Questions......

Will this earth be a better place?
Because its door-step I did grace
For a brief pittance of its span
Will there be a better man
Because of something I have done?
Or are these mere moments in a sun?
Will they miss me; will they weep?
Or whisper, at last she is asleep!

Janet~

Barricade......

Trees, you beautiful trees
Swaying in the morning breeze
Flowers, bright flowers, fit for a king
How you make a sad heart sing
Grass, green carpet of wanderlust
Covering acres and acres of dust
Hills, rolling hills, above rivers so blue
Sometimes I pause to gaze at you………………

………..wretched trees, wretched flowers
Wretched fields, wretched grass
Wretched breeze blowing
Over moments that pass
Wretched hills, wretched highway
Wretched water so blue
Wretched barricade
Between me and you

Janet~

Strong Enough............

I try not to,
But oh, my dear
Every now and then
I shed a tear
I'm blessed and I know it
But this time of year
I can't help but wish
That you were here
I try to be strong, love
But I guess you know
I'll never be strong enough
To let you go

Janet~

With Our Eyes.....

With tongue we speak, with hands we toil
With feet we walk and run
With lips we smile as we relive
Sweet moments in the sun
With arms we hold our loved ones close
With hearts we dearly love
With ears we hear the thunder roll
From darkened ports above
And with our eyes we see all this
And with our eyes we sleep
And with our eyes we shed our tears
Oh, with our eyes we weep
We weep for sorrow and for joy
In triumph or defeat
We weep in love and loneliness
A language bittersweet
We weep for loved ones out of reach
Or in life’s tug and pull
We weep in longing, loss and grief
Or when our cup is full
With hands we toil, with arms we hold
With lips we smile and kiss
With ears hear, with hearts we love
With minds we reminisce
But with our eyes we share our souls
The baring of the deep
With our eyes the ocean’s roll
Oh, with our eyes we weep

All Rights Reserved
Janet Martin

Treasure...........

We cared once for things as these…………
The mighty ships, the wood of trees
Skyscrapers, bridges, the tower and plane
The high and the lowly, the quest for gain
We sought for answers, and meager delights
We worshipped; but One knows where we set those sights
We cared about beauty; the youthful and bold
Before cheeks were pallid and eyelids cold………..

Once, we strolled the golden sands
Controlled by duty and demands
Of great import these rulers then
We dreamed; revered the goals of men
Once, life held the master key
To hope and opportunity
We cared so much for much it seems
Yet all is naught as twilight gleams

We sought once for things called things
Believed in happiness of kings
If we could hoard of things, enough
And be the lord of all our stuff………..
How paltry now its measure lies
As we gaze upward at the skies
How futile, this brief earthly quest
If we believe earth holds life’s best

All Rights Reserved
Janet Martin


What good is it for a man to gain the whole world,
Yet forfeit his own soul?
Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? Mark 8:36-37

Sleepless..........

Tonight, as you lie down to sleep
Pray tell, what are your thoughts
Do you ask God your soul to keep?
And if sleep should be hard-sought
Who is the one you think about?
Where do your memories stray?
Is it to someone close to you?
Or someone far away
And as you think about this one
Does a smile tease your sigh?
Or does your heart feel like a stone
As you try not to cry?
Tonight, as you lie down to rest
Oh, who will cross your mind?
Is it those who love you best?
Or one you’ve left behind?

Janet~

Serenaded............

Tonight you’ve come to sing to me
A sad and lonesome melody
Not sung by wind or barren limb
Not sung by her nor else by him
The notes that drift across the moon
Bear a melancholy tune
It brings a teardrop to my throat
Yet comforts me within its note
I’ve never heard a song like this
Bittersweet and tender bliss
High, then low the baton falls
In its flow an echo calls
From the faint, far-folded mist
I am serenaded, kissed
As the evening fades away
In a grand, soundless display
Like a phantom symphony
Silence; how you sing to me

All Rights Reserved
Janet Martin

November's Garden.....

A garden full of nothing…..
It used to be in bloom
She’d bask where nature’s passion
Shed her glory in full bloom
But that was before cold fingers
Stripped the last brave buds away
Still…..she comes and lingers
In the silence cold and gray
As she hears the tender echo
Of a summer passing by
And a little jolt of sorrow
Brings the teardrop to her eye
In a garden full of nothing
Where the flowers used to grow
Where the children loved to wander
And the laughing winds would blow
Where the blue eyes of September
Smiled a sweet and lazy sigh……..
Ah, the garden of November
Is a soulful lullaby

Janet~