Education............

I learned how to crawl and I learned how to walk
I learned how to listen and I learned how to talk
I learned how to get up after a fall
I learned how to love without trying at all
I learned how to add, multiply and subtract
I learned how to read, how to write…..even act
I learned how to laugh and I learned how to cry
But I’m still learning how to say good-bye

~Janet~

Looking Back.........

We all have treaded that beaten path
The one we call ‘looking back’
As we silently gaze at the weathered maze
And the echoes along its track
Perhaps tis with tears we recall bygone years
Or with the trace of a smile
We hear the knell of that distant bell
Drifting across each mile

We recall the joy of a girl or a boy
The music of carefree laughter
Yet there’s nothing to say as it fades away
For we do not know until after
The years have met with cheer and regret
Then suddenly we realize
The undeniable truth; our childhood and youth
Are a faded paradise

So let’s cherish today; try to find a way
To make it the best it can be
Then as we look back across this track
To hear its melody
Though our hearts may ache they will not break
As its music stirs our mind
And we pause to look back across the track
Of moments we’ve left behind

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Janet Martin

Equality........

Today the cobalt wave
Which sweeps across the sky
Is hovering above
The lawn where carpets lie
The summer branch relinquishing
Her fair and leafy gown
No gain in distinguishing
The red leaf from the brown
They slumber now upon the grass
Where all the endless seasons pass………

Today the lonely grave
Lies still beneath a sky
Where heavens wind and wave
Each croons their lullaby
Human breath relinquishing
The ranks they held before
In death there’s no distinguishing
The rich man from the poor
They slumber now beneath the grass
Where all the endless seasons pass

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Janet Martin

Rich and poor have this in common,
The Lord is Maker of them all. Prov.22:2

Some Day.........

Some day someone will wander
Across this plot of grass
Perhaps they’ll stop and ponder
The years that quickly pass
They’ll say that they remember
So very long ago
How oft they used to come here
Then the memories start to flow
As they recount carefree hours
Spent romping on the lawn
How they used to pick the flowers
And they'll ask, ‘where has time gone?’
As they peek in through the windows
Hear the echo of a day
Gathered ‘round the kitchen table
In a childhood far away
They taste the milk and cookies
Of the distant faded years
Suddenly becoming vivid
In an eye now dimmed with tears
Oh, today the house is noisy
As they dash and yell and run
And the only thing important
Is the quest of having fun
While mother wipes the dishes
And the spills, footprints and tears
Yet silently she wishes
She could slow these speeding years
For she knows as she looks on them
In their tender hour of play
Far too soon their little freedom
Will have softly slipped away
And she wonders if they’ll wander
Someday across this grass
If perhaps they’ll pause to ponder
How the years so quickly pass…………

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Janet Martin

Incredible.........

Far beyond the reaches
Of the earthbound human mind
Is the One who guides and teaches
And without Him we are blind
For what is man? yet this great God
Who holds infinity
Within his palm; knows every thought
And cares for you and me

~Janet~

I believe......

I saw it today
In the trusting gaze
Of a young child’s eyes
I heard it today
In the aspirations of a lad
And the words of the elder; wise
I felt it today
Even as the wind moaned
Obdurate and bold
I touched it today
In the fragile bloom
Clad in frosty cold
I knew it today
As we tucked
The last threads of summer away.......
As long as the earth remains
There will be night and day
Summer and winter, sun and rain
In the heart that believes
Hope lives
I saw it today

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Janet Martin

Snooze.......

Ten minute bliss
Before toes touch down
On the runway of life……

~J~

Yesterday's Story......

Yesterday’s story
Stirs images of glory
Victory and defeat
We gaze ‘cross the stages
Of yesterday’s pages
With sighs; bittersweet
But then we remember
It will soon be November
And tomorrow we’ll look at today
Simply a memory
A small piece of history
As today becomes yesterday
So we dare not waste it
We will touch, feel and taste it
Not stand here in useless worry
As we cherish the hours
Like summer’s sweet flowers
Soon today will be yesterday’s story

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Janet Martin