Tragedy

How long, it seems, we wait to say
The things we should speak every day
How oft a thought a thought remains
When spoken it would loosen chains
And it would put a little smile
Across a dark and weary mile
Or else perhaps that little sigh
Or the tear that dims the eye
Would never on the hour spill
Because we didn’t wait until
The thought had passed, unspoken; dead
Remaining words we never said

Janet~

Encounter by the Sea

I came upon her standing there
To ask her grief I did not dare
For she seemed to be gazing where
Only thoughts can wander
The sun in gold and pink and red
On the far-west horizon bled
And in her eyes gleamed tears unshed
As she stared over yonder

Ah, let her mind the keeper be
Of love and sorrow’s agony
That Gate afar will set her free
From temporal heartaches binding
Ah, let the waters ebb and flow
And soothe the thought that none may know
Grief and longing cannot go
Across death’s stream a-winding

The evening fell beneath the sea
I hear the knell of memory
Where none can tell its lot but me
And I care not for talking
I came upon her standing there
Silence can be so sweet to share
A shadow cannot speak a prayer
But I can join her walking…

J~

Recollections

Later, as I try to recall this night
Well, I very easily might
Forget how the air was ripe with pain
And heavy with the fragrance of impending rain
Or the thoughts we longed to tell and re-tell
Where two lone dark shadows fell
Or how the half-moon hung high in the sky
Too far away to hear you and I
I might forget how the breezes died
To honor the silence before we cried
But I will never forget the blue of your eye
Or the way your voice broke, when you whispered…good-bye

J~

On Porches...

On porches we wait…
For school buses
Or daddies
To come home from work
We wait for moms to pick up children,
Before heading home to start supper
And sometimes we wait for love
On porches we wait...
For the sun to set
Or to watch it rise
We wait for children
Or for a ride
Or for dreams
To materialize
On porches we wait…
With loved ones
Or books
We wait
With coffee
Or tea
With guitars, harmonicas
A pipe
Or memories
We watch the rain fall
On porches we wait…
On steps
On a bench
Or a chair
We wait
While breezes run
Their fingers through our hair
And thoughts paint each stair
On porches we grow old
In the cool night air

Janet~

Resignation

I resign myself to moments
When you are too far away
As the hills on the horizon
Wane from blue to moody gray

I resign myself to memories
Bittersweet to touch
But oh, I hold them close to me
I love them very much

I resign myself to echoes
Of your laughter in my ears
I resign myself to loving
In a language breathed in tears

I resign myself to missing you
When time and miles impart
Intangible restrictions
Twixt your whispers and my heart

J~

Where True Love Shines...

I’ve heard love declared in words
Garnished with a smile
But I have seen it walk its talk
In a second mile

True love has nothing to hide
It needs no pomp or style
And it will always prove itself
In the second mile

Love is not a fancy hat
That we may wear awhile
Love does not need to be asked
To walk the second mile

There is no facade in love
No pretense in its smile
And I have felt its purest touch
In a second mile

Janet~

Synopsis

The tempest sweeps the whitewashed sand
The dawning sweeps the sea
The springtime sweeps a dormant land
With emerald chivalry
You sweep me off my feet, darling
When you look at me

The rose will bloom one season, dear
And youth few seasons more
Time is nothing more than years
That washes earth’s small shore
We face each day with faith or fear
As we stand at its door

The tempest rises but to fall
The sun shines but to set
Too soon the fields of greener shawl
Are planted with the dead
We too must heed a Higher Call
And bow the stubborn head

We are but legends in our mind
The only strands of worth
Are not in things we leave behind
To clutter God’s green earth
Things pass as surely as the wind
Or fleeting hour of mirth

The tempest rises but to rest
Within the quiet deep
The sunlight gathers in the west
Time’s shadows quickly creep
Eternity waits in each breath
The soul will never sleep


Janet~

~But by the grace of God go I...

Self-discipline

I must space each little sigh
Lest it becomes a drawn-out cry
The hinting of perpetual tears
Weeping far across the years

I must quell the sudden urge
Restrain the unabashed surge
To drown within a silent thought
Bleeding from the wound it wrought

I must resist the solitude
Of darkened oceans, vast, subdued
And I must space each little sigh
In unspoken soliloquy

J~