Anything.........

I would give anything to be with you
Right now
Seems as the daylight deepens its hue
Somehow
My mind returns to that silent hour
Where memory yearns for the faded flower
But nobody anywhere has the power
To bring me back to you

I would give anything to have you here
With me
And while I shed a longing tear
Reality
Is a cruel reminder of things I thought
I had left behind me, long forgot
But tonight I realize I have not
For I still miss you, my dear

I would give anything for another chance
With you
Yes I would give anything for one more dance……
…..or two
But that is not the way life is
We cannot retrieve yesterdays kiss
Or the moments that we so dearly miss
That once we gave no second glance

All Rights Reserved
Janet Martin

No John Wayne

You know we both hate all the fighting
Cruel words and slamming doors
The grievances we keep inciting
Never seems to even scores
But more than words angry or hateful
Or the bitter scars we store
I find something far more dreadful
Oh, I hate the silence more

Where do you go when we’re together?
You’re a million miles away
Gripping an invisible tether
Riding ‘cross hills cold and gray
But there’s no John Wayne come a-riding
To rescue this dame in distress
Only a long and doleful chiming
To break midnight’s quietness

We both hate the walls we're building
Yet seem unsure what to do
Before you ride into the sunset
Won’t you just try breaking through?
I strain to hear the pounding hoof-beats
Ringing out across the plain
But all I'm hearing is your heart-beat
In a silent movie with no John Wayne

All Rights Reserved
Janet Martin

okay, okay, I confess.....
I did write this so I could use
one of my REALLY COOL John Wayne pictures:)

But Not All......

I’ve known a lot of people in my time
Faces fading in and out like some strange nursery rhyme
Many a flicker, a moment or two before they pass over the hill
But then here and there I’ve known a few that never will

Echoing memories fill the garden I walk through
Blooming with faces that have long since disappeared from view
But then something stirs within me and I vaguely recall
A dance or two long forgotten, but not all……

Some days I am brave enough to venture again
Through the places where I’ve tasted the greatest pleasure and pain
And I see their faces decorate this hallowed hall
Where most have sadly faded….but not all

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Janet Martin

In My Heart

Beyond the blue
The seemingly endless blue of your gaze
Somehow I knew
Beyond your lips or the rugged contour of your face
I have held
And thus revealed an inconsolable part
As I beheld
The many ever-splendored folds of your heart
Invisible rivers
Flowing with a-thousand unshed tears
Midnight quivers
With the reality of the rippling years
Softly shedding
A misty haze across the garden wall
Yes, forgetting
Surely is the hardest part of all
As I cling
To the whispering ivy entwined in the deepest part
Of everything
I remember about us hidden in my heart

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Janet Martin

Mini-van Mama

I’m the daughter of a hard-workin’ farmer
Been married twenty years to a sweet truck-driver
I’m a middle-age, middle-class mini-van mama
Queen of the hair-pullin’, seat-kickin’ drama
Got me a house but no white-house ‘Bama
But I am proud to say…….

I’ve mopped eighty miles of hard-wood high-way
If you’re livin’ here you’re gonna do things my way
I’m a cloth-wringin’, broom-slingin’, mop-flingin’ mama
Runnin’ a tight-ship, pick up your pajamas
It’s an ‘if you dropped it pick it up’ drama
And please, just PUT IT AWAY!!!!!!.......

…….I saw her on her cell-phone on the side-walk
Leather coat, stilettos, man could she talk
Six feet tall with a red Lamborghini
Her dilemma where to buy a new bikini
But I don’t feel a tinge of envy
Oh, I’m so proud to say…

I’m a middle-age, middle-class, mini-van mama
Queen of the Sunday morning late-to-church drama
All because of the ‘nothing-to-wear’ trauma
But I’m just takin’ a break
From the broom-slingin’, cloth-wringin’, mop-flingin’ mayhem
Sittin’ for an hour singin’ glory, hallelujah, amen
Soon it’s back to the same old thing again
But I just say, hey, hey,….

I’m a middle-age, middle-class mini-van mama
Lovin’ every minute of this crazy drama
You’ve earned your Mercedes or Cadillac, Grandma
But I’m still on my way
In the seat’kickin’, insult flingin’, late again heaven
Man it’s a great day to be livin’
The best of days, queen of the mini-van
I’m so proud to say…….
Hey, hey, hey
Goin’ my way?
Shove over gang
‘cause one sure thing
There’s always room for
Just one more
With a middle-class, middle-age mini-van mama
Don’t you wish you were part of the drama?
God bless the middle-age mini-van mama!!!!!
HEY!!!!YEAH!!!!




All Rights Reserved
Janet Martin

The style of this poem was adapted
from Craig Morgan's song, 'International Harvester'.

Dedicated to all the moms who said
they would NEVER drive a mini-van:):):)!!!!

New Love

He cradles her softly in the palm of his hand
And gazes into her face
Quick and willing to heed her demand
He keeps her in his ready embrace
Softly, so softly she sings in his ear
Ready is his reply
Oh how I love you my darling my dear
The apple of my eye
Proudly he shows her to all of his friends
In envy they gaze at her form
A true thing of wonder, she’s a mysterious blend
Of talent and beauty and charm
He brushes his lips against her voice
And smiles at her various tones
He’ll never trade her if given a choice
Without her he is truly alone
Like a friend in his pocket or a sigh in his ear
He cherishes this love so new
Oh how I love you, my darling my dear
Blackberry!!! HOW I LOVE YOU!!!!!

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Janet Martin

Touching a Memory

To touch you in a memory
Is like trying to touch a shadow
I reach for you as you slip from me
Into a reminiscent meadow
For as I reach to try and brush
The tear-drop from your eye
You fade into the evening hush
Like a phantom butter-fly
And all I can see is the grass and the trees
When I try to touch you in my memories

All Rights Reserved
Janet Martin

I'm Watching You

I see the way you look at Dad
And how he looks at you
I know when you’re feeling sad
And when you’re happy too
I notice if a sigh should slip
At the end of a busy day
Or when a smile teases your lips
And I know that you are okay
Cause mom I’m watching you and mom I see
It’s mostly what you do that is teaching me

I know there are things you need to tell
Before I am all grown
But I don’t always remember so well
And we don’t learn by words alone
Although I appreciate it mom
The wisdom you pass to me
I know in the end I will become
What you do and what I see
For I hear so much more than the words you say
I hear what you do, how you live day by day

I listen a little, or at least I try
‘Cause that’s what good children should do
But I hear much more by the light in your eye
Or the tone that is shining through
I hear what you do with the words you say
For action speaks louder than voice
I hear the way you live every day
Mom, I really have no choice
And perhaps I’m telling you something you knew
But I want you to know I’m watching you

All Rights Reserved
Janet Martin

hi moms.....you know those beautiful home-made cards
your children give you.....filled with precious and
priceless words.....do you find they can be quite sobering too?