By Candlelight

In somnolent whispers the daylight dies
As the moon paints her halo across the skies
Days end, nights dawn are synchronized
As two hearts beating in unison…..
I gaze at a new spheroid created
Darkness with hope syncopated
I love this gloom that once I hated
Before the candlelight gently shone…..
In eyes with golden flecks of love
Dimming the shade of infinity above
Soft mirrored glow, but it is enough
As it pierces the shroud of night
Where our secret points of view
Are melded in an amber hue
A circle of light around me and you
For I love you best by candle-light

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Janet Martin

I Need You....

I need you….
The light in my eye
The dance in my step
The half-breathed sigh
The soft-smiled lip

I need you….
I need your arms
To embrace the stars
To walk on the moon
Or dance on mars

I need you…
The trace of your finger-tips
The beat of your heart
The brush of your lips
When the day is dark…


I need you….
My morning light
My evening grey
My tomorrow
And my yesterday

I need you…..
Like a blanket of warmth
Or a sip of sweet tea
I need you….
…so that I can be me

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Janet Martin

Irony

I used to wish …….
I’d meet someone like you
I didn’t know that heaven hid
In eyes of blue
I didn’t know that syllables
Could be intoxicating
Or poems and promises could be
Grounds for love and hating
I used to wish for silences
Comfortingly profound
Where warmth and beauty spread its cloak
In shadows on the ground
I used to wish for islands in the sun
I used to wish and now the dream has come
This day of days
Should be my gladdest day
But now that you’ve come
I wish you’d stayed away

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Janet Martin

Mere Existence

Shall we cower forever in a shadow?
Afraid to fly
Or stand inside a darkened window
Gazing at the sky
Shall we live without a dream?
And never dance
Or die and never live because
We took no chance……

If I stay in the darkness
What’s the use?
I can’t soar in a dungeon
Turn me loose
If I have laughed
I’ll shed no bitter tear
Missing you will be a cross
I’ll gladly bear

Today we live,
Tomorrow we may die
Sip gladly from love’s chalice
Dance and fly
Tremble in the arms
Of life’s embrace
Lest we should live and die
Without a trace

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Janet Martin

Oblivion.....

In tattered fragments moonlight splays
In puddles on the grass
The smell of jasmine on the breeze
Taunts us as we pass
The sultry sky with turquoise sigh
Wraps her garb of splendor
On rain-drenched field and wooded hill
And heart-beat warm and tender

In the bliss of summer’s kiss
Shattered hopes are mended
Sorrow’s dread it’s tear has shed
And her dark night has ended
The strumming chords of astral lords
Herald a new horizon
Beneath a sky where you and I
Revel in sweet oblivion

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Janet Martin

Yesterday.....

There are things in life that I have held
Never meant for me
Yet I've found a warmth within them
Like a soothing cup of tea
So in spite of disappointment
As it softly fades away
I smile in calm contentment
In the joy of yesterday

I don’t believe in coincidence
There’s no such thing as chance
I believe there is a reason
For every dance I dance
And if I turn to find, alas
That you have slipped away
I’ll dance with you upon the grass
In some sweet yesterday

I wouldn’t trade the tears and pain
For pleasures living-room
It takes the sunshine and the rain
To make a garden bloom
Though petals fall like crimson tears
As roses fade away
Their scent drifts ‘cross forgotten years
And my sweet yesterday

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Janet Martin

If You Can......

I know that we can do it
You and I
It’s in the rise and fall
We learn to fly
Love is not a bridge to nowhere
Though some days so it may seem
Oceans have been conquered
By the power of a dream
I know I’m just a woman
You are just a man
But if we stand together
I can do it….
….if you can

Miles are simply numbers
On a chart
They don’t apply to matters
Of the heart
Our love may be a kaleidoscope
A blend of joy and pain
Some days it seems our only hope
Is dancing in the rain
I can feel your heart-beat
Across the timeless span
And I know in its comfort
I can do it….
….if you can

I can take the rising
And the fall
In your arms I know
It’s worth it all
To know you and to love you
Has been life’s sweetest sorrow
And like the sky above you
I will still be here tomorrow
Darling, let me touch you
Let me hold your hand
Across the miles I feel you
Oh, I can do it…..
….if you can

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Janet Martin

Maxwell and I

He wakes me up each morning

Much to my delight

He knows exactly what I need

And how to do it right

I’m a little sleepy

Until I feel his touch

His warmth flows into, through me

I love him oh, so much

Maxwell, you’re a darling

I keep you in a can

And see you every morning

To kiss your face of tan

Your deep and robust passion

Stirs me to the core

And I know that I cannot

Live without you anymore

You don’t have to worry

No one can take your place

I sip you and inhale you

With a smile upon my face

Maxwell, you’re a darling

I love your coat of blue

And in the early morning

No one else will do

Maxwell, you’re a keeper

Perfection in a can

I wonder what would happen

IF YOU WERE A MAN

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Janet Martin