No Such Thing

There's no such thing as too much love
Too many kisses, hugs or prayers
and it is impossible to have
One too many teddy-bears

Janet


Mom; Victoria, we NEED to get rid of some teddy-bears!
There are just too many!
Victoria: Mom, there's no such thing as too many teddy bears.


(Tonight she was complaining that it's too hot to sleep.
When I came up too see if this was true
I found her....covered in teddy bears:)

July Quiet

The sliver of a moon dangles from the sky
The quiver of dusk deepens in its eye
The soft caress of a sultry breeze
Teases the dress of the willow trees

The edge of the world falls into the palm
Of darkness unfurled in a moody calm
Gallant the dreams of noon-day’s lust
Sleeping in streams of dew and dust

Weary the wind lying mellow and still
But never the mind; roaming at free will
It is not released from its deepest muse
Quietly thought claims its just dues

The night can never be truly dark
It cannot relinquish its final spark
Flickers of wondering in charcoal and blue
Whispers of loving and longing and you

A silent tempest sweeps the low mist
Desire and day-dreams glow, half-kissed
The sliver of a moon dangles from the sky
It is a quiet night in July…



J~

Miles From Me

You’re miles from me
But I can feel you
Hear your whisper in the air
You’re miles from me
But I can touch you
Hold you to me in a prayer

You’re miles from me
But tonight
Somehow you feel much nearer
You’re miles from me
But in the twilight
Thoughts of you are dearer

You’re miles from me
How can it be
That I can sense you near me?
You’re miles from me
But suddenly
I know that God can hear me

J~

Embrace

Sometimes when I think about
The road that lies ahead
I look at you, my little one
And I am filled with dread
But just when I’m about to weep
And crumble in despair
I remember who will keep
You in his loving care

There is nothing I can do
To shield you from life’s rain
We all have valleys to walk through
A little joy and pain
I wish that I could tell you
There is nothing you need fear
But all that I can say for sure
Is ‘God is always near’

The highs and lows that shape our lives
Are molded by His love
In all the choices living gives
Not one will let us move
Beyond His pure compassion
His mercy or His grace
And everyone who trusts in Him
May lean on His embrace

Janet~

The End...

We stood there and watched you drive away
Beneath April's branches, weeping and gray
In the silence that followed all we could do was look
To the spot where we heard it; the closing of a book

Janet~

Jane,
I never told you about those moments
As we watched you disappear
Each of us quiet; lost in our own version
Of thoughts, prayers, memories and tears

p.s.
Jane, if you click on the picture you'll see it better.
Doesn't Victoria's little wave say it all?

The Treasure of You

On some days the missing of you
Quivers in shadows against the blue air
A toss-up between a smile and a sigh
Caught up in whispers I form in a prayer

On some days the missing of you
Is like a punch in the stomach, stealing my breath
Yet there is nothing that I can do
But let my thoughts wander the premise of the earth

On some days I collect love’s little pieces
And cling to them desperately
Convinced that if I release them
You would slip too far from me

But Time is a subtle surgeon and unwillingly
Though I fight back with memories and tears
I see it carving pieces of you from me
With the passage of days and months and years

On some days when the missing of you
Rolls over me like a wave on the sea
I let it all go in a deluge of tears
And savor the treasure life gave you and me

Janet

Yes Jane,
It is now months, but it feels like years!
Love and prayers:)

Man Born of Woman...

*‘Man born of a woman
Is of trouble and few days
They spring up like the flowers
And soon wither away
Do we fix our eye on them?’
Creatures of demand
The only wisdom they attain
Comes from a Higher Hand

Can man born of a sinful seed
Accomplish any good?
Can he alone provide a need
Without the help of God?
Is wisdom gleaned by things of earth
Not doomed to die with men?
Is there aught of eternal worth
To fix our hope upon?

Praise to man extolled by man
Soon sleeps beneath the dust
What good is good on this brief span
Without a God to trust?
Man can’t exhume from this earth’s grave
And bring to life again
Of tears and turmoil we are slave
Without God, all is vain

There is a sure foundation laid
On which a man may rest
Though man’s life is but of few days
We may taste its best
There is an eternal truth
On which feet will not stumble
Fit for aged men or youth
And hearts, tempered and humble

There is a love that spans beyond
This little gasp of Time
It proved itself upon a cross
Its grace sustains our climb
*‘Man born of a woman
Is of trouble and few days
They spring up like the flowers
And soon wither away…

Janet~
*‘Man born of a woman
Is of trouble and few days
They spring up like flowers
And soon wither away...Job 14:1

I love the book of Job.
It vividly portrays man's dependency on One
higher than men...




13 Blessed are those who find wisdom,
those who gain understanding,
14 for she is more profitable than silver
and yields better returns than gold.
15 She is more precious than rubies;
nothing you desire can compare with her.
16 Long life is in her right hand;
in her left hand are riches and honor.
17 Her ways are pleasant ways,
and all her paths are peace.
18 She is a tree of life to those who take hold of her;
those who hold her fast will be blessed. Proverbs 3:13-18

Modern Ethics

Dog tags, divorce
It don’t matter
Just sign on the dotted line
We can even
Kill your baby
Tomorrow you will feel just fine
We are here
Aiming to please you
Raise a world of softened fools
There’s no A’s and B’s
To grade you
No hurt feelings at our schools
Eat and drink
Come on, be merry
Soothe your cravings and your lust
Life’s a sundae
With two cherries
We will weaken you with trust
Never test the
Lies we’re telling
Open mouth and swallow once
Never check the
Goods we’re selling
Here today, tomorrow gone
It’s a sure and sad
Delusion
Raising children with no Guide
Right and wrong
Taught without reason
No moral compass to preside
Feed your dog
And starve the orphans
Never give an absolute
God or no god
What’s the difference?
There is nothing bad or good
Dog tags, divorce
It don’t matter
Just sign on the dotted line
No, we ain't
Here to judge you
Tomorrow you will feel just fine…fine…fine

Janet~

Love Lessons

You taught me to laugh, you taught me to dance
And how to find joy in life’s dirt
You taught me to love ‘neath the touch of your glance
And oh, how you taught me to hurt

How could I know with a simple hello
What a great teacher you’d be?
You taught me to hold on and how to let go
Of torment and ecstasy

You taught me to live in the moment I’m in
And yes, even how to flirt
But darling, I’d do it all over again
For the way you have taught me to hurt


J~

July Returns

Beneath the waving banner
Of the True North’s glorious flag
With days and minutes marching
Over plain and rocky crag
Amidst the glare of fireworks
And patriotic tune
Once again July returns
Upon the heels of June

Was it not just a dance ago
We sang with joy and pride?
Where do the months and seasons flow?
How can we stem the tide?
And now midst celebrations cheer
A little teardrop burns
For it comes quicker every year
…again, July returns

I see Time etched within the smiles
Of those I dearly love
Passing by in fleeting styles
From windows up above
It does no good to dwell upon
The things for which we yearn
July is here and swiftly gone
Simply to return

Janet~

Veil

If we could pull aside the veil
That bars us from the vast unknown
If we could stand and gaze a while
At everything that is not shown
If Time revealed its highs and lows
And when or where Death’s shadows lay
We would trample every rose
And beg for Death to come today

Though Joy its tender bliss would share
And spread her carpet on the ground
We would see the hour where
Her Beauty is nowhere around
And we would miss her tender force
Quickly forget the smile she shared
As we look to the darkened horse
Where Death sits with its talons bared

The sun could shine with gentle eye
And sweep the garden with delight
Yet all that we would see is sky
Reaching for the dark of night
And if we saw beyond the veil
Where Judgment casts its final sword
We would tremble, weep and wail
And surely call upon the Lord

Janet~

Impasse

There is nothing left to say
Though silence pleads and taunts
Heavy, in its folds of gray
And deep un-uttered wants

We know what the other needs
Walls expand and rise
While the moaning silence bleeds
From dull and down-cast eyes

A wall has never just one side
To shut somebody out
We will lock ourselves within
Of this there is no doubt

Silence hangs with empty stare
Its deadened teardrops glisten
Many words once filled the air
But we just did not listen

There is nothing left to say
We think we’ve said it all
The silence rises, cold and gray
And weeps against the wall


Janet~

Once Upon a Summer's Day

Once upon a summer's day
The warm glance of July
Drew the breath of June away
Into the clear blue sky
And all that there is left to say
Is good-bye…and good-bye

Until next year my heart must pine
For your sweet touch once more
For there is none as fair as thine
To brush the wooded shore
Than June, a kiss of joy sublime
On summer’s verdant floor

Once upon the bird and bloom
And crooning of a breeze
Amidst the blossom-scented tune
And drone of honey bees
I must bid farewell to June
With quiet agonies

The laughter of its rushing brook
The eagerness of dawn
The verdure of a fresh-clad nook
The emerald of the lawn
Have their lusty sheen forsook
With June, for it is gone

Janet~

Whispering

I am not yours nor are you mine
We cannot own love
Though I see it when I look at you; it shines
In your eyes like starlight from above

Love like ours is rare and set apart
From the plebeian masses
Your whisper threads my heart of hearts
Every common medium it surpasses

But I do not own you or you me
Love is neither master nor a slave
Though I would share with you quite willingly
The very best of anything I have

J~

Look Up

On the shoulder of the day
Our wants and wishes lie
What will take the hurt away
Or quell our restless sigh?

Battles, storms and floods of woe
Are caught in raging streams
Holding on and letting go
Of hopes and silent dreams

Who will soften life’s harsh blows?
Or fill our empty cup?
Is there anyone who knows?
Oh yes there is; look up

Janet~

In Thirty Years

In thirty years

Who will you be?

As youth disappears

Across time’s sea

Will you look back

With tender gaze

Across the track

Of your life’s maze

And in the pathways

That you trod

Will you see the face

Of God?

If you should think then

Of father or mother

What memory

Will out-shine all others?

What will be

Your dearest thought?

Will others see

The things we taught?

In thirty years

Who will you be?

Will God above

Be a reality?

Will He be the light

Upon your path

Your strength to fight

The fiends of wrath?

Will His Word whisper

To you in your fears

Will He be your Master

As days become years

Because as a child

Your parents sought

Upon their knees

The things they taught

And will the Way

Be clearer somehow

Because of what

You’re learning now?

In thirty years

Will you be

The things you learned

When you were wee?

Janet~

Silently

Come away my love, and let’s be silent for awhile
The night is falling from above in sultry summer style
The brooding storm is hovering above the rolling deep
And sullen clouds are covering the floor where angels weep

Come my love, the storm may vent its fury on the plain
But with you I am content, oh darling, let it rain
No one else will ever know you quite the way I do
Darling, will you let me show you how much I love you?

Come my love and let the shadows steal the dying day
Let torrents wash the meadows, let the hours tick away
Darling,hold me nearer, let the storm its passions thrust
Is there anything that’s dearer than the arms of one you trust?

Come away, my love, and let the tempest seek its thrill
As it passes then how calm the night will be, and still
Let's wrap the night around us, bold and unpretentiously
While the raging winds surround us, love falls softly, silently

J~

In Color

God loves us in color…
Blue skies
White cloud
Yellow sunshine
Laughing loud
Red strawberries
Purple bloom
Green carpeting
Summer’s room
Orange sunset
Silver mist
Golden moments
Heaven-kissed

J~
I looked around me while picking straw-berries today…
And thanked God for loving us in color!

Relinquishments

In the fragment of a whisper
And the bending of a sigh
In the anguish of a murmur
And the answer in your eye

You dismantle all my armor
Soothe life’s calluses away
By the pining of an arbor
‘neath a midnight soft and gray

As the pain of hoarded pleasure
Melts into your reckless gaze
Into pools of endless azure
I relinquish common ways

I care not for fields of fortune
Life has purer charms than this
I have touched them for a moment
In the shadow of your kiss

In the fragment of a whisper
And the candor of a sigh
I relinquish oceans longed for
I have traveled them tonight

J~

June Day

It’s the kind of day for me
Where conflicting desires urge
Two kinds of responsibility
…to labor or to splurge?

The gray eye of a moody sky
Smolders in the distance
Cloudy June day lullaby
Weakening my resistance

It’s the kind of day for me
Where duty seems too common
For through my window I can see
A rare June day in blossom

The wind demands a little dance
Its blue chill stirs the wanting
Of more than just a wistful glance
Upon a June day taunting

It’s the kind of day for me
Divided by desire
Wise responsibility
Or June days verdant choir

Janet~

If you were here
We’d reach and brush aside our endless duties
Exchanging them for freedom’s ride and summer’s haunting beauties
We would do the little things we dream about while working
And never dwell upon the little chores we might be shirking

If you were here
We’d talk and never mind the clock or hours
There’s much to do and say without mere words restrictive powers
And we would follow every path of freedom’s wanderlust
While meadowsweet and daisies laugh and daylight sweeps the dust

If you were here
We would forget to watch the hours divide
Desire into segments; lest our freedom might subside
Into the darkening silence; into a day, a year
Darling, would it make a difference, oh, if you were here?

J~

If You Were Here

If you were here
We’d reach and brush aside our endless duties
Exchanging them for freedom’s ride and summer’s haunting beauties
We would do those other things we dream about while working
And never dwell upon the little chores we might be shirking

If you were here
We’d talk and never mind the clock or hours
There’s much to do and say without mere words restrictive powers
And we would follow every path of freedom’s wanderlust
While meadow-sweet and daisies laugh and daylight sweeps the dust

If you were here
We would forget to watch the hours divide
Desire into segments; lest our freedom might subside
Into the darkening silence; into a day, a year
Darling, would it make a difference, oh, if you were here?

J~

In the Loving of June

The wind in the willow has always been
One of her favorite tunes
The deeper blue of late evening
Is her favorite back-drop for June
She loves to linger a moment too long
Where daisies and buttercups sigh
She loves to revel in midnight’s song
Beneath the cool of the sky

She loves the passion and wanderlust
That draws her from slumbers repose
She loves the scent of dew-laden dust
Tinged with the breath of a rose
She loves the murmur of green and blue
In summer’s pure work of art
She loves the whispering thoughts of you
Curving against her heart

She always thought for everything lost
Love gives something in return
But she never fathomed the bittersweet cost
Or the depths to which loving can yearn
She never fathomed that summer and love
Could leave in an afternoon
She never fathomed the bitter-sweet hurt
Wrapped up in the loving of June

Janet~

Of Silences

There is a silence that is harsh
and cold with condemnation
but on a softer night, a hush,
of slow-yearning sensation
threatens to dispel the sigh
of longing or defeat
across a moonless midnight I
can feel a murmur sweep
in urgent whispers on my skin
until it pauses where
the tender ache of you begins
like sparks upon the air

it warms me on the coldest night
and thrusts aside my woe
a calm and sensuous delight
an iridescent glow
melting on my lips and tongue
yet moaning in my ear
ah, now I am forever young
within this atmosphere
intangible, the fervent touch
yet in it I am taken
trembling as its fingers brush
me softly, lest I waken

J~

Empty Page

She wrote twenty letters
And threw them all away
What is there left to utter
When there’s nothing left to say?

Perhaps a single teardrop
Is the only thing to spell
How does one write of heartbreak
When there’s nothing left to tell?

Janet~

The Emptiness of Things

Things lure with artificial promises
Leading to empty delusion
Never satisfying our formless lusts
With shiny and plastic profusion

Things are cold and hard and unfeeling
Its thrill is hollow and brief
An arrangement of emptiness, visually appealing
Unable to offer relief


But the night coming down with misty sighs
Quieting the noise of the day
The planting of dreams as I look in your eyes
The rush of the willow limbs sway

A touch full of warmth and wondering and wanting
A thrill wild and bittersweet
Causes things to fade with pathetic taunting
Like pebbles beneath our feet

J~

Hand of God

Purple, pink and yellow
Orange and white and plum
The flowers are so beautiful
Nodding in the sun
A little glimpse of heaven
To deck this morbid sod
In their fragile beauty
We can see the hand of God

Gold and mauve and scarlet
Coral and deep blue
The sun in flaming splendor
Bids the day adieu
Gleaming through the maples
Lingering o’er the land
A silent, stunning master-piece
Wrought by heaven’s Hand

The pasture curves against the brook
The landscape to the sky
As silence deepens in each nook
And tender breezes sigh
The ache of beauty gathers
As nighttime sweeps the sod
To touch our humble heartstrings
With the tender hand of God

Janet~

A Little Life

Arise, and let us be going
See how the daylight wanes
Beneath its lustrous glowing
All that yet remains
Within the nights tranquility
Is not what was…but what will be

The shadows of life are folding
Its spoils upon the grass
Amidst our toil and scolding
Our little lives will pass
And all that will rest beneath its shade
Are the choices we have made

See the summer pastures
Rippling in the sun
Yet in the gathering hours
Its fading has begun
And soon its emptiness will lie
Beneath a cold and quiet sky

Arise, and let us be going
For etched in the waning light
Are echoes of love and longing
Reaching for the night
As moments vanish in the clutch
Of sight and sound and taste and touch

Janet~

Of Anything to Be

It cannot be touched
But oh, it touches me
Its cogency forms such
Vast possibility

Ravaging delight
Somber agony
The tenure and the might
Of anything to be

Ruthless barterer
To weigh the pros and cons
There is no barrier
Restraining what it spawns

Unguarded it will ruin
The wise man or the fool
For no one is immune
To its seductive rule

Teach me in its trance
Tease me in its gaze
Taunt me in its heedless dance
And tempt me in its blaze

I must control its realm
For on life’s shifting sea
Thought controls the helm
Of anything to be


Janet~

Belief...

I know Whom I believe
I know He holds my hand
But it’s the where and what and why
I do not understand

I know love never fails
I know it is life’s power
And yet I’ve seen it tarnish
Summer’s pleasant hour

For all that I may know
Tis what I cannot see
That tests the very heart of it
…I know Whom I believe

Janet~
For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day. 2 Tim. 1:12

Sonnet of Realizations

Scatter far across the dawn
Your effervescent sigh
Gather up the things you long for
Toss them to the sky

Is there a pinnacle of joy
On which to fix intent
Or are there simply moments where
Its happiness is spent?

The perfect summit of true love
Lies far beyond the cloud
Little shadows it may cast
Are but its feeble shroud

Breathe into your prayer
Each heartache and each tear
For it will reach the portals where
There is no toil or fear

Triumphs here on earth
Are momentary gasps
The only measures of true worth
Lay far beyond man’s grasp

The treasures we compile
That cannot cheer the grave
Are simply decorated bile
How wretched is its slave

The music of love’s song
Is life’s most precious prize
For it is very hard to dance
When its music dies

Scatter across the dawn
Your claim of wants and woes
For soon its dust is gone
To sleep beneath the rose

Janet~

The Days of Man

The days of man are dealt to him
One moment at a time
And none can know the sum of them
Or years that he may climb

In shades of summer’s afternoon
We long to live the hour
And by a blossomed meadow swoon
To drink its pleasant flower

We do not care to walk the road
Of rock and loathsome dirt
And none of us asks for the load
Of agony and hurt

But all the days of man are dealt
By He who holds the Door
There is no heartache we have felt
He has not felt before

Each day is like a chapter writ
No erasing or pretending
The Keeper knows the truth of it
And when will be the ending

How foolish is the man who trusts
In weak and mortal power
For we shall all return to dust
And no man knows the hour

Janet~

The Storm

You came from out of nowhere
Rolling in across a sea
Sullen clouds pervading
With a dark intensity
And suddenly I’m drenched within
A reckless aftermath
Of pounding hooves and lightning bolt
A harsh and sudden bath

A rising, falling tempest
Duel of contrasting desire
Stunning in your boldness
Shocking in your ire
You tear across the skyline
Like a stallion, never tamed
Plundering and thundering
Wild and free; unclaimed

You break through my defenses
Like a deep and raging sea
Bursting in upon my senses
And my vulnerability
I should have seen you coming
But somehow I never do
As you shatter the horizon…
…it was just a thought of you

J~

One Long Moment

There are moments looming
That I wish I could evade
But I must struggle through them
I cannot push them away

Then, there are little moments
I would re-live if I could
But to long for them is torment
And of little or no good

There are moments I am holding
That I’d cling to, but alas
Already they are folding
All their whispers in the grass

There are moments filled with laughter
Moments reaching for the sky
Forming one long ever-after
In the echo of good-bye, good-bye,good-bye

J~

Completely

Perhaps you thought it’s what you do
Or by the words you say to me
Darling, it’s because you’re you…
That I love you completely

It’s nice to hear your lovely words
Or be the bearer of your charms
But darling, it’s you that leaves me stirred
And longing for your gentle arms

Touch is such a tender gift
You touch me from across the floor
Instinctively our eyes meet
As we head towards the door

Perhaps you thought it’s what you do
And in some way, well it might be
But darling, it’s because you’re you
That I love you with all of me

Janet~

Here

When darkness overtakes the day
And the last glow of dusk is gone
When landscapes deepen to blue-gray
As earth and heaven become one…

When night extinguishes the sun
And stars like heaven’s candles gleam
When all our little toil is done
As willows sigh and children dream…

When sleepy pastures sprawl beneath
The silver murmur of the moon
When need and love and sorrow breathe
A low and melancholy tune...

When silence claims the thickening air
As breezes lose their energy
I embrace you in a prayer
And wish that you were here with me

J~

So it Goes

Hurry, wait
Early, late
Hope,pray
Night,day

Break, mend
Foe, friend
Laugh, weep
Wake, sleep

Sunshine, rain
Pleasure, pain
Happy, sad
Good and bad

Love, lose
Beg, choose
Pursue, wander
Save or squander

Rich, poor
Less, more
Give and take
For goodness sake

Husband, wife
Joy, strife
And so it goes…
…this is life

Janet~

I hurried because
I thought I was late...
But then of course
I got to wait...
...and wait....
....and wait!
Her exam went late:)))

Happiness

Happiness comes in moments
It is not a destiny
It falls in tender splashes
To soften misery
I would never realize it
If it became my quest
I could not recognize it
This soft aching in my chest
If not for life’s small heart-aches
Or the tear upon my cheek
Happiness is waiting
Even as life’s sorrows speak
It comes in tender whispers
In a kind touch or a smile
It sweeps across an azure sky
To brighten weary miles
It drops in sudden sparkles
Fragments tinged with hope and love
It comes in songs and flowers
Heaven’s laughter from above
It shines in childish innocence
And fills our hearts with glee
For happiness is something
Living inside you and me


Janet~

I just know it made someone happy to think
maybe Mom wouldn't notice
that the last item on the grocery list wasn't her hand-writing!!!

Quiet

We are quiet now
The day has had its final word
And all that there is left of it
Are its shadows, blue and blurred

We are quiet now
The stars in sequined splendor reign
My heartbeat next to yours
Needs no utterance to explain

We are quiet now
The deeds we’ve rendered to this day
Are like small seeds in the ground
Eventually they’ll have their say

We are quiet now
Rivers run and dark spruce sighs
But I have heard a thousand poems
Just by looking in your eyes

We are quiet now
Nighttime rises all around
The force of mighty hurricanes
Touches us without a sound

J~

Pondering Love

If we were assured of our children’s love
As often as we tell God of ours
Tell me, would it be enough
As long as time and life endures
If the children that we hold
Would show us in the self-same measure
Their devotion, shy or bold
Tell me, would it give us pleasure
As they told us of their love
Like we tell God; would it be enough?

If our children spent the time for us
We spend upon our knees to pray
If they in all exact amounts
Gave us what we give God each day
Would we be assured of their love?
Would our cups fill and overflow?
Tell me, would it be enough
What we give God; for us below
Would we bow when light is dim
Fulfilled with what we give to Him?

Janet~

The Art of Writing

Things are made to touch
Words are made to read
If you want to change the world
Pick up a pen and bleed

Tears weep from the eye
A dry pod drops a seed
Thoughts are locked within a mind
Pick up a pen and bleed

Everyone is born
As creatures of great need
Ink is man's most patient friend
Pick up a pen and bleed

J~

I'm Sorry

‘I’m sorry’ is not a band-aid
To affix on every lie
‘I’m sorry’ bleeds from fingertips
And teardrops in your eye

‘I’m sorry’ is not a small, crass word
To remedy a failure
‘I’m sorry’ does not retrieve past hurt
A dagger to re-injure

‘I’m sorry’ with its over-use
Seems to have lost its purpose
‘I’m sorry’ does not add a ‘but’
For then its rendered useless

Janet~

Telling the Truth

These tears are not for you
They have nothing to do with your leaving
And I am not that blue
There’s no reason to be grieving
For the want of you
Believe me, it is true
No, these tears are not for you

These tears are all for me
They really are quite pointless now
Wouldn’t you agree?
But I can’t seem to stop somehow
I’m not lonely, can’t you tell
My life is actually quite swell
Dang, I never could tell untruths very well

J~

Invisible Masterpiece

As silent and stunningly spectacular
As lightning in the sky
Soundless, it’s surrender
As a falling butter-fly
Or the silver kiss of midnight dew
Crowning each blade of grass
Rib-caged, a wild and phantom spew
Erupts, like scarlet glass
But no one takes a picture
Of this priceless work of art
Or beholds in riveting horror
The carnage of a heart

J~

Observations on Love

It’s not what you tell me that hurts me the most
Though truth can be brutal and bitter to taste
It’s what you don’t tell me that cuts to the core
Without trust, love is simply a futile waste

It’s not what you do that charms me most deeply
Though love shown in action is precious indeed
It’s what you don’t do when you could embellish my weakness
That tells me you love me beyond your own need

If you think I’m in need of designer affection
I have one thing to say, and I intend no hurt
But without tender respect, you can keep your advances
Love in the bedroom begins in the dirt

J~

Farewell's Agony

Drag your fingers o’er my heart
For it will not come apart
Tease me with your wild half-grin
And that dimple on your chin

Touch me with your whispered word
Soft as weeping willows stirred
Lavish me with all your charms
Draw me closer in your arms

Trust me with your deepest grief
Love me beyond all belief
Let me linger in your eye
Oh, but do not say good-bye

Love me, love me till I cry
Oh, but do not say good-bye
Alas, I see with clarity
Love is farewell’s agony

J~

Supposition

I’d like to think that next time would be different
And in the end it wouldn’t be the same
I’d like to think maybe I’d learned my lesson
And I’d find someone new to take the blame
But as I look into the mirror, void of any hint of youth
The answer becomes clearer; cold and bitter, ugly truth

I’d like to think maybe I’d be less stubborn
And time would mellow you a little too
But life is simply history repeated
And in the end there’s really nothing new
I’d like to think that next time I’d be much wiser
But youth has barred the door;a heartless miser

Janet~

Healing

Memories bleed in profuse silence
From the wound within her chest
Love has shattered her resilience
This is heartache at its best

Tears are but a tiny hemorrhage
Of the gulf tearing within
What can bind a wretched heartache?
But to forgive and love again



J~

Spectacular Silence

Little did you know as you walked by
You tore her heart from her chest
With the blink of an eye

You touched it for a moment; a trite distraction
Ignoring the aftermath
Wrought by rejection


You did not hear the deafening sound
Of hope erupting
In spectacular heartbreak, to the ground


J~

Vexed

In the generosity of moments
I have held you close to me
Just to touch the poet’s torment
And the dreamer’s misery

On a rainy night in April
I still see you walk away
One among a-thousand people
In a mass of painted gray

Now I hold its bitter token
Like a shell without a sea
All those words we should have spoken
As I held you close to me

There are no solitary moments
The end of one leads to the next
But there are solitary torments
That can leave us deeply vexed

J~