Drawing Lessons

I trace the blue of your silhouette
Against the moody sky
Lest perhaps I might forget
The color of your eye
I run a careful finger
Along each slant and curve
Letting my pencil linger
Where you seem to touch a nerve

I’m taking drawing lessons
Learning a new art
I am my own teacher
And my canvas is my heart

I scan the tender curvatures
Of brow and cheek and lip
Then turn my head a little
Lest a sudden tear might slip
And blur or smudge the sketching
On a canvas I can’t see
But somehow seems to be etching
Into the heart of me

I’m taking drawing lessons
The result is a mystery
As I run a trembling finger
Across your memory

J~

Disappointment

Disappointment is a cold and cruel knife
Its pain is one we all must sometimes bear
It carves and shapes us as we go through life
But pain can never quench the power of prayer

Feet may trample on the dreams that die
Sorrow bleeds; invisible and red
Disappointed tears may dim the eye
But they cannot keep a prayer from being said

J~

A Little of Me

If you know I love carefully and completely
You might know me…a little
If you know I remember bitter-sweetly
You might know me…a little
If you know I do not want pleasure without pain
If you know I love the music of the rain
You might know me…a little

If you know I prefer honesty to good looks
You might know me… a little
If you know I love old letters and old books
You might know me…a little
If you know I’m an ‘all or nothing’ girl
And I do not care for ‘things’ in this world
Then you might know me…a little

If you know I choose coffee, not tea
You might know me…a little
And my ‘heaven’ includes music and poetry
You might know me… a little
If you know I find happiness
In gardens and sunsets and nature’s caress
You might know me…a little

If you know you will never know me completely
You might know me...a little
If you know I speak best through poetry
You might know me...a little
Here you see a small piece of my soul
As I pour out a part, but never the whole
So you might know me...a little
Janet~

The Closing of a Door

This is not just any closing of the door
When it swings shut it will not be like it was before
You come in and walk right through me, but no more
No, this is not just any closing of the door

These are not just any tears I shed
I won’t even try to turn my head
It’s no use, what used to be is dead
No, these are not just any tears I shed

These are not just any words I write
Suddenly my gray is black and white
I tremble at the thought of you tonight
But these are not just any words I write

This is not just any closing of the door
What once was… is no more
We cannot return to what was ‘before’
No, this is not just any closing of the door

Janet~

As I wrote this another door started to evolve.
Below is version #2

The Closing of a Door #2

That will not be just any closing of the door
When it swings shut it will be like never before
We come and go just as we please but then, no more
No, that will not be just any closing of the door

Those will not be just any tears we shed
If we look up, behold the cross and turn our heads
If we wait until judgement hope is dead
No, those will not be just any tears we shed

These are not just any words He writes
There is no gray, all is black and white
We ought to tremble at His power and might
No, these are not just any words He writes

That will not be just any closing of the door
As the elements melt with a mighty roar
And God's wrath on wickedness will pour
No, that will not be just any closing of the door

Janet~

Reminded

It’s too easy to stop noticing
The wealth that we possess
Or take far too for-granted
The hand that we caress
It’s too easy to be blinded
By things we choose to crave
And we need to be reminded
Of the treasure that we have

It’s easy to get caught up
Between yearning and regret
And while we focus on these things
It’s too easy to forget
About the gifts that touch us
Soft, kind and undemanding
Pouring from the heavens
In mercy never-ending

Janet

Little Pieces

Little pieces
Little sighs
Ponderings
And thought
A little wisdom
A little sorrow
A little of
What life has taught
A little magic
A little mystery
A little bitty tear
The wisp of a dream
The hint of a smile
A shadow of yester-year
A little fantasy
A little fact
A little artistry
These woven together
Eventually spawn
A little poetry

Janet~

My Peace

It would be sadly and fearfully
That I would encounter each day
If I was unaware of God, near to me
And if I could never pray

His calm assurance keeps me still
In life’s vast uncertainty
His gentle voice tempers my will
His life-blood sets me free

It would be with disillusionment
That I would face each day
If there were no atonement
And if I could not pray

Janet~

I will never leave you nor forsake you. Hebrews 13:5

Tantrum

She weeps against my windowpane With wild and stormy tear Wailing as the raging wind Screams through the atmosphere The tree, her naked victim She tosses at her will I long to reach and still them Or shield them from her chill With merciless insistence She pounds against the door In spite of her persistence Her begging I ignore As all the more she battles In violent, furious rage I turn on the tea-kettle And slowly turn a page Like children throw a tantrum She too must have her fling A turbulent transition Before it can be spring She whips the ragged pine tree And storms across the grass Yet, for her venting misery I know, this too shall pass Janet~ We have a WILD one on our hands tonight! Seems she’s throwing everything at us she can possibly contrive… …wind, sleet, snow, rain, frozen rain!

Epitome of a Fool

Sometimes we return
To our mistakes
Simply to beautify them
To brush out the obscene edges
Too proud to see them
For what they really are…

Sometimes we return
To repeat them
Certain
That the out-come will be
Different… this time
Too proud to admit
That we were wrong

Sometimes we return
Because we want to repeat them
To justify our weakness with cause
The cause being weakness
And stubborn pride
Unwilling to admit
That we were wrong

Janet~

Realizations #2

It hurts sometimes
To look into your eyes
And realize
That soon you will be a man
But what a tender pain to bear
For I know God has a plan
For you, my dear
And I cannot deny it
As your head brushes my chin
It won’t be long before I wonder
Where my little boy has gone
And as I pause to ponder
The brevity of it all
Perhaps a little tear will fall
But oh, what a tender tear to shed
For though we cannot know what lies ahead
We will have each other
And God
I will always be your mother
And no matter where you trod
When I cannot be there
God will reach you with my prayer
His light is never dim
And we can always talk to Him

Janet~