Murphy's Law

Your gaze was steady
Blue-eyed and ready
The consent in your half-smile was clear
I could feel the caresses
Of a-thousand ‘yes’s’
Burning the atmosphere
Too bad you’re standing
Way up on the landing
Whilst I am a-way over here………..

Janet~

The Night of Winter..............

Daylight; softly falling
Like silvery echoes
Of children calling
From frozen meadows
In a muffled past
We trace the winding footprints
Through the long, blue shadows cast
As the moan of twilight glints
Against the moody flare
Of naked arms stretched darkly
Rigid, the wooded limb and bare
Its silhouette, sketched starkly
‘Gainst an inky canvas where
The sliver of a moon reclines
On the intricate fringes
Of the raven pines
And their whisper tinges
The bare walls of the sky
In an icy splinter
The tear becoming a sigh
For the night of winter
Is a drawn-out lullaby

Janet~

Tender Splendor

I know you meant it kindly, sir
The night that you came to me
The moon was calm
The wind was warm
Its magic blowing through me
Your hand was tender on my arm
Your voice; true poetry
I know you meant it kindly sir
The night you came to me

I know you meant each word you spoke
So free, so kind and gentle
But life had happened long ago
A firm and well-worn mantle
The moon was low
And in its glow
I glimpsed a teardrop gleaming
I wish you had come long ago
When I was young and dreaming

I know you meant each word you said
No dearer ever spoken
I'll wrap them 'round my heart instead
A timeless, precious token
Then, on some night
In pale moonlight
When all the world is sleeping
Their tenderness will hold me tight
In sentimental keeping

Janet~

Sometimes it's the pictures that finds the poem......
and sometimes its the poem that finds the picture

Lost Tonight.....

She feels lost tonight.
Craving words she cannot write
Reaching for hands she cannot hold
And holding thoughts she cannot tell...

She feels lost tonight
For there is no respite
From dark-washed silence in the halls
And whispered echoes coating walls

She feels lost tonight
No solace in mere words she could write
A comrade’s shoulder would be welcome bliss
But the wind howls, amplifying her loneliness


She feels lost tonight
As she contemplates her tethered dreams
Stretched out where one lone star beams
And her analysis is nothing new

She feels lost tonight....
Without you

Janet~

Naked Truth.......

The nakedness of truth
Is a painful thing to see
Every hollow, every curve
Exposed
Clearly
As my gaze travels across its body
It spares no pain, hides no sorrow
Though I cover it with longing
It turns a stiff shoulder
To my sad and weak excuses
Tracing the outline of harsh grief
But for my wanting and my wishes
It can offer no relief
Though I beg and moan and plead
In the end, it is no use
I cannot satisfy my need
With raw guilt and naked truth

Janet~

Wishing-wells...........

Years earlier it was I
Sitting on a blankets of dreams
Beneath a patterned sky
Whilst on the horizon gleams
The better day, the better day
Envisioned clarity
Beyond my present structured way
Its perfect form I see

Years earlier it was I
Gazing beyond the stars
Dreaming of when I would fly
Beyond my prison bars
Content in my discontent
Dreaming without a care
Before shadows of faded intent
Stretched to an empty chair

Years earlier it was I
Pressing against my skin
The silent wanderers cry
The invisible next of kin
Waiting to be embraced
Beyond the tall brown hedge
Where proper girls were raised
And starving dreams were fed

Years earlier it was I
Tossing pennies in the well
Where dreams were butterflies
And hope a blooming shell
No dead husks at her feet
Or tangled, brown tree roots
To line a silent street
Crowned with chimney flutes

I watch; she stands and stares
Through the frosty glass
I envision her unanswered prayers
In child-hood envy pass
She did not know I heard it
That restless little sigh
Yes, I know all about it
Years earlier it was I

Janet~

Revealed......

.....and there
upon the empty stage
where every scene
had passed
she wept
upon a silent page
and tore away
her mask......

and as her mask was cast aside
She looked up to see
Someone wipe each tear she cried
And heal her misery

Janet~

Poetry........

Do you read me
With eyes open or half-closed
Do you read me at all
Or do you simply see words
Strutting across a page
Stilted actors on a stage….
Like the ripples of the sea
Fading into obscurity
Or do you feel the heat
The chill
Do you hear a heart beat
When the night is still?
Tell me, how do you
Read poetry?

The essence of you
Pulses in me
Ah, this is my favorite
Rhythm of poetry
Words ebb and flow
They rise and fall
And yet sometimes
I hardly see words at all
As a mystic force
Draws me near
In a fearless embrace
And I touch your face……..
Or else I hear
The thundering rain
Pounding, washing over me
With pleasure and pain
Ah, this is poetry

An intangible blend
Of desire, repulsion, hope
Meeting friend with friend
Learning to cope
With life’s harsher reality
As smiles tease and tears flow
Fires rage, and in its afterglow
We re-trace its geography
Not with ink, but flesh and blood
Immersed in bitter-sweet fantasy
Or is it a keener sense of God?
Ah, this is poetry…..

……..to feel without touch
To weep without tears
To dance in the arms
Of faded years

Janet~