Carefully

Very carefully and gently
On those nights, heavy with dew
And the air of late summer
And thoughts of you…

Very carefully and tenderly
When I miss you so much
And there’s not enough of you
Left for me to touch…

Very thankfully and carefully
I unwrap with quiet pleasure
The one thing that you left me
To torment me and to treasure…

Very slowly and so carefully
Without any regret
I unwrap within each heartbeat
All your words I can’t forget…

J~

Photograph...

Once upon another day
I held you close, so close to me
And looked into your eyes of baby blue
Those days are long-gone,yes, I know
But sometimes I miss them so
Oh, it’s crazy what a photograph can do

I trace every line and curve
Oh, and you still touch a nerve
Like no one in this world will ever do
Once you held me center stage
Now I pause, and turn the page
Oh, it’s crazy what a photograph can do

Just a little photograph
But I can hear you talk and laugh
Though your paper lips don’t whisper, move or smile
Your skin is soft and warm
I can feel it ‘gainst my arm
Think I’ll just sit here and hold you for a while…

Once upon another day
You were not so far away
But I know now those things I never knew
Time is a silent thief
Love is perfect grief
Oh, it's crazy what a photograph can do…

J~

Silence

Silence is a house once filled with laughter
Silence is you... not next to me
Silence is the lifetime after
Living; because, you see
Silence is everywhere, darling
That we used to be

Silence is the middle of the kitchen
In the middle of a memory
When suddenly without warning
You're right in the middle of me
Silence is a summer morning
Where we used to be

Silence is an echo calling
Out of the clear, blue skies
Silence is the teardrop falling
Silence is a broken heart's cries
Silence is everywhere, darling
When love dies...

J~

See the Sun...

See the sun
And how it bleeds
Its passion ‘cross the sky
See the land
And how it heeds
The whispers from on high
See the night
And how the light
Must solemnly surrender
See the field
Its harvest yield
In autumn’s fervent splendor

See the girl
With pretty curl
Grow up to be a woman
See the lad
Become a dad
A wise and caring human
See the brow
All weathered now
By life and what it’s given
See us climb
The hills of time
One road leads to Heaven

See the seasons
How they fold
Into the other’s bearing
See the youth
Once brash and bold
Grow kind beneath life’s caring
See how years
Of love and tears
Turn knowledge into wisdom
See this life
Of joy and strife
Lead to another Kingdom

Janet~

Last night while I was out for my run
The thoughts of the brevity of seasons…
and life struck me profoundly!
Already the ditches are full of chirping crickets and August.
Then….I met a young family out together
For an evening walk…
Part of me smiled inside from ear to ear…
The other part of me wanted to sit in the middle of the road and CRY!!!
M-O-O-O-O-O-OM-M-M-M-Y-Y-Y-!!!!
No, even Mommy can’t stop time…
I wanted to tell the family to cherish these short, golden years…
They would smile politely of course, and say, yes…
Just like I used to.

Anything at All...

You could never
Disappoint me
Or hurt me
Or grieve me
You could not touch me
With mere spoken word
You could not
Thrill me
Or tease me
Or move me
And when you leave, dear
It would not hurt
You could not
Insult me
Or fulfill
Or affect me
By anything at all
That you could do
I would not remember
Or care or feel
Anything at all
If I did not love you

J~

Heaven...

In a perfect world
We would always say
The things that we should say…

In a perfect world
Loved ones would not hurt us
Or ever go away

In a perfect world
It would rain…
But just enough

And in a perfect world
We would never
Yearn for love

In a perfect world
I would know
What you are feeling

And in a perfect world
Words would never
Leave us reeling

In a perfect world
We would not need
To be forgiven

…but this world is not perfect
If it were…
…it would be Heaven

Janet~

Late July

The sky drips a sultry haze
Of dusty blues and purple-grays
The land succumbs to its caress
With pregnant field and willow-tress

The garden spills forth rampant bloom
A tangled, blissful living room
A haven to which I can flee
When little conflicts torment me

Hands touch the soil and pluck the weed
Fingers brush the fruited seed
Lips part wide to taste its fare
The wealth of earth, so pure and rare

I will not heed the scolding tune
To guilt me of one afternoon
Beneath the sweltering, sensuous sky
And the murmur of July

August hovers in the swell
Of tasseled corn and muffled knell
Where tumbled summer days collide
On a hazy, crazy ride

A blanket folds across the sky
To pull a lid over July
Shafts of dusk and muted day
Brush the swaths of fresh-mown hay

The silver trilling of the eve
Stirs my soul, willing to grieve
The dissonance of summer’s sigh
In the fading of July

Janet~

Charade...

Someday…
I will shake your hand
And introduce myself

I will let you see
A little of
The other side of me

And hope you understand
When I invite you to meet
My family

And I will tell you just a bit
Of what I love
And where I’m from

I may even ask your name
And 'have you
Lived here long?'

I’ll pretend that I don’t know
The sorrows of your life
…or your desire

And you will be
So kindly polite
As you inquire

About my life
And you’ll pretend
You never knew...

...then I’ll reply
Playing the part of
‘Stranger’ too



J~

Ten

There you were…
All arms and legs and giggles
And fanciful

There you were…
Looking at the world
Through the eyes of beautiful

There you were…
Weaving a trail
Of sunshine on this rainy day

There you were…
Bare-feet… and pony-tail
In wild disarray

There you were…
Sweeter than the top
Of a blueberry muffin

There you were…
Sun-dress, flip-flops
Aren’t you somethin’?

There you were…
The most precious creature
In the whole, wild world

You are ten
And you’re so beautiful
…little girl

Janet!

Victoria had a friend sleep over last night…
They just padded through the kitchen…
…two leggy little squirts
of sunshine, giggles…and just awake hair:)

Thank-you, God.

When I See You #2

When I see you
Walking toward me
With your familiar stride

When I see the life-lines
On your face
Reality jolts inside

When I see the pensive gaze
Stare beyond me
To relinquished dreams

When I see your fingers
Softly graze
Time’s unrelenting streams

When I see you ponder
Your life
And the course thereof

…I can’t help but wonder
Are you happy?
And in love…


J~

Thoughts...

The spirit wilts beneath criticism…
Like flowers in the blazing sun

Love cannot thrive under cynicism
Words are not quickly undone...

Silence is stunning grief
…after the onslaught of wrath

…yet often there is no relief
In its sorrowful after-math

There are only two kinds of tears...
Yours and mine

Though the song of summer and years
Sounds like crying sometimes...

We return…each to our own gardens
Like the bird to its nest

It is not hard to imagine
You…with your head on my chest

Like a raindrop creasing a puddle
A splash; it disappears

…so it is with moments
And laughter…and years

J~