distant crag
As leaves chase each other
In an endless game of tag
In autumn’s song

The shadow of October's lintel
Holds an invisible brush
Painting the cheeks of children
With an invigorating blush
As they dash through the carpet
Of yester’s pleasant shade
Its rustling mantle
Laughs beneath their feet
In autumn’s song

The cold wind sets
The clinging leaf to quivering
And every blade of grass
Huddles low, silent and shivering
As a thousand little whispers
Murmur ‘mongst the withered flower
The aroma of a hearty supper
Warms the the darkened hour
In autumn’s song

All Rights Reserved
Janet Martin

Beginnings..........



The cool fall dusk settles at our feet
With a hint of wood-smoke in the air
Mingled with the heady scent of leaves
And fields returning a vacant stare
Where just a month or two ago
Oceans of emerald, tan and gold
Shimmered, but tonight there is no ebb and flow
Of rippling wheat fields, only cold…….

……bare dirt, with here and there a bird
Scavenging for summer’s last remain
And in the far-off reaches of the earth
Somewhere……
…………summer begins again

~Janet Martin~

Touching Him......


She could not reach him there
But she could hear his laughter
In the cool slumbering air
She could not look into his eyes
But sometimes she could see them
In the blue of the skies
She could not hold his hand
As she did in the summer
When they raced ‘cross the sand
No, she could not reach him there
So she tenderly covered him
In a blanket of prayer

~Janet~

Make-up......


All the concealer,
All the foundation,
All the cover-up
All the rouge
Blush
Glitter
Liner
Eye-shadow
Lip-stick
Polish
Dye
Highlights
Botox
Injections
Surgery
Cannot cover up
Who we really are
Or do a single thing
To make one beautiful

~Janet~

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

A Tiny Relenting......

I fell in love today
The blue and gold afternoon
Swept me away
And little by little
I began to relent
To the shove of the wind
To the sweet-musky scent
As the leaves turned in circles
At my reluctant feet
And the chill in the purple
Shadows bid me retreat
Back to the puddle of sun on the grass
Where I lay like a child
And watched the low gray clouds pass……
I returned to the bed of fair summer bloom
Wilted and dead, void of fragrant perfume
And the sudden sorrow tugged
Like a tear in my eye
And the weight in my throat
Made me think I might cry
If I had not fallen in love today
When the blue and gold afternoon
Swept me away

All Rights Reserved
Janet Martin

Marriage..........


I think like a woman
And you think like a man
And somewhere in the middle
We must meet if we can
..and if we do not
Instead of wedlock
We get dead lock……..
Marriage, it seems to me
Is not really marriage until
Consummation is the unity
Of body and of will


~Janet~

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Soon.............


Soon the last leaf will have fallen
And soon all the red will be gone
Soon all the birds that are calling
To fairer domains will have flown
Soon misty hills of gray-purple
Will gleam with a silver hue
And our foot-steps will soon be muffled
On a snow-covered avenue

Soon the sound of your laughter
Will begin to fade away
Up past the star-studded rafter
And into the clouds of gray
As we vainly try to remember
Your smile, your voice, its tone
The cold bleak wind of November
Weeps on a cold grave stone

All Rights Reserved
Janet Martin

Dreamer's Yard


We laughed that day, and walked for miles
On the deserted railway track
Which now they’ve taken away in the name of progress
And with it, a piece of the past
A trail of silent paradise
Meandering ‘neath layered skies
Through fields of blissful solitude
Along the fringe of deep dark wood
Earth's heaven scented with tar and rust
Heat waves shimmering from the rocks and dust
We walked its weather-beaten path
Where daisies smiled and blue days laughed
And young girls dreamed; but in rash disregard
They stripped away the dreamer’s yard

Janet Martin
All Rights Reserved

Pleasure......


There are so many little things
To stir my heart with pleasure
But in this life where time has wings
I love the hour of leisure
Life seeks to enslave us to
Our cares and endless duty
Sometimes we need an our or two
To drink in this life’s beauty

Before the night-wind sings her tune
Before the lonesome dove
Will solemnly and sadly croon
Her farewell song of love
Before the purple shadows climb
Across the twilight hours
Can we take a little time
To drift among the flowers?

The flowers of ten-thousand hues
Raining like crimson snow
Upon the silent avenues
Of summer’s faded glow
There are so many little things
Designed to bring us pleasure
But I desire the joy life brings
Within the hour of leisure

I could speak quite endlessly
Of nature’s boundless glory
It stirs the fire of life in me
And eases grief and worry
A brand new canvas every day
A painting I can treasure
Oh do not let life slip away
Without an hour of leisure

All Rights Reserved
Janet Martin

We all have our own version of what brings us pleasure.....
but one of my daughters enjoys the songs of nature
much like I.......we have had great times together!!!

Monday, October 18, 2010

Every Night



We pray together every night
And then she hugs me.....
.....long and tight
And as I bend to tuck her in
She beckons as she hugs again.....
I wish you'd stay right here with me
Cause you're so cozy, don't you see?
There's room for three to snuggle here
...you and me and my big bear
I dubiously eye the other nine bears
who have taken up residence in bed with her
And she insists my reply is ALWAYS the same....
'I think it would get a little squishy' I say
Ah, what would we do without little girls?
Surely they are the angels of this world

~Janet~

Stunning......


He was stunning…
Perhaps not by the world’s standard
Their definition of the word
Is cunning
Leaving the beholder stirred
By beauty and excellence
The visual picture
Brawn perhaps and stature
The choice of dress
All designed to
Allure and impress….
He was stunning
But not in this way
You see
This man was clothed
With humility
He is eighty-three
And STUNNING
(of course, he has no idea!!!)

~Janet~

Miracle......


Yonder hill is fading
It’s leaf a dimming flame
No more the wanderer shading
Beneath a vibrant limb
Her grand and stunning vesture
Now rustles at our feet
In soft and silent gesture
Another year complete

The throbbing bloom of summer
Lays dormant on the ground
Weeping in countless number
And yet without a sound
The solitude unbroken
In all her falling tears
A wordless farewell spoken
Yet he, who listens, hears........

........a myriad of wonder
From quiet woodlands spill
And he who will may ponder
This sacred spectacle
For in this glorious crowning
That decks the lowly sod
Each leaf, distinct and stunning
Is a miracle from God

All Rights Reserved
Janet Martin

Sunday, October 17, 2010

Days That I Recall..........


Ah, those were sweet days that I recall
I’d return if I could to some, but not all
I gaze through the gold to glimpse blue sky between
And my mind beholds what was yesterday’s green
But just as that perfect and fine summer day
It, like all time slips quickly away

Ah, those were grand days that I recall
On the fields where time was an endless hall
For youth does not tally the minute or hour
A dash through the valley in search of her tower
Heedless of subtle and deepening sighs
Life as eternal as summer-blue skies

Ah, those were the brief days that I recall
For somewhere in a soft haze summer turned to fall
I gaze through the gold to the blue sky in-between
As I softly behold what once had been
I gaze through the gold, through the autumnal sheen
Ah, too soon I am old….I still prefer green

Ah, these are brief days I am living in
Why stand and gaze as the wheels of time spin?
I’m thankful for every glad day I recall
For every summer will end in fall
As I gaze at through the gold to the blue sky up above
Suddenly I behold an infinite love

All Rights Reserved
Janet Martin

Friday, October 15, 2010

In the Middle of a Dream......


I caught him today
Saw the far-off gleam
Where adolescence taunts
Like a rushing stream
What visions does he see
In that distant gaze
As life’s mystery
Waits in a misty haze
Beyond this fleeting hour
Where time is free
In childhoods bower
Yet impatiently
He waits for it seems
Like an eternity
To the brink of his dreams

All Rights Reserved
Janet Martin

Breath-taking........


It was one of those breath-taking moments
Where the autumn dawn lay like a golden pond
Across the earth
It was a moment in a sequence of moments
Reminding me again that in the little things
Lay the greatest worth
It was one of those breath-taking moments
Where care melted away like an autumn frost
At the break of day
I love you, mom…….ah, it is those moments
Which steal your breath away


All Rights Reserved
Janet Martin

Thursday, October 14, 2010

Sweeter Song......


I heard the sweetest song today
And I know its music drifted away
Far beyond this stratosphere
Drawing the brink of heaven near
I love the song of a midnight rain
Or the lovely tune of the evening
The symphony at the brink of dawn
The music in a dew-kissed lawn
The ebb and flowing of the sea
The rise and falling harmony
Of love in all its varied forms
The trembling calm before the storm
The orchestra of summer’s bloom
Or on a stage in some grand room
Oh, I have heard the melody
Of sunsets mirrored in the sea
Or in the creviced walls of time
Where the faithful bluebells chime
I love the anthem of first love
The chorus in the stars above
The sonnet in a deep blue sea
Or in a tender memory
But I heard a sweeter song today
When I heard a small child pray

All Rights Reserved
Janet Martin

Summer's Tree


Upon the grass the echoes dance
A sad and bittersweet romance
Beneath the shade of autumn blue
Life and death must have their due

We smile a little at the tune
For still we see the green of June
Where now the tears of autumn cry
And all the years of summer lie

Injustice and life’s cruel pain
Weep within October’s rain
But we seek to find a way
To see the blue behind the gray

Upon the grass the echoes sigh
A melancholy lullaby
Too soon we lose the summer trees
And cling to withered memories

Life will not give us back again
The hours that we waste in vain
And there is naught who can return
To a day for which they yearn

All Rights Reserved
Janet Martin

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

The Tree


The laughing breeze tossed your mantle of green
And we laughed too for the song of Spring
Had teased each bud to a vibrant sheen
In the hour twixt dawn and evening


Summer murmured through your lofty tresses
And we murmured in the shade beneath
While delicate pink twilight caresses
Your vibrant, emerald wreath


Now soon frigid elements will strip away
Your scarlet gown of dignity
Against the sky in stark display
Nature flaunts your brevity


On the ground your teardrops lie
Evidence of life’s fair hour
Before your naked limbs stretch high
Yielding to a higher Power

All Rights Reserved
Janet Martin

Saturday, October 9, 2010

Where Are You?



As the daylight settles in a crimson bed
And the sun is replaced by the moon overhead
As the azure deepens to indigo blue
I can’t help but wonder; where are you?
Soft twilight ever the loyal paramour
Her love; a soundless troubadour
Sweet are the arms of dusky true-blue
As I silently wonder; where are you?

A bloom cannot return to sleep in the bud
I am not a child with my bare feet in the mud
I splashed through the brook of my youth yesterday
But the magic of childhood has slipped away
The willow weeps its tears upon the grass
In a hushed carpet of years that silently pass
As I pause on this memory-strewn avenue
I can’t help but wonder; where are you?

There’s a hint of tropical bliss in the breezes that blow
Across the solitude of my midnight paramo
Drawn by the blue tenderness of your empathetic glance
Without hesitation I surrender to the dance
‘Round and round, two shadows on a moonlit plateau
The girl I used to be and the woman I know
Linger together on the field of sunless dew…….
Suddenly we feel a chill and we wonder; where are you?

All Rights Reserved
Janet Martin

Friday, October 8, 2010

No Idea............


She had no idea as I held her tonight
How perfectly God made her fit just right
….....her childish love melting into every part
Of the sorrow and anguish deep in my heart
I had no idea when she climbed onto my knee
How much comforting her would comfort me

~Janet~

Too Late For Good-bye


I guess you thought the arms around you
Couldn’t hold you
I guess you didn’t know how much we cared
I guess we thought you knew…..
We should have told you
Would you have chosen to hold on?
Would you have shared
All your deepest hurts and hidden sorrows?
Could we have helped you find another way?
The tears we weep won’t change any tomorrows
For you chose to leave this world today………
We can’t feel the golden warmth of sunshine
Octobers deep blue skies will smile in vain
And all the anguished tears that we are weeping
Won’t bring you back into our lives again
I guess you thought the Arms around you
Couldn’t hold you
Oh God, shine down Your mercy from on high
It’s too late now for all we would have told you
It’s too late now; too late to say good-bye

In loving memory of Darryl

~Janet~

Thursday, October 7, 2010

Work-out.....


It takes stretching and bending
To keep things in tune
Sometimes it may feel like
You’re reaching for the moon
It takes patience, perseverance
There’ll be some pain
But if you go the distance
It won’t be in vain
It takes focus on the small parts
They’re important too
Sometimes you’ll need to grit your teeth
So you can make it through
Come on now, don’t give up
You know you can’t quit
It’s just a sit-up
And it’s so worth it
If you can make it
Through the toughest mile
You’ll feel so good
Now you groan….soon the smile
Moment by moment
When push comes to shove…….
A man and a woman
In marriage…in love
I’ve come to the conclusion
Oh, there’s no doubt
Sometimes love and marriage
Are like a grueling work-out

All Rights Reserved
Janet Martin

Within His Masterpiece......


The aura of something akin to royalty
Permeates the air
Who needs a red carpet….or diamonds?
If we can wander where
The carpet of a thousand suns
Caresses our bare feet
While red and gold and orange and bronze
All vie for the top seat
Gleaming from every tree and hill
Dancing on the lawn
Glowing in the dusky rill
And re-born in the dawn
I pause in this pavilion fair
The sun melts in the west
And spreads across an ocean where
No vessel mars its crest
Ah, surely He must love us so
He paints the lowly sod
And in the heavens tranquil glow
We see the hand of God……..


……And in between the sky above
And earth beneath our feet
Dwells man…..recipients of His love
Within His Masterpiece

All Rights Reserved
Janet Martin

Victoria and I went on a walk last night....
it was beautiful....that is such an
inefficient word for a night like last night!!!
God is putting up a WOW!!!! sky every night!!!
This picture has a few recent ones!

Wednesday, October 6, 2010

The Other side.....


How can we know when we say hello?
What lies on the other side?
Is it a love that will grow and grow?
Or simply a short sweet ride?
Will it be a constant ebb and flow?
On friendships shifting tide

How can we know when we say hello?
How long will be the dance?
Will there be years of smiles and tears
Or simply one quick glance
We’ll never know till we say hello
And give friendship a chance

How far is the ride to the other side?
Will it be short and sweet?
Or will they be the one, after they are gone
Who made your life complete
How can we know when we say hello……..
The other side of it

All Rights Reserved
Janet Martin

Suddenly I Wonder..............


When I look into your trusting blue eyes
The color of October skies
I sometimes wonder what you see
As you’re looking back at me
Do you see the person I strive to be?
Or do you simply see……. me?

Do you see the love I fail to express?
Do you see joy and happiness?
My dear child, when you look at your mother
Do you see love incomparable to no other?
Precious one, I know what I see
But suddenly I wonder what you see in me?

You never really tell me; if I asked you
Would you tell me, tell me true
Would your reply make me glad?
Or would the truth make me a little sad?
The look on your face caught me by surprise
Today, when I looked into your eyes……………….

All Rights Reserved
Janet Martin

October's Symphony.....


Each shrub is veiled in misty lace
On ocher-colored fields a trace
Of summer’s emerald garment lies
Beneath the cobalt-colored skies

The Painter threads with ribbon rare
The crest of hill and woodland fair
While waves of orange, red and gold
Sweep the vespers silent fold

October’s floodgates open wide
With a rich and glorious tide
Ravishing the stoical land
In a transformation grand

His master-piece decks every tree
For rich and poor alike to see
The manifold wonder of Him
Caressing every leaf and limb

Before November’s maudlin gale
Seeps into each haunt and vale
Heaven breathes on land and sea
In October’s symphony

All Rights Reserved
Janet Martin

Monday, October 4, 2010

October's Citadel......


I have come to realize
I can know no sweeter prize
Than to find in every hour
The fragrance of the hidden flow’r
Today I lingered in the fell
Of October’s citadel
No release to summer past
Yet secure from winter’s blast
The pastureland, a silent shroud
Of the bounty she endowed
Azure sky, a vista grand
Shifting ‘neath a higher Hand
While October’s breezes dance
‘Cross the fields of Time and Chance
Here the summer heart resigns
To the purple of the vines
To the scarlet of the hill
Painted woodland, haunt and rill
Reluctantly she must concede
October is a gem indeed

All Rights Reserved
Janet Martin

After cleaning out the garden I lay atop the
Corn pile and reveled in October glory!

Dirt????


So this is it
After the waiting, the tilling the seeding
After the hoeing and weeding….and weeding
After the harvest…and the EATING!!!!
This is it………
At the end of the day
At the end of our life
At the end of our play
Our labor and strife
At the end of our pleasure
At the end of our hurt
Will our gathered treasure
Be more than dirt?

All Rights Reserved
Janet Martin

Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth......
...but store up for yourselves treasures in Heaven....
...for where your treasure is, there your heart
will be also. Matt.6:19-20

Sunday, October 3, 2010

Heaven-made.......


The night was dark save for the spark
That pierced the jet-black sky
The night was still save for the chill
In the long breezes sigh
The night was bare but in the air
There breathed a hint of snow
The night was fine, the night was mine
With miles of love to go

Upon the porch I paused to watch
The minutes trickling by
I felt the thrill of autumn’s chill
The darkness of the sky
The whisper of the stars above
Celestial serenade
The night was fine, the night was mine
The night was heaven-made

All Rights Reserved
Janet Martin


Even the glow of city lights
on the horizon-line
cannot push through the blackness tonight!
It is a spectacular night tonight!!

Impressions of Fall


In vain the bloom clings to her dream
Futile the sedums rosy gleam
Tis but a journey to the stream
Lined with May’s asphodel
In vain the mother clasps the hours
Where she can hold her precious flowers
Before she stands in autumn’s bowers
Where summers shadows fell

The fragrance of the eucharis
The bloom of youth’s temporal kiss
The ecstasy of love’s caress
Are whispers in the air
She lingers in the setting sun
Embraces each bloom one by one
Autumn waits alas for none
And soon her arms are bare

All Rights Reserved
Janet Martin

Friday, October 1, 2010

Autumn's Childhood Eve........



I stood there as the night came down
In soft magenta tones
And suddenly I heard a sound
Upon the cobblestones
An echo of a distant day
Came flooding over me
The sound of boys and girls at play
In autumn’s childhood eve

Shouts and ripples of laughter
From the hill that I called home
I gaze at the emerald pasture
Where once I loved to roam
I could go and walk there now
It wouldn’t be the same
But I’ll stand here as memories flow
Of childhoods evening

Carpet on carpet of red, orange and gold
The tonic of crisp, country air
Reveling in the autumnal cold
In a bliss that comes without care
The scent of a wood-fire tingeing the wind
The wind tingeing each rosy cheek
In autumn’s childhood evening
Ah, suddenly I cannot speak

Autumns childhood evening
Surely life’s briefest dance
We answered youth’s fair beckoning
Without a second glance
But now I pause a little while
And hear its tender song
It washes over me; I smile
I hear children laughing; I go home

All Rights Reserved
Janet Martin

This little valley used to be home.
Now home is just above this little valley.

Things I Have Observed


It’s not in the consuming
But the hunger
That keeps us alive
It’s not in failure
But in admitting defeat
That we lose our drive
It’s not in arriving
But in the quest
That brings delight
It’s not in perfection
But simply giving our best
That brings sleep at night

All Rights Reserved
Janet Martin

Autumn Serenade


The lilies are sleeping
The breeze bears a chill
The branches are weeping
On river and rill
September has faded
Into the night sky
The passion of summer
A tear in my eye

Sing me a sonnet
Of crimson and gold
For now is the moment
Of beauty untold
It sweeps up the hillside
Creeps into the vale
Here is the hour
Of nature’s regale

Gossamer whispers
And dew laden threads
As autumnal splendors
Arouse from their beds
Yielding to the Hand
That wields heavens brush
Splashing the land
In a reverent hush

In coral-hued dawning
And purple fringed noon
In midnights blue awning
Beneath misty moon
In carpets of memory
And wood-land and dell
The echoes of summer
Wave a grand farewell

All Rights Reserved
Janet Martin

The heavens declare the glory of God;
the skies proclaim the work of His hands. Ps. 19:1