Invisible Choir

It trickles from the willow limb
And whispers in the briar
The melody of winter's hymn
Sung by a faceless choir
An anthem tuned by sun and wind
In perfect harmony
While breakers add a distant blend
Of murmurs from the sea

It laughs upon the frozen girth
Of January’s palm
Played by instruments of earth
Yet without string or tongue
Its chorus spills in silver tones
Too grand for mortal choir
High, then low it lilts and moans
A holy, heavenly fire

Across the silent earth it spreads
In low and mournful lay
While reverently we bow our heads
As if to weep or pray
But then its tempo lifts and swells
In songs of victory
Sweeping up from haunts and dells
Across the frozen lea

Come; lay aside your tools of spoil
Admittance will be free
To he who pauses in his toil
To hear its melody
Timbre of immortal strain
Devoid of word or meter
Composed by He who rules the wind
And natures perfect choir

Janet~

On 'What Might Have Been'.....

Life hath not raised mighty men
Like tall and stalwart tree
By fate of what might have been
Or what is to be will be
The man who stands at his life’s end
With valor and with pride
Is not by what might have been
But is because he tried……..

‘He may have fought, he may have won
If only ‘this’ had been……’
‘Too early set the evening sun’
‘The hill was tall and mean’
‘Too swift the enemy approached
To weary then was I’
Behind a wall of fear he crouched
Too proud even to try

Life gives to he who will not bow
Subjected to defeat
But puts his hand back to the plow
Wiping away his sweat
He does not say what might have been
Had he done that or this
He gives the very best he can
And only sees what is…..

Life hath not raised mighty men
Behind a cowards tongue
Stammering what might have been
If he again were young
True men look life in the eye
With grit and honor keen
True men never will rely
On what might have been

Janet~

The Lovely Rose

You will be a lovely rose
I see within the bud still closed
Potential for all that life may bring…..
My dear, you are a lovely thing

You will be a sweet wild-flower
Grace some lowly shaded bower
With the sunshine of your smile
You will brighten someone’s mile

You are still a tender sprout
But I can see without a doubt
The beauty waiting to unfold
Blue-eyed with a ring of gold

You are such a lovely child
Pure, innocent and undefiled
You will be a lovely rose
In the bud, your beauty shows

God help the cold brute who would dare
To trample you without a care
God help those who would revile
The perfect beauty of a child

Janet~

Regarding Castles...

With dust man builds
His castles to the sky
One gust and years of labor
At his footprints lie

With trust man loves
And feels like a king
But lust and lies
Destroy years of building

With hope man re-builds
His dreams of sod
Here go I,
By the grace of God

Janet~

Don't Leave Me Yet......

Don’t leave me yet…
There are forget-me-nots along the shore
We need to pick
And dreams to dream along a path
We have not wandered
And moments in which we may laugh
And some we have not squandered
In our quest to hold back the hovering
Of a shadow overhead
But can’t you hear me whispering
Don’t leave me yet……

Don’t leave me yet
My hand is cold without your touch
The tears we shed, because of time
Don’t seem to matter much
But there’s a tree up on the hill
We need to lean against it still
And you’ll tell me a thought or two
And I will answer, I love you
As shadows gather overhead
I softly murmur
Don’t leave me yet…….

Don’t leave me yet
The hours pass too quickly away
As faded dreams lower their heads
And verdurous fields turn gray
But still I plead for one more day
Ah, one is not enough
Nor is eternity
When it comes to love
I see the petals fall and sleep
Upon a silent bed
I cannot help but turn to weep
Don’t leave me yet……..

Janet~

Thoughts of a Loved One......

No sound of footsteps on the floor
No tender arm around me
No slight creaking of a door
How is it that you found me?

My eyes are open wide as day
I know I am not dreaming
I cannot turn my face away
The silent air is teaming.......

.....with images and memories
and whispers soft and low
How is it that you come to me
Within the twilight’s glow?

For how with door and shutter drawn
And bolt and lock in place
How is it that I look upon
Your kind and lovely face?

Too long, too long I've missed you so
I draw your arms around me
Tell me dear, I need to know
How is it that you found me?

Janet~

The Last Time....

There is no way to cherish
Or even recognize
Our ‘last’
If we knew when it would come
We would hold the moment fast…….
But it slips from the tips of our fingers
Lost in the sun
And only its melody lingers
When it is gone

I didn’t know it was going to be
Our last dance
Beneath that deep blue sky
I didn’t know when we said hello
We would never say good-bye

I cannot keep in treasured vaults
The 'last' of everything
Somehow I always believe somehow
It will happen again

Darling, today I hold you close to me
For darling, you and I both know
There is no guarantee
That we will ever have this chance again
So let’s have one more dance again
For how can we know
When a final dance has passed
And we pause in the after-glow
Of what turned out to be ‘a last’

Janet~

The First Time...........

There never can be another
first time...........
It's intriguing thrill and mystery
cannot be re-captured by returning
again.....
and again.

We remember some 'first times'
as if they were yesterday...
for others, too many tomorrows
seem to be in the way..........

The words of a song wash over me
in heart-wrenching ecstasy
for there can never be
another 'first time'.......

The sun still rises.....
The moon and stars have returned
to their designated stations....
and we
continue on to pre-ordained destinations.....

There will be other firsts........
some forgotten, some never remembered....
The first time............
There shall never be
another 'first'
to replace the one
we know..........