Victim.....

You beckon me to take your hand
Unwilling, I complied
You softly kiss with restless wind
Each farewell tear I cried
Then you draw my down-cast eye
Up to the wooded hill
Where ripples of your artistry
Arouse a sudden thrill
With second tenderness you brush
Your scent upon the dusk
And in this pleasant evening hush
I’m drawn in to your brusque
And yet persuasive, splendid arms
I’m not sure what to do
A victim of your cunning charms
Autumn, I love you too

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Janet Martin

Drink.......

Cold and a little bitter
When I swallowed it tasted like dirt
I should have asked for a different flavor
A drink of truth can hurt

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Janet Martin

Saying Good-bye

Seems like there is always someone or something
Saying good-bye
When I was younger, less jaded and searching
I used to cry
But now I’ve begun to realize
That it is a fact of life
Seasons, friends, loved one in time
Depart this vale of strife
Alan, I guess I agree with you
And the line in one of your songs
They should have made those tail-lights blue….
The color of good-bye and so long
Seems like there’s always somebody leaving
But what’s the use of tears
With good-byes, hello’s, I love you’s, we’re weaving
The tapestry of our years

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Janet Martin

Before Autumn.....

Before summer weeps her last hour away
Before she sleeps in her chamber of gray
Before her broad and glittering smile
Takes a well-deserved rest for awhile….
Before the meadows and wild-flower haunts
Become cold shadows where memory taunts
Before the evening drenched with dew
Bids her golden fronds adieu
Before she fades into the air
Just as if she never were……
Before we feel the dread desire
And yield to autumn’s kindled fire
Before sea-green flows brown again
Across a dull and dreary plain
Before the warm south breezes sleep
Before the snow returns to heap
Her cold blue wishes at my door
I must go and dance once more
Out beneath a trembling sky
That weeps today…..good-bye, good-bye

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Janet Martin

Summer's Farewell

I guess you noticed the way that the sun
Wept yellow love from the sky
You couldn’t resist the way that she kissed
The brook that went laughing by
The ivy that clung to the wall of cold stone
Gleamed like the light in my eye
I guess you noticed that it’s a great day
Perfect for saying good-bye

Azure and gold are the colors of love
Nature’s most tender caress
But I feel a cold wind moan from above
Beneath heavens happiness
I see the silhouette of a dance
A slow-churning quadrille of grief
A wave of despair hovering in the air
Like the flight of a wind-blown leaf

I guess you noticed the hint of a chill
Like the strain of a distant lute
Wafted upon a scarlet arm
With a mandolin and flute
And off in the distance of this perfect day
I see a blue tear in the sky
For I see you softly drifting away
In this perfect day for good-bye

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Janet Martin

Silent Good-bye

Silverly, silently you slip away
Into the night on your chariots of grey
Soundless the stead that draws you afar
Across the dark mead and beyond the pale star
Summer, ah summer, once lusty and green
Now a parched shell of what once had been

Tearfully, tenderly I watch as you go
Wantonly, wistfully; there is naught I can do
To bid you return; like the wisp of a sigh
You are gone like a friend who does not say good-by
Summer, ah summer, my bittersweet pain
I wish we could start all over again

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Janet Martin

Time Well Spent.....

Today I am just going to hold you
You grow up way too fast
It seems each time that you wake up
You’re bigger than the last
So I am going to hold you
These hours are not in vain
For you are never going to be
Quite this small again

Today I am going to hold you
And kiss your baby cheek
I’ll print a picture in my mind
Of baby as you sleep
I’ll clasp your little hand in mine
And pray that God will be
The One you follow as you grow
And see His love through me

I’ll brush your silky hair of gold
And whisper in your ear
Then may each loving prayer enfold
You; when you’re far from here
Today I am going to hold you
For I know soon you’ll be
Eighteen; with nothing left to hold
But precious memory

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Janet Martin

Wanderlust.......

Lead me through pleasant pastures today
The sky is pure blue and the earth a display
Of God’s vibrant palette in brilliant delight
Let’s cherish these hours before it is night

Lead me ‘cross these oceans of amber and rust
Beneath a pavilion of blue wanderlust
If blue has perfection then today must be
A celestial masterpiece of infinity

Lead me to the cool of the dark timberline
Where wildflowers pool in ravishing design
And the silence is broken by one tender breeze
Playing her harp in the grass and the trees

Lead me across this earth’s carpet of beauty
Freedom is cursed in the shackles of duty
It’s good for a body to just get away
Oh, lead me across pleasant pastures today

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Janet Martin