Vexed

In the generosity of moments
I have held you close to me
Just to touch the poet’s torment
And the dreamer’s misery

On a rainy night in April
I still see you walk away
One among a-thousand people
In a mass of painted gray

Now I hold its bitter token
Like a shell without a sea
All those words we should have spoken
As I held you close to me

There are no solitary moments
The end of one leads to the next
But there are solitary torments
That can leave us deeply vexed

J~

Thank-you, Dad

For that time I totaled the car
And you didn’t get mad
For the times I simply condoned
The very wise words you said
Or didn’t speak at all
And you wished I would…
But still you were patient
And understood
I thank you, Dad

For the times I brushed off
Words carefully measured
For the times I broke your heart
Not treasuring what you treasured
For all the times I’ve failed
Miserably
But you never give up on me…
I thank you, Dad

For all the prayers I know you pray
For all the wise, kind words you say
For all the things that you teach me
Not by word, but what I see
For all your patient, faithful love
As taught by a Father up above
Thankfully I bow my head
And whisper thank-you
Thank-you Dad

A Melody

The wind rushes from the sky tonight
In a forlorn melody
While flickering shadows and moonlight
Add their oblique harmony

The waves, pastel-tinted at sunset
Deepen to a murky blue
An ebbing and flowing sonnet
Of love and longing and you

The wind rushes from the sky tonight
Moving effortlessly
To draw the darkness across the light
And moments between you and me

J~

Powerless

If I could gather summer’s hours
Into baskets like wild flowers
Then I would, oh, you know that I would
If I could gather moments too
The haunting, taunting thoughts of you
I’d pluck them like wild flowers if I could

But summer is a whisper slipping by on nimble fingers
Summer is an hour, maybe two
And there’s no way to gather you or summer’s hastening footsteps
Disappearing into evenings languid hue

If I could gather summer’s twilight
And its misty, moody midnight
Then I would, oh, you know that’s what I’d do
I’d fill my arms with faded flowers
Trying to re-capture hours
That have vanished; full of moments, summer, you

For summer’s eager yearning glances by with no returning
And all that I can do is watch it pass
Like a child, restless and dreaming, racing to a twilight gleaming
Over moments tossed like flowers on the grass

If I could gather you and hold you
Kiss you, hug you, keep you, scold you
Then I would, oh, you know that’s what I’d do
But you’re eager as the summer
Dashing, leaping to the future
As I watch and smile and shed a tear or two

For childhood is a summer, far too soon its dance is over
As its echo trembles in the autumn dew
Darling, give me just one hour for I do not have the power
To hold back the summer or my want of you

Janet~

Almost Nothing

It was really nothing…
At least for a moment or two
Though it tore at my inner being
With a force, savage and blue

It was really nothing
But it left a ragged tear
On the fringe of every heart beat
To remind me it was there

It was really nothing
Oh, it is almost true
Though I staggered momentarily…
…it was merely a thought of you

J~

The End of our Day

At the end of the day when the miles we have wandered
Slumber forever in the mist of the past
When every action and thought has been tendered
To pages and pictures that cannot be re-cast
When words like small seeds have been spoken and scattered
And time alone will reveal their true worth
Will we have tended to the things that mattered?
As we reach the end of our day here on earth

Janet~

Without a Sound...

Thought tears up the sky
And traverses oceans
It touches upon heaven
And the fringes of hell
The eye is a window
Concealing a prison
Where silent thought ravages
An ivory cell

Thought weeps in the midnight
And breathes on the morning
It wanders the pathways
Of joy and regret
Flashes of lightning
And storms without warning
Splay across moments
Where once we had met

In intimate whispers
And wild raging rivers
Comfort and sorrow
Rise and fall on a floor
Where jagged reminders
And faltering quivers
Echo a ballad
That is no more

J~

Our Children

They drop their playthings on the floor
They spill the milk and slam the door
They scatter socks and toys and clothes
They smudge the windows with their nose

They leave crumbs to kiss our feet
While asking what there is to eat
They ask for money and for stuff
But they never ask for love

They ask for keys with sweetest smile
They drive us crazy for a while
They begin so very small
Then suddenly they’re standing tall

Nothing upon the face of this earth
Holds in its palm a greater worth
Than our children; as we hold them
Softly and tenderly we begin to mold them

Have you told your children you love them today?
Did you hold them close, oh, and did you pray?
Did you tell them they’re special, that boy or wee girl
Did you kiss the future of this world?

To waste time with a child is impossible
For they are this earth’s most important people
Yes, they forget things; we did too
But oh, we love them, we sure do

Janet~

Of Simple Things

I’m lover of simple things, it’s true
Of butterfly wings and the color blue
Of the way your eyelids brush your cheek
When you are a little too shy to speak

I am a lover of the fingers of night
Pushing away the flamboyant light
I’m a lover of the sullen rain
The newborn calf, the windswept lane

I’m lover of spring and summer and fall
The uncertainty in your voice when you call
I’m lover of the dawn brushed heavy with dew
The season’s songs, the night and you

I’m lover of simple things, its true
Strawberry blossoms are poetry too
Fingertips as they brush my skin
Cheeks that dimple when you grin

Freckles splashed upon your nose
Dandelion stains on your clothes
Chubby hands and small bare feet
White-washed sands and pebble beach

If I could choose from all life brings
I would choose its simple things
God, never let me be too busy to see
The simple gifts you place around me

Janet~