Chance of a Lifetime

I pause with my foot on the threshold

For I have been given the chance

To return to the very beginning

Where love was a lingering glance

But if I should choose to step over

Then I can never return

To the step on which now I hover

No matter how deeply I yearn

Here is a chance of a lifetime

To fix all my ‘should have done’s’

I can go to the beginning

And live out the lessons I’ve learned

Then why do I doubtfully ponder

A decision so easy to make?

Could it be that I sadly wonder

If I’d simply repeat each mistake?

I pause with my foot on the threshold

For now I know what I will do

I’ll simply go on as usual

We’ve come so far, me and you

We’ve learned about things like forgiveness

How love will endure if we bend

And I’d like to think we have learned, dear

How to be true til the end

All Rights Reserved

Janet Martin

Don't hold It Against Me....

Don’t hold it against me
Those things I should tell you
But somehow I never do
It seems that my memory
Remembers to tell me
Too late what I should have told you
And it is quite frustrating
When I’m contemplating
What is the correct thing to say
I think of the right words
But it really does no good
For by then you are miles away
So don’t hold it against me
When you frown at my silence
I’m better with paper and pen
If you give me an hour
I’ll write you a poem
I may think of the right words then

All Rights Reserved
Janet Martin

Inquisitive.....

What lies beneath your brawny skin?
What rushes through your soul?
What stirs your heart so deep within
My dear, what makes you whole?
What are your thoughts you never tell?
What is your deepest fear?
Darling, by now you know me well
Oh, won’t you tell me dear?
The mystery, the restless gleam
Tell me from whence they come
Are they the traces of a dream
That never found a home
And in that distant far-off gaze
And in that half-breathed sigh
And in that sorrow on your face
The shadow in your eye
Is there a dream you cannot name?
A song you’ve never sung?
An ember that has lost its flame
When you were still so young?
Is there a hunger still unfed
A yearning still to fly
Is there a life that waits un-lived?
As hours hasten by?
What lies beneath your soft warm sigh?
Or in your silent musing
Who do you see with half-shut eye?
What comfort are you choosing?
I’d like to think that I would know
If you should choose to tell
I know you know I love you so
For you know me too well

All Rights Reserved
Janet Martin

Awakening......

Many have stirred the heart of this girl
Many have heard her laughter
Many a memory like priceless pearl
Hangs from the dim-lit rafter
Many have danced in retrospect
Across the brimming pages
As she fondly recollects
A thousand silent stages

Many have held her quavering hand
And softly urged her forward
While many others helped her stand
When life’s wind pushed her backward
And many have touched in some dear way
A mile upon her journey
Painting on her canvas grey
Another tender memory


Many a smile has graced her lips
And many a prayer has lifted
Beyond the blue moon as it dips
Beneath the shadows drifted
For many have touched the heart of this girl
But only you, my darling
Drew back the curtain to a world
Where I awoke, a woman

All Rights Reserved
Janet Martin

No John Wayne

You know we both hate all the fighting
Cruel words and slamming doors
The grievances we keep inciting
Never seems to even scores
But more than words angry or hateful
Or the bitter scars we store
I find something far more dreadful
Oh, I hate the silence more

Where do you go when we’re together?
You’re a million miles away
Gripping an invisible tether
Riding ‘cross hills cold and gray
But there’s no John Wayne come a-riding
To rescue this dame in distress
Only a long and doleful chiming
To break midnight’s quietness

We both hate the walls we're building
Yet seem unsure what to do
Before you ride into the sunset
Won’t you just try breaking through?
I strain to hear the pounding hoof-beats
Ringing out across the plain
But all I'm hearing is your heart-beat
In a silent movie with no John Wayne

All Rights Reserved
Janet Martin

okay, okay, I confess.....
I did write this so I could use
one of my REALLY COOL John Wayne pictures:)