They Found Him

He was eighteen
He thought he would run
Into the grand world
To have some fun
Away from the do’s and the don’ts, reprimands
Ah, freedom where no one could restrain his hands
But he forgot about one crucial thing………….
His mother’s prayers……..
And they found him
Every day wherever he would go
He was never alone, you know
Oh yes he was young, and yes, he could run
But there was one thing
He had not counted on
His mother’s prayers
Would not leave him alone
Run fast my child, run far, anywhere
You will never be able to out-run a prayer


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Janet Martin

Before You.........

She can never go back to who she was before……
Before hands shaped her and molded her into who she is now
She can never go back…nor would she choose to
For then she would not have known you………….

She can never go back to the beginning again
Before your words became part of her frame
Or before you gave to her a new point of view
She can never go back to……...before you

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Janet Martin

Life Lessons..........

Oh, do you remember when you cried all night
As you watched your red balloon disappear out of sight
Into the sky a little red dot
Until nothing remained…….but hope

Oh , do you remember the time you cried
At the song ‘good morning, beautiful’ because you hated it
We chuckled at your out-raged, five-year-old voice
As you taught us about….. difference and choice

Do you remember the chocolate pudding all over your face?
As you told me you didn’t even have one tiny taste
While I tried not to laugh at those big eyes of blue
And I had to teach you about…….truth

Do you remember the time we took a little drive?
Because someone needed to apologize
There is never a good time for unkindness
And we both learned a little about…..forgiveness

So many life lessons, so much to learn
While we teach our children, God teaches us in return
Laughter and tears, both are gifts from above
As God teaches us….about love

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Janet Martin

And I Love You.....

My dear, I fear tonight the wind is low and bold
Its song a moody serenade, blue, foreboding, cold
I should be discouraged as I hear its plaintive tune
But I am still quite happy….. for I love you

My dear, tonight the clouds release a flood of iron tears
Each one could represent one of a thousand fears
I suppose I should be saddened and feel a little blue
But, my dear, I cannot, for I love you

My dear, tonight I am here and you are miles from me
But the same rain falls on you dear, from the same gray sea
The same wind moans the same sad song, yes, it is true
The road, my dear is not too long….and I love you

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Janet Martin

The Trouble With Truth....

I can dance all around it and try to avoid it
Invent lies to take its place
But no matter how clever the ruse or endeavor
It eventually stares me in the face................

I can rearrange it and constantly change it
Re-phrase every sentence I write
But I may as well face it instead of erase it
For the truth visits me every night

I could write prose as sweet as a rose
With never a thorn or a tear
But what good are lies, just a fickle disguise
Until the truth re-appears

I can dance all around it and try to confound it
But I have learned in the end
I will still need to face it for naught can replace it............
And truth is both foe and friend..................

Janet~

They Call Her 'Slut'

She came home from school
As hungry as could be
Mommy wasn’t home
So she just watched TV
What’s a little girl of ten
To do all alone, anyhow?
Mommy seems to be late…..again
…….she’s used to that by now
..and Daddy? She never knew him

Supper is a bag of chips
A lukewarm can of pop
She wonders where her mother is
Should she call her shop?
Last time she tried she wasn’t there
They told her she went home
Surely she will soon be here……..
It’s quiet here alone
…as she suddenly wonders about Daddy

A twelve year old sure knows a lot
About what to get and where
She knows just what to say…….or not
When mother isn’t there
But there’s a group of kids that meet
Over on the next block
They just hang out on the street
Until ten o’clock………
….and they talk…a lot

Fourteen……mom seems busier
Now than she was then
That crazy corporate ladder
Doesn’t seem to have an end
But that’s okay, she’ll be fine
She’s learned a thing or two
She is no longer eight or nine
There’s things a girl can do
…….to be loved again

The street feels like her second home
It’s full of so-called friends….
It sure beats being home alone
Besides….they understand…
….the silent and unwritten codes
The lonesome hunger but……..
Success hurries by….turns up her nose
And mutters……. ‘little slut’
....'gosh, I need to be at work in five minutes!!!'


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Janet Martin……….

November's Song......

You toss across the earth today
A somber cloth of silent gray
No more the gleaming topaz eye
Where bluebells laugh beneath your sigh
You must make your presence known
In the color of a stone

Sing your gloomy lullaby
To the dreary passer-by
Sing your morbid sonnet, then
I know you cannot remain
You’re allotted thirty days
Before you slip into Time’s haze

Silent is November’s dawn
As she breathes across a lawn
That has become a sort of bed
Decked in russet, gold and red
Her tear slips from the barren peak
As it trickles down my cheek

Janet~

Tomorrow......

Tomorrow will be too late
To go back to before today
Let’s take this moment, make the best of it
Before it slips away
No matter how hard we may wish to try
No matter what words we say
Today is as untouchable as the sky
When it becomes yesterday

Janet~