Housewife Hooky

The rigid dictation of
Washer and spinner
The endless inquisition of
‘Mom, what’s for dinner?’
The loads of laundry
In copious piles
The cobwebs, dust bunnies
Can all wait awhile

The sink full of dishes
The crumbs on the floor
Defy all the wishes
Beyond my front door
Inside these walls
I’ve had glimpses of heaven
But today they are bars
Of a housewife’s prison

Cast off the fetters
Of dish rag and mop
Fling wide the windows
The door cannot stop
These feet that are yearning
To run ‘cross the green
Where just a short while ago
Snow angels had been

Dash with the breeze
That roves cross the wild
Laugh with the brook
Like you did as a child
Taste the warm kisses
Of sunshine again
Hug the spring meadows
And dance in the rain

There is no passion
And there is no lure
Like the call of the open
In a spring morn so pure
Tomorrow the dishes
Can be put away
Yield to your wander-lust
Play hooky today

All Rights Reserved
Janet Martin

Her

She still can feel the sun-kissed sand
So warm beneath her back
The gentle whisper of your hand
The sky so lush and black
Although it’s been long hours ago
Since she has sat with thee
To watch the evening melt into
The skyline of the sea

She leaves her fresh and youthful glow
Upon life’s shifting sand
Through ballads murmured keen and low
She wields a faithful hand
But if perhaps she shifts her gaze
To hide a lingering truth
Tis simply that beyond this haze
She hears a song of youth

For as the sun begins to dip
And wane across the sky
A subtle smile plays on her lip
Within this lullaby
The sand is warm beneath her feet
An hour is forever
Her beauty soft, your kiss so sweet
And love a raging river….

….yet in her pensive reverie
There is no hint of anguish
For life must its own ballad be
In tones that dare not languish
But if the gloaming eventide
Could offer her a chance
She’d draw you to the ocean’s side
And dance…..and dance…..and dance

All rights reserved
Janet Martin

Sing Me a Song

Sing me a song of the morning dew
That sparkles in your gaze as I look at you
Sing me a song of the clear blue sky
The color of love that gleams in your eye
Sing me a song of the young and free
The way that once we used to be

Sing me a gentle serenade
Born of a love that’s heaven-made
Hum a soulful melody
Written for only you and me
Sing me the whisper that stirs in your soul
Sing like a lover would sing to his girl

Oh, sing of a valley, fertile and green
Sing with the freedom of seventeen
Sing with the passion of summer's wind
Sing with abandonment, cares left behind
Sing me a song understood by few
Like the very first time I looked at you



All rights Reserved
Janet Martin

Summit of your Love

I feast with faint and famished gaze

Upon the contours of your form

Drawn like a beggar to the blaze

Of passion just before the storm

Ah, my love, so long I’ve waited

Just to touch your lips, your brow

Forgiving everything I’ve hated

As I beg, come to me now



Fondly I caress the face, dear

That I’ve hungered for so long

I have found my rightful place, dear

On your shoulder, firm and strong

Here the fragments of my sorrow

Softly, slowly melt away

And the shadows of my morrow

Fade into my yesterday



In the flicker of your firelight

By the lamplight of your smile

I’d leave no regret to hindsight

Should I linger for a while

Then to melt into the moment

That, with nothing left to prove

Frees the rapture from the torment

On the summit of your love.

All Rights Reserved
Janet Martin

Sensations

Chocolate and skittles melt on my tongue
So does your name, if I just hold on…..
The warmth of a smile or the dew of a kiss
A comforting shawl in the grey of the mist

The breath of a whisper, the strain of a song
The thrill of a dance to keep my heart young
The taste of a memory on the tip of my mind
The scent of love in a form well-defined

The brush of your fingers so soft on my skin
The echo of laughter beyond the cold wind
The glow of a candle like a flickering prayer
A symphony born in the cool night air

The tick of a clock at one a.m.
The sigh of a heart and a restless whim
The crash of the waves on a distant cove
The bitter-sweet taste of the lonely in love

All Rights Reserved
Janet Martin

The Coral Glow

I long to wander in the coral glow,
In the waning light as the breezes blow,
As I hear the music mellow and sweet
Of a subtle tango on a distant street....

And its haunting lilt wraps me in its shroud
As it carries me away on a silver cloud
To its rhythmic pulse my heartbeat yields
As I ride through time over pastel fields.......

His silhouette 'gainst the western sky
Plays with the gaze of my hungry eye
He draws me, spinning in a velvet trance
Like a mystic lover in a phantom dance

Softly the silent and the sweet combine
Vaguely carried on the sands of time
Borne by the fragrant winds of love
Flowing like a river from the skies above.......


Now the scent of desire is a heady bloom
Kissing with the passion of a bride and groom
Mingling with the tender, forgotten tears
Flooding back the memories of the faded years…


It started as a stream but the flow grew deeper
The tango was a river and its banks grew steeper
On the soft marshmallow of my cloud above
I floated on a rainbow down the river of love.


Then bathed in a prism of crystal spray
And caressed by the music’s gentle sway
There blossomed the rain- tree where we would dream
Beneath summer leaves by this rushing stream

And there in the midst of the coral glow
A wave of euphoria beset me so
My beating heart set my spirit free
For he was standing there....... smiling at me!


Framed in a symphony of golden rays
I was hypnotized by his azure gaze
Caught in a trance of insanity
As my blue-eyed angel beckoned to me

Somewhere on the edge of me my feet are walking
I listen to my whisper but it’s not me talking
I’m drowning in this tango like it’s all I’ve got
Our bodies move closer as the air gets hot........

My stolen inhibitions are beyond all care
I watch his body glisten in the saturated air
I meld into the passion of his rugged charms
When suddenly there’s nothing but my empty arms!



Alas! The dream is ended...... I awake at last
To find that he has faded from my longing grasp
But painted on the sunrise........ in its coral glow
Lay the soft and subtle footprints of my last tango.


© 2010 Janet Ruth Martin/ Rod Walford

Rod Walford is a published New Zealand poet.
To see the beautiful poetic works of Rod Walford
you may use the link on
the side of this page.

Rod, I would like to thank you for the privilege
of writing with someone of your caliber.

I have never co-written with anyone! You were a
pleasure to write with and an excellent teacher!
Thank-you for the invitation to co-write.....

Time Well Wasted

If you should come and walk with me
Or sit beneath the willow tree
This one thing I can guarantee
It will be time well-wasted

If we should watch the full moon climb
It’s cloudy slope in heaven’s time
And you would have your hand in mine
It would be time well wasted

And should you look at me like this
Or contemplate a tender kiss
Where simply being is pure bliss
It will be time well-wasted

Who would dare to count the hours?
I prefer to count the flowers
In this solitude of ours
And time well wasted

I will melt into your smile
Stop the clock a little while
I must say I like your style
Of time well wasted

All Rights Reserved
Janet Martin

Preferences

Some prefer the busy bustling boardwalk
Where the sun is warm and life is fine
Some prefer their second cup of coffee
Standing in some ticket-window line
Some prefer the voices and the laughter
In a crowd of stranger, comrade, friend
Some prefer a room of bantering chatter
Wishing that the party would not end

They can have their boardwalks in the summer
They can have an all night rendezvous
I prefer a moonlight walk at midnight
In a party made for only two
I prefer my second cup of coffee
Leaning on my darling lover's knee
And I admit I do enjoy a party
Big enough for only you and me

I prefer a show across the water
Silent as the stars on midnight blue
I could sit and gaze at it for hours
In the arms of tender love so true
Some prefer a theater of fine arts
I prefer a hillside with a view
I prefer soft kisses in the moonlight
In a party made for me and you

All Rights Reserved
Janet Martin

Tango

Like the sound of an accordion, a steady sullen beat
It’s music softly drifting down a sultry summer street
It stirs my slumbering senses in a mournful soulful tune
And in it I am carried to that lane beneath the moon

The notes like silky satin run their fingers through my mind
The present is forgotten in this melody so fine
And deep within it fans a flame of my dormant desire
As softly I call out your name I cannot quell this fire

The melody entwines itself around my trembling soul
In it I resign myself to live as though I’m whole
For I am the lone dancer in this memory sweet and kind
As I sway to the music of the tango in my mind

All Rights Reserved
Janet Martin

The Tree

You reign, a stalwart silhouette against the evening sky
And for a moment I forget the woes which bring a sigh
As I drink in the beauty of the power in each limb
Ignore the voice of duty as I sense you’re beckoning

What glory in your mighty strength, I gaze in silent trance
A living breathing testament of faithful endurance
Your limbs have borne the testing tide of wind and snow and hail
Yet through it all you still abide so strong and beautiful

You are a stunning figure in this calm tranquility
In silence you deliver pure masculinity
I have no resistance; willing victim of your charms
At your wordless insistence I climb into your arms

All Rights Reserved
Janet Martin

When I was out on my afternoon ‘trek’
I was inspired by the silhouette
Of a tree against a blue, blue sky……
it was nice to see a color besides
gray in the Master Painter's palette....
five shades of blue AND a little sunshine too!!!

The Fringe

Somewhere in the hour of the dawning’s fragile light
Somewhere in silent power in the shadows of the night
Somewhere in the twinkle of your mesmerizing gaze
My little fringe of normal melts away

Somewhere between the budding and the autumn leaf that falls
Somewhere in time suspended comes the wonder of it all
A mutual understanding breathed in wordless poetry
My little fringe of normal melts away

Leave normal for the faint of heart, for very young or old
I have no desire for the very thing you stole
You whisper in my heart-beat and you kiss my memory
My little fringe of normal nevermore shall be

The soft touch of your finger-tips when we are far apart
The music of your gentle lips warms my heart of hearts
God, you sure must love me; that is all I’m going to say
As my little fringe of normal melts away

All Rights Reserved
Janet Martin

The Morning After

I have discovered
A wonderful truth
At last I have found it
The fountain of youth
Not in the nectar
Of a rain-forest mist
Nor in the potion
Of a rose heaven-kissed
Not in the dew
Of a night lullaby
Nor in the hue
Of a turquoise sky
Perhaps it is found
In the song of the rain
In it’s gentle sound
On the window-pane
Of the midnight hour
Or in the gray dawn
While the world is ours
And two become one
As I fall and I fall
Into oceans of blue
Over and over
Born anew
Where heart and soul
Are forever young
Becoming whole
In the lover’s song
Here is fullness
Here is bliss
Eternal youth
In loves soft kiss
Eternal youth
In perfect blue
In the morning
After you

All Rights Reserved
Janet Martin

When You Look at Me

When you look at me my good intentions
Melt like waves upon a shore
And I cannot remember why
I shouldn’t love you anymore
I only see the blue sky
And it carries me away
For I cannot remember why
I can’t love you today

When you look at me the rose-bud
Tenderly unfolds
As the sweetness of its perfume lingers
In love’s pleasant folds
Time is an illusion
As I look into your eyes
Stars fall into the ocean
As I melt into blue skies

When you look at me the shore-line
Becomes a little blurred
I am yours, you are mine
In emotions stirred
For when you look at me that way
There's nothing I can do
But melt into your azure gaze
And whisper, "I love you"

All Rights Reserved
Janet Martin

Slow Dance

I missed you today, did you miss me too?
would it be okay; one slow dance with you?
We could move far away from the noisy street
where the sand is like satin beneath our feet
as we hear the melody of our song on the breeze
accompanied by the roll of the seas
And there we could be, just you and I
beneath a warm and velvet sky.....
Did I misunderstand you, I thought your glance
suggested perhaps this soft slow dance..
I close my eyes, a kaleidoscope of emotion
vies with the force of the waves on the ocean
Warm colors spiraling in a dizzying haze
As your breath in my ear leaves me in a daze..........
Soft and subtle,we move to the sway
of the wind and the waves in their salty spray
Can I dance with you for the rest of my life?
Can I be your partner, your lover, your wife?
I missed you today, did you miss me too
Would it be okay, one slow dance with you?

All rights Reserved
Janet Martin

Restless

What can I do then
To keep my mind from wandering
Back to the hour when
Its minutes were designed for squandering
On wind-swept hills
Or cabin-sills
Where silver moon-light
Softly spills
Upon a soundless night
Save for the wordless sigh
In the winds lullaby
As the power
Of its unwritten word
Leaves this summer heart
Sweetly stirred

What can I do then
To keep from pining
For the peaceful hour when
Summer and love intertwining
Find passion’s perfection
In the blue reflection
Of this soul-mates gaze
As its connection
Leaves me in a daze
For we cannot deny
That surely you and I
Have tasted a finer thing
Than friend-ships every-day offering

What can I say then
As I long for the day
And the sweet moment when
Winter and waiting pass away
Replaced by the tune
Of perfumed blooms
And grapes on the vine
As the silver moon
Breathes a grand design
On our living-room floor
Which was white before
But now at last is fresh and green
For summer and love have come again




All Rights Reserved;
Janet Martin

Greatest Love Song

No guitar strumming, no soft violin
No deep voice humming, no golden harp string
No grand piano or great symphony
In this greatest love song that there ever will be

No fancy words to arouse or inspire
No sensuous phrases to provoke vain desire
No glamorous stage and no wild applause
For this Greatest Love Song was written on a cross

But it touches the heart like no song ever heard
To the inner-most part man's passion is stirred
Written in red on a blood-stained tree
This Greatest Love Song for you and for me

If it has not moved you then you’ve never heard
This Greatest Love Song not written with words
But penned in blood by God’s only Son
Written for us is this Greatest Love Song

Red, flowed the tone in this song for man-kind
‘Thy will be done’ in this song for all time
Then “It is finished” as on the cross He hung
In the GREATEST LOVE SONG that has ever been sung

All Rights Reserved
Janet Martin

Jesus said, "It is finished". John 19:30

If you truly believe you have heard it....
in His personal version to you....

If you do not believe you cannot hear it!
If you do not believe......why?

For God so loved the world
that He gave His only Son
that who-so-ever believes in Him
should not perish but have
everlasting life. John 3:16

Like There's No Tomorrow

Close your eyes, hold love close, don’t let go
Love is a chance we must all take, don’t you know?
What joy can we give if we fear each tomorrow?
How can we love if we fear loss’s sorrow?
When it comes to love we cannot be choosers
For when it comes to love there are really no losers
So love, love passionately, do not fear its sorrow
But love; love today like there’s no tomorrow

Love is a treasure no one can control
So pour out its measure with both heart and soul
Don’t hold it back for a safer tomorrow
Thus living today in constant sorrow
For love isn’t love til it’s given away
So pour out the love that is in you today
God gives us our dear treasures to borrow
Oh, love them today like there’s no tomorrow

High on a cross He loved while we hated
Suffering loss ‘neath the hands He created
But His deepest loss was our greatest gain
As He taught us to love in spite of the pain
Shadow of Heaven, foretaste of glory
On earth it was written, Loves Greatest Story
So love while you may, in spite of the sorrow
Love, love today like there’s no tomorrow

All Rights Reserved
-Janet Martin-

To never know sorrow we can never love.
To never love we know only sorrow…..
So let’s love today like there’s no tomorrow!
God’s love never fails in the hour of sorrow!

And so we know and rely
on the love God has for us.
God is love. 1 John 4:16

Do you ever fear loving
for the fear of losing????

There is no fear in love.
But perfect love drives out fear,....1 John 4;18

A Husband

He’s fire and ice
He’s sugar and spice
He’s a blend of brusque and brawn
So strong, yet tender
Warrior, defender
The midnight and the dawn

He’s warmth and resistance
He’s depth and he’s distance
After God, he is one of a kind
He is powerful, passionate
Caring, compassionate
When loving God heart, soul and mind

Woman, do you know him?
Woman, do you show him?
For his heart is not made of stone
No infallible tower
But a delicate flower
If he falls he does not fall alone

All Rights Reserved

-Janet Martin-

There's Always an After

After the laughter
After the tears
After the heartbreak
After the fears
After the dancing
After the fun
After the sorrow
And after the sun

After the passion
After the night
After the reckoning
After the fight
After the anger
After the pain
After the triumph
After the rain

There’s always an ‘after’
The moment you’re in
Whether it’s laughter
Or a punch on the chin
Til’ we reach the thresh-hold
Beyond death’s dark sea
Where there is no
After eternity

All Rights Reserved Sept. 2009

And they will reign forever and ever. Rev. 22:5

God You are Awesome

God You are awesome
God You are grand
Becoming a ransom
For sinful man
Opening Your storehouse
Of mercy and love
You constantly shower us
With gifts from above

Open my eyes Lord
So others may see
The beauty of Your word
Reflected in me
Fill me with Your passion
And Your Holy fire
To walk in Your fashion
Being my one desire

God You are awesome
May all of my praise
Be for Your ransom
All of my days
Surely goodness and mercy
Shall follow me
Til my battle disperses
In victory

All Rights Reserved
Aug.2009
Janet Martin

Shout with joy to God, all the earth!!!!
Sing the glory of His name;
Make His praise glorious.
Say to God,
“How awesome are Your deeds…” PS.66:1-2