Nothing New.....

So perhaps then you think this is something new
And no one has ever felt quite like you
You love him; he loves you, incomparable bliss
Surely no one has ever felt quite like this
Well my dear girl, though I’m quite happy for you
Let me just reassure you, this is nothing new

Young love, the sparkle of life in your eye
Young love, perhaps a mother’s envy
And yet there’s a gleam that can never replace
The sparkle that glows on a young love’s face
For the fervor of love that is tried and true
Is still dearer by far, also nothing new

A broken heart hurts the self-same way
As it did in the very most ancient of day
Betrayal, regret and the sound of good-bye
Did then and will still bring a tear to the eye
Be it joy or grief that comes to me or you
The truth of it is, it is nothing new

Ships sail, birds fly, youth dreams, and aged die
We wish, we pray and somehow life just slips away
We fail, we succeed, we hope, we need
And every now and then a dream comes true
Yet this as well is nothing new

Janet~

The thing that hath been,
It is that which shall be;
And that which is done
Is that which shall be done;
And there is no new thing under the sun. Eccles. 1:9

Where the Footprints Go....

She wonders, if they all appeared
On the fresh fallen snow
What a dizzying maze t’would be
As ‘round and round they go
And if somebody followed them
Oh, would it be okay
With out any need for shame
Where all her footprints lay

At first they are so tiny
Little patterns in the snow
Following the bigger feet
And where those footprints go
Over hills of time they tread
And suddenly she sees
Instead of following she leads
Those footprints, trusting, wee

She cannot see how far they go
Or where these steps will end
But there is one thing she knows
Soon someone else will stand
Within the footprints she has left
Like tracks upon the snow
Little feet will follow them
Where all the footprints go

Janet~

Distracted............

I was going to be in a hurry today
But I got distracted along the way……….
For Someone had brushed the landscape clean
With a crystal hush and a dazzling sheen
Until everything ordinary, brown or gray
Became each their own master-piece in the most spectacular way
And the little brook, just beneath the hill
To the casual on-looker appeared silent and still
But I heard it chuckle and beckon to me
Whispering softly on its way to the sea
The limb that yesterday was cold and dull
Grinned for it knew it was beautiful
The touch of a higher heavenly hand
Can make even a twig or a sprig appear grand
And as I gazed at perfect blue up above
I breathed a prayer for each dear one that I love
Even the wind was silent and still
Too lovely the morn to bring tiding of ill
Yes, I was going to be in a hurry but then
Somebody gently said, why don’t you slow down?

Janet Martin

It really was a pretty morning if you’re
Into this kind of thing………
You know, COLD and WHITE and perfectly peaceful

Slide-show....

I stepped back….he knew it wasn’t cool to cry
And tomorrow he’d go to school with every boy’s envy
A black eye…….
I wanted to hold him like I used to do
And just let him cry if wanted to
But twelve years old and surrounded by ten of the same
Means mother’s words must hold him…… or at least until we’re home

I gazed at him…….my little boy-man
And without premonition a slide-show began
Playing in my mind…….
Hey mom, look at me, hey mom, watch this
Mom, tuck me in, don’t forget my kiss
Grubby little hugs and chubby little hands
Looking for bugs and tasting the sand
Growing bigger, but not to big to hold
Trying to do the things he’s been told
Though boys will be boys and sometimes they forget………
And after all, they are not men yet
So when did we begin to stand eye to eye?
Oh we all know that big boys and mothers don’t cry……
At least not in PUBLIC……
Oh God, only You can
See how much I love this little man
Please don’t let him see this tear in my eye
‘cause we know that mothers and big boys don’t cry………….

Janet~

Yesterday as we waited for the doctor to look at Matt's
eye, after a little mis-hap at school
suddenly I fought back tears........
as I recalled a little guy of yester-years:):)

Matt is fine and sporting a very black eye!!!
He keeps asking me how long I think it will last:):)

The Best Part.....

So maybe the landscape is not verdant green
And the sky is a little gray
Happiness lies not in what may be seen
Or things acquired along the way
Happiness lies in the hands we hold
The best part of every day

I’ll never be rich, but that is not my goal
Little is much in love
Wealth cannot bring contentment to a soul
Or music to the stars above
The best part of life is seen in the glow
Of eyes that say ‘you are enough’

We will never have all we may wish for, tis true
But they can not snatch what lives in the heart
No one can steal my love for you
Touch its ending or where it may start
Then to know I am loved in the same way too
Is most surely life’s very best part

Janet~

Commonplace Book

These were no ordinary events which she wrote there
Like notes of a harpsichord, faint and dear
Written on parchment where only she can look
At the love-stained pages in her commonplace book

For the most uncommon of things she preserved in clear ink
A rare shade of blue, the unfathomable brink
Of discovery on the edge of a long-lost brook
Painted vividly in her commonplace book

Words, spoken only once but forever remembered
Sigh of a loved one, these she surrendered
To pages where only she ever cares to look
At moments deemed noteworthy for her commonplace book

Here she writes in its truest form
Poetry; void of disguise or charm
Rendering them shamelessly where none can look
But God; at the poems in her commonplace book

Here she recalls the shades of good-bye
The music of love, the tear in her eye
Preserved eternally in a silent nook
Cherished forever in her commonplace book

Janet~

Almost Heaven..............

They traveled and regaled us with tales
Of mountains and castles and seas they've sailed
The inns were splendid, the vistas grand
The ocean green on silver sand

...we ate apples on a moon-bathed fell
it was almost heaven, but we didn't tell

Janet~

But If Only They Knew......

They ask me from time to time
If I love them as well
As I did when they were still
So very small
When I would hold them in my lap
And teach their little hands to clap
And I would clap as they would walk
And laugh as they learned how to talk
Yes, I sure did love them when they were small
…….but if only they knew
They would not ask at all

He asks me now and then out of the blue
If I still love him
As I did when love was new
And we were young
But how do I tell of a deeper thrill
By something as small as a shadow that fell
Across his face as he sat in his chair
And we say nothing at all in the soft evening air
Yes, it sure was special, that young love I recall
…..but if only he knew
He would not ask me at all

Does he wonder sometimes if I remember the day
Of the azure sky
Or the unexpected way
We passed each other by……
And all that is left is the echo of a sigh
The wish and the dream and the tear in our eye
For a day perhaps never meant to be
But was for a moment……reality
And I remember, tenderly, as the shadows fall
………but if only he knew
He would never wonder at all

Janet~