Child...

There can be no shadow of regret with you,
Perfection lent to earth,
Heaven in your smile,
You evoke in me a measure of worth
You are a child

With your hand in mine nothing else matters,
I am complete for a time,
Let the world seek its fortune
I have found mine
In a child


Janet~

My daughter has two friends here for a sleep-over.
Camping, actually.
5:00 p.m.-set up tent
6:00 p.m. supper inside because it was too windy for a camp-fire.
7:00 p.m. blow up air mattress, stock tent with sleeping bags, treats, drinks, teddies, blankets…
7:30 p.m. Oh no! If we want a fire we need to move the tent! The wind is blowing directly toward it!
7:45 p.m. We have moved the tent and it is being reassembled!
8:00 p.m. Wind has died down so ‘mom’ starts the camp-fire…
8:30 p.m. It’s getting dark. Get flashlight.
8:45 p.m. Fire is ready to roast marshmallows!
8:48 p.m. 3 marshmallows roasted aka burnt! and devoured.
8:49 p.m. Discover marshmallow in hair!
8:50 p.m. getting darker!
8:51 p.m. Tummy-aches and big eyes!
8:52 p.m. ‘mom’ suggests that if anyone does not want to sleep in the tent she will flatten the couches downstairs into beds
9:00 p.m. 3 little girls downstairs on couch feeling much better!:) Tent…empty except for the air mattress.
9:30 p.m. ‘mom’ puts in one of her favorite movies and they loved it! Curly Top (Shirley Temple) ‘mom’ becomes one of them for awhile.
It is now 11:30 p.m. little girls are laughing, giggling, and discussing…TEACHERS!
Methinks it is going to be a ‘late breakfast’ morning…for 3 little ‘campers’.

Of Imminent Departure...

Press the curves of your ethereal body
closely to me; there is urgency
trembling beneath the serenity
of imminent departure as we
put on our best brave faces
to preserve moments sealed in our hearts.

Climb over me, align the fire
in your tortured eye with my heartbeat,
Quite suddenly your lips
brimming with passion and desire
suffocates the dreamer’s bliss
in the quiver of imminent departure

I must inhale the scent of you
in our last dance; heady musk
filling my veins; eyes of blue,
Your neck is warm, your breath intoxicating
highlighting the agony of waiting
in the gathering dusk of imminent departure

A ball of crumpled wishes
lodges achingly in my throat
barring all the perfect words
that I would tell, before you go
across the pale blue hill; and so we stand
as I beg you to press closer

Seal your promise of return within my hand,
Not with summer's roses, for shortly
their petals deck the sand; oh, come closer
so I may hear; not the foot-falls of imminent departure
but the landing of your tear
on my cheek, in this farewell hour

Janet~

Rushing to Oblivion

Like impatient waters rushing
oblivious to the delicate fronds
lining the shore
Or like a flock of wild geese rising
suddenly from the neighboring pond
in a muffled whir
the wind herds moments
gently, yet firmly before it
like a scolding mother
gathering her children
for a bedtime story
…an hour together
beneath the deepening sky
before it is gone forever


J~

No Pretty Pink Bow...

You held it too me beneath the pink sky
It was so lovely that it made me cry
I took it gladly; for oh, how could I
Know it was simply
A beautiful good-bye

No pretty ribbon, no neatly tied bow
No hint of parting; how was I to know
As you gave it to me with a tear in your eye
That it was going to be
A beautiful good-bye

I did not see through its beautiful disguise
Beautiful love song; beautiful eyes
Beautiful moment of beautiful sighs
Prelude to the torment
Of beautiful good-byes…

Janet Martin

Nightingale's Tears

The nightingale chorus
Floats on the dark lea
Over the grave
‘neath the weathered pine tree
High on its limb
Like molten light
Its note takes wing
To seer the night
Where no tear has warmed
The cold, hard stone
Just a nightingale’s song
O’er a grave unknown
The moon may weep
The wind may moan
The nightingale's tears
Brush the cold gray stone

Janet~

Of Poetry

Do you read me
with eyes open or half-closed
Do you read me at all
or do you simply see words
strutting across a page
stilted actors on a stage….
like a ripple on the sea
fading into obscurity
Do you feel the heat
The chill
A heart beat
when the night is still
Tell me, how do you
read poetry?

The essence of you
pulses in me
Ah, this is my favorite
Rhythm of poetry
Words ebb and flow
They rise and fall
and yet sometimes
I hardly see words at all
as a mystic force
draws me near
in a fearless embrace
I touch your face…
or else I hear
the thundering rain
pounding, washing over me
with pleasure's pain
Ah, this is poetry

Intangible blend
of desire, repulsion, hope
Friend touching friend
learning to cope
with life’s harsher reality
as smiles and tears flow
Fires rage,
and in its afterglow
we re-trace its geography
not with ink,
but flesh and blood
immersed in bitter-sweet fantasy
Or is it a keener sense of God?
Ah, this is poetry…

…to feel without touch
To weep without tears
To dance in the arms
Of faded years

J~

Poet' Curse

This must be the poet's curse
and I'm not sure which one is worse...
A pen without inspiration...
...or inspiration without a pen

Janet~

I had one of those days today...
...a lot of work! and that's when inspiration hits!!!
when I'm elbow deep in
canning or kids stuff or heavy muddy feet in the garden.., you know? then
I have the most sudden and tantalizing flashes of
inspiration! Do I remember them when my hands or feet are all clean and dry???
Nope:)

I penned this little ditty a few years ago when I
was frustrated by this...curse.

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 Martin

above are some pictures I've taken ...over the years...

Tear-stained Letter

We’re not as close as I wish we would be…
And I take the blame for that
I know…
I’ve made choices with which you disagree
And I’ve made you sad
But in spite of it all
I love you, Dad

I love you more
And separately
From any other love
You’ve taught me
More than anyone
on this earth...
Generously, unselfishly
By example
…a gift beyond worth
And for this
I love you, Dad

Seventy seems younger than it used to…
Because I don’t think of you as old
I pray as you go forward
God will truly make each day pure gold
Because I can think of no other
Gift I would rather give
Than simply my love to you, Daddy
As long as we both shall live…

I love you
For the legacy you’ve given me
I wish there were some things
That had turned out differently
I know… you wish it too…
For it breaks my heart to realize
You’re *the greatest man…
…I never really knew…

With all my Love
From you daughter, Janet

Happy 70th Birthday, Dad

*Reba McIntyre song

If You Were to Stay...

I would wrap my arms softly around you

Spread my body o’er your fragrant dust

To cover you with sanguine summer-lust

And drink your sparkling wine of morning dew

I would slow-dance in the smoothness of your dark

Linger in your sultry, sullen arms

Victim of your mad and moody charms

Hypnotized by one faint glimm’ring spark

I would wander through your royal palace

Decked with roses; guarded by golden-rod

Built by none other than Holy God

I’d sip your tears from heaven’s purest chalice

Seduce me with your languid pantomime

I would not resist you if you tried

Lay me down where purple blooms reside

And lavish me with melodies sublime

Is there any ear to hear my pleas?

Will you dry the tear upon my cheek?

You kiss my lips, stealing the words I speak

And carry them away on Augusts’ breeze

Janet Martin~

I was lying on the deck soaking up the intense heat that comes

just before a billowy cloud-bank covers the sun and it hit me...

I don't want August to leave yet!

Matter of Age?

Can I, a vessel formed of dust
And prone to turn from fervent truth
Be wiser now than in my youth?
Does one become immune to lust?

Will folly be the residue
To cloak the trunk of wisdom’s tree
The breeze sweeps thither languidly
Across the weathered skins of fruit

Janet Martin

The words for this week are: residue, turn, skins, truth, dust, trunk, matter, breeze, cloak, vessel, sweeps, fervent

Paradise...Lost

Rue the day I come to tell
that I cannot remember well
the breeze that strode before us when
we heard the chorus in the glen
of hopes and dreams and whispers of
the thoughts of those who dream of love
and rue the cold and bitter night
when I cannot remember quite
the timbre of your quiet sigh
the color of your longing eye
and may I never live to tell
that I cannot remember well
what perhaps your name had been
or where you lived or even when
we said hello and not good-by
or was it just a far-fetched cry
of bitter love and loneliness
to fill internal emptiness
before we came to realize
more hope have we to touch the skies
than find within each others gaze
the magic of love's winsome ways.....
and dreams are but a hapless wave
to fill the cold and silent grave
Ah, rue the day I come to tell
that I cannot remember well...

J~

Invisible Hurricane...

By forces unseen
Ne’er beheld with the eye
Yet powerful as hurricane
Expelled in a sigh…
…is my love for you

J~

Thinking of everyone on the Eastern seaboard…be safe.

Joy Unrestrained

How oft the sadness of regret
Would bleed its vesture on my heart
Or paint its dark and sordid art
Across a day not broken yet

How oft its vengeance would remain
A visage, hidden and despised
Where hope lies flat, unrealized
In cold and unrelenting chains

Expectation’s pressing weight
Would push me hard into life’s dirt
Drowning passion in its hurt
Exchanging tenderness for hate...

...and peace would slip from my embrace
My joy be overcome with dread
But for redemption’s river shed
From Hands of sweet, atoning Grace

Janet~

Commandant

He marched ahead of me
barring every door
I was too afraid to retaliate
or even pound on the gate
freshly aware of my insecurity
I cowered on the floor
Subjected to the commandeer
Reliant on a single fortitude…
Fear

Janet~

Squanderer

Why wastest thou thy longing on a sigh
For minutes slipping to elusive past?
Why longest thou to hold a vapor fast?
Or lookest thou with low and dreamy eye
To swift-winged moments dashing by
Thus squandering present joy for shadows cast
No stagnant moment can there ever be
Nor was so small an hour that we should waste
Such treasure on closed lips devoid of taste
Or with eyes turned to past’s eternity
Be blinded to a stream of opportunity
Rushing to an ethereal sea in haste

Janet

To Mike…first crack at The Dare...
Am I vaguely close?

His Name...

What was his name?
He asked softly
As he caught the look of longing
In my eye
What was he like?

Oh, his gaze was as blue
As the azure sky
His smile was as fair
As summer sunshine
Time did not exist
In his pleasant arms
We could walk for miles
For the night was warm
We didn’t think about minutes
As we spent carefree hours
Wandering through oceans
Of nodding wild flowers
Pleasure was sitting
At the brink of dawn
Or simply strolling
Across dew-kissed lawn
I didn’t appreciate him
Nearly enough
Or spend my time thinking
Of it as love…


What was his name?
He heard my wistful sigh
As I replied simply
His name was…
July

The Hard Part Of Poetry

Yes, I admit
Rhyming is easy...

...bleeding from the heart
Isn't

Stretching thought
Is a grueling work-out

Undressing the mind
Is vulnerability
In its truest form

J~

Unspoken...

...Her sorrow bled,
Not in rivers of red
But in dark ink across the night
The tears she wept
By day were kept
In heartbeats out of sight
Life can slice
The same heart twice
Twice hearts can be broken
Her sorrow bled
Where ink-drops shed
Lost years of words unspoken

J~

Mere Observances

Moments are craftsmen of triumph or shame
I love the moment when I whisper your name

Memories are the fruits of victory or defeat
I have tasted both; both bittersweet

Heartache fills acres without leaving a mark
Heaven spills softly in your kiss in the dark

J~

Measure of a Mistake

Hush my dear child
And dry your eyes
It is not in our victories
That we become wise

But wisdom is oft found
With our mouth full of dirt
Our face to the ground
And our heart full of hurt

Hush, my dear one
And dry your eyes
Failure and experience
Help make us wise

Janet~

My mind wandered as we sharpened pencils,
made 'back-to-school' shopping lists...

Sweet Sorrow

I remember watching you…
…and Dad
I would study your faces
And I thought you were sad

Now I understand a little
Of what I perceived as sorrow
How swiftly this moment
Reaches for tomorrow

How soon the sun slips
From summer’s sky
Touching my lips
With a slow, sweet sigh

…and sometimes when they ask me
Why I am sad
I recall watching you
…and I don't feel so bad

Janet~

About-face...

…what was I thinking?
‘I do not ask for a lifetime with you…
But I desire a moment or two?’

My dear, I do not want simply a moment with you…
I want a lifetime…maybe two
For one lifetime can never be enough
When it comes to you and me and love…

J~

Spontaneity

I thought I heard you whisper
I’ve missed you
And I thought I heard myself answer
I miss you too
Then I heard you asking the question
Where were you off to?
And I heard her instant reply
Anywhere with you…

We could walk down-town if you want to
Or go for a slow country drive
It’s been a long time since I’ve seen a movie
How about dinner at five?
We could climb the hill where we were last summer
Sit and enjoy the view
I don’t really have any one thing in mind
Just anywhere…anywhere with you

We could go fishing…or just do some kissin’
Down at the old covered bridge
Remember last summer …in a late early morning?
We could do what we did…
Maybe we should visit your mother
Really anything will do
As long as we’re with each other
…yes, I miss you too

J~

Misunderstood

He used to say
'Don't tell me you love me...show me'
She knows he meant well
But actions can often be misunderstood
And somewhere along the way
It became too hard to say
'I love you'

He used to say,
'don't bother with stuff,
Show me your love'
Thinking he was doing her a favor...
But somewhere along the way
something within her died...
No matter how hard she tried
She could never do enough
To say 'I love you'

Love is...
It is not something we 'do'
and yet it touches every act
if we are in love..
To love and to be in love
Not the same thing
She wonders sometimes
If it is possible
To be in love again...

He used to say
'Don't tell me you love me...show me'
She knows he meant well
But actions can often be misunderstood
And somewhere along the way
It became too hard to say
'I love you'

He used to say,
'don't bother with stuff,
Show me your love'
Thinking he was doing her a favor...

But This...

Today you lean heavily on my mind
In tumbled shades of blue and gray
And I’ll admit, sometimes I find
That I don’t know quite what to say
But this…I love you~

J~

As Summer Bows its Head...

As summer hangs
Its pensive head
With all its fragrant
Petals shed
As cow-slip falls
Into the brook
And violet fades
From shaded nook
As jonquil weeps
Its golden tear
Against white jasmine’s
Lily ear
As fair wild rose
And anemone
Lie withered on
The cold, gray stone
As wanton breezes
Strip the vine
Of clematis
And columbine
As muted purple
And golden rod
Lay their glory
On the sod
As every flower
On earth’s shore
Buds, then blooms
And is no more
So too is this
Wee life of man
We ought to bloom
While still we can

J~

Truth...

To live in denial does not change the truth
Or to claim there is no God
Does not free one of accountability
As his body is laid in the sod

We love darkness when our deeds are evil
Thinking its act none can find
God knows what we will do before it is done
A fool deceives his own mind

There are those who rebel against light
Because they have not understood
That God is compassion and mercy and love
He is Light and He is good

Since Eden this world was doomed to woe
The consequence of sin
But after this world we will go
To an eternity without end

To live in denial does not change the facts
In this life we are not doomed to loss
We can be saved, not by our own acts
But through blood shed upon a cross

To live in denial does not change the truth
All who live must die
Eternity’s destinies are only two
Hell below or heaven on high

Janet~



“There are those who rebel against the light,
who do not know its ways
or stay in its paths. Job 24:131


In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome[a] it. John 1; 1-5

Maybe in Time...

Maybe in time
I will loosen my grip
And not rebel
As moments slip
Twixt you and I...

Maybe in time
I will turn the page
Without reluctance
For life's next stage
Where shadows lie

Maybe in time
I will release you a bit
But for now, I confess
I'm not ready yet
To say good-bye

Maybe in time
I will understand
And no longer tally
The miles on the sand
Twixt you and I...

J~

Symphony

There is a symphony
Born in the dusk
Swept through the linden-tree
And rows of corn husk
I cannot hear it
In the high-tide of noon
It waits for the midnight
And the lofty white moon

Scented with flowers
And rain-thickened breeze
It seeps from the bowers
Of August’s dark trees
Over dim meadows
Of shower-bent grass
Across dormant shadows
Its tender notes pass

August’s fair dawn
Is a gift to behold
Painting the lawn
In whispers of gold
But I choose the song
Of rich harmony
Dripping from the tongue
Of a midnight sea

There is a symphony
Drifting down a dark lane
Across wind-swept lea
After August’s rain
Dark blue-bells weep
On the pale anemone
I cannot sleep
So I listen…alone

Janet~

...and to think on most nights
I miss it!!

If Not For Prayer

Sometimes hours are so heavy
Much too heavy to bear
I would become discouraged
If not for prayer

Sometimes the music is silent
Nothing to soften the air
And I think I would give up
If not for prayer

Sometimes love is beautiful
And sometimes an ache we can’t share
With anyone but He
Who hears every prayer

Sometimes it seems we forget
We never escape His care
Hope indeed would be barren
If not for prayer

Janet~

Never Too Far

On nights like tonight, I must confess
You feel too far from me
As the hush of midnight strums the tress
Of rain-laden willow tree
And the darkness leans heavy and wet
Against the wooded rill
Obliterating the silhouette
Of tree or distant hill

On nights like tonight I hear your laughter
Waft on the fluid air
I feel the richness of its timbre
Soft and warm against my hair
And I wonder if you’re sleeping
Or perhaps under the power
Of a muse that is keeping
You awake in midnight’s hour

On nights like tonight, the curve of thought
Will not obey command
Conflict is a mortal lot
The heart unlike my hand
Which moves as I allow it
But somehow I find
It is much harder
To discipline the mind

On nights like tonight you wash over me
And I do not resist
Unlike a wave upon the sea
You hover in the mist
And I reach out to touch you
Trace the still and dampened air
Across distance I love you
And touch you with prayer

J~

A friend, according to miles, far, far away
Asked me tonight if I would pray
And I was so thankful to know miles and air
Can never out-distance the touch of a prayer.

It's A Rainy Day in August

It's a song of comforting melancholy
Washing the earth with a silver sea
Wind and rain in perfect harmony
A rainy day in August

J~

I wish I knew how to up-load the video here.
For some reason I cannot get it to work on this blog!
It was a song of pure exhilaration...but these pics will have to do:)

Out with the Gold, in with the Blue

Darling, wrap me in your cloak of moody blue today
I hear the words you spoke pour from skies tumbled and gray
There’s an essence in cool blue that warm gold cannot acquire
Stirring in me, thoughts of you, and longing and desire…

Darling, some prefer the sky of sun and azure blue
Flawless, perhaps save for a straggling billowy cloud or two
But there’ something ‘bout your glowering scowl that stirs the want in me
As your sullen fury howls across the field and sea

Darling, hold me in your touch of blue and stormy passion
Don’t withhold your gaze from me, undo me with an ocean
Pouring from the lowered hem of gray and misty blue
Soon sun’s gold will flower again…and steal my want of you

Darling, there’s a kindred spirit pouring from the sky
Rushing through me as I hear it; a song, a moan, a sigh
Darling, I'm comfortable in your arms of moody blue today
Your tears are soft, your breath is warm, you are not far away…

Janet Martin

I can’t help it…
I love rainy days.

Storm-tossed

Today as someone spoke your name

I felt the blood rush through my veins

Like the wind, a ruthless fiend

Lashing out across the land

I retrieved the things I’ve kept

From you…and wept

The wind may tear and claw and scream

At grassy stair and woodland stream

It may rush, with stormy tear

Across this vulnerable hemisphere

But it cannot reach the hidden part

Of you…rainbow in my heart

Today as raindrops lash the soil

And bar me from life’s sweeter toil

I look upon the picture of

Laughter, smiles, tears, love

A threshold of a thousand skies

With you…I hate good-byes

J~

He would be Fourteen...

He would be fourteen…
If he was here today
But three years ago
God helped him fly away
Above this morbid plain of woe
But oh, we still miss him so
…and we remember

He would be turning
From a boy to a man
But God with-drew him
Though we do not understand
Why he needed to go
We love and trust and miss him so…
…as we remember

In Memory of Josh Weber
Who would have turned fourteen yesterday.

Colin, Rhonda, Jordan, Makayla
In mid-July…on his birthday…
We remember with love and prayers.

Matt's verse He clung to...Psalm 46:1 (KJV) ” God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble “.

My verse I clung to..."For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the LORD.Isa.55:8

The Measure of Moments

Moments make all the difference in life
Not the miles or flying leaps…

A moment to touch you in a prayer, my love
A moment to ache, to need, to weep

It’s in moments that we become…
In moments of living and learning…and losing

Moments are not meaningless ticks of the clock
They become legacies; the fruit of our choosing

I do not ask for a lifetime with you
But I strongly desire a moment or two…

There is one moment out-standing above all others, for me
In the moment when I beheld my greatest need
...and I cried, 'Oh my Lord, I believe'...
That moment secured my hope...and eternity

J~

At The Mercy of Night's Beauty...

Tonight I’ll let it envelope me
With its pleasure and its pain
I’ll let its blue wash over me
Like a sudden summer rain
Tonight its arms may cradle me
I have never loved in vain…

Tonight I’ll beg the lonesome wind
To sing in low melancholy
Loosening all the ties that bind
Setting heart and spirit free
Leaving tiresome woes behind
In bitter-sweetest ecstasy

Tonight I’ll willingly succumb
To its keen and moody touch
Let it kiss my sorrows numb
Until they do not ache so much
Tonight I’ll feel kindly at home
In its wild and gentle clutch

Tonight I’ll let it whisper words
That I don’t seem to hear by day
Let it soothe the little hurts
In the arms of deep blue-gray
Tonight I’ll let it move the earth
Beneath me as it has its way

J~

Paradise...

Tonight for just a little while
Heaven withdrew its sash
And laid across the folding sky
A tiny little splash
Of glories withheld from our eyes
Sealed in a land of paradise

He parted that far curtain
And spilled across the west
The wonder of a Kingdom
Reserved for heaven’s rest
As we beheld with trusting eyes
A tiny glimpse of paradise

His Word is not a hoax or myth
He said He would return
And until then we hope and wait
And silently we yearn
As teardrops fill our pleading eyes
We long for God and paradise

Tonight for just a little while
He rendered to the earth
A glimpse of hope beyond this mile
Of sweat and tears and dirt
Just beyond our earth-dimmed eyes
Gleams a land of paradise

Janet~

Spectacular, awesome, breath-taking…
Words fell flat beneath such beauty!

More pictures in the side-bar…

I was so glad I decided to run miles instead of stairs tonight!!!

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

Completed Cause...

We live,
not in days or months or years
But in moments
They rest upon our shoulders
briefly,
then they disappear...


…leaving nothing…
but a smile
on our lips
Or a gnawing
deep inside
We touch, we taste
but cannot quell
with fingertips
the relentless tide…

…of moments, steadily increasing
Filling us
With a sense
of hope and loss
And never, ever ceasing
Until
they have completed their cause…
…a life

Janet~

The Allure of You...

I hear your stealthy footsteps

In the rustling of the corn

In breezes tumbling ‘cross the grass

Exotic, then forlorn

Traces of your amber kiss

Gleam on the verdant limb

Where recently a warm caress

Inspired summer’s hymn

The aster wears a cheery smile

The sunflower flaunts her gold

But even they cannot beguile

Your tactics, sure and bold

You ride with sassy chill upon

The cusp of sun-beam’s dance

Or in the quiet afternoon

I feel your subtle glance

Reluctantly I’m drawn into

Your blue and taunting charm

Rebelliously I still cling to

Summer’s waning arm

You fill me with a wild, sweet hurt

Of tender wantonness

My thoughts like petals glaze the dirt

In pleading hopefulness

But I cannot sway your advance

Or change your mind at all

You lure this summer heart to dance

With the harbinger of fall

Janet 

If You Thought I Loved You Then...

If you thought I loved you as a baby
With your little twinkle-nose
If I thought you were precious then,
Down to your teeny, baby toes
If you thought, as I would whisper
Softest kisses on your brow
If you thought I loved you then, dear
Oh, I love you more right now

If you thought, as I watched you growing
With your sweet and cautious smile
And your chitter-chatter flowing
And your hair crazy and wild
If you thought I loved you then, dear
That little girl in days of yore
I would like to tell you, daughter
That today I love you more

Love is a strange, mysterious blessing
Worthless 'til it's given away
And it grows as we keep giving
With each swiftly passing day
I didn’t know that it was possible
As I held you long ago
To feel love’s wondrous miracle
Just grow and grow…and grow and grow…

We love you,
Happy 17th, Mel

J~

Bittersweet Content

A perfect dog-day afternoon
Sprawls beneath a sky
Of hazy sun and lazy cloud-ships
Slowly drifting by…
Warm zephyrs taunt, beg, implore
I gaze longingly at the door…

The cricket’s rippling serenade
Begins today at noon
I long to stretch beneath the shade
And revel in its tune
The minutes tick, the clock strikes four…
I gaze longingly at the door

A golden pear drops to the grass
A sound I cannot hear
Summer’s moments ticking past
To mark another year...
I stir the applesauce, sweep the floor
And gaze longingly at the door…

A growing child gets hungry
Regardless of the sun
Cleaning, cooking, laundry
Waiting to be done…
August bleeds across earth’s shore
I walk heedlessly through its door…

Janet~

Yes indeed! I'm taking a break, Coffee in hand...
Duty wields a tireless command
Summer is fading as I speak
Housework will still be waiting...next week:)

I'll go 'pick' some supper:)

Misconseption about Angels...

So, you say angels have wings and white garments
They float like a cloud on a breeze
Some are invisible and some shine but aren’t
You missing the obvious, please
‘Cause I’ve seen an angel and she wasn’t flying
Though she makes me wish that I could
But now that I’ve seen her there’s just no denying
That God smiled and said, it is good

This angel has blue eyes and blonde hair a-streaming
As ‘cross the spring garden she prances
The sun on her cheek kisses smiles that are gleaming
And still, with arms wide she dances
Faster and faster and around and around
Til all of creation is swirling
Then, chorus of laughter, she falls to the ground
Looking up to see the sky twirling

This angel has kisses of dirt on her elbows
And band-aids on both of her knees
She sings to the elfins that peek from the shadows
Her song like a soft spring breeze
In pink flannel PJ’s, with warm hugs and kisses
And eyes squeezed closed real tight
I beheld oh joy, what the absent mind misses
This angel telling God good-night…..
….then just to make sure lest I was mistaken
I returned for another peep
And there they were eight years old and fourteen
Two angels fast asleep

Janet~

I thought I wrote this one , not THAT long ago...
the angel who was fourteen is turning seventeen on Monday...

The Wise Seek God...

One person dies in full vigor,
completely secure and at ease,
24 well nourished in body,[b]
bones rich with marrow.
25 Another dies in bitterness of soul,
never having enjoyed anything good.
26 Side by side they lie in the dust… Job 20.:23-26

The Wise Seek God…

Across the field the grasses blow
At mercy of the One
Who doth, as He sees fit bestow
The raindrop or the sun

And soon the feet that dance across
Life’s wee allotted hour
Like silent in the grave beneath
The windswept grass and flower

While some give some and some give all
And some not one mere thought
The body sleeps within the soil…
…the soul moves on to God

Man cannot see the heart of God
Or understand His plan
Though wicked prosper, righteous die
A death in Him, is gain

Side by side our bodies lie
Returned into the dust
We all live once and once we die…
The wise seek God and trust

Janet~

Sigh...

Was it a cloud?
Or wave-ribbed sands reflected in the sky
Was it love?
Or merely longing caught up in your sigh

Was it me?
That caused the little half-grin in your glance
Was it to be?
The day we met…or just coincidence…

Was it the stars?
Or hint of tear-drops glimmering in your eye?
Was it love?
Or merely longing as you said good-bye

J~

Senses

I cradle within my senses
The things I cannot hold
The two-toned murmur of your sigh
Your gaze, timid and bold

When the darkness closes in
I cradle in my arms
The candor of your reckless grin
The pleasure of your charms

Silence would bear a hollow roar
The night would be so cold
And moments would be nothing more
Than emptiness to hold

…if I, within my senses
Had nothing to embrace
I lower my defenses
And softly kiss your face…

J~

Perfect Artistry

The edge of the moon is smudged tonight

A sleepy half-closed eye

The song of crickets rise and fall

In a perpetual lullaby

The wheat field, gold in noon-day sun

Has donned a muted shawl

The silhouette of elm and pine

Against night’s deepness sprawl

Starlight in a dazzling sea

Falls from a heavenly hand

The lambent wind sighs through the trees

...croons o’er the whitewashed land

The lazy river lies subdued

Beneath the silver moon

As earth is drenched in solitude

And midnight’s lonesome tune

Oh God, Your perfect artistry

To none we can compare

And then, to think that You love me…

…Oh God, accept my prayer…

Janet~

Hints of Departure...

Some day I will leave you
But not yet
Maybe it’s a shade of blue
Or something that you said
That keeps me coming back to you
When I should leave instead…

Some day you will leave me
But oh, not today
Like a wave upon a sea
You will fade away
There are still too many things
That I should like to say

I should have called you summer
You come to leave
Ecstasy with a haunting ache
Tearing inside of me
Momentary sparkle
Of sunlight on the sea

Some day we will part
But not yet
It seems you took my heart
The day we met
And without you I fear
I would be dead…

Wrap me closer to you
In your fateful shroud
I see the Autumn creeping
Upon the purple cloud
But I hear your heart beating
In love out loud...

J~

My Favorite Summer Porch (re-post)

It rests ‘neath the cry of the hovering gull

It cradles the sigh of the noon-day lull

It stretches for miles as a welcome retreat

A planet of smiles and sandy feet

And the waves roll across its tempered floor

For the porch I love most is the summer sea-shore

There is no blue-bell climbing at my side

But there is the swell of the ceaseless tide

And there are no steps of wood or cement

But sand is kinder and where I am content

The wind sweeps across this endless floor

Oh, the porch I love most is a summer sea-shore

No telephone ringing, simply a breeze

And the rhythmic singing of the turquoise seas

No duty waiting, no chores to be done

But simply the beckoning of sand, sea and sun

Of all the grand porches this earth may boast

The porch on the sea-shore is the one I love most


Janet~

If I Had Known...#7

If I had known all the places we'd go
After a word as nonchalant as...hello...

If I had known the courage it would take
To keep on writing and posting on a blog...for the public!!!

If I had known what now I know
I would have closed my eyes and cried...no! no! no!

J~

If I Had Known...#6

If I had known
How much
The *('etc's' really do matter)
I would have taken note of them
and I would have cared...

If I had known
How soon
Little birds fly from the nest
I would have relaxed and added
To the moments we shared

If I had known
How the word 'mother'
Would change me
...and fulfill me
and over-whelm me
and complete me
I would have run... scared

We become 'mother'
completely unprepared...
If I had known all the answers
I wouldn't need to learn
Through my mistakes
I would be spared
Countless heart-ache

If I had known...
Him
Really, truly known
How much He cares
I would have trusted completely
In all my prayers...

Janet~

*that is not my line....
It is taken from another poem:)
by another author...anonymous~