Complete.....

The year grows dim
Fall’s gown is rent
The dashing hymn
Of May is spent

I laid a lily
On the tomb
Where once the bud
Of summer bloomed

Swiftly; how
The seasons fly
Faint glimmer now
Within my eye

Soon we leave
For fairer Homes
Than all of these
Low-vaulted domes

The year grows dim
Around our feet
The hope in Him
Makes us complete

Janet~

In My Father's house are many mansions.
If it were not so I would have told you. John 14:2

I Love Summer More.....

Dear God, I love the wind that blows
From skies of hazy blue
I love the iridescent glows
Of brilliant autumnal hue
I love the cider freshly-pressed
The fall mums at my door
The sedums, red and boldly dressed
But I love summer more

I love the green tree brushed with gold
Or decked in flaming red
I love the flower growing old
And petal-tears they shed
I love the bare and wanton fields
The harvest that they bore
I love the fruit that autumn yields
But I love summer more

Dear God I will not fret or pine
As summer bows her head
Into Your hand I will resign
My foolish will instead
But as I lay me down to sleep
And soft warm memories pour
Forgive me Lord, if I should weep
For I love summer more

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Janet Martin

You care for the land and water it;
You enrich it abundantly. Ps.65:9

August...

Blameless, the sliver quarter moon
Suspended in the blue
Faultless, the wind that moans a tune
Where fields are wet with dew
Guiltless too, the froth of stars
That grace earth’s pinnacle
But somehow this pure summer heart
Must bend to autumn’s will

Rampant, the purple wild flower reigns
Merged with golden rod
Collaborating in brilliant strains
A garden sown by God
As all along the fence and hill
They boldly flaunt their smile
No timid face will greet the chill
Of autumn’s flaming mile

For just as winter turns to spring
And spring to summer’s bliss
So too summer must yield again
To autumns lingering kiss
For all of nature must resign
And all of man must too
Beneath the Hand of great design
When life’s summer is through

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Janet Martin

Retrospection.......

Sometimes its hard to recognize
The swift and fleeting hour
Until we turn to realize
That youth is but a flower……
A flower that blooms for one short day
Before its petals fall
Upon the fields of silver-gray
In moments to recall

How sweet and pure its tender grass
Where innocence is shaken
As childhood with its whispers pass
Into the room where wakens
The heart that beats with hopes and dreams
And restless wander-lust
Too soon, too soon its memory gleams
From cradles in the dust

And now we walk a slower pace
As time in its wise teaching
Shows us our need for Grace
And Hands beyond our reaching
So as I look back to the field
Where one brief dance I squandered
I envy not her misty shield
Or those blue hills I wandered

For now, though innocence is gone
With youth and all her beauty
Though carefree hours long have flown
Beyond my realm of duty
Within the arms of middle-age
And dusty blue September
Tenderly I turn the page
And humbly I remember



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Janet Martin

Birthdays always make me nostalgic........

Let 'em Go

Burnin’ rubber in the parking lot
Driving way too fast
Givin’ all you got
On your way to
You have no idea where
But freedom is a long highway
With the radio on
A pocket full of change
A girl on your arm
And the wind blowin’ through your hair
So you’re good and gone
Livin’ big on being young


‘cause you don’t really have a care
The gas tanks full
And you have got
your mothers prayers
And every dream is possible
Your seventeen
And wiser than you’ve ever been
Sittin’ cool
You’re nobody’s fool
And you’ve got the smell of
Spring in the air
The kiss of the sun
In her golden hair……

So I say let’ em go, sure, what’s the hurry
They still don’t know
That all too soon the arm of worry
Wraps them in a somber robe
Just around the bend
It waits, a timeless friend
Let ‘em go,before long they’ll realize
The sun is setting in their eyes
And they were driving way too fast
To get to where their freedom’s past
Where silver trades the locks of gold
Drivin’way too fast to…. gettin’ old

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Janet Martin

When I was out on my run tonight
they went roaring by and I said to myself....
"let 'em go..." :)

Mere Humor or Mirror Humor

Time is a ruthless painter, so I do declare
I despise my mirror but the mirror doesn’t care
If it’s the truth it’s telling well I’d beg to differ please
Cause I’m still feeling dapper but for creaking in my KNEES!!!!

Some mornings I sprint out of bed just like I used to do
But then a cramp assails me and I holler out for you
We limp like weary soldiers to the nearest easy chair
You bring me an ice-pack and cushion for my REAR!!!!

I stopped counting wrinkles when the wrinkles became me
My blue eyes still twinkle, I just wish that they could see
But when we turn the lights out it’s so good to be alive
Because when I am sleeping I still feel like twenty-five!!!!!

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Janet Martin

okay...I know this is a little corny!!!!
I was inspired after being regaled
with tales of what we ladies get to
look forward to at menopause!!!!!

While it isn't really what I used in this poem
I decided our only coping mechanism may be
a good sense of humor!!!! So, CHEERS!!!!!!

This Woman

When the hand of time has stolen the bright twinkle from her eye
And the girl inside this woman softly kisses her good-bye
When curves that used to draw you near no longer draw appeal
Will she still be to you, as dear as when she was a girl?
And will your love be strong enough for this woman……..?

When she must surrender to the wrinkles on her brow
When hands once smooth and tender bear the marks of labor now
When blond, chestnut or auburn hair are streaked with silver-gray
Will she to you be just as dear or dearer in a way?
And will your love be strong enough for this woman….?

When all the vigor of her youth has lost its tempting glow
And you begin to see the truth of time upon her brow
As she turns to look at you will she ignite a fire?
Will she still be for you the only woman you desire?
And will your love be strong enough for this woman…?

This woman who is still the girl who stole your heart away
Will she be your treasured pearl until your dying day?
This woman who has vowed to love you until death does part
Will she be enough for you, the jewel of your heart?
And will your love be strong enough for this woman….?
Do you thank God above for the love of this woman?

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Janet Martin

Do you……take this woman
to be your wife?

Broken Mirror

I’m still young and beautiful
I’ve still got a sparkle in my eye
I’m filled with great ambition
I just wish somehow that time would cease to fly
Oh, I’ve still got a lot of dreams
Things I think that I would like to try
And I’m still young and beautiful
Sometimes I wish the mirror wouldn’t lie

God sure must have loved me
As I behold my cherished friends of youth
And we’re not really very old
Mirrors these days just do not tell the truth
And if you asked me just how old
I feel, well I’d say twenty and a day
But oh, you broken mirror
I just wish you wouldn’t look at me that way

I’m still young and beautiful
Those wrinkles are just laugh-lines on my face
And I’m not really very old
I’ve just lived a few more days of grace
And I’m sure if you caught my stare
You’d see a youthful twinkle in my eye
I know, ‘cause I can feel it there
Sometimes I wish the mirror wouldn’t lie

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Janet Martin