Of Hunters and Seekers

 

The daylight seeks a moment

The hunter seeks his prey

The poet seeks and hunts for both

Before they slip away

The wise man seeks night’s slumber

The lover hunts for she

The poet cannot sleep tonight

Or yet the hunted be

The pauper hunts for fortune

The dreamer seeks his dream

The poet shares what thought affords

But pen can scarcely glean

© Janet Martin

The Villain and the Hero...Two-for-two Tusdays

Poetics Aside prompt; Here are Paula’s prompts: Write a hero poem. Write a villain poem. 

 Vexing Villain

Some poems need no syllables

To distract or beguile

Darling, I shape you against me

In a faint, tender half-smile…

The poet dreams in perfect want

For that elusive word

Darling, I’ve borne the perfect taunt

In sudden passion stirred

As the air, obscure around us

Seethes with possibility

Darling, is it not ironic

That love’s perfect poetry…

…is not mouthed in verbal creations

Of bland inequity?

For Muse is a vexing villain

Of hope and insanity

But now we have trumped her ineptness

Though the silence may drive us wild

Love’s perfect poem, oh darling

Exists in a faint, half-smile

The Hero...

You do not come crashing in

on a black stead or verbose and vile

But darling, you persuade me

with nothing, but a faint half-smile

...across the room I see you

My hero; come, let's go home

Our eyes meet; the air is full

Of love's most perfect poem

© Janet Martin

Of Moment-tides

In the transparent hull of moments

We spill dreams, triumph and tears

Leaving in their wake behind us

Drops that turn to weeks, then years

Last night the still and sable hollow

Of deep-fall tranquility

In a foray of keen echoes

Hurled its torrents over me

Translucent, its mighty upheaval

Vexed me from Time’s tear-stained graves

Where the dream mislaid the dreamer

In sheer moment tidal-waves

But still the gossamer allotment

Of Love’s patient mercy-stream

Washes far the deep-night tempest

Where dawn’s virgin waters gleam

And we, with out-stretched hope approach them

Point our sterns into the glow

For the moment-faring traveler

Cannot quell its ceaseless flow

© Janet Martin

Oh, Hear the Message of the Bells

Oh, see the spark; contagious hope

Glinting in eager youngster’s gaze

The silent night out on the slope

The welcome in love’s home-fire blaze

Snowflakes in spiraling descent

Decorate each ridge and rill

Season of Joy’s glorious advent

Warms us in spite of winter’s chill

Oh, feel the wonderment of it

Revive us with its rare refrain

And maybe for a little bit

We might feel like a child again

The music of Hope’s perfect love

Renews the gladness in our mirth

For Jesus left His throne above

To bring tidings of peace to earth

Oh, hear the message of the bells

Ring out a testament of cheer

For in the happy song that swells

We know that Christmas time is near

Oh, may its mercy and goodwill

Tune everything we say and do

And may its Spirit kindly fill

Our hearts and hands the whole year through

© Janet Martin

Dream

Trembling I sought you

And gently you came

Now the night fills

With echoes of your name

Love, loss and longing

Intertwine

Clinging in tangles

Of tattered vine

Trembling I held you

But just as I feared

In the first light of morning

You disappeared

© Janet Martin

Who Knows?

Who knows what the impending season holds

Or landscapes poised to cradle the embrace

Of Time’s imbuement ere the past enfolds

The serenade of moments sealed in place

Who knows what may befall in the half-breath

Of present we inhale; history’s clasp

Exhales in laughter, tears, in life and death

Who knows what waits beyond our present-gasp?

Who sees the crypt groaning with broken dreams?

The obscure deaths within, not eulogized

Or where the private tear of sorrow gleams

Because we grieve alone the dream that died

And who can tell the measure of a man

Beneath the quiet veil of skin; God can

© Janet Martin

This morning, as I stared across the mute landscape

I caught myself wondering what would transpire before these fields are green again...

I Collect Rolling Pins...

 Poetics Aside Prompt: Write a poem about something you collect (or would collect if you could).

I collect rolling pins

Because I think they are nice

But, if you plan on breaking in

I suggest you think twice!

Janet~

My Heart-art Collection

Poetics Aside Prompt: Write a poem about something you collect (or would collect if you could).

I collect original pieces of art

Displayed in galleries of my heart

I’ve seen the color of love’s soft sigh

Blend with tears of hello and good-bye

I’ve kept the bittersweet, beautiful ache

That only the pigment of love can make

I seal the echo of summer’s faint call

Where oceans of memory rise and fall

The spectrum of love’s vast and vivid display

Steals both my breath and my years away

Oh can't you hear that plaintive chant?

Of moments as they lilt and dance

...tuning the corridors of the heart

As we marvel at love's treasured works of art

© Janet Martin