Holding the Future....or....Molding the Future

He’s gonna watch you, Daddy
See what you do,
Hear what you say……
And if you’re lucky, Daddy
He’s gonna want to be
Like you someday……

Janet~

Renewal..........

Soon the harsh and cold blue landscape
will recede beyond the horizon-line
and warmer memories will escape
to stir these thoughts of mine.......

Soon the limb on the stark and barren tree
will begin to show signs of renewal and green
and all those long hours of melancholy silence
will be the tear of what once had been.......

Soon moment folding over subtle moment
forms a day, a week, a year
soon, but not too soon, the torment
of 'forever' will disappear..........

and soon all that will remain of it
in the seasons slipping by
is the height and length and breath of it
in a blue and azure sky............

Mixed Blessings

It takes the unlovely to see the lovely
To appreciate spring it takes winter’s cold
It takes the tear to cherish a smile
And loss to see what we hold....

Tis not the bloom which drops the seeds
It takes the dry and withered hull
To give there must be one who needs
And death; to live life to the full

Janet~

Unforgotten Things....

Now and then the twilight steals
An hour from the dreamers calm
Entranced by sudden phantom reels
Playing out across its palm
Suddenly the landscape rings
With songs of unforgotten things……..

….and there beneath the willow tree
And the locusts serenade
We gathered in camaraderie
Sipping ice-cold lemonade
And dreaming dreams befitting kings
Molding unforgotten things

Upon the cold and frosty air
I hear the soft and gentle tone
Of a mother’s voice in prayer
When her day of toil was done
And the night wind softly sings
Of dear and unforgotten things

I view in silent reverie
Each scene that passes one by one
Through portals of my memory
Here for a breath and then it’s gone
Until perhaps a moment brings
The sigh of unforgotten things

Janet~

When I Am Old.....

When I am old, said daughter
When I am old like you
Let me tell you, mother
What I am going to do….
I’m going to build bigger
Fly farther
Dream broader
And smarter….
I’m going to travel the whole world o’er
I’m going to LIVE!!! And explore…

Mother looked at daughter and tilted her head
After a moment she smiled and said
My dear, here is what I wish for you
I wish your wishes may come true
And you may dream bigger and build taller
Daughter, once I was much smaller
I had big dreams and aspirations too……
when I was young….
like you
But then I grew
.....and I had you
and all my dreams came true...
I built bigger,
Flew farther
When I became.....
a mother

Janet~

Over a Cup of Tea.....

This is no ordinary event
When we share a cup of tea
This is the portrait entitled ‘content’
And moments that form history
For over a cup of our favourite blend
Be it chai or simple earl gray
Are the priceless moments shared with a friend
Over a cup of tea

Here we can share the moments of life
Between each comforting sip
We share our victories, our sorrow and strife
As some wee flowered chalice we grip
Moments flavored with lemon or mint
Chamomile or wild berry
Become rare memories heaven-sent
Over a cup of tea

Over a cup of tea we delve
Into matters of the soul
Sharing little pieces of ourselves
Yet, in it becoming whole
We speak of our children, our hopes and our fears
Dreams of what yet may be
Flavoring the moments with smiles and tears
Over a cup of tea

Over a cup of tea we restore
Our faith in fumbling mankind
Many like us have come before
And many will follow behind
Yet with every challenge that life may send
I pray there will always be
The moments we may share with a friend
Over a cup of tea

Janet~

Hi Lucy……
It was easier to rhyme ‘friend’ than sister…..
All I could come up with for ‘sister’
Was ‘mister’ and kissed her’…..
And THAT would have taken this poem on an entirely different course!!!!
And after all ……
A sister is most surely the dearest friend on earth!!
Love and prayers,
Thank-you for the tea last night,
It was special.

Retrospect......

Lay down your timbrel, violin, flute
Blow out the candle tonight
There is no music when the spirit is mute
No flickering whispers of light

But here in a cradle of mournful desire
I savor a tear and a sigh
There is no warmth in a loveless fire
No dream in the down-cast eye

We yearn for the freedom and tenderness
Of love's unbridled laughter
But here in the cell of retrospect
Silence weeps from each rafter

Janet~

Irreplaceable You.....

Of all the hands which I have clasped
Of all the love’s that I embrace
Of all the moments I have grasped
There is none to take your place

Of all the love songs I have heard
And all the moments thought can trace
Never have I quite been stirred
As then; no one can take your place

As shadows sprawl across the eve
Blotting out your lovely face
Silently my heart will grieve
There is none to take your place

Janet~

Bookmarks......

I placed a bookmark there
Between the pages where
I knew
I would need to return to
Again and again…..

Echoes scrawled across the air….
I placed the bookmark there
On pages stained
With smile and tear
To contemplate
Not what we have lost
But what we have gained……..

I placed a bookmark there
Words, like whispers in the night air
Bind the pages of memory…
I placed a bookmark there,
You see……
For I return to remember
What I want
And want not to be……..

Janet~

Play It Again.....

Play me that song love, play it again
Take me back to the moment when
Love was a meadow, a daisy-strewn floor
No wolves howling at the door…..

Play me that song, love, over and over
I was a maiden and you the fair lover
We are not children anymore
And we have a love worth fighting for……

Play me that song love, a grave melody
Rising and falling like waves of the sea
Its cadence drifts across life’s sweeping shore
Oh, we have a love worth dying for………..

Play me that song love, play it again
Cradle my heart in its riveting strain
Over life’s ocean I hear it implore
Oh, we have a love worth living for

Janet~

Of Things She Loves......

She loves to be heard.....
not so much in the context of word
as in the eyes that simply say 'I know'

She loves to be held.......
not in arms seeking their own satisfaction
but in the silence of mutual understanding

She loves to be touched..........
not so much with lips or groping hands
as with profundity of written words

She stands at the shore
clinging to her satchel of faded fantasies
and dying dreams
gazing quietly across the streams
of perpetual longing...

Janet~

Second Thoughts.....

I should have fled
But then the red
Of twilights kiss captured my gaze
I should have run
The setting sun
Somehow set my mind a-blaze
I should have tip-toed out of sight
Beyond the clutches of the night
Before her fingers grasped my arm
And led me where the breeze was warm
Where winsome little shadows play
Unseen in bolder hours of day
I should have bolted but instead
Quite willingly I let you lead
Me far beyond the garden wall
Where sonnets of the midnight fall
In low and faint melancholy
Like the music of the sea
I should have torn my hand away
Before I followed in your sway
Yet, how can anyone decline
A stroll within a night so fine
I should have fled
Your lips so red
Softly turned to kiss me
I should have fled
But instead
I asked, Dear, did you miss me?

Janet~

There Will Be.....

As long as the moon in its longsuffering gaze
Melts across snow-laden fields
As long as the sun sets the earth a-blaze
As daylight to evening yields
As long as the river runs into the sea
And the wanderer sits on its shore
Humming its wild, tumbling melody
Returning to days of yore
As long as the groom still kisses the bride
And kindred and comrade cheer
And daddies and daughters stroll side by side
As long as the cloud weeps a tear
And the blue wind moans a lonesome tune
Beneath a star-strewn sky
As long as there is a day in June
Or a warm, deep night in July
As long as the ivy creeps over the wall
And the rose creeps out of its shell
As long the shadow casts its shawl
Across the wooded dell
As long as your hand fits snug into mine
Ah, surely then there will be
Music and laughter and sweet sunshine
And endless poetry

Janet~

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..........

Thankful.......

I’m thankful that we are not lost ships
Sailing on a sea
In some coincidental, cosmic galaxy

I’m thankful that we are born
Already part of a greater plan
Known by He who creates man

I’m thankful that for every sin there is forgiveness
And in every dawn
There is mercy and compassion

I’m thankful for hands
Those I hold or have held
Reminding me we live in an ever-changing world

I’m thankful for the One who remains
In spite of life’s ever-changing panorama
Always and forever, the same

Janet~

I love to send the kids off with a kiss and a prayer
And on some days, a verse…
This morning the verse was Isaiah 41:13

For I am the
Lord your God, who takes
Hold of your right hand
And says to you,
‘Do not fear; I will help you.’

….and I remembered, in spite of all
My fear and uncertainty
‘All the days ordained for me were written in a book
Before one of them came to be’ Psalm 139:16

…that, ‘because of the Lord’s great love
We are not consumed,
For His compassions never fail,
They are new every morning:
Great is Your faithfulness. Lamentations 3:22-23

…and that ‘He is the same,
Yesterday, today, forever!! Heb.13:8

To Dar......

Those tears in our eyes
The faltering of a weary hand
The darkened skies
They are not the end
But simply the reminder
Of our need for a higher Power
The Great Designer
He produces the flower
As we, the created
Adhere to our Creator
Knowing full well
He is Mediator
Twixt seen and unseen
Of what is to be
And what has been…..

Once she combed your hair
Helped you
Loved you and
Taught you to fly
Now, you return her
Gifts of love
One day at a time……
Those tears in your eye
The faltering hand
The wistful sigh
Because you do not understand
These are love’s pictures
A paradigm
Strength sent in whispers
Because of Him……..

The landscape sweeps
Beyond our view
But He who keeps
It; keeps us too
He sends those blue hills
We must climb
But holds us,
One step at a time
Though greener pastures
Draw the eye
We know that winter
Will pass by
And someday
You’ll look back and say
What a day that was
Yesterday………..

Hang in there, friend,
Love, Janet~

Poets Write Words..........

Poets write words
Of joy and sorrow
Ambitions, hurts
But as they leave
The tip of the pen
They are no longer her words
Or his, but then
The reader paints the images…..
Scattered on a floor
Shadow of a yester-year
The wind-swept shore
The lips that smiled
Or breathed a sigh
Hands held for a little while
Before good-bye
Poets write words
But on walls
Of dimly-lit corridors
Are drawings and sketches
Viewed only by he
Who paints the picture
With the words
Of poetry…………..

Janet~

Can't.......

Can't stop the rain from falling
Can't force the snow to the sea
Can't change the scene on the sky-line
Or hurry the past back to me
Can't become any day younger
Nor older a moment too soon
Can't see beyond the horizon
Or walk on the cusp of the moon
Can't dim a slow-burning memory
Can't stop the wisp of a sigh
Can't fill the feeling of empty
Can't pluck one star from the sky
Can't forget what I want to
Can't remember the same
Can't become me without you
Can't stop hearing your name……….

Janet~

Soon I'll Dance.....

Snowflakes performing
Their perfunctory swivel to the earth
Winds tossing them in
Thoughtless gleeful mirth
The deep dark blue
Of midnight’s throat
Amplifies earth’s
Dazzling over-coat
The silence creeps
Across the sky
I gaze upon
Its vaulted eye
And offer no
Caustic rebuff
To this colder
Side of love
I return its
Sullen glance…….
Soon, on fields
Of spring I’ll dance

Janet~

Perfect Silence.....

What? Is there no silence on this earth?
For e’en the silence I would find
Is broken by my very breath
Though I have sought with wearied mind
The solace of sweet solitude
Far beyond the plebian crowd
And nearly found it by the wood
But my heart was beating loud
And in the deep dark shadow-land
Still I heard soft vespers moan
Heedless of my minds command
It breathed in muted under-tone
But in the palm of argent field
Glistening in the winter sun
When my pounding heart had stilled
And all the wind had come and gone
I heard; for just one mille-sigh
The sound of not a thing at all
But sunshine, sparkling from the sky
In perfect soundless madrigal

Janet~

I Missed You Last Night.....

I missed you last night……
Friends come…then they go
Laughing into the dark sky…
Their footprints scattered on the snow…..

I missed you last night
Babies come….and then they grow
Hands waving, waving good-bye
People to see and places to go

I missed you last night
The darkness comes……too soon
Choices return to sing their songs
In raucous, off-key tune

I missed you last night
You come…..then you go
It’s so quiet; all I hear
Is the glitter of the snow……….

Janet~

Tiny Hands Joining.....

Tiny hands joining, slipping one into the next
So are days…..
One slipping over the other,
In subtle ways
Becoming weeks, months …
And years
Baby becomes little child,
Child who seems all arms and legs
Suddenly stands tall…
And there appears
A young man or woman…….
While daddy and mother work and play
The raven lock is turning gray
The smooth brow bears
A line or three
And days become
A lifetime……
Little minutes slipping
One over the other,
Becoming hours,
Days and years,
Little children grow up
And become fathers and mothers….

What have you done today,
Before your little moment slips away?
Tiny hands joining.......
Becoming the story
Of a life…….

Janet~

Intangible..........

As the painter, who cannot capture quite
The flawless beauty of a night
And the amber moon so softly glowing
A poet cannot capture quite……
Though exquisitely he writes
The wonder of God’s love from heaven flowing

Janet~

Dream On

Dream on, my girl, dream on

Too soon will come the dawn

When duty steals the dream away

And labor fills the hour of play

‘Tis good to dream while you are young…

Dream on, my girl, dream on

There’s beauty in the gleam

Of eyes that hold a dream

The future lies within your grasp

And hope within the dream you clasp

Many a bridge your dreams will spawn

As you dream on, dream on

Dream on before they lie

Beneath a purple sky

Before the force of life and love

Becomes the dream in which you move

There’s hope in every brand new dawn

As you dream on, dream on

Janet~

The Way You Are.......

I love you my dear, just the way you are
I would not ask you to be anything more
I would not ask you to be quicker or taller,
Smarter, more charming, cuter or smaller
I don’t compare you to Charlie or Phil
Wish you could throw like Harry or Bill
In my eyes you are a bright, shining star
And I love you just the way you are

You’re a ‘man-in-the-making’, and soon you will be
A little reflection of what you hear and see
I will not ask you to be what you’re not
You’re God’s little creation…and what you are taught
The example you follow is the one you see
I don’t take it lightly as you follow me……
And I’ll love you forever, you are my shining star
Remember, I love you just the way you are

Others are waiting to take your hand
There are a couple of things you need to understand
Some will tell you that lies are truth….
Son, remember your Creator in the day of your youth
Know what He says and what His precepts are
Then you will continue to be a bright star
God’s Word will never lead you astray
Or turn you aside into temptation’s way

And if you should fail….and I know you will
Remember, God and I love you still
Sometimes we falter and sometimes we stumble
There is grace at His altar, and our slips keep us humble
You are getting so tall; soon you’ll be a man
By the grace of God, be all that you can
I do not ask for anything more
For I love you just the way you are

Love, Mother

Janet~

Sentimental Wishes....

I wish that I could hold you
And rock you till you sleep
I’d sing about the angels
That silent vigil keep
And I would smooth your hair back
And kiss your tender cheek
I wish that I could hold you
Until you were asleep

I wish that I could rock you
And sing a lullaby
I’d sing of stars above you
A-twinkling in the sky
I’d sing of how I love you
Perhaps I’d even weep
But oh, I’d love to rock you
Until you are asleep

I wish that I could hug you
Like I did long ago
Your head upon my shoulder
Your breathe even and slow
Minutes without number
Would pass in sweetest bliss
As I would watch you slumber
And release you with a kiss

I wish that I could hold you
But that will never be
Just yesterday I told you
Soon you’ll be as tall as me
I wish that I could rock you
How soon those days are gone
But I can softly tuck you in
And say, I love you, Son

Janet~

The other night Matthew was frustrated because
it was getting late and he could not sleep.....
....little did he know what I was thinking
as I tucked the covers around him........

I Love Your Face.....

I love your face
Oh, I could trace
Its contour with my eyes closed
I know it so well
Each little freckle,
The way you wrinkle your nose
The rosy cheek
The dimple sweet
The unique shade of your eyes
The curve of your lip
As you’re ready to sip…..
The drooping as you sigh
I love your face
I softly kiss
Your ‘one-of-a-kind’ perfection
Others may see
Just a face, but to me
You are heaven’s little reflection

Janet~

The Purpose of Memories.....

God uses our memories to shape who we are
And what we will thence become
We remember when we were a lad or wee gal
We remember a childhood at home…….
We remember our youth with its pleasure and fear
We remember our victories and woe
Ah yes….we remember with a smile and a tear
Tender lessons life has to bestow

God uses our memories to teach and to guide
As we learn what and what not to do
As we recall tears that we bitterly cried
When the reaping was finally due
We remember life’s sorrow when joy was dim
And the comforting touch of His hand
As we bowed our knee and yielded to Him
Even though we did not understand

God uses our memories so we will not forget
The battles, the victories and loss
He uses the memories of harsh regret
To remind us of grace at the cross
God uses our memories to bring close to us
The presence of loved ones afar
God lets us keep our memories because
They make us who we are

Janet~

The New Year seems to evoke ‘looking back’……

My kids, from Emily to Victoria LOVE
‘Adventures in Odyssey’!!!!

One of those stories inspired this poem……

I believe ‘odyssey’ is to my kids
what Uncle Arthur was to my family
when I was a kid………

The Way We Were....

We will never be the way we were.....
There is no short-cut back to before
Before the after.......
Before we spoke....or didn't
And even if we could go back....
We wouldn't.......
Because there is no guarantee
That things would turn out differently....
We will never be the way we were
But we can be what we are
And will be.........
We cannot return to the beginning
Or see the end......
But with each new day
We can begin again......

This is Life.....

The high, the low
The ebb and flow
The giving and the taking
The calm, the storm
Chill wind and warm
The molding and the breaking
A smile, a tear
A day, a year
A dance of song and weeping
The joy, the strife….
….ah, this is life
Held in the Giver’s keeping

Janet~

Thank-you.....

You were my little 'extra-ordinary'
In my day today
Not so much by what you said
As what you didn't say...


J~

From My Window....

The air is still and yet intense
From my wee sill night seems immense
Grave, the blue and purple sigh
Emanating from the sky
Yet, He who walked upon the sea
Holds in His palm...….eternity
I look up, up and feel so small
Amazed that He sees me at all……….

Janet~

Victoria and I discovered that we share the same
‘favorite verse’……

How great is the love the Father has lavished on us
that we should be called children of God. 1 John 3:1

Wishes.........

I do not ask for understanding……
Only patience
I do not ask for knowledge…..
Only wisdom
I do not ask for healing……
Only strength
I do not ask for answers…..
Only trust
I do not ask for trophies……
Only vision
I do not ask for beauty……
Only Heaven
I do not ask for riches…..
Only enough
I do not ask for power…..
Only love

Janet~

The Unlovely..........

Mankind may love earth’s beauty
The oak, the river flowing
The towering peak, the wooded hill
The mellow breezes blowing
The fragile bud on hearths of spring
The passion of the thunder
Each single ecstasy may bring
A sigh of awe and wonder……….

Mankind may love the hand it clasps
The comfort of the moment
As he sees lights of home at last
His haven from life’s torment
Within the arms of love’s embrace
There is no realm of wanting
Gazing at each child’s wee face
Earnest, fearless, trusting

The crimson glow of twilight’s snow
The murmur of the ocean
The sacred calm after a storm
Arouses pure devotion
To love life’s gifts of excellence
Seems to come naturally
But only God can help us love
Life’s truly unlovely……….

Janet~

Hierarchy......

In dulcet tones the soft wind moans
Through dark and pine-brushed awning
The deep blue eye of yonder sky
A-thousand memories spawning
From somber lips a whisper slips
Into the midnight bower
It sirs in me a melody
Of one fair, faded hour

The sanguine lay of summer’s day
Grows faint, but not forever
The gilded kiss of August bliss
Lies just beyond the river
It seems to me that I can see
The shimmer of its splendor
In dulcet tones the soft wind moans
A love song, warm and tender

It drifts to me from distant sea
A sonnet with no pardon
Falling upon the argent lawn
And memory-gilded garden
With silvered wings its cadence rings
Across this tranquil hour
As I resign this will of mine
To its hierarchal power

Its strains portend imminent end
To winter’s frigid sorrow
The bright bloom lies in cold disguise
Beyond some near tomorrow
In dulcet tones the soft wind moans
And wraps its arms around me
A melody of reverie
I let its pain surround me

Janet~

Safe Harbor

There are moments and memories I’ll share with you
Many words I will share as well
There are miles I would gladly retrace with you
And even some secrets I’d tell….
But then there are words that are sacred and rare
Music of memories I’ll never share
Oh, you may know me and know me quite well
But there are some memories I never will tell

There are some memories I’ll keep to myself
To share them would tarnish them sadly
I keep them hidden in my soul on a shelf
And there I will harbor them gladly
Though many the moments I’ll happily share
Never will I my entire soul bare
For here and there is a memory
Intended wholly and solely for me

Janet~

If I Could Meet Me......

If I saw myself cross the street today
On my way to where I was going
Would I watch me go and hear myself say
‘Now there’s someone I wouldn’t mind knowing’
Or would I be in a hurry with no time to pause
To wave or catch my eye
Too busy with me and my life because
It’s just me, myself and I

If I saw myself cross the street today
Would I wish to get to know her?
Or would I hear my other self say
‘We’re better off without her’…….
If I could meet me unexpectedly
Which one of me would be showing?
….oh I can walk away from everyone in the world
But one; would I be worth knowing?

Janet~

Drawing.....

First she helps them hold the pencil
And together they begin
Drawing
Drawing a picture, a portrait of them……

Little hand, now fully capable of grasping the pencil
Continues to sketch; she watches them
Drawing,
Every so often guiding the precious hand….

In the pictures she sees pieces of her
in pieces of them
Yet they complete her; they are her children
And she is mother…
Drawing from them......
....and they, from her

Carefully watching and guiding the pen
Portrait of a mother and her children……
Drawing......
Pictures in the wind....

....first He helps her hold the pencil,
they begin drawing,
He watches her,
Every so often guiding her precious hand....
In the picture little pieces of Him
begin to show in her....
Yes, He completes her.....
He is the Father,
She a child.

Janet~

I Didn't Know......

I didn’t know when I was a little girl
Yellow-haired and big blue-eyed
And I would sit and stare at the world
Wonderful and wide
Wishing I would grow a little quicker
I didn’t know then that youth is a flicker,
A flash
And then it is gone
A splash
In the river, surging on
I thought time was a freight train steady and slow
An all day rain with no where to go
When I was a girl........
Oh, I didn’t know….

And I didn’t know when I was young
That childhood is a song too quickly sung
Or that love is not just a fuzzy birthday card
But that love can hurt and love can be hard...........
And dreams are a luxury afforded by youth
Before we are troubled with life’s bolder truth
And I didn’t know as I gazed past today
How quickly tomorrow is yesterday
And the lips that sigh and the feet that dance
Would soon realize that youth is a glance
Swept away in Time’s vast, misty sea
And dreams are a day that used to be……….

And I didn’t know as I sat rocking you, my dear baby
How fast you would try to be a lady
And I want to tell you about a short sweet ride
As you gaze into the blue; dreaming about being a bride
But I would never snatch your dreams away
Because soon your tomorrow will be yesterday
And you’ll sing a song in the twilight’s glow
About being young and what 'I didn't know.......
When I was a girl, yellow-haired and blue-eyed
Staring out at a world so wonderful and wide………'

Janet~

Picture: my third birthday holding
my 'fuzzy' birthday card.....
( I know, it's hard to tell:)

Dirge for the Year Departed.....

The winds have wept a mournful dirge
The seas have moaned a madrigal
The pale moon and the stars converge
To join this tongue-less musical
The hill a quiet vigil keeps
As the last fading minute weeps……

And here we gather throng on throng
In solemn, pensive reverie
The trite expression of the tongue
Cannot beckon now to thee
Slipping through Time’s misty veil
Silent beauty; ethereal

So what of fiercest tears we’ve shed
What of the dew-drop or the rose
They are as laughter of the dead
Obscure in history’s repose
All that has been again will be
Such is this mortality

Then ash to ash and dust to dust
The fair and evil quickly pass
And all the mortal gains we trust
Are temporal as the terrene grass
On this veiled porch mankind must wait
And dream and search and contemplate……..

….the purpose of this fleeting hour
The deeper meaning of it all
Life; the picture of a flower
The seed, the bud, the bloom, the fall
As one more quick year softly slips
From the whisper of our lips

Some lift their glass to lesser gods
And praise the merits of their lust
Forgetting, ‘neath their feet the sod
Waits to reclaim their wealth of dust
But wiser men humbly resign
Their dividends to One divine…..

Though winds may weep a mournful dirge
Though seas may quote a madrigal
Time and eternity converge
Somewhere beyond this darkened veil
Life does not end beneath the sod
Time is our pathway up to God…………..

Janet~

Summer Song on a Winter Night

It trickles from the starry tresses
Falls like teardrops from the moon
And its tender note caresses
With a soft and winsome tune
Drifting from each haunt and hilltop
From the pine tree robed in white
Muffled by a snowy carpet
Soulful sonnet of the night

Plaintive strain of playful breezes
Rippling ‘cross a field of green
Warm the laughing wind that teases
Boughs where once the snow had been
Scent of pear and cherry blossom
Wafting o’er a pleasant sea
Skipping now on winter’s bosom
Summer’s gentle melody

Halt the chilling gale now dashing
Unconfined by leaf or flower
I can hear a sonnet splashing
From a warm and muted hour
Murmuring from over yonder
Where the purple twilight spawns
An orchestra of warmth and wonder
Melting on the violet lawns……

Here beside the glowing fire
Some may hear the cold wind moan
But beneath its calloused ire
I can hear a sweeter tone
Singing to me hymns of summer
‘Neath a low and lazy moon
From the frigid arms of winter
I can hear the song of June

Janet~

The In-mate.....

Silently, invisibly
He unsettles the
Otherwise calm and unruffled
Meditation
Brooding, yet innocently
Masterminding
Waves of
Tormenting vexation
In the dead of night
Or soft rose dawn
Haunting, extreme silences
With an inaudible moan
While others slumber
In midnight’s palm
Without a care
This inmate murmurs
Plaintive notes
Upon the quivering
Frosty air…………..
No small thing, he
Employing idle thought
As hope and human misery
Become entangled
In a helpless knot
Through bars of light
His shadow moves
Imprisoned not by guilt,
But by his love
He pays his dues
In vexing notes
The ever-present
Muse……….
Feeding a slow-burning fire
Of reverence and
Desire

Janet~

Passage-way......

Today is the first day of the rest of our lives
All others lie dormant beneath Time’s vast skies
Or sleep in the depths of phantom seas
Tangible only in memories
Today is the first day of our here evermore
Before it slumbers forever on Past’s hazy shore

Today is the bridge to our hopes and our dreams
The moments in which opportunity gleams
Soon they surrender to coffers of dust
Moments remembered, of rubies and rust
Today is the first day of what is yet to be
On our one way passage to eternity

Janet~