The Music of Life...

The music of life is a wonderful song
Sung by the moments that ease us along
I caught an eighth-note when you looked at me
With eyes as blue as the deep rolling sea
And the lilt in your voice and the warmth in your smile
Is a beautiful ballad in life’s lonesome mile

Sweep me into your arms, oh my dear
There’s a song in the stars, and the morning is near
Here in the timbre of midnight’s dark sky
Trembles a love song as soft as your sigh
Warm as the summer, yet wild as the breeze
Strumming the grasses and tossing the trees

The music of life is a rare melody
Oh, how I love when you sing it with me
A ballad of whispers and wild winds and lips
As fleeting as the moment on our fingertips
Written in sonnets of laughter and tears
A love song of wishes and memories and years

Come, oh my darling, may I have this dance?
I feel the longing in your true-blue glance
As we move to the music of love’s symphony
The night falls around us in rich harmony
Come oh my darling, what more can I say
It takes more than the ocean to keep you away

Janet~

Just Plain Old Loving You....

Sometimes my heart still skips a beat
I hear your name, oh, love is sweet
Even though you’re far away
I know it has to be this way

Daylight falls across the lawn
Night-bird calls….and then the dawn
So it goes; time ticks away
I’ll hold you close again someday

It does not matter where you are
You’re not really very far
Even though we are apart
I hold you close within my heart

Janet~

Eighteen Wheels

Eighteen wheels sure can play a lonesome tune
Especially as they carry you away from home
You’ll be back again soon, Lord willing, this I know
But as you’re shifting gears the mournful sonnets start to flow
And as I standing here waving good-by to you
I start thinking it’s amazing what eighteen wheels can do…….

While you see mountains, oceans all from cab-top view
I see an ocean of love in dearest eyes of blue
While you say hello Chicago I tuck little ones to bed
And we remember daddy as our bed-time prayers are said
So if ever you begin to feel a little blue
I’d like to remind you dear, what eighteen wheels can do…….

Eighteen wheels feed little mouths that laugh and sing and pray
Eighteen wheels keep mom at home when you are far away
Eighteen wheels means wood for warmth and shoes, and clothes and such
A thousand little things we take for-granted far too much
And eighteen wheels lets Sonny play a hockey game or two
Yes, we remember when we pray what eighteen wheels can do…….

Eighteen wheels can play a soulful tune
But dear, I know that you will be home soon
So when you’re far away and feeling blue
Remember dear, what eighteen wheels can do
Daddy we love and appreciate you
God bless and keep those eighteen wheels…and you

With love, from
Your wife
Janet~

A Little Bit of Heaven.....

The way I caught you looking
When you thought I wasn’t looking
The way you almost smiled
When you saw that I saw you
The way you brush the sorrows
And the worry of tomorrows
From my eyes without touching me at all
The way the thoughts of you silently fall
Maybe that’s God’s extra-special way
Of giving me a little heaven every day

The way she holds on to me
For a second every morning
The way she runs back in if she forgets her kiss
Standing on her tip-toes, hug and run, I love you, mom
The tip of her nose gets the kiss I almost miss
Honey, don’t forget your lunch today
Sonny, know this, God hears you when you pray
Who knew heaven came in eyes so blue
In little words like Bye mom, I love you
Maybe it’s God’s extra-special way
Of giving me a little heaven every day

I hold a little longer to the moments as they’re slipping
And I wish that I was stronger for even as I’m gripping them
They slip away and soon become the fields of yesterday
But oh, I see you looking and you know that I am looking
No one would miss us if we slipped away
A little bit of heaven must have slipped from the horizon
As I hear the things that only eyes can say
Maybe it’s God’s extra-special way
Of giving me a little heaven every day

Janet~

Here Am I

Maybe it’s just another sunrise
In a sense perhaps that’s what it is
Beautiful wakening of deep skies
But I believe it’s so much more than this
As the glory of a new day hails from high
I hear a mighty Voice say ‘here am I’

Here am I, the Father of compassion
Holding out my offering to you
As the Light rends the dark horizon
Piercing through the veil of somber hue
His power spreads across the morning sky
Flooding the universe, ‘Here am I’

Here am I, with perfect love unfailing
Here am I, the teacher of the sun
Here am I at the glorious unveiling
Of another day of grace for everyone
Look up, look up behold the glowing sky
And the Ruler of the morning, ‘here am I’

Here am I with mercy for a new day
Here am I, oh won’t you follow Me?
Here am I, the one and only true Way
Here am I, God of eternity
Won’t you trust the Painter of the sky?
Oh can’t You hear him saying, ‘here am I’?

Janet~

Don't Stop Now....

Don’t stop now
Don’t let go
In life’s up’s and downs
I need you so
I like the way
You hold my hand
And the footprints that lay
In the golden sand
Oh, don’t stop now


Don’t go yet
Time’s a thief
When we met
You stole my breath
And nothing’s changed
In the highs and lows
Love is wild and strange
As it grows and grows
Oh, don’t stop now

Don’t give up
for the rise and fall
In the ways of love
Will be worth it all
As we look back
Darling, hold my hand
What a beautiful track
In the golden sand
Oh, don’t stop now

No, don’t stop now
The best is yet to come
As the ebb and flow
Of love leads us home
No, don’t stop now
Quitters never win
I want you to know
I’d do it all again
So, don’t stop now
No, don’t stop now

Janet~

Pictures.....

Pictures, they just sit and stare
And they never say a word
Frozen in an image where
Hearts and memories are stirred
And I pause to wipe a tear
Darling, it’s almost like you’re here

The keen wind breathes a melody
Where the bluer shadows fall
I can feel you here with me
It’s like you never left at all
I reach out to touch your face
No one else can take your place

Pictures, they just sit and stare
Silent echoes from the past
It is more than I can bear
As I reach to hold you fast
For there are no words to speak
My tear falls on your paper cheek

Janet~

The Best I Can Do....

If there was a brand new way to tell you
Well, you know I would
And if grand intellect fell on me
Then perhaps I could
But for now there seems to be only one way
So it will have to do
My dear,the only thing I can think of to say
Is, I love you

Without Reasons.....

There are people God brings into our lives
And I thank him for the love which He gives
To us; sometimes in the most unexpected ways
I’m glad I do not need a reason to love you today
I am glad He sends arms to hold us with whispers and prayers
Friends to remind us that he or she cares
I’m glad I don’t need a reason to hold your hand
I don’t need all the answers or even to understand
Why God loves me so beautifully every day
I’m glad without reasons, so come what may
I will always love you; bitter-sweet bliss
Darling, that is just the way it is
And I thank Him…..

J~

What is a Sister?

What is a sister?
A sister is the person who comes to help
When no one else does
She says thank-you
With a dozen eggs
And knows exactly the kind of books
You like to read
And shares them
A sister makes tea just so we
Can chat a little longer
About our kids, love
And what makes us stronger
Or drives us crazy
We talk about babies….
How sweet they were
And still are on some days…..
We talk about the ways
That life has driven us apart
Yet brings us back together
To discuss weather,
Gardening, cleaning and laundering tips
Recipes and border-line gossip….(NEVER!!!:))
A sister is a friend forever and ever
To laugh with, cry, sing or pray
A sister is always just a phone-call away

With love,
From your sister Janet

Happy 42nd Birthday, Lucy!

Can you imagine what it would look like
If we all decided to pile on this trike
In the very same way, today?

Cold Shoulder....

I have lost every trace of trembling delight
I see no grace in your fresh coat of white
Take your venom and your ghastly chill
Fly far beyond the pining hill
Oh, how I long for a dew-laden fling
And a dance on the lawn in the color of spring

I am repelled by your cold blue lips
I shiver at the touch of your finger-tips
There is ice in the chatter of the hurrying brook
The broken reeds scatter into each hollow nook
And I can’t help but long for just one thing
A kinder song in the color of spring

Even the wind is a restless fellow
Pleading, as I for a whisper of yellow
To melt the frost from the window-pane
And draw the buds from the limb again
He moans at my door in a low murmuring
For a warmer shore and the color of spring

Janet~

Divine.....

What is it about love?
It brings those far away
Near to us
And I feel you now
As though you really were
A finger-print or two away
Like the lines I trace
On this map in front of me
And why does love erase
Barriers that would otherwise
Be insurmountable?
The color of your eyes
Surrounds me
In a world of blue
And I smile
For I know
In a little while
I will touch you
Darling, we live in moments
It is true
I treasure every one of them with you
Whether you are near or far away
Moments become the whispers of yesterday
But the moment I am in
None can steal
And deep within me I can feel
Your heart-beat next to mine
And o-h-h-h, I love you
Love is divine

J~

The Quest

Some long for fame and fortune
Their hour in the sun
Forgetting in a moment
It could all be gone
Some long for the arms of
Anyone but who they’ve got
Forgetting that true love
Is not a game of ‘love me not’

Some long for a destination
Far across the sea
Their life an imitation
Of whom they wish to be
And some long for anything
It seems but what they have
Living in a foolish dream
Instead of in their life

But I’ve got what I want
I’m glad to be me
I wouldn’t wish me on anyone else
So its better this way, you see
And I’ve got what I want
Because when God gave me you
Well, I guess He must have known
That no one else would do

Happiness is not a city
Or a place where we arrive
Yet, is it not a pity
Some search for it all of their life
Happiness is the journey
Contentment in God’s great plan
Happiness needs no money
And is free to anyone

Let's not waste our moments in longing
For things beyond our reach
We all have moments of wanting
Or the ache of an unfulfilled wish
But oh what a pity to miss it
The moment we briefly clasp
Because we were foolishly wishing
For something beyond our grasp

Janet~

With You

I’ll take the gray sky day, or blue
Because every day is beautiful
With you
It doesn’t matter what colors you choose
It makes no difference what shades you use
Every day is beautiful
With you

I know it seems we prefer blue skies to gray
But whatever You choose, God, we’ll be okay
With You
You are the same God in the rain
As You are when the sky is clear blue again
Every day is beautiful
With You
Oh yes, every day is beautiful with You

Forgive me when I forget who You are
I would be nothing without You, Lord
With You
I can be anything You want me to be
Because I have the power of You within me
So every day is beautiful
With you
Oh God of heaven, I know it’s true
You hold the clouds and the sunshine too
Oh, every day is beautiful
With You
Yes, every day is beautiful with You

Janet~

This morning the sky was an evolving panorama
of splendor and moodiness....Stunning!
A metaphor of sorts....

For You....

Life is short
I’ve heard that phrase a-thousand times
But a day is long
When I know that you’re a-thousand miles
From me
Love is long
True love does not die with the light at the end of day
And rise with the sun
Oh life is short
But I know love is long…..
The night is quiet
But I’ve heard the deafening sound
Of the silence coming down
When you’re still far away
And all that I can say is
Life is short
But a night without you is long
I’ll write my love for you
In the words of this song
Oh, yes, life is short
But I know, love is long
Oh, I know it is worth every mile
When I bask in the glow
Of your soft smile
So take your time
I’ll be here for you
Love is mine
In the color blue
Sweet sunshine
My candle in the rain,
Because darling
I love you
Life may be short
But this is true
My love is long
For you………..

J~

On Some Days......

On some days you pass by
I hardly see you at all
Like a flitting butter-fly
I glance at your Wonderful
With an empty stare
And then I walk away
Blindly unaware
Of you, on some days


On some days you touch me
But I cannot feel a thing
It’s like I am sleeping
In the presence of a King
But I am so glad
You never leave
Faithfully reminding me
Why I believe…..

On some days Your whisper
Widens my eyes
Like a bolt of lightning
Shatters the skies
On some days I feel You
Like a comforting shawl
Why is it on some days
I don’t feel you at all?

Open my eyes
So that I may see
The One who holds life
And eternity
Tune my heart
To sing Your praise
For You're the God of the ages
Not only on some days……….

Janet~

Over the Years...............

Over the years I’ve seen the sapling in our yard
Reach for the sky, growing; tall, lean, strong and hard
And the willow which spawned a young girl’s poetry
Crashed to the lawn relinquishing grace and vitality…..
……..to nothing more than fire-wood

I’ve seen my mother’s chestnut hair turn white as snow
My father’s vibrant stride begin to slow
As wisdom crowns the hoary heads I dearly love
I’ve seen their dreams shift from the now to ports above….
…….where heavenly mansions glow

I’ve seen my wee babes; as I first touched them at their birth
And God released a glimpse of heaven to this earth
I’ve seen them begin to realize the tug of conflicting powers
The accountability of freedom; as the bud opens to flower
…..and their eye’s to our true Worth

Over the years I’ve seen that nothing stays the same for very long
The smiles, the tear, are but the half-notes in life’s lilting song
Over the years I’ve held hands just to feel the pain of letting go
And I begin to see the hint of wisdom’s hoary snow
…….with-held from the care-free and the young

Over the years I’ve seen the truth in words my father spoke
I’ve seen that youth is but a brief and winsome cloak
Over the years I’ve seen the rising and the setting sun
Painted across the sky by true Love’s changeless One
……..evidence of mankind’s living Hope

Janet~

Hush............

Hush, now is not the time for chatter
Words would mar this perfect night
As the wind howls at my window
And spring cowers low in fright

Hush, I feel you in my mind, dear
Tender as the day we met
I taste the sweetness and the torment
The wind is like an empty threat

Hush, how warm your arms around me
Ah, but love is soft and kind
Oh, sad foolishness confounds me
I can’t kiss you with my mind…….

Janet~

Life's Beautiful Crown....

If laughter is the golden haze
The crowning joy of softer days
Then each tear must a gem
Gleaming in life’s diadem

Within the lonesome hour or cruel
We bear love’s most tender jewel
And happiness is sweet and dear
If on our crown we wear a tear

Janet~

Ink Teardrops

Daringly arranged in whispers of ink
then splashed upon a page
to leap over an invisible brink
that some call cyber-space
Released into the great unknown
Small pieces of our hearts
These fragments no longer our own
Become a little part
Of other people’s reverie
Perhaps a secret tear
The stirring of a memory
The thought of someone dear
each with our own picture
an unfolding of a scene
of what is and what was...
... and what we wish had been........
What are these ink teardrops
but bits of poetry
that matter little or nothing at all
………my pen falls silently

J~

Just Because the Sky Was Blue.....

I tried to lose myself today
on those blue hilltops far away.
I thought of how the wind would pull
And tease, and it was wonderful
And I yearned for the melody
Sung by a turquoise evening breeze
Where I could sit with my bare-feet
in the babbling of the creek
and then I strolled across the grass
where fleet-foot spring and summer pass
and I got lost in yesterday
where far too many memories lay
and there you were, as good as new
and just because the sky was blue
and just because an ocean lay
betwixt today and yesterday
and just because love is not bound
by barriers stretched across the ground
and just because I love you too
I got lost......
in thoughts of you.

J~

Satisfied.........

I draw You to me
With nothing but air
Oh God, you come to me
In a thought and a prayer
And here in the whisper
Of wishes I've cried
You make me happy
And satisfied
Better to touch You
In my teardrops that fall
Than to dance through life
And never need You at all

Janet~

More of You.....

You seep into me
Like the glow of the sun
You pour into me
Like wild rivers run
You breathe into me
Like a sky of pure blue
And I want to learn more.........
....so much more about You

You reach for me
Through the prayer of a friend
And I feel your touch
Somewhere deep within
The Hand that cradles
The vast ocean blue
Reaches for me…..
And I want more of You

Bright as the morning
Soft as a dove
I feel the wonder
Of Your perfect love
Breathing into me
From out of the blue
And I reach for more…
…so much more of You

The Creator of earth
And heaven above
Fills me with worth
Through His wondrous love
There’s not one thing
That I can do
But reach out for more…..
….so much more of You

Janet~

Thank-you.....again~

Will You Love Me?

You do not need to answer
But I think I need to know
Darling, will you love me
When my hair is white as snow
When the step of keen ambition
Slows to a cane-tuned tap
And my only real temptation
Is a sweet mid-morning nap
When I’ve traded tea and coffee
For a mug of nice warm water
And you wish that I was younger
And I wish the soup was hotter
But the grand-kids keep us laughing
Though we might forget just why
It doesn’t matter; while we’re rocking
Somehow time still seems to fly
While we count out which pills to take
The yellow, white or blue
And talk of how they just don’t make
Things quite like they used to
And if I should talk up a storm
It really will not matter
You’ll simply turn the hearing aid down
And thus turn down the chatter
My dear, you need not answer
But somehow I need to know
Will you love me, darling
When my hair is white as snow…….

Janet~

Colors of Love....

I have loved you in the morning
As the darkness melts away
In a flood of gold and crimson
Splashed in heavenly display

I have loved you in the noontide
‘Neath the yellow of the sun
With the sky an azure awning
And the field an emerald throne

I have loved you in the evening
In the dusky pink and blue
While the sunset paints its splendor
On a lofty avenue

I have loved you, dear, at midnight
As today is yesterday
I have loved you, oh my darling
In a thousand shades of gray

J~

The Emerging of Spring

There’s a soundless stirring in the balmy atmosphere
As subtle as the softening of the sky
Just before the first vague hint of dawning would appear
To push the deep and darker shades awry

The dormant limb upon the tree now flaunts a ruby jewel
Unnoticed by the hurried passer-by
The winter wind and sassy breeze have sparked a sudden duel
While snow and rain-drop join the rivalry

The imminence of things to come sets eager hearts a-surging
Anticipation throbs within our breast
With keener eye we search the landscape for the soft emerging
Of the Hand that puts the winter gale to rest

As daylight slides into the dusk so too the seasons blend
With no exact, distinctive rhyme or reason
To tell of spring’s arrival or of winter’s certain end
But subtly the signs become the season

Janet~

Heaven's Best

The brook which is blue-green by day
Laughs at night in silver-gray
It wanders through the fern-lined dell
Where once our child-hood shadows fell
And I can hear its echo spill
Peeling from the misty hill
Like the distant thunder rolling
Just before the rain starts falling

The green field under the sun of noon
Lies transformed beneath the moon
A pasture-land of charcoal sheen
With nothing but the wind between
The shore that lines a slate-black lee
Where clouds sail on a starless sea
And time is but a lonesome soul
Straggling through its big black bowl

As night wheels onward through the sky
How sad to think that you and I
Must miss its moody glory spilt
With shut eye tucked beneath a quilt
How sad to know this splendid world
Spreads like a miracle unfurled
While I am duty-bound to rest
And close my eyes to heaven’s best

Janet~

It was SO HARD to go to bed the other night
And tear myself away from the unfolding of
A moonlit masterpiece!!!

Full Moon Night

I step outside
Hugging the warmth
Inside my robe closer to me
But I must feel you
Without the barrier of glass between……. .Us
The night air is lissome in your glow
The breeze a kiss upon my brow
The frieze of the horizon line
Taunts just beyond this reach of mine
Bordering a masterpiece
Of silver-gray and pale chartreuse
Heaven dips earth-ward tonight
Spilling its splendor in dazzling starlight
Above the sweeping, mellow tune
Sung by the weeping of the moon
A melody of days and years
Caught suddenly within my tears
I know the moon is not to blame
But somehow it breathes your name
And here with you in the moonlight
Heaven bends a little closer tonight


Janet~

Was that full moon not absolutely SPECTACULAR
on Saturday night?

Because of MAJOR internet issues I am unable to
post with pictures:( right now....

A Rich Reward

It takes courage to write the words
That perhaps we would never say
It takes courage to love when it hurts
It even takes courage to pray
It takes courage to rise above
The force that begs our retreat
It takes courage to stay and prove
We will not accept defeat

It takes courage to say ‘I was wrong’
It takes courage to make it right
It takes courage to remain strong
In temptation's dangling delight
It takes courage to stick to the truth
When it would be easier to lie
It takes courage to say hello
But more courage to whisper ‘good-bye’

It takes courage to be a man
It takes courage to be yourself
It takes courage to take a stand
Instead of following every one else
It takes courage to do our best
It takes courage to trust the Lord
But if we do we will be blessed
For courage yields a rich reward

Janet~

Moment of Reflection.....

As petal or leaf flutters soundlessly
Into the rushing stream
So, life’s little losses fall from me
Like remnants of a dream

If I could control the quadrille of time
Then I could hold back the sun
I cannot bring back one day of my life
Or one moment, when it is gone

The wind sweeps from the hillside tonight
With a wild and lonesome moan
It tears at me somewhere deep inside
In a sorrowful undertone

Waking thoughts and agonies
Which seem to sleep by day
They come upon me suddenly
In bitter-sweet blue-gray

I weep, not for myself
But for those who cannot sleep tonight
Or hear the echo of a dream
Because of grief and fright……….

And though, 'hope springs immortal'
We cannot help but weep
And cry to God in sorrow
For the ones who cannot sleep

(thinking of Japan….)




Janet~

Reasons......

Moments…clamoring for my attention
Then dissolving before I can give them
Their just due
Duty……in every shape and dimension
Crowding around me, distracting me
From you

Blessing…….imperceptible in its grandeur
Of minutest and invisible detail
Surrounds me
Life….. a passage of splendor
For I am slipping and sliding toward Your
Arms around me

Seasons….marked by changing faces
Evolving into a lifetime
Of yesterdays
Reasons…..silent, motionless traces
Outlining thoughts of You
In poignant praise

Janet~

He Is Good

There are so many things in life we would change
Or alter if we could
But there is one thing we would not rearrange
God's power and love; He is good

Janet~

For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope

21that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God.

22For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now. Romans 8:20-22

Yesterday's Tomorrow

The shrill beeping of the alarm clock

Tears a merciless slash

Through thickened folds of slumber

As strong wills suddenly clash

Somewhere across days worth of miles

Others are rising too

Some with groans, some with smiles

Setting the coffee to brew

I realize, with a tug of sorrow

As I gaze at dawns awesome display

How swiftly yesterday's tomorrow

Becomes today

We stand where we have never stood before

Or ever will again

On the brink of today; I open the door

God’s love comes pouring in

Janet~

It's Not So Bad.....

It’s not so bad
This getting old
If you don’t mind being
Too hot or too cold
If you don’t mind keeping
Your teeth in a cup
And if you fall down
Just hope you can get up
And it really is
Completely okay
If you can’t remember
Yesterday
And if you don’t mind
Your evolving physique
Or forget what you’re thinking
Before you speak
Getting old really isn’t
All that bad
If you enjoy your back-ache
With a heating-pad
Aches and pains
Make great discussion
While snoring offers
Background percussion
Then there’s the daily
Exciting intrusion
Of sorting out
Misunderstood confusion
The shuffle has become
The favorite dance
Secure in dependable
Underpants
So cheer up,Bro
Don’t be sad
Getting old really isn’t
All that bad

Janet~

Happy 32nd Birthday, baby brother!
from your OLD sister:)

I posted a few memories from the 'good ole' days':)

I think you were two.

Beautiful Day......

Even the hills in the distance
Seem to quell a sigh
Nothing offers resistance
To the gray pall of the sky
I search for a point of beauty
On which to fix my gaze
But nothing reaches to me
In the misty morning haze……

…..until you
And the thought of you makes me smile
My heavy heart skips a beat
It really will be but a little while
My dear, until we meet

The sun cannot break through the silence
It looks like another day
Where I must search for brilliance
In a painting mostly gray
Today the wind’s a wanderer
And within its undertone
I sense a restless hunger
Begging me to weep and moan…..

……..but then you
Oh, you come rushing to me
On a lighter breeze or two
I can feel your arms around me
In a perfect shade of blue

Ah, the day is not pure gray after all
Though it lies llistless and still
I sense within this motionless pall
A weakening of its will
As the silence that would pervade me
With a bleak melancholy
Kindly wraps around me
In a soft serenity….

…..because you……..
Oh my darling you will never be
A single shade of gray
Fireworks explode inside of me…..
Oh, what a beautiful day

Janet~

It seems like we've had a week of gray!
You know, where the land and sky are exactly the same shade.....

Well, as I write this the sun is pushing through!

Already Taken...or First Spring Rain

Suddenly, softly the eager breeze scatters
Her deluge in a chorus of pitter-patters
Its music resembling distant applause
As it spills on the tempered gardens and lawns
We’ve waited so long to hear this refrain
This is the song of the first spring rain

Smothered pastures grasp for each drop
Hoping at last frigid gales may stop
Here in the harbinger of warmer dreams
Her laughter pours into burgeoning streams
Taunting, beckoning us to dance once again
To the rippling ballad of the first spring rain

Robins appear and sleepy buds waken
I’m sorry my dear, but I’m already taken
I’ve chosen to dance in the arms of the wind
In his blue-eyed glance I shall twirl and spin
For my anticipation has not been in vain
Oh the elation of the first spring rain

Janet

A Girl can dream....can't she? ;)

Special Reservation.....

There is a special joy I feel
When I think of you
A blend of certain and surreal
In twenty shades of blue
I wrap your pleasure ‘round my mind
Your gentle smile releases
My little sorrows to the wind
In small forgotten pieces

Janet~

Piqued Interest.....

There’s so much about you I still do not know
And I realize like never before
That perhaps this is what keeps me loving you so
And always wanting more…………

J~

Nowhere to Hide

When I look up at the trees
Naked and exposed
I wonder if this is what God sees
......in spite of skin and clothes
We cannot hide our deepest thought
To Him it is revealed
The minutest little jot
Cannot be concealed
And as the trees lift up their arms
With bare and humble limb
It seems there's nothing we can do
But lift our arms to Him
For He is full of mercy
And in spite of our shame
As He beholds our utmost thought
He loves us just the same


Janet~

I love looking at the majestic form of trees
Stripped bare of their cloak of leaves......

Akin to Longing....

There is a sense of absence
Haunting me tonight
Like the woods in autumn
After birds have taken flight
When the last few leaves have fallen
To a thick and rustling bed
And there’s a sense of emptiness
As leaves no longer thread
The dark and barren tree-tops
Exposing every limb and form
Unclothed; they seem to shiver
In the wake of winter’s storm
As a sudden sense of absence
Sweeps from sky to depths within
It parallels with longing
For a time that once had been

Janet~

Teardrop......

Beneath the tattered remnants
Of a ragged half-moon sky
I hear it like a love-song
And it makes me want to cry
As moments trickle swiftly
Through my empty, out-stretched grip
I cannot hold them near me
One by one they softly slip
Into a phantom ocean
History’s vast and unclaimed sea
Yet its depth is but a teardrop
When contemplating eternity

Janet~

Love's Reasoning.....

I don’t really want you to be
Like the book I’ve read too many times
Losing its allure somewhere
Between the once-loved lines

I love the yellow full moon
But I also love the rain
And knowing you’ll be home soon
Adds sweet pleasure to my pain

We seem to gather pleasures
Each in our own personal ways
Darling, you’re my greatest treasure
Wish that I could touch your face

Some pleasures are preceded by desire
Some come upon us unexpectedly
I will not pause to inquire
Which pleasure you are to me

We cannot begin a new season
Until the old one ends
But let’s love without rhyme or reason
For time waits on no man

I don’t really want you to be
A memory between dusty pages
Darling, love me slowly
Do not rush me through life’s stages

I hope we’re somewhere in the middle
The beginning far behind and the end still far away
All I’m really sure of is I love you a little……
…..a little more than I did yesterday

Janet~

Time's Demands......

Hours step forward
Demanding my attention
Quiet bullies
Tearing me from you
Without a touch
It’s just the way it is…….

J~

Mostly....

Mostly I feel you in the blanket of mist
As it hangs in a moody shroud
Over the fields where once we kissed
Beneath a moon-brushed cloud

Mostly I feel you where raindrops weep
As they glide ‘cross the windowpane
Where aching memories will not sleep
And in them I touch you again

Mostly I feel you where shadows lay
Like etchings on the grass
Before the flowers fell away
In frozen streams of glass

Mostly I feel you in the sigh
Of soft twilight’s deepening hush
Where dark still-life pastures lie
Beneath the artist’s muted brush

Mostly I feel you deep-within
Like a trembling melody
Seeping into everything
For somehow you are part of me

Janet~

Communication's Frustrations

Why is it that the things I need most to tell you
And the things I really want you to know
I cannot find the proper words for
Or have to ability to show?

Why is it that when you are miles and hours from me
Suddenly the perfect words evolve
In striking, startling clarity
As our divergences dissolve?

Why is it that when we stand face to face
My mind draws a gaping void
As all the perfect words erase
And good intentions are destroyed?

Why is it so easy to do the right thing
When you are too far away
But when you’re standing next to me
I don’t know what to say?

Janet~

Do you ever feel like this?

Unspoken.....

Do you hear it?
In the trembling of light-touched trees
As the eager fingers of dawn
Play on the rushing breeze
Or in the moody quietness of dusk
As shadows slip across the day
And another day folds behind us
In forty shades of gray
Do you hear it?
As you pause for a little while
And contemplate life and love
With the hint of heavens smile
Gleaming on ribbed-cloud up above
And need becomes more dominant
Than longing or desire
Do you hear it softly moaning
In a wind-tossed pine-tree spire?
Do you hear the things I want to whisper
But somehow I cannot say?
As life’s moments wrap around us
And today becomes yesterday
While time’s translucent power
Keeps the doorway tightly barred
In the ticking of the hours…..
…….darling, do you hear my heart?

Janet~

Birthday Wish

Oh my dear, how could we know
Just how fast ten years would go?
We could never dream the joy
God places in each girl or boy
But as He reaches from above
We glimpse a shadow of His love
My dear, I pray that God will bless
The year ahead with happiness

Janet~

Happy 10th Birthday, Victoria

Invisible You......

You breathe into me
Like the warmth of a flame
And all that it takes
Is the sound of your name

You seep into me
Like the dawn of a day
Or the glow of the sun
On a warm spring day

You flicker in me
With a sigh and a tear
I could not live
Without you, my dear

Janet~

Vitality......

The work-out
Or devotions
Which will it be?
I know they are both
So good for me
Why does it seem so easy then
To choose to do anything
Else…..
When both are so vital
To emotional health?
We trim nails
Read novels, listen to music
Eat and sleep
We loaf in front of the TV
We dust and sweep
We tidy up
Or make a mess
There are a-thousand things
We could choose I guess
To give in to idle temptation
And the misery of procrastination

Janet~

Let’s face it…..
Sometimes we don’t feel like doing either…..
Devotions
Or work-outs!
But if we choose to take the time and energy for both
WE FEEL SO MUCH BETTER!!!!!
Spiritual health and physical health
Impact immensely our emotional health.
Why is it so hard to choose what is good for us
And settle for a lesser attraction instead….
….or endless duty….
After we spend time in God’s Word,
After physical exercise we feel so much better!
We were made that way….
Needy.
And isn’t it ironic
For the physical we could use a ton of different equipment
To condition us but
For the spiritual we need one thing only….God’s Word!
A little bit is always better than nothing
In either field
If we begin with a little bit
Chances are we will desire more….
A little goes a long way!

Roll on, Raging River

Nothing stays the same forever
Time is but a flowing stream
Roll on, roll on raging river
You can never steal my dream
No, you can never steal my dream

Which way the road will dip or bend
No one ever really knows
But darling, if you are my friend
It won’t matter where it goes
No, it won’t matter where it goes

There must always be dreamers
With star-dust in their eyes
This world is full of schemers
Ready with their tainted lies
Ready with their tainted lies

But they cannot steal our dream, love
Though time is a ruthless thief
It cannot steal the stars gleam above
Or the heart of true belief
Or the heart of true belief

Nothing stays the same forever
If it did love could not grow
Roll on, roll on, raging river
Love is not lost in your flow
No, love is not lost in your flow

Janet~

Strange, Sweet Ache.......

Strange, sweet ache
You’re getting to be
A familiar thing
Each breath you take
Washes over me
Like a gentle rain


As I wake
You’re all I see
In the softening light
Strange, sweet ache
You’re getting to be
My every night

Touch me now
You will see
I cannot refuse you
Blow, wind, blow
Wild and free
I cannot choose you…….

For a strange sweet ache
Is slowly becoming
Familiar to me
Oh, this strange, sweet ache
Is a love song humming
Inside of me

Janet~

Perfect Hurt...........

When I look at a sunset
It almost steals my breath away
And sometimes as I view earth’s beauty
I don’t know what to say
There are no words to quite describe
A sky of perfect blue
And I feel all of this combined
When I look at you

You steal my breath away
There is no perfect word
To say what I want to say
But there’s a perfect hurt
It washes over me
In countless shades of blue
It’s pleasure’s agony
Every time I look at you

I’m glad we cannot reach
The vastness of the sky
And mar the endless glory
God reveals o’er you and I
I’m glad no one can touch
The aching in my soul
And mar the love I have for you
The hurt that keeps me whole

You steal my breath away
Oh, what a perfect hurt
I’m glad there is no way
To find the perfect word…….


Janet~

The sky is perfect blue today….