Gentleman........

Today you are a gentleman
I watch with love and pride
A pride that every mother feels
A solace deep inside
For in your rough and tumble ways
A gentler side exists
Glimpse of a man inside the boy
A boy that I will miss

Today you are a gentleman
Do not leave him behind
If you should love a girl someday
Will you be good and kind?
Will you treat her with respect
So she can respect you?
Will you be a gentleman
When you are twenty-two?

Today you are a gentleman
Though you are still a boy
Too soon you’re slipping from my hand
Life calls ahoy, ahoy
I must slowly let you go
Be patient, my dear son
Life happens soon enough, you know
Tomorrow you’ll be grown

All Rights Reserved
Janet Martin

Supper Table Humor

Well, kids, I’m trying to think of
The perfect word to describe today………
Could you help me out; wasn’t it grand?
Is there a perfect word that comes to your mind?
Nine-year-old said ‘autumn!’ I smiled
‘Wonderful!’ quipped my twelve-year-old child
‘What’s the point’? …..the voice of sixteen
I said ‘EXHILARATING!!!”
Mom, what does THAT mean?


Beatitudes…..

I thought we all knew the Beatitudes by heart….
But we didn’t…. so we are memorizing them over supper…..
Last night I gave them the first part and
They would fill in the rest….
I said….Blessed are they which hunger and thirst
After righteousness for they shall……
“Eat!!!” shouted my nine-year old

~Janet~

Being Eighteen

She stands facing the rain
No one can see her tears or her pain
Struggling to understand life and love
Not yet too sure of what she is sure of
Oh it was great…I wouldn’t do it again
It is called…being eighteen

Wiser in theory than wisdom of years
Laughing to forget the fear of fears
Victim of longing but not sure what for
This little girl-woman heading out the door
With eager impatience for life and her dream
It is called….being eighteen

I wish I had all the answers, my dear
Life has more questions than answers, I fear
But on the bright side I firmly believe
God will give us the answers we need
Live, laugh, love, pray and dream
For it is called….being eighteen

All Rights Reserved
Janet Martin

Postlude......

The cold rain tolls the ending of a day
I stand alone within its weeping knell
On landscape dark in moods of silver-gray
Beneath the chiming of the lonesome bell

The absence of the lusty cricket choir
Magnifies the silence and the gloom
And in the gardens shady summer bower
No more the fragrance of its fragile bloom

Now fades the sky-line in the gathering night
Now the dark and daylight intertwine
Until the dark prevails; the only light
A glimmer on the vast horizon line

No sound at all to break this solitude
Save for the stubborn leaf with muted breath
Still clinging to the arm of somber wood
Before it yields to its imminent death

The cold rain tolls the ending of the day
Profluent melody in minor key
Within its knell the twilight slips away
In tones of comfort and sweet misery

All Rights Reserved
Janet Martin

Fact of Life

Night follows day…
Or does day follow night
I’ve never understood it quite
But if the truth were really told
It’s simply the process to getting old!!!

~Janet~

Soulmate......

There’s something ‘bout a writhing wind
Across a cool, blue day
Sweeping o’er a tempered plain
From lips, sullen and gray
There’s something ‘bout its sad, sad song
Its far and lonesome sound
Moaning through the rustling throng
Of cornstalks, crisp and brown
There’s something ‘bout the color
Of the stark and listless sky
That says it’s late September
How I wish it was July

There’s something ‘bout September
Always makes me think of you
Do you miss me, are you happy?
Are your eyes still summer-blue?
I hear the call of an eagle
Lone hunter in the sky
It chills me just a little
And it makes me want to cry
September, you’re a soul-mate
Won’t you sing your saddest tune?
How about ‘We’re all the way’
How I wish it still was June

All Rights Reserved
Janet Martin

Whispers....................

When on time’s faded lily fields
The frosts of autumn lie
When traces of her summer shield
No longer tease the eye
When the bright blooms of yesterday
Their trembling petals weep
And haunts of rambling hearts turn gray
Will there be aught to keep?

As we live ‘neath Time’s sovereignty
Its raging rivers run
To drain into eternity
Beyond the rising sun
And as we stand with common men
To view the wearied past
The shroud of withered dreams again
And shadows that they cast………

…will we with softened passions turn
And clasp the day at hand
Or with the weeping petal yearn
For whispers on the sand
The sand where Time’s vast river flows
Into an endless sea
And beauty is the faded rose
Of love’s sad memory

All Rights Reserved
Janet Martin

Victim.....

You beckon me to take your hand
Unwilling, I complied
You softly kiss with restless wind
Each farewell tear I cried
Then you draw my down-cast eye
Up to the wooded hill
Where ripples of your artistry
Arouse a sudden thrill
With second tenderness you brush
Your scent upon the dusk
And in this pleasant evening hush
I’m drawn in to your brusque
And yet persuasive, splendid arms
I’m not sure what to do
A victim of your cunning charms
Autumn, I love you too

All Rights Reserved
Janet Martin

Drink.......

Cold and a little bitter
When I swallowed it tasted like dirt
I should have asked for a different flavor
A drink of truth can hurt

All Rights Reserved
Janet Martin

Saying Good-bye

Seems like there is always someone or something
Saying good-bye
When I was younger, less jaded and searching
I used to cry
But now I’ve begun to realize
That it is a fact of life
Seasons, friends, loved one in time
Depart this vale of strife
Alan, I guess I agree with you
And the line in one of your songs
They should have made those tail-lights blue….
The color of good-bye and so long
Seems like there’s always somebody leaving
But what’s the use of tears
With good-byes, hello’s, I love you’s, we’re weaving
The tapestry of our years

All Rights Reserved
Janet Martin

Before Autumn.....

Before summer weeps her last hour away
Before she sleeps in her chamber of gray
Before her broad and glittering smile
Takes a well-deserved rest for awhile….
Before the meadows and wild-flower haunts
Become cold shadows where memory taunts
Before the evening drenched with dew
Bids her golden fronds adieu
Before she fades into the air
Just as if she never were……
Before we feel the dread desire
And yield to autumn’s kindled fire
Before sea-green flows brown again
Across a dull and dreary plain
Before the warm south breezes sleep
Before the snow returns to heap
Her cold blue wishes at my door
I must go and dance once more
Out beneath a trembling sky
That weeps today…..good-bye, good-bye

All Rights Reserved
Janet Martin

Summer's Farewell

I guess you noticed the way that the sun
Wept yellow love from the sky
You couldn’t resist the way that she kissed
The brook that went laughing by
The ivy that clung to the wall of cold stone
Gleamed like the light in my eye
I guess you noticed that it’s a great day
Perfect for saying good-bye

Azure and gold are the colors of love
Nature’s most tender caress
But I feel a cold wind moan from above
Beneath heavens happiness
I see the silhouette of a dance
A slow-churning quadrille of grief
A wave of despair hovering in the air
Like the flight of a wind-blown leaf

I guess you noticed the hint of a chill
Like the strain of a distant lute
Wafted upon a scarlet arm
With a mandolin and flute
And off in the distance of this perfect day
I see a blue tear in the sky
For I see you softly drifting away
In this perfect day for good-bye

All Rights Reserved
Janet Martin

Silent Good-bye

Silverly, silently you slip away
Into the night on your chariots of grey
Soundless the stead that draws you afar
Across the dark mead and beyond the pale star
Summer, ah summer, once lusty and green
Now a parched shell of what once had been

Tearfully, tenderly I watch as you go
Wantonly, wistfully; there is naught I can do
To bid you return; like the wisp of a sigh
You are gone like a friend who does not say good-by
Summer, ah summer, my bittersweet pain
I wish we could start all over again

All Rights Reserved
Janet Martin

Time Well Spent.....

Today I am just going to hold you
You grow up way too fast
It seems each time that you wake up
You’re bigger than the last
So I am going to hold you
These hours are not in vain
For you are never going to be
Quite this small again

Today I am going to hold you
And kiss your baby cheek
I’ll print a picture in my mind
Of baby as you sleep
I’ll clasp your little hand in mine
And pray that God will be
The One you follow as you grow
And see His love through me

I’ll brush your silky hair of gold
And whisper in your ear
Then may each loving prayer enfold
You; when you’re far from here
Today I am going to hold you
For I know soon you’ll be
Eighteen; with nothing left to hold
But precious memory

All Rights Reserved
Janet Martin

Wanderlust.......

Lead me through pleasant pastures today
The sky is pure blue and the earth a display
Of God’s vibrant palette in brilliant delight
Let’s cherish these hours before it is night

Lead me ‘cross these oceans of amber and rust
Beneath a pavilion of blue wanderlust
If blue has perfection then today must be
A celestial masterpiece of infinity

Lead me to the cool of the dark timberline
Where wildflowers pool in ravishing design
And the silence is broken by one tender breeze
Playing her harp in the grass and the trees

Lead me across this earth’s carpet of beauty
Freedom is cursed in the shackles of duty
It’s good for a body to just get away
Oh, lead me across pleasant pastures today

All Rights Reserved
Janet Martin

Autumnal Wind.....

Today she is gentle, then furious and flexed Her discourse a blending of wistful and vexed She teases each careless blade of grass Then weeps in frustration as moody clouds pass She is Gold in the presence of the valiant sun Bold in the essence what is to come She is Tenderness; a soft sweet seduction She is Wild; raw and edgy; an unpredictable unction She is a soul-mate, a lover, a friend She is a powerful passionate blend Of laughter and teardrops, she is harsh, she is kind She is a woman; the autumnal wind All Rights Reserved Janet Martin

It Will Pass......

It will pass eventually
That sorrow deep inside of me
The burning yearning for the sun
The bud that blooms, the meadow yon
The azure longing for a sky
Where pure white lambs go smiling by…..

It will pass some way, somewhere
Up into the purple air
I will release on silver wing
Every warm and dew-kissed thing
The scarlet bliss where sunsets lay
Closing out a summer day…..

It will pass; melancholy
Oh, what would become of me
If not for hope which beats within
Summertime will come again
This sorrow; it will pass away
Just as it does each year…..in May

All Rights Reserved
Janet Martin

My 18 yr. old daughter sat to the computer tonight
and said “Whoa!!! Mom’s going through
summer withdrawal already????!!!!!”


Today I changed my desk-top background to
A photo I took a few months ago
At the beach….the sun on a dazzling sea!
The one shown above!


Riddle: Guess who does NOT read this blog!!!!!

Don't Mind Me....

Don’t mind me
I don’t really cry
I think it could be
Some dirt in my eye
I really should love
The purple hill
As the lone mourning dove
Croons its sad farewell

Don’t mind me
Or the rain on my cheek
Was the green maple tree
Not in bud last week?
Yet now she flaunts
A coat of red
As autumn taunts
In tears unshed

Don’t mind me
Or the mist on my face
Each fond memory
Finds a resting place
In tender folds
Somewhere within
A heart’s touch of gold
In a cold autumn rain

Don’t mind me
I don’t really cry
I think it could be
The deep blue of the sky
Reminded me of someone
I used to know…..
And yesterday can be
A long time ago

All Rights Reserved
Janet Martin

Dark.............

A moonless night is deeper still
Its silence so much darker
There is a hunger in its chill
And every tree’s a stranger
With dark skeletal fingertips
Reaching far away
Across a lawn of foreign shapes
Where children laugh by day

A moonless night is like the mind
When darkness creeps within
And unexpectedly we find
A cold sadness begin
As cruel and calloused fingertips
Claw at the weakest parts
And with its evil talon grips
The loneliest of hearts

But just as on a moonless night
We know the moon is there
Casting off her silver light
Behind the cloudy stare
As in the darkness of the mind.......
The Light will never dim
If we can leave our fear behind
And simply trust in Him

All Rights Reserved
Janet Martin

In Every Life........or A Little Rain

In every life a little rain
A little pain must be
In every life a lonesome wind
But by and by the breeze
In every life the Milky Way
Is just a distant gleam
In every life, oh darling
There’s the power of the dream

In every life the curtain drops
So let’s not waste a day
For none knows when the music stops
So live, laugh, love and pray
In every life farewell tears flow
I guess this is the rain
But darling, oh I know you know
I’d do it all again

In every life a little cold
A little summer too
And darling, if I must grow old
May I do it with you?
In every life a little rain
But darling, aren’t you glad
That we shall not have lived in vain
Oh, what a dance we’ve had


All Rights Reserved
Janet Martin



....a rainy day and oldies!!!
A lethal combination:)

September's Eve.....

You crept in early this eve; the night
A blanket of blue across the daylight
Stealthily exchanging in your subtle way
The gold fields of noon for meadows of grey
And only a brave little cricket or two
Were there to bid this day adieu

You are a silent and glorious thief
Chilling the summer heart with your grief
Yet stirring the soul with autumnal senses
A passion unbridled and void of defenses
I savor the blend of gentle and brusque
A lone spectator on the brink of dusk

Here in the stillness I sadly descry
The hem of sweet summer rustling by
I reach out to touch her silky train
The elusive essence of a misty rain
But she turned……once…..to smile at me
In empathetic sympathy

All Rights Reserved
Janet Martin

I Love You....

What does this really mean?
There’s the instant worship of seventeen
There’s a love that is kindled by beauty’s caress
In the rapture of youth and the Enchantress
There is love of innocence and fantasy
The perfect dream of what love will be…
The love that is fed by absence’ desire
Silent tears shed at a lonely fire
There is love of family, love of friends
And love to withstand all that this life sends
There’s the love of a mother, the love of a wife
The love of each other and the love of life
There is passion and sorrow and heart-wrenching bliss
There’s pain and hunger in an absent kiss
There is love penned in sonnets and poetry
Of love that was and that will be
There’s the loveliness of youth and the beauty of years
As fancy becomes truth in loves laughter and tears
I love you; sweet at the beginning, but sweeter my friend
If love remains true to the very end
After the wooing and after the strife
Love is the crown of an honorable life
I love you; now tell me, tell me true…
Aren’t you glad it ended with……..you?
Ah love, methinks you will ever be
Life’s sweetest, most anguishing mystery

All Rights Reserved
Janet Martin

Portraits of September

It’s coral dawn and magenta dusk
It’s arm of brawn and sigh of musk
Its ruddy fruit where blossoms fell
Shadows taunting from the dell
Azure noon and purple night
Ribbon of amber and green respite
Beneath a warm and slumbering sky
As clouds like ships go drifting by
Its dusty pink and muted hue
It is every shade of blue
It’s warm and sweet at four p.m.
Its perfect peace on twilight’s hem
Its mellow sorrow in a cup
Take the chalice and drink it up

All Rights Reserved
Janet Martin

These are portraits of my
September day…….
And evening.
I left for a walk when the sun was bright
But returned in the glow of a turquoise twilight

Until Rivers Run Dry.....

When I told you I’d love you till the rivers run dry
Or until no star twinkles in heavens vast eye
When I purposed within me to always be true
I had no concept of the words ‘I love you’

When love was a child it was carefree and blind
A beautiful wild flower kissed by the wind
We plucked its fair measure with careless delight
Enjoying its pleasure as a well-deserved right

But love cannot stay forever young
Sooner or later the raging tides come
And love must decide whether it will be true
Until rivers run dry and a lifetime is through

And then, only then will we truly know
If our love is enough for life’s ebb and flow
For love isn’t love at its very best
Until it is tried and has conquered the test

When I told you I’d love you till the rivers run dry
I say it again with a tear in my eye
For love is a river running wild and deep
And love is a promise I intend to keep

All Rights Reserved
Janet Martin

Almost Fall.....

Beautiful, dreamy dust-scented day
Sprawled ‘neath a blanket of purple and gray
Seduction of pleasure and melancholy
Intended for picnics and poetry
You tempt me to love you the best of all
No longer summer, you are ‘almost fall’

Caught in the drone of mid-afternoon haze
I revel in summer’s relinquishing ways
A dance between dawn, fanning ‘cross the sky
Ere she droops on the shoulder of the deep evening sigh
While earth dons her faded and weary shawl
Camouflaged, jaded and ‘almost fall’

Beautiful smoldering, tender torment
Lingering sadly in summer’s lament
Capsule of sweetness, you ravish and tease
While I taste a hint of farewell on the breeze
Lady in waiting, most stunning of all
Blue days of surrender in ‘almost fall’

All Rights Reserved
Janet Martin

Harbinger of Fall.....or September

The North Star gleams like a silver stud
On your navy, velvet vest
As with deft hands you softly draw
The green leaf from her nest
Where she securely lived her days
Beneath the summer sun
And lulled the night with whispered lays
And sighed within the dawn

Then you bestow your hoarded shades
Of red and golden-bronze
Upon each limb you deck the glades
In amber under-tones
Too long the evergreen has reigned
You tease the roving eye
With hints of orange and crimson strain
In summer’s lullaby

The azure vaults of endless bliss
You mute with hints of gray
And with your soft and smoky kiss
You steal the blue away
No more the aimless wanderer
The cloud that passes by
She wears a heavy woolen shirt
And moody is her sigh

Where blossoms loitered in the dell
And grapes upon the vine
We wander where the petals fell
Dreaming of autumns wine
The sun wears a defeated smile
I call her lovely still
But I know in a little while
She’ll yield to autumn’s chill

You are a subtle traveller
And I just cannot know
Should I address you then as Sir?
Are you a friend or foe?
A tremor in the midnight air
Reveals your true intent
Your are autumns harbinger
For summer came………and went

All Rights Reserved
Janet Martin

Us.....

These are the whispers that wash over me
Trickling in sonnets of sweet memory
Wait just a minute, ah, there you go
Soundless emission to time’s ceaseless flow
As laughter and teardrops and days in the sun
Pleasure and sorrow emerge as one
Handclasps and heartache and what will be….was
In each simple memory …..of us

These are the treasures I ponder and keep
Oh, how I chuckle and oh how I weep
Love, you are comrade yet sometimes a foe
While I’m holding on I am letting go
As sweetness and sorrow are vivid and keen
And the glow of tomorrow is yesterday’s sheen
Painful and precious and perfect because
It is the story……… of us

All Right Reserved
Janet Martin

Progress?

Of all the progress of the age
And wonders of technology
Yet there is naught that can assuage
A broken-hearted memory

They may send man up into space
And view the earth from outer spheres
But there is naught that can erase
The pain bled out in silent tears

For though the centuries may roll
And man invents the latest ‘new’
Still there is naught to bring to whole
A heart that lies broken in two

All Rights Reserved
Janet Martin

Heaven's Best.....

Hath not God dealt His fairest touch
Like perfect daisies in the spring
And violets in the underbrush
Has He not formed the sweetest thing
To beautify this sad old world
When He formed a little girl

Did He not take the finest thread
To weave her crown of innocence
And were not heavens teardrops shed
To place her in this insolence?
But yet He chose to grace this world
With heavens best; a little girl

He formed from rosebud her sweet lips
And from the sunsets ruby hue
He brushed her cheeks; her fingertips
Held by God now touches you
As He places in this world
His very best; a little girl

All Rights Reserved
Janet Martin

Hole in my Heart.....

There’s a hole in my heart, dear
Where you used to be
I’ve tried to fill it with somebody else
But it’s just not that easy you see
It’s tearing me apart, dear
No matter how hard I try
The great big hole in my heart, dear
It’s filled with the sound of good-bye

Keep your arms full of roses
I’ve never yet seen a one
Which does not drop all its petals
And all of the beauty is gone
As soon as the door softly closes
There’s just one thing that I see
So keep your arms full of roses
They’ll never replace you and me

Sugar and spice are for tea, dear
Diamonds for grand royalty
They may be lovely for someone to wear
But it will never be me
There’s a hole in my heart dear
And there’s not a thing I can do
For there’s no one in whole wide world
That will ever be me and you

All Rights Reserved
Janet Martin

Watching/listening to the movie Till the Clouds Roll By
(the life story of song writer Jerome Kerns) made me want to write
An old ‘black and white movie’ sad song…..the rain provokes
a desire to write sad songs too…and boy, do we have that !!!!

Farewell Sonnet

The ivy on the garden gate
Gleams silver in the moons soft eye
While melodies I love and hate
In symphonies go drifting by
The red rose flaunts her raindrop pearls
Maduro in a lily bed
As summer taunts from other worlds
Somewhere deep inside my head

The throb of amatorial song
Like an ancient madrigal
Whispers on her lips, her tongue
Where soft and silent moonbeams fall
And where they fall the petals weep
In affirmation to my fear
They lie where summer blooms now sleep
To bud again another year

I will not begrudge the wind
In her tormenting lullaby
The ecstasy of love is kind
But there is another side
I’ll take the pleasure with the pain
In love there is no other way
To simply love without the rain
Would be to love in shades of gray

To simply love and never lose
Is then to not have loved at all
And if I had the chance to choose
I’d release summer to fall
To surrender life’s fair best
We must suffer bitter pain
But when flowerless fields have passed
We know that love will come again

All Rights Reserved
Janet Martin

Sisters......

Was it not yesterday we laughed?
And climbed the shadowed limbs
Where silver petals shivered
In the flurry of the wind
And we would speak of our half-dreams
In wistful girls desire
But now her silver mantle gleams
On brows of tempered fire

Was it not yesterday we danced?
In meadows fancy free
Where every minute was enhanced
By dreams of what will be
Where hours drifted, now they race
As sunlight hurries by
And now we turn a softer face
Toward the whispering skies

Was it not yesterday our paths
Of life were much the same
We shared our pleasures and our strife
But then tomorrow came…
And now wherever we may roam
Regardless of the weather
It feels a bit like coming home
When we get together

All Rights Reserved
Janet Martin

Course of Life.....

Exquisite tendrils, gold-brushed sighs
Trickle from the morning skies
Silent sob in my embrace
This is life’s ever-changing face
Kaleidoscope of memories
Drifting on a tender breeze
As the struggling vine of June
Bursts into most glorious bloom

Kiss each moment, let it go
Tis the course of life you know
Flowers bloom and then they die
Soon it will be you and I
Urge the fledgling from the nest
Let them pursue and fail a test
Wipe your tears and let them go
Tis the course of life, you know

Hold them close and love them well
When it’s over none can tell
You may weep behind your smile
For once, you were your mother’s child
As kindly through her prayers and tears
She let you go yet held you near
Cherish every ebb and flow
Tis the course of life, you know


All Rights Reserved
Janet Martin

Mortality

Today is my ‘sweetest sorrow’ day
When memories like priceless tokens
Are tucked away,
As I stand on the brink
Of tomorrow today
And new beginnings
It’s a sweet crazy roller-coaster
As the wind and the rain
Cater in tender empathy
To my pleasure and pain
Oh what a ride,
This memory train is
Taking a journey again…
As I stand here and think
Of tomorrow today
And more precious moments
Are stolen away
And small grows
A little bigger every day
And the face in the window
Begins turning away
To chase the dream
Of childhood and youth
While I begin
To believe a truth
That we deny
When we are young
As days drift by
Like new love song
But now forces me to stand
Face to face with reality
One life is but a grain of sand
On the shore of time’s vast sea
A year is a trickle, one tiny seed
Mortality is fickle and brief indeed

All Rights Reserved
Janet Martin

My apologies...but
Labor Day seems to be a day
of tender torment:)

Autumn Wind

I embrace you, taunting, wild You dash from off the ridge In carefree gambols, like a child I race beneath the bridge Then suddenly, the bittersweet Snatches away my laughter As I see the sad retreat Of summer’s ever-after You tease the hunger in my soul My cheek longs for your kisses Your wanton ardor makes me whole Yet I spurn your caresses An imposter and a thief You charm with reckless fervor Mindless of the ragged grief Within the heart of summer If I were a marionette Then oh, how you could move me I would twirl and pirouette As you seduce and love me The passion in your cobalt eye Would fill this wretched hunger But you can never satisfy A true blue heart of summer All Rights Reserved Janet Martin

Better Way...

Seems like everyone is searching
For a better way
Better job, better hours
And of course, better pay
Better stuff, better house
Better lover, better wife
Better pastures in the distance
In a better, better life
Better music, better books,
Better kids, better dreams
Better clothes, better figure
Better waits or so it seems
Yet we miss the better, better
As in steadfastness He waits
While we gaze in futile longing
Past a better, better Gate
Better hope, better peace
Better joy, better love
Better riches that increase
In better mansions up above
Better promise, better glory
In a better, better day
For Jesus is the Only
And the better, better Way

All Rights Reserved
Janet Martin

The Order of Things.....

Betrayal brings hurt
Lost love brings sorrow
The sun in the west
Will bring us tomorrow
Hard work brings fatigue
The rain makes things grow
And a smile brings sunshine
Wherever we go

Words hastily spoken
Will oft bring us shame
And a promise broken
Will ruin a good name
A seed that is planted
Will bring forth its fruit
Life taken for granted
Is misunderstood

Doors will open
But they also close
The higher the moment
The lower the lows
Love freely given
Will ever increase
But the miser's dungeon
Will never know peace


Feelings are a luxury
Few can afford
The devil’s debauchery
Seduces hands that are bored
Reaching to help others
What healing it brings
Yes, life has a natural
Order of things

All Rights Reserved
Janet Martin

There Is......

There is no fountain of eternal youth
There is only Heaven and hell
And there is only one real Truth
Within us we all know it well
There is only here and now
The rest is what was or will be
There is only one true God
And there is eternity

All Rights Reserved
Janet Martin

oh yes.....I forgot one thing....
There is coffee:)

Ponderings......

We are no more able to live in the past
Than we are to touch tomorrow
And all the memories we hold fast
Are thorns and jewels we borrow
The fleeting dance of yesterday
May claim no safer care
Than in our memory, tucked away
Yet, it is simply air

There is but one true gem we hold
Before it too is taken
To rest in vaults of useless gold
For if tomorrow we waken
The gem which now we call today
Will simply be a whisper
Of moments gathered yesterday
Before they’re gone forever


(optional last verse)
So to thyself and God be true
In this day you’ve been given
Joy and sorrow both are few
In our prelude to heaven
Yesterday is dead and gone
Tomorrow just a glimmer
Today we hold a priceless crown
Before it’s gone forever

All Rights Reserved
Janet Martin

Voices.....

This is the voice of September’s dawn
Weeping its memories across the lawn
Torrents of sweet melancholy
Laugh upon this faded sea
Who can touch the stars above?
And who can force a heart to love?

This is the song on the wavering breeze
Torn between summer and beckoning leaves
Whispers of passion and lovers’ tears
Tuning the sorrow of a hundred years
Who can change one leaf to red?
Or who can make a heart forget?

This is the plea in the dying sun
Knowing indeed that summer is done
Taming the heart of vagrant youth
Weaving a shroud of silent truth
Who can make an old man young?
Or find the tombs where Time has gone?

All Rights Reserved
Janet Martin

Angel.....

I held her a little while ago
Sun-kissed and sleepy
Her eyes have closed
And what she whispered
Only heaven knows
As I quietly turned to go…..
But….
……. when I tiptoed to the door
I heard her sleepy voice once more
The sweetest words she said to me
“Oh mommy, won’t you pray with me?”
And in the silent evening
I think I heard the angels sing

All rights Reserved
Janet Martin

Sleepless....

There’s moodiness in the wind tonight
A hunger in the moon
And in the trickle of starlight
I catch a somber tune
The shadow ‘neath September’s eye
Deepens in the dusk
And on the breeze I think that I
Can taste a hint of musk

Beyond the cricket’s serenade
The deep blue midnight lies
If you were here then we would wade
Into her endless skies
But on the breeze I feel a tear
Who knew the wind could weep
Yes, I wish that you were here…
…it sure beats counting sheep

All Rights Reserved
Janet Martin

Retrospect.....

I would fight for what we love
But sister, what’s the use?
Gold hails from the walnut grove
And pine-cones from the spruce
We're powerless against the rule
Of times allotted hours
And sister, we would be a fool
To rearrange God's flowers

The trail of daisy and blue-strife
The barley fields of gold
Become the portraits of a life
As we are growing old
For we were green and carefree too
In pastures of our youth
The day was long and deep and blue
Before life’s somber truth

And though we fight with all our might
Summer turns to fall
And all that there is left of it
Are memories to recall
Sister, in life’s silver streams
We'll toss a restless sigh
For in its course we see our dreams
Of youth go drifting by

We could fight for what we love
But sister, summer’s dying
The faded bloom is living proof
And there’s no use in crying
The shadow lengthens on the wall
A cool wind draws our hand
Yes sister, it will soon be fall
But wasn’t summer grand?

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Janet Martin

Written for my sister, Carolyn
who turned 40 two days ago!!!

Maybe Tomorrow.....

Maybe tomorrow…..
I will write a poem
About sunshine and laughter
And memories that linger
Long after the pain
Maybe tomorrow…….
I’ll write about dancing
Through red and gold memories
Fluttering from the treetops
In carpets of glory
And I’ll smile again
Maybe tomorrow…
My cup will run over
With all of September’s
Grapes on the vine
And I’ll say that September
Is surely a lover
As I sip the nectar of
Autumn’s wine….
…and that will be fine
But today I will drink
My cup of sorrow
The scarlet may flow
In my chalice tomorrow
Today it flows out of
The gash in my heart
Because August and I
Have been torn apart….

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Janet Martin

Yes...I'll need a moment;
or a day.......or a YEAR!!!!
I LOVE August:(:(:(