Thank-you, Dad

For that time I totaled the car
And you didn’t get mad
For the times I simply condoned
The very wise words you said
Or didn’t speak at all
And you wished I would…
But still you were patient
And understood
I thank you, Dad

For the times I brushed off
Words carefully measured
For the times I broke your heart
Not treasuring what you treasured
For all the times I’ve failed
Miserably
But you never give up on me…
I thank you, Dad

For all the prayers I know you pray
For all the wise, kind words you say
For all the things that you teach me
Not by word, but what I see
For all your patient, faithful love
As taught by a Father up above
Thankfully I bow my head
And whisper thank-you
Thank-you Dad

A Melody

The wind rushes from the sky tonight
In a forlorn melody
While flickering shadows and moonlight
Add their oblique harmony

The waves, pastel-tinted at sunset
Deepen to a murky blue
An ebbing and flowing sonnet
Of love and longing and you

The wind rushes from the sky tonight
Moving effortlessly
To draw the darkness across the light
And moments between you and me

J~

Powerless

If I could gather summer’s hours
Into baskets like wild flowers
Then I would, oh, you know that I would
If I could gather moments too
The haunting, taunting thoughts of you
I’d pluck them like wild flowers if I could

But summer is a whisper slipping by on nimble fingers
Summer is an hour, maybe two
And there’s no way to gather you or summer’s hastening footsteps
Disappearing into evenings languid hue

If I could gather summer’s twilight
And its misty, moody midnight
Then I would, oh, you know that’s what I’d do
I’d fill my arms with faded flowers
Trying to re-capture hours
That have vanished; full of moments, summer, you

For summer’s eager yearning glances by with no returning
And all that I can do is watch it pass
Like a child, restless and dreaming, racing to a twilight gleaming
Over moments tossed like flowers on the grass

If I could gather you and hold you
Kiss you, hug you, keep you, scold you
Then I would, oh, you know that’s what I’d do
But you’re eager as the summer
Dashing, leaping to the future
As I watch and smile and shed a tear or two

For childhood is a summer, far too soon its dance is over
As its echo trembles in the autumn dew
Darling, give me just one hour for I do not have the power
To hold back the summer or my want of you

Janet~

Almost Nothing

It was really nothing…
At least for a moment or two
Though it tore at my inner being
With a force, savage and blue

It was really nothing
But it left a ragged tear
On the fringe of every heart beat
To remind me it was there

It was really nothing
Oh, it is almost true
Though I staggered momentarily…
…it was merely a thought of you

J~

The End of our Day

At the end of the day when the miles we have wandered
Slumber forever in the mist of the past
When every action and thought has been tendered
To pages and pictures that cannot be re-cast
When words like small seeds have been spoken and scattered
And time alone will reveal their true worth
Will we have tended to the things that mattered?
As we reach the end of our day here on earth

Janet~

Without a Sound...

Thought tears up the sky
And traverses oceans
It touches upon heaven
And the fringes of hell
The eye is a window
Concealing a prison
Where silent thought ravages
An ivory cell

Thought weeps in the midnight
And breathes on the morning
It wanders the pathways
Of joy and regret
Flashes of lightning
And storms without warning
Splay across moments
Where once we had met

In intimate whispers
And wild raging rivers
Comfort and sorrow
Rise and fall on a floor
Where jagged reminders
And faltering quivers
Echo a ballad
That is no more

J~

Our Children

They drop their playthings on the floor
They spill the milk and slam the door
They scatter socks and toys and clothes
They smudge the windows with their nose

They leave crumbs to kiss our feet
While asking what there is to eat
They ask for money and for stuff
But they never ask for love

They ask for keys with sweetest smile
They drive us crazy for a while
They begin so very small
Then suddenly they’re standing tall

Nothing upon the face of this earth
Holds in its palm a greater worth
Than our children; as we hold them
Softly and tenderly we begin to mold them

Have you told your children you love them today?
Did you hold them close, oh, and did you pray?
Did you tell them they’re special, that boy or wee girl
Did you kiss the future of this world?

To waste time with a child is impossible
For they are this earth’s most important people
Yes, they forget things; we did too
But oh, we love them, we sure do

Janet~

Of Simple Things

I’m lover of simple things, it’s true
Of butterfly wings and the color blue
Of the way your eyelids brush your cheek
When you are a little too shy to speak

I am a lover of the fingers of night
Pushing away the flamboyant light
I’m a lover of the sullen rain
The newborn calf, the windswept lane

I’m lover of spring and summer and fall
The uncertainty in your voice when you call
I’m lover of the dawn brushed heavy with dew
The season’s songs, the night and you

I’m lover of simple things, its true
Strawberry blossoms are poetry too
Fingertips as they brush my skin
Cheeks that dimple when you grin

Freckles splashed upon your nose
Dandelion stains on your clothes
Chubby hands and small bare feet
White-washed sands and pebble beach

If I could choose from all life brings
I would choose its simple things
God, never let me be too busy to see
The simple gifts you place around me

Janet~

While Having My Morning Coffee...

Darkness creeps languorously away from the dawn
A soft breeze wanders across the lawn
Possibilities breathe upon the air
Drawing from me, a wordless prayer

Daylight wavers on the landscapes brink
In trembling quivers of coral and pink
Somewhere past this line of view
Is another world full of people…and you

Feathered throat and green-laden tree
Merge in a rushing symphony
Arousing in me an intangible Presence
Of Power and Hope and wistful essence

Coffee is simply a minor detail
As I behold dawn’s miracle
Sheening the meadow and fading the mist
As earth’s drowsy eye-lids are heaven-kissed

Janet~



Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed,
for his compassions never fail.
They are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
I say to myself, “The LORD is my portion;
therefore I will wait for him.” Lam.3:22-24

There Will Be Poetry

As long as the river runs into the sea
As long as a baby bounces on our knee
As long as the clover and meadow-sweet nod
As long as we see the hand of God
There will be poetry

As long as the wind stirs the willow tree
As long as the rains strums its melody
As long as there is love and longing and loss
As long as there is victory in the cross
There will be poetry

As long as sun floods the grassy lea
As long as you fill the thoughts of me
As long as there are stars and a moon
As long as there is a midnight in June
There will be poetry

J~

Rainy Night

Together we listen to the rain
And let it wash away life’s pain

A rainy night draws us together
But we do not talk about the weather

There is music in its sigh
I feel it tremble in your eye

Together we listen to the rain
Then I put down the phone again

J~

Midnight in June

A breeze rises from the meadow
Beyond the clouds is the moon
Trees cast a flickering shadow
Across a midnight in June

The river curves through the valley
The cattail stands tall in the pond
The past folds into the darkness
Veiling the great beyond

Thoughts of you rise from my longing
Beyond its touch is desire
Hope is a flickering candle
Midnight a raging fire

The want of you curves through my being
Truth curtails all fantasy
For the only thing I am seeing
Is the darkness between you and me

J~

Torn

I am like a young child, torn
Twixt impulse and obeying
Desire throbs upon the morn
With duty ever preying

The stalwart lupine tugs my gaze
Scattering my wishes
I am torn by summer’s ways
And stacks of dirty dishes

Laundry baskets weight my arms
I sense the charted hours
But life is short, the sun is warm
And fields are bright with flowers

Am I to tread the rigid line
Controlled by austere duty
While morning zephyrs tease the vine
Of summer’s rampant beauty?

Too soon the eye of June grows dull
And faded is its flower
Laundry hampers will be full
Long after summer’s hour

I am like a young child, torn
Two voices taunt my reason
Duty wakes with every morn
But summer for a season

Janet~

Lying Beneath an Ocean

The white-capped sea of middle-June
Evolves to azure blue
Sunlight dims the pallid moon
And warms the fields of dew

Not long ago the pining breeze
Whipped past with ruthless chill
But now it feathers grass and trees
And climbs the wooded hill

Heaven’s expanse I cannot trace
But with a thought of you
Drifting into timeless space
And endless vaults of blue

The limb so long stripped bare and lean
Softens its woody grasp
Unfolding gowns of yellow-green
In pools of shaded grass

Far is the sky of middle-June
A vast and white-capped ocean
Where I could drift an afternoon
Beneath its grand illusion

Janet~

In Spite of Life

And there you scrawled your name
Boldly, without shame
Across a page reserved
For love; and I unnerved
Had nothing to reply
Or could it be that I
Chose thus, in spite of life
Disappointments wretched knife…


J~

There's Something about You

There’s something about you…
Soft warmth draping over my shoulder
When the sky deepens past its ruddy hue
And shadows grow moody and colder

There’s something about you…
As raindrops thrum their hollow tune
Upon the walls where ivy grew
One rare, fine night in June

There’s something about you…
That repetition can’t destroy
Now I know that it is true
Anticipation is half the joy

There’s something about you
Where tender joy and sadness meet
There is something raw and blue
That sparks a poem; bittersweet

There's something about you...
That reminds me constantly
As sun-flecked tree-tops turn to blue
You are far too far from me


J~

Almost Enough

Has anyone ever said, ‘it is enough’?
Enough money, enough ‘stuff’
Enough prosperity, enough success
Enough wealth and happiness

Has anyone ever said their happiness
Was found by enough money and success
By wealth and all that it could buy
Spread out beneath an endless sky?

Nay, this world can never give enough
For money cannot buy happiness or love



J~

Poetry

Poetry is not a word
Or a line or a rhyme
It is a thought, a passion stirred
With whisper of finger-tips
And lips,
Saying nothing in particular
And everything
At the same time
Poetry is murmured by breezes
And crashing of the sea
Poetry is a caged thought set free
In nothing more than the hint of a smile
Or the glimmer of regret
Shining in your eye
Over reaching an age of knowing
Too much, and yet
Nothing at all
Poetry weeps in the rain as it falls
And seeps through the darkness
Like a somber cloak
Yet my heart breaks loose
By a thought you spoke
With nothing more
Than the wisp of a sigh
In your glance
As you passed by…

J~

Life's Dance

Even life’s best moments
Will eventually be
For all of our holding
But a memory

Moments of sorrow
Must have their day
But if there’s a tomorrow
It too passes away

I hold you to me
Knowing full well
Tis but a prelude
To farewell



J~

Familiarity

Tis not an unfamiliar thing
The dusk-blue twilight knitting
The horizon to the sky
In art of heav’n’s befitting

Tis not an unfamiliar thing
The half-breath that I take
As I sense you slipping
From me as I wake

Tis not an unfamiliar thing
As sunlight paints the day
To hear you softly whispering
Before you slip away

J~

On Some Days

On some days a pen feels heavy in my hand
And there are no words to write
As life deals out endless demand
Wearying me in its fight

On some days words intimidate
Such a small but mighty tool
They encourage and convict
Exposing wise men…and the fool

On some days all my poetry
Takes on the thought and form of you
And I would never set it free
It is meant for only two

J~

What Happened?

Remember those days when, as shadows would fall
And twilight dimmed the sky overhead
All up the streets our mothers would call
‘Time to come in for bed’
Remember the sound of childish dismay
Bidding our playmates goodnight
Because morning was an eternity away
Brimming with dreams and delight

Remember when children would skip or climb trees
Or gather for a game of ‘ball’
Sisters would tattle and brothers would tease
And you could hear mothers call
‘Come in, come in, it’s getting late
Tomorrow will come too soon’
But still we would play as long as we dared
Until the threat of a wooden spoon

Remember those days of tag and bare feet
Of playing out-doors all day
The pond to chase away August heat
And while sunny hours away
Remember the good old days of yore
Before screens abducted young eyes
Silencing the slamming of the old screen door
But opening a door to demise...

...remember when mothers and daddies would pause
On the porch at the end of a day
Reluctant to go inside because
They were watching their children play
No cell phones or blackberries or 'twittering'
Or messages to return
I wonder what are we teaching our children
As they observe... and learn

Janet~

It’s up to us as parents to keep those
‘good old days’ alive, isn’t it?

Remember when our parents would have to order us
to come inside…not to go outside, PLEASE…

Forces

We cannot force love
Anymore than we can force
The magnolia from the bud
Or the ending of life’s wars
So we cannot force love

We cannot force the waves
To lie placid on the bay
Or draw from winter’s graves
The blooms of yesterday
And we cannot force love

We cannot pull to us
Or obediently take hold
Of a heart simply because
We must do as we are told
For we cannot force love

But love’s mighty force
Is unstoppable
And in its kind discourse
Anything is possible
In the force of love

Janet~

Echo

Can you bear its sad allure?
Does it make you want to cry?
It’s an agony so pure
I won’t brush it from my eye

Like the weeping of a breeze
In a mournful lullaby
As it stirs the slumbering trees
Small beneath the hollow sky

Does it wash across your soul?
Does it make you want to cry?
As you hear it’s echo roll
Good-bye, good-bye, good-bye

J~

To Mommy from Heaven

No wind-swept kisses on my cheek
No apple blossoms clinging to my hair
No first words for me to speak
Oh mommy, did you never really care?
No summer picnics at the park
Or watching as the rain comes pouring down
No bedtime kisses after dark
Or buying me a satin wedding gown

Did you really never love me?
Was I simply a symbol of your shame?
Did you really never love me, mom?
Was I the fruit of hatred's evil game?

No sitting at the brink of dusk
To watch the sun slip soundlessly away
No daisy-chains or buttercups
No imaginary games for us to play
No birthday cards or sticky smiles
As I tasted my first birthday cake
No looking deep into my eyes
And loving me until your heart could break

Did you really never love me mom?
Did you think you'd be rid of all your blame?
Did you really never love me mom?
You never even gave to me a name

Now there is sunshine on my face
A halo on my pretty golden curls
I'm in such a lovely place
A Heaven full of little boys and girls
It’s a home of joy and love
Overflowing with a thousand charms
Sometimes I wish that you were here
To see me in my loving Father's arms

Did you really never love me mom?
Or was it just not greater than your fear?
Did you really never love me mom?
Can't help but wish sometimes that you were here

Janet~

Hello...

The light disappears and suddenly the sky is far way
Hello my dear, I’ve begun to expect you at this time of day
You know as well as I do that the telephone
Is sometimes the only way we can be alone

The lamp casts an amber-orange glow on the street
Did you have a good day love, are you ready to sleep?
Well, I’ve had some worse but its better now
Just hearing your voice does that to me somehow

The trees fall away into the dark of the sky
What’s that you say? Do I miss you tonight?
I don’t need to tell you because I know that you know
I stare through my window at the amber-orange glow…

J~

Saddest of All

If I built my thoughts of you into a wall
I would never see the sky at all
And if I would write them in a melody
Its music would cover the deep blue sea
Oh, it’s a beautiful thing to know
That love is the rhythm in life’s ebb and flow

To simply touch and see and taste
Is such an empty, futile waste
But to be held close in the arms of a prayer
To know that you fill someone’s thought somewhere
And softly in whispers it’s your name they call
Is surely the very best feeling of all

Grief has intensity more blinding than love
Yet love is the high wire on which we move
We take its chance and love all the more
Knowing its dance could suddenly be o’er
Life without grief is the saddest of all
A loveless leaf on the ground in the fall

J~

Live Large

Live life large
Drink it in
We’re not in charge
It won’t happen again
Take the plunge
Love and lose
We cannot own
The things we choose
But one thing is certain
For you and I
At life’s final curtain
We’re going to die

So live life large
Take a deep breath
We’re not in charge
Of life or death
Make your calling
And election sure
Then live in knowing
You are secure
And love today
What of tomorrow
Life is a fray
Of laughter and sorrow

So live life large
Touch someone’s hand
We’re not in charge
I understand
But we all need
Someone to hold
Go plant a seed
Be brave and bold
It’s a small drink
For you and I
Life is a wink
And then we die

Janet~

Prayer For Guidance

Lord, fill this weak and mortal cup
With passions of your praise
Until at Your dear feet I sup
In Heaven’s endless days

These fumbling, erring hands of mine
Lord, guide them by Your Spirit
And fill each humble task of mine
With heavenly joy and merit

Earth’s happiness is a vague shroud
Of Heaven’s priceless measure
Fix our eyes above the cloud
To high and holy treasure

Though now we strain through darkened glass
To understand life’s story
This little life too soon shall pass
Into eternal glory

Janet~

Greater Beauty

He pours His love into the dawn
A pale blue glow ascending
Extending from a heavenly throne
His mercy never-ending
With verdant breath He clothes the hills
And sighing woodland tresses
As from the apple orchard spills
A thousand flowered dresses

He reaches deep beneath the earth
And probes the seed still hidden
Nature responds to heaven’s mirth
To do as it is bidden
Then out across a barren world
Stripped bare by winter’s taking
Nature’s glory is unfurled
In springtime’s grand awakening

Twilight creeps across a land
A new and silent splendor
I am drawn toward the Hand
Patient, kind and tender
For all the beauty of this day
Could never be sufficient
If guilt could not be washed away
By One; perfect, omniscient

I close my eyes to see a cross
Upon it the Creator
Where mercy’s blood-red river flows
Forever and forever
He clad the earth in beauty fair
His grand and glorious garden
But its beauty can’t compare
To nail-scarred hands of pardon

Janet~

Giver

He gives us the laughter of children
To sweeten the toil of our day
He gives us the softness of evening
To soothe our cares away
He gives us warm shoulders to lean on
Should we need to rest for a while
And He gives us little babies
To make children and old men smile

He gives us sunshine and shadows
He paints the blue sky and gray
He gives us mountains and meadows
And sleep at the end of a day
He gives the moon for a candle
When the whisper of daylight grows dim
And He gives us just enough trouble
To keep us leaning on Him

He gives us the hill and the valley
The storm shrieking down from above
He knits them all together
By the threads of His wonderful love
How empty would be our boasting
How shallow our faith and dim
If He did not give us life’s trouble
To keep us leaning on Him

If we had the fruit of our wishes
How foolish our wanting would be
Never a weeping horizon
And never a storm-tossed sea
And never an earnest pleading
On our knees as the light grows dim
Never a reason for needing
To keep on leaning on Him

Janet~

Beholding God

Someday we will not awake
To see the sun, a golden lake
Melting over field and hill
We will not hear the song-birds trill

We will not wake to soft refrain
Of raindrops on the window pane
Nor will we wake to hear the breeze
Sighing in the willow trees

Someday we will not wake to see
The river laughing to the sea
The flower will not lift its face
In another day of grace

But someday we will wake to see
The proof of life’s great mystery
Though body rests beneath the sod
We will wake beholding God

Janet

Prelude to Parting

We ordered lunch at the little café on the corner
We didn’t talk much,
As we watched people passing by
Like waves on a concrete sea
Lovers arm in arm,
Children laughing and shouting,
The self-absorbed strider
The hapless straggler
The scolding mother
The jogger,
The dog-walker
The mini-skirt and heels
The fellow in over-alls…


We order a second sup of coffee
Prolonging the inevitable
With long and reluctant pauses
Between each sip
You reach across the table
Touch my hand to your lips
Again
And walk away
Lost in the sway of the crowd
Children laughing
Lovers arm in arm
The strider, the straggler, the mother
And you

J~

Prelude to Parting

We ordered lunch at the little café on the corner
We didn’t talk much,
As we watched people passing by
Like waves on a concrete sea
Lovers arm in arm,
Children laughing and shouting,
The self-absorbed strider
The hapless straggler
The scolding mother
The jogger,
The dog-walker
The mini-skirt and stilettos
The fellow in over-alls…


We order a second sup of coffee
Prolonging the inevitable
With long and reluctant pauses
Between each sip
You reach across the table
Touch my hand to your lips
Again
And walk away
Lost in the sway of the crowd
Children laughing
Lovers arm in arm
The strider, the straggler, the mother
And you

J~

I must have hit a lucky air-wave!!!
...still no internet to speak of:(
It only took 20 minutes to post this...
yes, that is sarcasm!!!!

My Way

You ask me to show you I love you
And wonder at things that I say
You tell me the things that would move you
But I need to love you…my way

I cannot rehearse my emotions
This is no scene in a play
But if you look closely, my darling
You’ll see that I love you…my way

Love is not love when pretending
At words that we may choose to say
But I’ll show you love unending
If you let me love you…my way

Some see love in dark chocolate
Some speak it with poetry
But darling, let’s just love each other
And be who we are, naturally

I would not ask you to love me
In words you would not choose to say
Second-hand lines do not move me
So darling, I’ll love you…my way

Janet~

Forty-five

I bet you think today I am going to write
About birthdays and getting old
How I just can’t remember quite
What I have or have not been told
Bet you thought that this was the day
I would celebrate and lament
But all I can really think to say
Is I am ‘middle-age content’

I don’t mind the years that are slipping by
As my youth slips farther away
I don’t miss the dream that shone in my eye
In some by-gone yesterday
I really enjoy the ache in my bones
I’ve earned it, don’t you agree?
Lamenting my age is like kicking stones
And who wants to be twenty-three?

If I look in the mirror to bemoan its truth
I would not trade it away
For a couple more years of brimming youth
Without words like ‘stiff’ or ‘gray’
It’s a great day to be alive
If I could I would not turn back the page
To be something other than forty-five
Or, in other words…middle-age

No, I’m not crazy or losing my mind
To middle-age insanity
But if you believe this…may I be so kind
As to suggest that you might be?

Janet


...a little chuckle:)))
the ad that popped up in blogger as I posted this was...

'Improve your pregnancy chances over 40!!!!'

Forty-five

I bet you think today I am going to write
About birthdays and getting old
How I just can’t remember quite
What I have or have not been told
Bet you thought that this was the day
I would celebrate and lament
But all I can really think to say
Is I am ‘middle-age content’

I don’t mind the years that are slipping by
As my youth slips farther away
I don’t miss the dream that shone in my eye
In some by-gone yesterday
I really enjoy the ache in my bones
I’ve earned it, don’t you agree?
Lamenting my age is like kicking stones
And who wants to be twenty-three?

If I look in the mirror to bemoan its truth
I would not trade it away
For a couple more years of brimming youth
Without words like ‘stiff’ or ‘gray’
It’s a great day to be alive
If I could I would not turn back the page
To be something other than forty-five
Or, in other words…middle-age

No, I’m not crazy or losing my mind
To middle-age insanity
But if you believe this…may I be so kind
As to suggest that you might be?

Janet

Impossible Choices

I can choose to stroll through the garden with you
In the warm arms of the afternoon
And we could dance a slow dance or two
Beneath the wisp of a moon
But I cannot choose the things that I need
I cannot paint the sky blue
I cannot coax one flower from a seed
Nor choose to forget about you

I can choose which seeds to plant in the earth
Tucked into darkened soil
I can smile and brighten the hour with mirth
To soften the day of toil
I can choose to fret or pine for the past
But what good would it do
I cannot return to the shadow it casts
To remember or forget about you

I can choose to be happy or languish in sorrow
To be envious or content
But I cannot choose what will happen tomorrow
If higher hands circumvent
Sweep back the stars and blow out the moon
These things I cannot do
I cannot choose the breezes tune
Or choose to forget about you


J~

Forgive me for all the picture-less posts...
(VERY SLOW or non-existent unreliable internet service
for the past week or two)
...hence the sporadic posts:(

They keep telling me it will all be back to
'normal'..... soon!

Almost You Left Me

Almost you left me…
As the night lay flat against land and sky
Darkening the gaze of its azure eye
As sliver of amber moon lounged languidly
Upon a misty, mellow sea
The hint of lilac blooms fingered the air
Touching my out-stretched thought; vulnerable, bare
The tight-fisted walnut tree relinquished at last
The delicate greenery held in woody clasp
Tonight its charcoal silhouette
Longed to whirl and pirouette
As silence played a haunting tune
Across a perfect night in June
A soulful, soothing melody
Of love and loss and dark blue sea
Almost you left me beneath midnight’s spire
Almost you left me with nothing…
…but desire

J~

Blue

I would paint tonight if I could, with you
For it is such a perfect night
But silence does not have a true shade of blue
Charcoal and gray do not capture it quite
They have not yet created the essence of mist
Lying on pastures, too timid for streets
The air has a subtle and piquant twist
The wind lulls the insomniac counting sheep
And I trace the outline of you with a brush
Determined to give it my uttermost try
But I cannot capture the somnolent hush
Or the night, in the soft gaze of your eye
I would paint tonight, if I could, with you
For it is not good to be alone
But the night is unwilling to be captured in blue
And blue is the only color I own

Janet~

Mustard Seed

Lord, I can think of countless things
That qualifies as need
But oh God, more than anything
I need a mustard seed

I know that I lack wisdom Lord
But before I ask
I need a tiny little seed
To fit me for the task

For faith small as mustard seed
Can bring a mountain low
It is enough to fill each need
God, You have told me so

Do not let me waver, Lord
‘Like waves upon a sea
Driven by the wind and tossed’
I need a mustard seed

From just one tiny little seed
Begins the tallest tree
And faith sustains us in each need
If it is fixed on Thee

Janet~

But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering.
For he that wavers is like a wave of the sea
Driven by the wind and tossed. James 1:6

Already Written

We do not make life happen
God knows the who and the why
He knew that you would fit perfectly
Into the shape of my life
Ours was no chance meeting
He knew it would happen one day
Oh, what a wonderful feeling
To know He is watching always

God knew before our first breath
What day our birthday would be
He knows the minute of our death
As we step into eternity
With Him there is no unexpected
Our days are writ by His hand
And all of the wise will respect it
And reverently heed His command

Sometimes I wonder the reason
But I do not question the Giver
Some loves are but for a season
And some abide forever
Ours was no chance meeting
Whatever will be He can see
For all of our days were written, love
Before one of them came to be

Janet~


Your eyes saw my unformed body.
All the days ordained for me were written
in your book before one of them came to be. Psalm 139:16

Sometimes life's ordinary moments
are the extra-ordinary ones in retrospect...

Summer's Large Morning

The world seems larger on a summer’s morn
Making me glad that I was born
A spacious room swept bright and clean
With yellow plume and vivid green

Here is a world untainted by longing
Compassion unfurled in summer and morning
Yesterday’s shortcomings sleep in the dust
Today is beckoning me to trust

Wind caresses skin, sun kisses my face
And so begins another day of grace
In the heart’s silence stirs a seed
Of purposed resilience and mutual need

Faint as the breezes skimming the brook
Summer teases in every nook
The blue sky is pearled with clouds of white
In summer’s large world I take delight


(Last two verses optional)
The shadow of the willow tree stirs a sigh
Daring the unshed tear in my eye
Like a rogue wind frustrating the sea
You leap to my mind in a memory

But the world is larger on a summer’s morn
As kind as the hour when love is born
From the tenderness of its fingertips
It pulls a smile across my lips

Janet~

Whole New World

Summer dusk gathers the remnant of day
Into her dark blue eyes
Night begins where the fading away
Of a sunset softly dies

The breezes shearing the dew-darkened lane
Arouses an earthy passion
Mingling with the scent of an afternoon rain
And dampened apple blossom

The hollow place just beneath the hill
Is obscured by slumbering air
Where unkempt gardens wildly spill
Like children with no care

She draws her knees up to her chin
Looks to the skies above
Inhaling the serenity and drinking it in
Like the evidence of love

Janet~

Lilacs

Sprouting from the palm of trouble and dirt
Beneath the sun and the rain
Softening the edges of pleasure and hurt
Breathing on laughter and pain
The lilacs are blooming again

Knurled and scraggly, its humble limb
Weathers the century
Stoically enduring the passage of time
For a moment of vernal glee
Bathed in a purple sea

Boldly, flaunting her fragrant gown
Her beauty is lavish and wild
Spilling the froth of her scented crown
To remind you of when you were a child
And the very same lilac tree smiled

Janet~

Lilacs

Sprouting from the palm of trouble and dirt
Beneath the sun and the rain
Softening the edges of pleasure and hurt
Breathing on laughter and pain
The lilacs are blooming again

Knurled and scraggly, its humble limb
Weathers the century
Stoically enduring the passage of time
For a moment of vernal glee
Bathed in a purple sea

Boldly, flaunting her fragrant gown
Her beauty is lavish and wild
Spilling the froth of her scented crown
To remind you of when you were a child
And the very same lilac tree smiled

Janet~

Suddenly, in an Afternoon

There are no singular moments
I cannot isolate one from the rest
Tucking it away; to save until tomorrow
Nor can I preserve them; though with ink I might try
Life is the master of re-arranging
Moments; folding them, one over another
Until they become days and years
And suddenly here I am in an afternoon in June
Where the wind drops in a sudden lull
And my heart is achingly full
Of the memory of moments
… With you

J~

That's the Thing about Love

I know, feelings are just feelings
They come; they go
But some days feelings move me
And darling, you seem to know
How to reach deep down inside me
And make those feelings flow

You are a soft rain at midnight
You are the sun on the sea
You are a fair-weather morning
And a prayer inside of me
You are a perfect love song
Playing so tenderly

Yes, feelings are just feelings
Some days I don’t get them right
But then a memory comes stealing
To that place so deep inside
Where you touch me without touching
And I cannot put up a fight

You are a wild storm raging
You are the ache in my tear
You are the wound that is bleeding
Where love and longing sear
Oh, you are more than a feeling
So much more, my dear

You are a vortex of desire
A sweet, silent torment
You are a slow-burning fire
Keeping me warm; content
You are much more than a feeling
You are heaven-sent

J~

Offering

It is all I can give you
Do with them what you may
You may choose to believe me
Or brush them away

Stuff can be appealing
But it is still simply ‘stuff’
It does not relate to feeling
Longing or love

Words are the only thing
I can offer to you
Words like ‘oh darling
I love you’

Janet~

Bidding May Adieu

On another day it will not be May
As all the apple-blossoms fling
Their gowns and tulips fade away
To deck the grass of yesterday
And spring

On another day it will not be May
And the clouds which snuff the moon
Keeping it dark tonight
Will be lazy and summer white
In June

On another day it will not be May
As we embrace this new-comer
And kiss her pretty face because
Midst fair-flowered applause
Comes summer

Janet~

I love June!