Favorite Part.........

One moment does not out-last another
They come, they go, and they fade together
But in the humming blur of reverie
There are moments that stand alone in my memory
Master-piece moments that can never slip
Beyond the warmth or touch of my lips
They cannot fade into obscurity
For somehow they have become
The favorite part of me

One moment is a mere heart-beat or a sigh
A tear perhaps or flicker of the eye
But in this myriad of moments in the sun
I have held a few that cannot be outdone
And even as those moments slipped away
I knew that I would never be the same
For somehow, momentarily
I held you close and you became
The favorite part of me

Janet~

For Love Alone..........

Do not love me for my gold or raven locks
Do not love like a new spell-binding song
Or like the brook that chatters over rocks
A momentary fling before it’s gone
Oh darling, love me always
For the sake of love alone

And do not say that this is why
I love you so; or else pretend
I’ll never change; flowers die
We cannot know how shades of life may blend
So darling, love me always
Like a true and mutual friend

Oh, do not love me for some worth
That I’m unable to retain
There is nothing on this earth
That to me is greater gain
Than to hear you say you love me
Darling, say those words again……

…….and love me not because I’m young
Or because my eyes are blue
Or for something I have done
Or for a promise old or new
Love me for the sake of love alone
For darling, so I love you

Janet~

When Love Dies.......

When love dies……..
Nobody cries
Or stands with head bowed
In solemn silence
When love dies
There is no grave at which to weep
Where we bring our blooms to heap
Upon the cold and silent shell
Of one whom once we loved so well
When love dies there is no pronouncement
Or official hour of death
There is no memorial or announcement
No ashes scattered ‘cross the earth
Or sea; but there are memories
Of days when love was there and love was fair
Ah, true love is a fortune rare
And must be valued and handled with prayer
Because when love dies
The light in warm eyes
Grows cold and dim
And gone is the vim of the fairer day
Of when love was young; but dearer they
That love when raven locks turn gray
And hold the hand, wrinkled and worn
That they have grown to love much more
Than when their hands joined, soft and smooth
In the blissful dance of youth
When love dies it’s like the fading
Of a picture on the wall
A slow and subtle jading
No one sees it die at all
Until the cold, dark sorrow
Flows from sad and hungry eyes
What a lonely cross to carry
When love dies….
Say ‘I’m sorry’
Say ‘I love you’
Say the things you long to tell
Listen to the words of loved ones
Listen long and listen well
Take a moment, take an hour
These will be a lifetime soon
Love will be the radiant flower
When its song is out of tune
Love, for there’s no greater gift
That anyone can give
And everyone needs to be loved
Before they truly live
How cold the crypt of faded love
In ruins as it lies
Beneath the starless vaults above
Where nobody cries
When love dies…….

Janet~

Over a Cup of Tea.....

This is no ordinary event
When we share a cup of tea
This is the portrait entitled ‘content’
And moments that form history
For over a cup of our favourite blend
Be it chai or simple earl gray
Are the priceless moments shared with a friend
Over a cup of tea

Here we can share the moments of life
Between each comforting sip
We share our victories, our sorrow and strife
As some wee flowered chalice we grip
Moments flavored with lemon or mint
Chamomile or wild berry
Become rare memories heaven-sent
Over a cup of tea

Over a cup of tea we delve
Into matters of the soul
Sharing little pieces of ourselves
Yet, in it becoming whole
We speak of our children, our hopes and our fears
Dreams of what yet may be
Flavoring the moments with smiles and tears
Over a cup of tea

Over a cup of tea we restore
Our faith in fumbling mankind
Many like us have come before
And many will follow behind
Yet with every challenge that life may send
I pray there will always be
The moments we may share with a friend
Over a cup of tea

Janet~

Hi Lucy……
It was easier to rhyme ‘friend’ than sister…..
All I could come up with for ‘sister’
Was ‘mister’ and kissed her’…..
And THAT would have taken this poem on an entirely different course!!!!
And after all ……
A sister is most surely the dearest friend on earth!!
Love and prayers,
Thank-you for the tea last night,
It was special.

Play It Again.....

Play me that song love, play it again
Take me back to the moment when
Love was a meadow, a daisy-strewn floor
No wolves howling at the door…..

Play me that song, love, over and over
I was a maiden and you the fair lover
We are not children anymore
And we have a love worth fighting for……

Play me that song love, a grave melody
Rising and falling like waves of the sea
Its cadence drifts across life’s sweeping shore
Oh, we have a love worth dying for………..

Play me that song love, play it again
Cradle my heart in its riveting strain
Over life’s ocean I hear it implore
Oh, we have a love worth living for

Janet~

The Way We Were....

We will never be the way we were.....
There is no short-cut back to before
Before the after.......
Before we spoke....or didn't
And even if we could go back....
We wouldn't.......
Because there is no guarantee
That things would turn out differently....
We will never be the way we were
But we can be what we are
And will be.........
We cannot return to the beginning
Or see the end......
But with each new day
We can begin again......

When Springtime Comes Again

The bud will soon break through the limb
Now clad in frosty white
The gray sky will be blue again
And warm, this cold stark night
The storm of words can't be retrieved
And truth can be a foe
When sweeter lies which we believed
Lie trampled in the snow.......

Spite and anger strip away
The bud, tender and pure
On the ground in sad array
Its valiant seeds endure
The echo of a softer song
Drifts to me on the breeze
But we are no longer young
How trite are memories

After winter comes the spring
The season of new life
Into its zephyr we will fling
The darkened veil of strife
A brand new bud now sleeps below
The cold and morbid grain
Waiting to bloom, beneath the snow
When springtime comes again

Janet~

Chit-chat.....

Sometimes it seems I keep talking
To avoid the inevitable
I’ll talk about the weather
Things, places and people
I won’t look right at you
Or meet your solemn eye
Because I’m not quite ready yet
To hear you say good-bye

Janet~

Linked...........

We become linked to each other
In so many different ways
Sometimes in a moment of pleasure
Or untimely tragedies
Our paths cross, briefly or indefinitely
But we cannot sever
The myriad of memories
That stays with us forever

You were my teacher, you were my nurse
You were my first real kiss
You were the guy who returned my purse
You are the friend that I miss
You were a school mate, you were a pal
You were my best friend’s mom
Or maybe you were simply a gal
I met once, that night at the prom

You were my mechanic before I moved
You were the old man next door
You were the fellow that once I loved
Many long years before
You were the packer at the local food-mart
You were on my baseball team
You were the one who taught me the art
Of chasing an impossible dream

You were the doctor who said to me
Congratulations, it’s a girl
You were the one who once led me
To the brink of another world
You were the one who broke my heart
Before the one who stayed
You were the one who held my hand
When I was afraid

We become linked to each other
In various and sundry ways
Some memories stay with us forever
Some only for moments or days
A word, a touch, a handshake
A glance while passing by
Another link in an invisible chain
Reaching to the sky


All Rights Reserved
Janet Martin

Unwritten Tragedies.....

The newspapers don’t tell the story
No head-lines in bold display
No ten seconds of glory……….
As another love dies today
They won’t show the tear-stained faces
The heads bowed in dismay
Or all of the lives it displaces.
As another love dies today

No sound of shattered memories
No pictures of destruction
No humanitarian dignitaries
Or manual of instruction
Who can mend the heart that lies
In sad and tattered fray
Or wipe the tears from little eyes
As another love dies today

Guard it with your every breath
This treasure that you hold
The greatest gift upon this earth
Lies not in vaults of gold
But in the hearts of flesh and blood
In trusting, tender eyes
Cherish this great gift from God
Lest another love dies

All Rights Reserved
Janet Martin


....now you can get a 'no fault' divorce.....

I Understand.............

To smile and say that I understand
No matter how noble my thought
When I have not walked your mile in the sand
Or been taught what you have been taught
Is simply an impossibility
I cannot understand it then completely
But I can listen as you share
And I can sincerely care

To say that I understand or know
What you are going through
Can only be truly stated by those
Who have walked there too……..
But sorrow or loneliness feels the same
No matter what circumstance is to blame
So will you let me hold your hand?
In that respect…..I understand

We’ll taste, if we live long enough
The sorrow of regret
The agonizing side of love
Or words we can’t forget
I may not walk your mile or two
But in my life I’ve walked a few
And I would like to hold your hand
Because I know you understand

All Rights Reserved
Janet Martin

Desire.....

I would like to tell you what I’m thinking
There’s so much that I would like to say
I’d like to walk with you in this fair evening
But darling, you are just too far way

I’d like to see the way the moonlight glances
Off your face where tender memories sway
I’d like to see the way the night enhances
You; but you are just too far away

I’d like to tell you with my touches
The things that my two lips can never say
But my dear I’ve come to know that such is
Love; for you are just too far away

I would like to tell you what I’m thinking
With your heartbeat needing what I say
I would like to be with you this evening
But my darling, you’re too far away

All Rights Reserved
Janet Martin

Picnic....

I remember when I hugged you at your grade eight prom
My dear, I loved you like a second mom
Now the years have come between us and I want to cry
Too much mascara cannot hide the hunger in your eye….

Your leopard print mini skirt your stiletto heels
Can’t make me forget August picnics in the field
Picking wild flowers, chasing butterflies
I still see the little girl behind the black mascara eyes….

We all make mistakes, oh; I know I’ve made mine
But after the rain the sun always shines
I know you’re not a little girl anymore
And I’d like to dry the black mascara teardrops on the floor

We could go for a picnic like we did way back then
Some things are not so different as they were when you were ten
We could pick wild flowers, gaze up at the August sky
….too much mascara cannot hide the hunger in your eyes

Janet Martin
All Rights Reserved

Nothing at All

To say I need you near me
Is like saying I need air
And the sunshine is hot
And June is fair
To say I need you darling
Is simply to imply
That there could be another way
Other than you and I

To say a fish needs water
And a flower needs the rain
Or love doesn’t matter
And hope is in vain
Is to say there is no morning
And tears do not fall
It is simply like saying
Nothing at all

If the light in my eye
Or the plea in my smile
Or the hunger in my sigh
Tells you nothing at all
Then what good are words
But white lies in your ear
If you still have not heard
That I need you, my dear

All Rights Reserved
Janet Martin

What We Really Mean....

We talk about your work and how it’s going
We talk about the kids and what they need
We even talk about the weather
We talk about the cold, the rain, the heat
We talk about your favorite sport in season
About the little troubles of the day
But darling is there really any reason
We don’t say the things we need to say

I love you, I’m sorry
Forgive me for the thoughtless words I say
I need you, don’t worry
I will love you till my dying day

You tell me that your mothers feeling poorly
We should go and visit her real soon
I tell you that my garden tillers broken
If I could I’d hurl it at the moon
The window in the basement will need changing
Before another winter closes in
I think the furniture needs re-arranging……
Why don’t we utter what we really mean?

I love you, yes it’s true
I was wrong to say the words I said
I’m sorry, yes, me too
Why don’t we take a moon-light walk instead?

I’m lonely…yes, me too
Do you love me like you used to do?

.....I think we need a new table-cloth
Do you prefer the color green or blue?

All Rights Reserved
Janet Martin

....for three days we talked
about everything except
what we really wanted to say.....

(Anna Karenina)...paraphrased

Woe-be-gone Man.....

Woman, O, woman what maketh thee tick
I wish I could tell you I don’t care a lick
But the truth, painful truth, when it’s all said and told
Is that keeping thee happy is worth more than gold

It don’t give me pleasure when yer ridin’ yer broom
But I’m mighty good at clearin’ out of the room
‘Cause when Ma’s on the war-path ye jes’ better run
An’ stay out of the house til her stewin’ is done

Yesterdays words brought me smiles and a kiss
I tried ‘em today an’ I don’t know what it is
But I thought you was goin’ to bite off my head
So out through the back door I quickly fled

Woman, O woman if I had what it took
I’d write one of them thar best-seller books
But I’ve lived with ye mor’en twenty year
An’ there’s things I ain’t never gonna figure out, I fear

Woman, O woman, I can’t understand
When God created you from the rib of a man
Why didn’t he take another rib as well
An’ create an’ instruction manual

All Rights Reserved
Janet Martin

Let’s face it girls….
Some days they just can’t win!

It is better to dwell in the wilderness
than with an angry, contentious woman. Prov. 21:19


Woman’s Reply
I will tell you if I can
You poor unlucky, lucky man
But the answer’s hard to find
For woman is known to change her mind!

All rights Reserved
Janet Martin

And With The Dawn.... or Lucky One

And with the dawn comes a fresh awareness
A new gratitude
I’m filled with thankfulness
My passion renewed
You have been such a
Precious friend to me
If there’s no thing as luck
Well then, unlucky me
I can’t imagine my world without you
And with the dawn and with the dew
I know I’m the lucky one
I love you

All Rights Reserved
Janet Martin

Words, Only Words......

Words, words, only words he said
But at his words I shook my head
They are never really only words
These syllables evoke both healing and hurt
For word is the scalpel which slices the soul
And words are the ointment that makes us whole
Words are fire and words are ice
Words inspire and make us think twice
Words draw us in or shut us out
Words reassure and allay our doubt
No matter the embrace, no matter the kiss
Without ever a word there is something a-miss
Music is lovely it stirs the heart
But the words to the music are the powerful part
Words build and restore what other words crush
Words are the paint on a poet’s brush
Words, only words, perhaps that is true
But tell me, what is it that drew me to you?


All Rights Reserved
Janet Martin

To Make It Work.....

Sometimes we say I’m sorry
Just to calm the tide
When deep inside we’re still quite sure
Our actions were justified
And sometimes we bite our tongue, its true
When another’s words anger or irk
But sometimes we do what we have to do
Just to make it work…

Sometimes we walk that second mile
Not because we’re good
But simply because it’s what we’ve been taught
So we do what we know we should
And sometimes we might even take the blame
When others their duties shirk
We do what we need to in love’s good name
Just to make it work

There’s no keeping score when it comes to love
There’s give and give without take
There’s keeping our mouth shut when we’d like to yell
And there’s over-looking that repeated mistake
We all fail at times to do as we should
We each have our own strange quirk
And we all need to repay that unkind word with good
Just to make it work


All Rights Reserved
Janet Martin

If You Can......

I know that we can do it
You and I
It’s in the rise and fall
We learn to fly
Love is not a bridge to nowhere
Though some days so it may seem
Oceans have been conquered
By the power of a dream
I know I’m just a woman
You are just a man
But if we stand together
I can do it….
….if you can

Miles are simply numbers
On a chart
They don’t apply to matters
Of the heart
Our love may be a kaleidoscope
A blend of joy and pain
Some days it seems our only hope
Is dancing in the rain
I can feel your heart-beat
Across the timeless span
And I know in its comfort
I can do it….
….if you can

I can take the rising
And the fall
In your arms I know
It’s worth it all
To know you and to love you
Has been life’s sweetest sorrow
And like the sky above you
I will still be here tomorrow
Darling, let me touch you
Let me hold your hand
Across the miles I feel you
Oh, I can do it…..
….if you can

All Rights Reserved
Janet Martin