Seventeen

The swing still blows upon the breeze
Her laughter rides the wind
I almost hear her begging please
Push me once, again
There’s her doll, her teddy-bear
There’s the dress she used to wear
Where’s that girl of yesterday?
Tell me, when did she fly away?

There’s the ribbon from her curls
The ruffled frocks of lace
The plunder made for little girls
Our secret hiding place
I touch each treasured memory
And wonder when she ceased to be
The little girl who once had been
Is all grown up…and seventeen

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Janet Martin

Reality

In my hurry to get to you
I stumbled over
Wave upon wave
Of emotion
I had to get to you
No running for cover
Love is enough
An eternal ocean
But in my haste to get to you
I ignored one thing
Until I stood
Face to face
With reality
And then I knew
Without pondering
What I would do…
For love can never erase
The ‘after you’…
And, you see
For every emotion
Wild and free
None can replace
Or ever will be
Worthy of love
Without loyalty

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Janet Martin

Stranger

A thousand times
I've spoken your name
In color
But tonight
It feels foreign
As the name of a stranger
I say it again
Slowly
Who are you?
Owner of this name
I have known you all your life
Taken you for-granted
Just like your name
A name I speak without
Really hearing it at all
A name I use to get
Your attention when I call
A name so special
That’s why I chose it
For you
Yet somehow it has become
A sequence of syllables
Void of emotion
Or hue
Simply black and white
Like tonight…..
What is in
A name…..?
Not just any name
Your name…..
I look at you
Really look at you
Study your eyes
The contours of your face
The out-line of your form
I wonder
Who are you?
You are a part of me
And yet suddenly
I feel like I
Don’t know you at all
But I do
More than you could ever know
So I whisper your name
See it hand-written
On my brain
Slowly I say it
Again and again
And thank God for giving me
You...and your name

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Janet Martin

I Love Thee

I love thee
As thou hast loved me
So I love thee
As soft air stirring
Above the sea
Or thick leaves murmuring
Wistfully
As the world lies
Asleep
So I love thee
Softly, gently
Like the wooing stream
Yet warm
So much warmer
Sighing in my dream
Whilst a myriad
Of hopeless wishes
Float away
I hold Love close
Ah, who needs fame?
Softly I whisper
Your name
Buds waken
Laugh into bloom
A supple young bough
How steady your arm
And the breeze through
Midnight’s window
Blending colors
Cool and warm
Swirling, intoxicating
Gently creating
The mellow glow
Of June’s love-light
And only you and I know
Why I love thee
As thou lovest me
Tonight

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Janet Martin

Rest of the Dream

There are so many things I wanted to tell you
Like heaven is midnight in June
And flowers are the offering of a man to his true love
Not for a cold grave stone
At my feet lay the fragments of a shattered ending
I weep at time's swift-flowing stream
God, do you hear all the prayers that I’m sending?
Where is the rest of the dream?

I walk through the garden bursting in fragrance
But it holds no pleasure for me
Here ‘neath its arbor we danced our first dance
And tasted love's ecstasy
The garden is a desert without you
The fountain has lost its gleam
As I cry to the roses and think about you
Missing the rest of the dream

God in His wisdom has taken you too soon
His garden is fairer indeed
I stand here gazing at midnight’s full moon
There is nothing here that I need
All that I need is waiting up yonder
Past this life’s ruthless stream
Silently I weep and sadly I wonder
Where is the rest of the dream?

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Janet Martin

Dedicated to Dave and his kids

Priceless

You can’t put a price on the lone star that twinkles
In twilight's dusty blue
Or the hush of midnight in budding April
As spring-time bids winter adieu
You can’t put a price on the moon in full glory
Reigning supreme up above
You can’t put a price on one- in- the- morning
And you can’t put a price on love

There’s no way to measure the value of giving
Whether it’s little or much
I’d rather be dead than too busy living
To offer a kind, gentle touch
You can’t put a price on the laughter of children
Or a sweet brand-new baby face
These are the priceless gifts from heaven
No money could ever replace

You can’t put a price on the pleasure of friendship
Or in the pain it can hold
To love til it hurts is the rarest of blessings
That cannot be equaled in gold
You can’t put a price on the kiss of a memory
Or the sigh of a cloud far above
You can’t put a price on the song of a heart-beat
For you can’t put a price on love

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Janet Martin

Every Now and Then

I don’t do cart-wheels anymore
I cannot go skipping down the street
As my nine-year-old dances beside me
I calm the twitch in my feet
When you’re over forty and counting
There are things you simply can’t do
And I’d hop and skip in a heart-beat
If I was a young thing like you

But every now and then
I feel like a girl again
There’s something in the wind
It does that to me
And every now and then
I still remember when
Those days now far behind
Were the best that they could be

Freedom is a word I’ve long forgotten
I am not foot-loose and fancy free
I’m a wife and mother of my children
Thankful for what God has given me
But sometimes in a momentary flicker
I’m drawn into a silent reverie
Man, these days sure came a whole lot quicker
Than I thought they would at twenty-three

But every now and then
I feel twenty-three again
When you look at me that way
It does that to me
And every now and then
As I think of where we’ve been
And where we are today
I’m happy as can be

And I almost get to believing
I’m foot-loose and fancy free

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Janet Martin

Eternity

The ocean chuckled at my feet
I asked, “What does it feel like to hold
An eternity of turquoise in your palm?”
She looked at me with eyes translucent, sweet
And I’ll never forget the words she told
As her voice grew soft and calm

My hands hold but the merest drop
In light of eternity
If for ten-thousand years the clock would stop
But at the end you stole from me
One tiny drop of water
And this would continue until you could see
The ocean floor and its mystery
One drop every ten-thousand years would be
A day in eternity….

And if I should take as I lap at your feet
One single grain of sand
Then wait for a thousand years to return
For another in my hand
And if I should do this until every grain
In every beach across the world
Was in my palm,
And in the same measure
Return it again until every beach was restored
One grain of sand every thousand years
Until all of the sand is gone
Is simply a breath in eternity
A moment in its sun

The ocean chuckled at my feet
And then looked up at me
“As I am doing all of this,” she asked
“Pray tell, where will you be?”

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Janet Martin

For God so loved the world
That he gave His one and only Son,
That whosoever believes
Should not perish but have
Everlasting life! John 3:16