Wishing from my Window

Shoal of gray-blue cloud
Stretches to the horizon-line
Casting a chilly shroud
Where the garden lay unruffled; supine
Its carpet of warmer yellow
Darkens to a cooler sheen
Spring is a moody fellow
And spring is a fairy queen

She bathes my garden with sunshine
He grumbles in melancholy
She sparkles in colors sanguine
He replies in blue poetry
Spring is a winsome maiden
Spring is a blustery foe
Spring is a day in the garden
Or wishing from my window

Janet~

With Me

Wherever I go, you go with me
‘Tis the way of love, I suppose
For there is no way you can leave me
Darling, you are far too close

Wherever I go I can feel you
Warming me with your thought
There is a sense of your heart-beat
In every battle, hard-fought

Wherever I go, I hear you
Whispering in my ear
Oh how I wish I could cheer you
The way you cheer me, my dear

Wherever I go, you go with me
Miles cannot keep us apart
For they cannot sever you from me
I carry you deep in my heart

J~

Truth

We cannot change the truth
Its lines remain unstirred
Though with lies we may disguise
Its clearly written word

We cannot change the truth
Its sphere we cannot alter
Though we may hide beneath our pride
Its gavel will not falter

We cannot change the truth
It stands with firm endurance
Truth can’t pretend and in the end
Truth is our lone assurance

We cannot change the truth
Though we may push and pull
Lies will fail; truth will prevail
Its law we can’t annul

Janet~

Be Still

We need to be still for a little while
How else can we hear God?
As we rush through each endless mile
Upon the road we trod

We need to pause and hear Him speak
Through buds unfurled in splendor
To feel His kiss upon our cheek
In sunshine, soft and tender

We hear Him in the bird that sings
To herald the new day dawning
Across this broken void He flings
A pure and azure awning

And should the tempest rise to sweep
Away our temporal pleasure
We feel Him as the tears we weep
Remind us of our treasure

We need to be still for a little while
To touch His hand of wonder
He stirs the daisy-laden mile
And wields the arm of thunder

We need to be still so we may know
Upon this path we trod
No matter where the road may go
He is the one true God

Janet~

Be still and know that I am God. Ps. 46:10

Renewal

There is no other time earth speaks to me
As in the day of spring
It returns triumphantly
Painting dull landscapes green

Skeletal limbs become the arm
Of delicate, verdant lace
The sky is blue, the sun is warm
In spring’s renewing grace

Winter folds behinds us in a memory
We embrace hope’s returning
With a glad, rekindled energy
It quells our silent yearning

I slide my fingers softly across the dirt
Relinquishing with out-drawn breath
Into shallow graves my temporal hurt
While seeds are planted in the earth

Janet~

Caught Between

It seems that on some days
I am caught
Between who I was
And who I am going to be
I contemplate
With rueful thought
The state of
My insanity
As I trip across a stage
Known by some
As middle-age

J~

This Moment I Am In

I must pause and drink it all in
For it will never pass by again
I must absorb the dust and dew
Gaze at the starlit avenue
Where awe and mystery unruffled lie
Cloaked in the supremacy of the sky
I must embrace the thought of you
Before it slips into the blue
And I must touch the quietness
With a reverent caress
Absorb its pleasure and its pain
For it will not pass by again
This moment, this moment I am in
I may take with me the thought of you
The sight of stars, the scent of dew
I may look to starry seas
And wonder at its mysteries
I may touch subsequent hours
Fill my hands then with its flowers
And find a new and sweet delight
In moments far beyond tonight
But I will never live again
This moment, this moment I am in
‘Tis a swift and fleeting thing
This moment, this moment I am in

Janet

Of Eternity

Dusk carries you away from me
Taking with it the fragility
Of struggling dreams and desires
Folding over them in scarlet fires
Pouring from a western sky
And all I can say is good-bye

Dusk carries you away from me
Perpetual longing like a turquoise sea
Rolls over the dusty, sun-warmed soil
Covering the foot-prints of my toil
In darkened robes of half-moon blue
Reminding me that I cannot touch you

Dusk stealthily creeps in and takes you away
As the day I am in becomes yesterday
And I wonder in a sudden confusion
If time is merely a grand illusion
Of moments hovering silently
On the brink of eternity

Janet

Home

I have stumbled over furrows
I have climbed the wooded slope
I have swept away my sorrows
On a hillside green with hope
In dew-spangled midnight whispers
I have treaded tranquil loam
But nothing in this world compares
To that of coming home

Here the arms of love embrace me
As I reach my cottage door
Suddenly the woes which face me
Seem much smaller than before

I have bowed ‘neath clouds of failure
Wept within a sullen storm
I have craved an hour of leisure
When my duties lose their charm
I have searched in futile longing
For a non-existent shore
Just to find that true belonging
Draws me to my cottage door

Here the lips of laughter greet me
As with thankfulness I come
To embrace the hands which meet me
In the arms of home sweet home

Father, bless this humble palace
Guard it with your grace and might
Keep it in this world, a solace
From life’s cold and thankless fight
Touch us with Your tender mercy
When from its small porch we roam
Bring us safely back together
To the arms of home sweet home

Someday, may it be oh Father
As You lift us from this shore
In Your home sweet home we’ll gather
Safe at last forevermore

Janet~

Weeds

Into the basket we toss thistles and weeds
Tear out their vile interruptions
Lest they would choke out the little seeds
Denying them fruitful production

We take our disappointments and hurt
Though we may question their reason
We bear this fruit of temporal dirt
Born in the Garden of Eden

But lest they o’er take the good of this life
We lift them to Hands of pardon
And He will help us conquer this strife
Until we meet in His perfect garden


Janet~