Solitude

You tip-toed across my mind today
In your soft and subtle style
I posed a well-versed soliloquy
I think I saw you smile
Then before I could touch your hand
Or beckon you to stay
You disappeared into the sand
Without a word to say
The waves lap on the timeless shore
The tides still ebb and flow
But I can’t see you anymore
My dear, I miss you so

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Janet Martin

March of Time

Tonight, before my eyes half-shut
Twixt day and twilight shade
Across the glimmering field of time
There marched a strange parade
As echoes of a laughing child
And voices from my past
Drifted from the grey-blue cloud
In lengthened shadows cast

Where mother calls ‘it’s time for bed’
And children cry ‘oh, no’
And father kindly clears his throat
But we knew it meant ‘go’
And I could hear the night-birds call
As day to rest is laid
When suddenly I feel I’m in
This black and white parade

I hear the echo in my voice
As I say ‘time for bed’
And children still reply ‘oh no’
While mother nods her head
In the dusk the night-bird calls
And history is made
While I am caught a mother-child
Within this strange parade

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Janet Martin

The Bearer of Love

The bearer of good news knows the joy of its thrill
The bearer of sorrow knows tears
But the bearer of love knows the depth of them both
In its highs and lows through the years
For love is the bearer of sunshine’s sweet kiss
The laughter of blooms in the spring
But in its good measure I would be remiss
Not to speak of the pain it can bring
For the deeper the comfort and pleasure of love
The deeper the anguish it holds
The deeper the root the deeper the tug
As its leaves turn from green to gold

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Janet Martin

Anonymous......

I saw in the bloom of a half-kissed day
The flicker of you drifting ‘cross my way
I felt you shiver in the cool of the air
The brush of your hand in my morning prayer
I turned to touch you in the mist of grey
But you had softly slipped away

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Janet Martin

I Love You Because.......

I love you because I yearn for the aching
The thought of you puts in my chest
I love you because in the chances I’m taking
I’ve tasted the best of the best
I love you because when I’m famished and lonely
You fulfill my desire
I love you because, my dear you’re the only
One who can truly inspire

I love you because in the glimmer of midnight
When the entire world is asleep
I can re-live and I can delight
In all of the memories we keep
I love you because in my sadness and sorrow
I feel your comforting touch
And I can go on and face my tomorrow
Because I love you so much

I love you because, as the trees drop their garments
And another year passes by
It will be filled with our special moments
Each whisper, each touch and each sigh
I love you because you have made my life sweeter
Than I ever dreamed it could be
I love you my darling forever and ever
Simply because you love me

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Janet Martin

Awakening......

Many have stirred the heart of this girl
Many have heard her laughter
Many a memory like priceless pearl
Hangs from the dim-lit rafter
Many have danced in retrospect
Across the brimming pages
As she fondly recollects
A thousand silent stages

Many have held her quavering hand
And softly urged her forward
While many others helped her stand
When life’s wind pushed her backward
And many have touched in some dear way
A mile upon her journey
Painting on her canvas grey
Another tender memory


Many a smile has graced her lips
And many a prayer has lifted
Beyond the blue moon as it dips
Beneath the shadows drifted
For many have touched the heart of this girl
But only you, my darling
Drew back the curtain to a world
Where I awoke, a woman

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Janet Martin

Pervasion....

In the pale and softening sky
In the willow lullaby
In the green field bathed with dew
I think of you

In the scent of every flower
In the breathless midnight hour
In my silent, solemn rue
I think of you

In the tears that softly glisten
In each echo as I listen
In a vault of endless blue
I think of you

In each love-stained memory
In each wave upon the sea
In the sun-set’s fading hue
I think of you

As I look up to the moon
As I hear love’s mournful tune
As I wish upon a star
There you are

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Janet Martin

A Better Me

When you look at me with that light in your eyes
The color of love and summer-blue skies
I’m caught in your gaze and suddenly
You make me want to be
A better me…..

Fame holds no candle to contentment like this
Fortune is vain and so often remiss
In your eyes I’ve seen truth as it shines tenderly
And you make me want to be
A better me…….

What fairer gift could my heart desire
Than to rest in the light of an azure fire
Or sail away on this endless sea
Oh, you make me want to be
A better me…..

A better woman in all that I do
A better soul-mate as I love you
I contemplate what it is that you see
And you make me want to be
A better me

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Janet Martin