The New Year Waits..........

It waits for us in shrouds of mist
Its bowers hid from view
The old year, sadly, fondly kissed
Now sleeps beyond the blue
And in its stead a new year gleams
On hope’s translucent spires
Upon its wings we sense new dreams
New visions and desires

The disappointed tears we’ve wept
Now sleep beneath the sod
Yesterday’s failures are swept
Into the arms of God
As lovingly He wipes away
Our folly; every trace
And gives to us a brand new day
A gift of love and grace

The old year rests in history
With myriads before
Ahead we see but mystery
A vague, yet open door
On its threshold now we stand
Between the old and new
One thing remains; God’s faithful hand
To gently guide us through

Janet Martin~

When Springtime Comes Again

The bud will soon break through the limb
Now clad in frosty white
The gray sky will be blue again
And warm, this cold stark night
The storm of words can't be retrieved
And truth can be a foe
When sweeter lies which we believed
Lie trampled in the snow.......

Spite and anger strip away
The bud, tender and pure
On the ground in sad array
Its valiant seeds endure
The echo of a softer song
Drifts to me on the breeze
But we are no longer young
How trite are memories

After winter comes the spring
The season of new life
Into its zephyr we will fling
The darkened veil of strife
A brand new bud now sleeps below
The cold and morbid grain
Waiting to bloom, beneath the snow
When springtime comes again

Janet~

Art Display.....open to public

If God should spread across the sky
For all man to behold
Each moment of our year gone by
In pictures bright and bold
And if we stood to gaze upon
This cosmic gallery
To witness all the things we’ve done
I wonder what we’d see…….

Janet~

And So It Goes....

Without a sound or parting glance
It slips beyond our grasp
No farewell kiss or long slow dance
No lingering handclasp
No ‘see you on another day’
No whispered sentiment
Quietly it slips away
Its final heartbeat spent

And all that we are left to hold
Within our feeble grip
Are countless memories untold
Before they too shall slip
An echo from the distant hill
A sigh upon the breeze
A murmur when the night is still
Of moments such as these

A picture printed in our mind
Or stored within our heart
Mere moments painting grand designs
And priceless works of art
God, teach us how to treasure, then
Each moment that we hold
And love life without measuring
For soon we shall be old

A little folding of the hands
A little bit of love
Before we leave these troubled sands
For higher courts above
A little smile upon the lip
A little bitty tear
And so it goes, as moments slip
Into another year……..

Janet~

Those 'not-so-perfect' Days......

Some day perhaps
she will look back
upon this day that was....
Someday perhaps
it will not hurt
and she will smile because
some how the grief
has passed away
and all that she will see
are tiny little paintings of
a tender memory

Janet~

Almost Tomorrow....

She sat there yesterday
beside the open trunk...
Should she look in
or walk away?
Was it equivalent to…..junk?
In spite of her hesitation
she drew a piece out,
gazed at it lovingly
held it to her heart and set it aside....
this she did
again and again
sometimes she laughed
sometimes she cried
and sometimes.....
she died....a little,
the sun fell behind the trees.
the moon rose
it was daylight again
as it fell on the snow
the wind moaned
in comfort-less song
carefully she returned
each memory
back to where it belonged
those were special times........
but they are gone
she locks the trunk
the dawn is gray......
in the end....
the past is as tangible
as the wind.....
she walks away.........
life happens today
it is almost tomorrow

Janet~

Resting Assured

When hands and hearts I dearly love
Have gone so far away
I place them in Your hands, oh God
And know they’ll be okay

Janet~

The Patience of....Paper

............oh, the shoulder of a page
You never bid me hush
Here across your patient stage
The artist wields a brush
The poet speaks in words of ink
Life's passion, joy and fear
On your shoulder, I may think
Or shed a secret tear
You never tell me to depart
You simply hear me out
You have worn my heart of hearts
Desire, love and doubt
And if perchance I should request
Another hour from you
You offer me your very best………
A patient page or two

Janet~

The Fact of the Matter Is.....

Words spoken....
Keep walking
Words written....
Keep talking

Janet:)

Lord Byron lived from 1788-1824
(author of The Dark Blue Sea)

Warm Details...........

When winter seems long…….
Too long and it has scarcely begun
With its cold blue lips drawn
Over the sun
I recall details of a warm summer day
To chase frigid shadows of winter away
I recall the little brook at the foot of the hill
Meandering, chattering, when the midnight is still
The tall reeds standing like infantry
Within its gurgling melody
The delicate fringe of a pale pink dawn
Shedding its tinge on a dew-kissed lawn
The song-bird heralding the first soft light
The last star fading out of sight
I recall the fresh breeze of a summer morn
How it would tease the fields of corn
And softly laugh against my cheek
Its kiss not for the faint or weak……
I pine for the scent of a sudden rain
Washing the earth all clean again
Childish voices drifting to me
As they loll in the shade of the maple tree
The perfume of a thousand blooms
Wafting through airy living-rooms
Windows wide-open to catch the sound
Of summer’s midnight coming down
A thousand crickets serenade
This hallowed hour, heaven-made
When winter seems long……..
Too long and it has scarcely begun
I recall the moments soaked in yellow sun…..

Janet~

Sonnet of Winter..........

The grapevine o’er the lintel
Has lost its russet glow
The pergola in the garden
Sits vacant, in the snow
The little child of summer
Sleeps soundly in its bed
Lulled by the moaning of the wind
Through stark trees overhead

The ship waits in the mooring
The sea, a frozen plain
No wave or warm wind luring
It from its port again
Across the field of daisies
A chilling sonnet blows
Where once the breeze was lazy
Now the shroud of winter glows

No tiny bud or blossom
To grace the barren limb
Upon earth’s frigid bosom
The light of day grows dim
Night draws its cobalt curtain
Before the day is through
In deeper shades it crowns the earth
Transforming white to blue

The dusty lanes of summer
The long, slow afternoon
Have fled to greener climates
Beneath a gentler moon
The sun-drenched haunt of August
A cold and silent shell
The world, a listless canvas
Where a sea of snowflakes fell

Janet~

Yesterday I donned a pair of skis, left the beaten track,
Got lost in a world of white, silence and memories……
In one hour the sky turned from a colorless grey-blue
to coral,deep pink,purple, and then a solid rich navy blue.....