Chance of a Lifetime

I pause with my foot on the threshold

For I have been given the chance

To return to the very beginning

Where love was a lingering glance

But if I should choose to step over

Then I can never return

To the step on which now I hover

No matter how deeply I yearn

Here is a chance of a lifetime

To fix all my ‘should have done’s’

I can go to the beginning

And live out the lessons I’ve learned

Then why do I doubtfully ponder

A decision so easy to make?

Could it be that I sadly wonder

If I’d simply repeat each mistake?

I pause with my foot on the threshold

For now I know what I will do

I’ll simply go on as usual

We’ve come so far, me and you

We’ve learned about things like forgiveness

How love will endure if we bend

And I’d like to think we have learned, dear

How to be true til the end

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Janet Martin

This Is The Season......

When the night calmly falls as it did tonight
In a gradual fading of amber-gold light
I hear a whisper of warmth from above
Ah, this is the season of summer and love

Here in the hush of a tender deep-blue
When the west sky-line blush dons night’s darker hue
Here I am happy and sweetly content
In the season of summer and love’s misty scent

Softly and silently stars re-appear
Drawing the borders of heaven so near
While peace like a banner descends from above
Ah, this is the season of summer and love

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Janet Martin

It is officially SUMMER!!!!

WHOOPEE!!!!

Don't hold It Against Me....

Don’t hold it against me
Those things I should tell you
But somehow I never do
It seems that my memory
Remembers to tell me
Too late what I should have told you
And it is quite frustrating
When I’m contemplating
What is the correct thing to say
I think of the right words
But it really does no good
For by then you are miles away
So don’t hold it against me
When you frown at my silence
I’m better with paper and pen
If you give me an hour
I’ll write you a poem
I may think of the right words then

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Janet Martin

To Re-live a Memory

We cannot go back and do it again
It just wouldn’t be the same
For we cannot re-live a memory
Though many have tried in vain
The first time is what made it special
Now no imitation will do
For no one can re-live a memory
And still have it feel brand new
We cannot re-write the chapter
And live like it’s never been done
We would simply be foolish actors
Recreating a moment that’s gone

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Janet Martin

Collections....

I like to collect things
Little things preferred
I store them in a secret vault
Each time my heart is stirred
The little twinkle in your eye
As you softly reflect
The little half-breath of a sigh
Are some things that I collect

The little whisper in my ear
The little ‘I love you’
The little baby’s tender kiss
Make my collection too
Little dandelion bouquet
Little children’s laughter
Little poem on my birthday
Are treasured ever-after

Little foot-prints in the sand
Little tears of sorrow
And the warmth of little hands
Such strength from them I borrow
Yes, I like to collect things
Little things preferred
For I find in the little things
The heart most deeply stirred

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Janet Martin

No More.....

No more can I stroll at night all alone
Or relish its solitude
No more can I wander the fields on my own
Where even the wind is subdued
I can't climb alone, the wind-swept hill
Or watch the moon creep over the sill
Of a stark and distant horizon line
No more, since you’ve touched this heart of mine

Wherever I go, in the cool of the dusk
As the mist settles into the dell
I catch the faint luring whisper of musk
To remind me of a sad farewell
Wherever I go and whatever I do
There it is, the soft warm scent of you
I can still stroll at night like I did before
In the pale moonlight, but I’m alone no more

I see you in the face of slumbering blooms
I hear the soft breeze sigh your name
I pause in the door of a thousand rooms
But everywhere it still is the same
In the glance of the stars, or celestial deep blue
In song of the dark there’s a piece of you
No more silent nights to tear me apart
For I hear your name in each beat of my heart




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Janet Martin

If Only You Knew....

I can say ‘I love you’ a hundred times tis true
But sometimes I wonder, oh if only you knew…
Those three little words cannot tell you the whole
Of the way that you move me, both body and soul
They don’t tell of the moments where stars burned silver-blue
In the shiver and torment; oh, if only you knew…..
When I look across the room; when I catch your glance
And know what you’re thinking before you’ve had the chance
To whisper it to me; when the world lies asleep
And we laugh at the memory of the secrets we keep….
When I say ‘I love you’ does it speak to you
Of the bridges we’ve crossed and the storms we’ve been through?
Does ‘I love you’ portray the agony
I feel when you are so far from me?
Sometimes I wonder what you would do
If you could hear what I’m saying when I say ‘I love you’
The bridge spans silent waters clear blue
And there’s no way to tell you; oh if only you knew….

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Janet Martin

Dance.....

Slow motion, don’t let go
Oh you know I love you so
Life’s a slow dance ‘cross a floor
Where we can’t start over anymore….
Can I have this dance with you?
There’s no way of knowing
When our dance is through
So let’s dance, take a chance
Through caution to the wind
And dance……….

We can’t choose the music
Yes dear I know
Sometimes it’s a two-step
Sometimes soft and slow
Hold me close dear
Time’s not on our side
We cannot dance
When the music has died
So let’s take a chance
And dance……

Don’t be afraid, dear
I won’t let you go
Life’s a dance, love
I guess we both know
The music is sweeter
In each others arms
When life’s winds are cold
Love’s dance keeps us warm
So take my hand, take a chance
And dance………

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Janet Martin