The Sound of Silence

The silence speaks profoundly
Of those things I cannot see
Its echo falls around me
In discordant harmony

A kaleidoscope of smiles and tears
Of greetings and good-byes
A wave of long-forgotten years
Returns in sudden sighs

The silence teams with memories
Of sorrow and delight
Its cadence weeps upon the breeze
And fills an empty night

The silence falls around me
Like moonlight on the stones
Your name softly surrounds me
In its muffled undertones

J~

Stirrings

The glint of blue in your half-closed eye
Teasing with possibility
The hint of you indulging my sigh
Stirs the poet in me

The persona you share from nine to five
Is sharpened for others to see
I prefer the free and easy side
To stir the poet in me

I prefer you in the shadow of dusk
As daylight falls into the sea
And the night air is heavy with mystery and musk
To stir the poet in me

The public receives your wit and your charm
You move me unwittingly
By the light in eye and the warmth of your arm
Stirring the poet in me

Save your strength for requirements
I love your vulnerability
And all your unformed sentiments
Stirring the poet in me

J~

Another Kind of Gardening

God reveals truth in a garden
The seeds we plant will grow
So it is with life, my darling
We simply reap what we sow

Janet~

Of Planting-time and Gardens

It is a different world out here
Where dreaming over-rides despair
Illuminated miracles
Spoken in green oracles
Of planting-time and gardens

Is there a spot in May Unpainted?
Ah, surely there is naught yet tainted
By the withering, scorching sun
No weed to blight earth’s stirring throne
Of planting-time and gardens

I cannot cling to brimming youth
Or brush away infallible truth
But year after year and world over world
God’s compassion is unfurled
In planting-time and gardens

Janet~

Enlarged

The night enlarges
Commencing, fold over fold
Over magenta and oranges
Burnished pinks and gold
Drawing me into arms
Of darkened after-light
No hint of its crimson storm
Touching the silent night

The night expands; empty
As the laughter of lost love
And faded intimacy
Haunting the blue above
It falls like careless rain
Unaware of its power
A flood of perpetual pain
Shattering the quiet hour

The night envelopes the places
We touched with childish feet
Though time steals away the faces
Memory is savage and sweet
The night is large; surrounding me
Yet offering no consolation
But to put its dark arms around me
In a dispassionate obligation

Janet~

Pioneers

We live in a cradle of blood-shed and tears
Where our forefathers bravely fought
To protect and preserve the things they held dear
With more than a passing thought

They did not seek out the comfort or ease
The joy of a pleasant ride
But they held on to what they believed
With faith and God and pride

And here in the dust of a stranger’s land
They carved a niche of their own
With blood and tears and the work of their hand
They built little plots of home

We live in a cradle of horror and hope
As history seems to repeat
How far would we go in the name of love
To protect and honor and keep

…the faith for which our forefathers died
And left the things they loved
Giving, with the future’s children in mind
The very best they could

Janet~

Slipping...

The wind slips over the garden
A dry leaf slips over the mead
Daydreams slip into the twilight
A star appears far overhead
And you slip into my memory
As a little-bitty tear is shed

Moments slip into the moonlight
A soft mist slips over the hill
I’m drenched in sudden realization
Time slips by of its own free will
A teardrop slips from my musing
Into the night, reverent and still

Comfort slips over my shoulder
As longing slips out in a sigh
Suddenly I feel much older
As I sense the time slipping by
I slip my hand over your memory
Night slips into the sky

Janet~

I cannot believe it is two weeks
since my friends moved to Nova Scotia.
I miss them

Undeserved

In spite of the fact that I’ve soiled and scarred
The day You have previously given
Still You give to me so pure and unmarred
A brand new day from Heaven

In spite of the fact that I’ve used and abused
The gift of opportunity
In patience you choose not to refuse
A brand new day for me

In spite of the fact that I repeat my mistakes
In spite of my good intentions
You reply with a brand new day
Of my folly You never make mention

In spite of the fact that I do not deserve
The blessing that continues to pour
You do not hold Your love in reserve
But simply love me more

Janet

You

The meadow may claim the meandering brook
As it chatters on to the sea
It holds the fern-brimmed bank, the bird
The wild crab-apple tree
And over its lap the breezes croon
A lonesome melody

The sky may boast of thunder-cloud
Or clouds like wooly sheep
The glorious shades of heaven spills
Across celestial deeps
Its moon and stars may serenade
The earth while children sleep

The tree may claim its leafy crown
The sea a vault of blue
The flower boasts its rare perfume
And every brilliant hue
But I will never envy them
For I’ve got you

Janet~