Hand of God

Purple, pink and yellow
Orange and white and plum
The flowers are so beautiful
Nodding in the sun
A little glimpse of heaven
To deck this morbid sod
In their fragile beauty
We can see the hand of God

Gold and mauve and scarlet
Coral and deep blue
The sun in flaming splendor
Bids the day adieu
Gleaming through the maples
Lingering o’er the land
A silent, stunning master-piece
Wrought by heaven’s Hand

The pasture curves against the brook
The landscape to the sky
As silence deepens in each nook
And tender breezes sigh
The ache of beauty gathers
As nighttime sweeps the sod
To touch our humble heartstrings
With the tender hand of God

Janet~

A Little Life

Arise, and let us be going
See how the daylight wanes
Beneath its lustrous glowing
All that yet remains
Within the nights tranquility
Is not what was…but what will be

The shadows of life are folding
Its spoils upon the grass
Amidst our toil and scolding
Our little lives will pass
And all that will rest beneath its shade
Are the choices we have made

See the summer pastures
Rippling in the sun
Yet in the gathering hours
Its fading has begun
And soon its emptiness will lie
Beneath a cold and quiet sky

Arise, and let us be going
For etched in the waning light
Are echoes of love and longing
Reaching for the night
As moments vanish in the clutch
Of sight and sound and taste and touch

Janet~

Of Anything to Be

It cannot be touched
But oh, it touches me
Its cogency forms such
Vast possibility

Ravaging delight
Somber agony
The tenure and the might
Of anything to be

Ruthless barterer
To weigh the pros and cons
There is no barrier
Restraining what it spawns

Unguarded it will ruin
The wise man or the fool
For no one is immune
To its seductive rule

Teach me in its trance
Tease me in its gaze
Taunt me in its heedless dance
And tempt me in its blaze

I must control its realm
For on life’s shifting sea
Thought controls the helm
Of anything to be


Janet~

Belief...

I know Whom I believe
I know He holds my hand
But it’s the where and what and why
I do not understand

I know love never fails
I know it is life’s power
And yet I’ve seen it tarnish
Summer’s pleasant hour

For all that I may know
Tis what I cannot see
That tests the very heart of it
…I know Whom I believe

Janet~
For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day. 2 Tim. 1:12

Sonnet of Realizations

Scatter far across the dawn
Your effervescent sigh
Gather up the things you long for
Toss them to the sky

Is there a pinnacle of joy
On which to fix intent
Or are there simply moments where
Its happiness is spent?

The perfect summit of true love
Lies far beyond the cloud
Little shadows it may cast
Are but its feeble shroud

Breathe into your prayer
Each heartache and each tear
For it will reach the portals where
There is no toil or fear

Triumphs here on earth
Are momentary gasps
The only measures of true worth
Lay far beyond man’s grasp

The treasures we compile
That cannot cheer the grave
Are simply decorated bile
How wretched is its slave

The music of love’s song
Is life’s most precious prize
For it is very hard to dance
When its music dies

Scatter across the dawn
Your claim of wants and woes
For soon its dust is gone
To sleep beneath the rose

Janet~

The Days of Man

The days of man are dealt to him
One moment at a time
And none can know the sum of them
Or years that he may climb

In shades of summer’s afternoon
We long to live the hour
And by a blossomed meadow swoon
To drink its pleasant flower

We do not care to walk the road
Of rock and loathsome dirt
And none of us asks for the load
Of agony and hurt

But all the days of man are dealt
By He who holds the Door
There is no heartache we have felt
He has not felt before

Each day is like a chapter writ
No erasing or pretending
The Keeper knows the truth of it
And when will be the ending

How foolish is the man who trusts
In weak and mortal power
For we shall all return to dust
And no man knows the hour

Janet~

The Storm

You came from out of nowhere
Rolling in across a sea
Sullen clouds pervading
With a dark intensity
And suddenly I’m drenched within
A reckless aftermath
Of pounding hooves and lightning bolt
A harsh and sudden bath

A rising, falling tempest
Duel of contrasting desire
Stunning in your boldness
Shocking in your ire
You tear across the skyline
Like a stallion, never tamed
Plundering and thundering
Wild and free; unclaimed

You break through my defenses
Like a deep and raging sea
Bursting in upon my senses
And my vulnerability
I should have seen you coming
But somehow I never do
As you shatter the horizon…
…it was just a thought of you

J~

One Long Moment

There are moments looming
That I wish I could evade
But I must struggle through them
I cannot push them away

Then, there are little moments
I would re-live if I could
But to long for them is torment
And of little or no good

There are moments I am holding
That I’d cling to, but alas
Already they are folding
All their whispers in the grass

There are moments filled with laughter
Moments reaching for the sky
Forming one long ever-after
In the echo of good-bye, good-bye,good-bye

J~

Completely

Perhaps you thought it’s what you do
Or by the words you say to me
Darling, it’s because you’re you…
That I love you completely

It’s nice to hear your lovely words
Or be the bearer of your charms
But darling, it’s you that leaves me stirred
And longing for your gentle arms

Touch is such a tender gift
You touch me from across the floor
Instinctively our eyes meet
As we head towards the door

Perhaps you thought it’s what you do
And in some way, well it might be
But darling, it’s because you’re you
That I love you with all of me

Janet~

Here

When darkness overtakes the day
And the last glow of dusk is gone
When landscapes deepen to blue-gray
As earth and heaven become one…

When night extinguishes the sun
And stars like heaven’s candles gleam
When all our little toil is done
As willows sigh and children dream…

When sleepy pastures sprawl beneath
The silver murmur of the moon
When need and love and sorrow breathe
A low and melancholy tune...

When silence claims the thickening air
As breezes lose their energy
I embrace you in a prayer
And wish that you were here with me

J~

So it Goes

Hurry, wait
Early, late
Hope,pray
Night,day

Break, mend
Foe, friend
Laugh, weep
Wake, sleep

Sunshine, rain
Pleasure, pain
Happy, sad
Good and bad

Love, lose
Beg, choose
Pursue, wander
Save or squander

Rich, poor
Less, more
Give and take
For goodness sake

Husband, wife
Joy, strife
And so it goes…
…this is life

Janet~

I hurried because
I thought I was late...
But then of course
I got to wait...
...and wait....
....and wait!
Her exam went late:)))