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60 · Mar 2020
Perspective
Janet Doyle Mar 2020
Fear, I see you,
My old friend,
And forward do you urge me,
And sadness,
You’ve come again,
To help me more to see,
Pain, I know you,
Long we’ve walked together,
And much I owe to thee,
You hardship,
Are always near,
Let’s move along, shall we?
Regret, let’s talk,
With so much to hold dear,
Why question what could be?
Yet it is you, restless,
That sets my soul to wander,
And leads me to be free.

JDoyle
60 · Sep 2020
To Dare
Janet Doyle Sep 2020
It feels adventurous to walk a trail,
Lest we forget the ones who blazed it,
Go this way and all is well,
Envious of, who first appraised it,

Freedom found in a world anew,
Blessed they that walked in silence,
Those society could not subdue,
Who made a life by sheer defiance,

We follow now, so thankful for,
Discovered beauty they chose to share,
But leave the trail, to go explore,
And sometimes be the one to dare,

JDoyle
59 · Oct 2020
Of Seeing
Janet Doyle Oct 2020
Alone I watch the sunset,
Amidst it’s crimson rays,
There’s something I can learn yet,
In these tumbling of days,
And sister crow is cawing,
But her feathers are too black,
It causes this withdrawing,
And I don’t think I’ll be back,
Cause the path is an illusion,
I don’t know where it leads,
But I know it’s the conclusion,
And what my spirit needs.

JDoyle
58 · Apr 2020
Resolution
Janet Doyle Apr 2020
I’m going to write my own ending,
I’ll decide it along the way,
I’ve never been one for pretending,
That part of me may have to stay,
Behind, because life is impending,
And all that I’m going to say,
Is tomorrow I will be attending,
On the terms that I hold to today.

JDoyle
58 · Apr 2020
Life
Janet Doyle Apr 2020
For all the world is there before us, to make of it what we will.
We only have to shape our vision to match that which we feel.
And when we finally get it right, that’s when we start to heal.
It’s through the learning of these things, we find our own free will.

JDoyle
58 · Aug 2020
Of Poetry
Janet Doyle Aug 2020
I’m taking this emotion,
And putting it right here,
Be it feelings or a notion,
It’s better over there,
Less inside to cause commotion,
Less pain and thoughts and care,
My mind in constant motion,
So much to see and hear,
To save from an explosion,
And lead me through despair,
My voice my own promotion,
My heart ripped out to share,
My mindfulness devotion,
My soul much more aware.

JDoyle
58 · Aug 2020
Of Hiking
Janet Doyle Aug 2020
I want to climb mountains!
To experience everything this great world has to offer!
I want my legs to quake with exhaustion,
My body to become the stuff of steel!
Sweat to fall from me like a waterfall in springtime,
And my lungs to gasp for breath as a drowning man’s last hope.
I want towering pinnacles that plummet into the blackest depths,
Mountain tops where only me and the eagles dare go,
And the ancient valleys that the river has carved throughout all eternity,
I want freezing rain that turns to blizzards,
And the sweltering heat of hell itself,
Because this is life my friends!
This is why we were born.

JDoyle (this isn’t really poetry, but it’s heartfelt)
56 · Jun 2020
‘Ode to my Splinter
Janet Doyle Jun 2020
Thorn in my hand from adventure gone ill,
My body to wound, my spirit to fill,
I thought I removed you, but no, not quite,
Small under my skin, just out of sight,
A little reminder, when brushed against,
Of days of splendor when freedom was sensed,
The skin has grown over, the wound to renew,
The repercussions so many, the feelings so few,
At last I release you, now we part ways,
No doubt I’ll meet more of you, on some other days.

J.Doyle
55 · Jun 2020
Nature Shrugs
Janet Doyle Jun 2020
The babbling brook
first made the suggestion,
And whispering wind
then added a thought,
Old crackling fire,
now he had a question,
And eye of the storm
winked sly at the plot,
The mouth of the river
grinned wide at the notion,
And rustling leaves,
seemed to like it a lot,
So echoing caverns
just set it in motion,
And twinkling stars,
they knew just the spot.

JDoyle
55 · Mar 2020
Ode to the Unknown
Janet Doyle Mar 2020
I think of all the blessings,
That God has thus bestowed,
The greatest one of all must be,
That of the unknown,

He then chose to show it,
To our most curious mind,
And surely he was grinning,
When he saw that it was fine,

He first made the horizon,
To pull us from the heart,
And bends in paths and rivers,
To show us where to start,

He filled Great Earth with wonder,
More than ever can be told,
And each piece with such detail,
That it never can get old,

Our souls delight to wander,
To study and learn as well,
Always there is more to know,
And always a new trail,

But he had one more whimsy,
That some paths lead within,
And where we think we finish,
Is just where we begin,

So here we are still going,
And growing all the while,
I think he is still watching,
With an old mischievous smile.

JDoyle
Janet Doyle Jul 2020
What is beautiful, defined?
To me it is the sunlight,
Landscapes and life that’s unconfined,

It’s standing for a cause that’s right,
Following a heart that’s true,
And never giving up the fight,

It’s the little acts of love we do,
The nurture of a mother,
And a life that is brand new,

It’s when we see beyond the “other,”
When “I’m sorry” is sincerely,
And we hold onto one another,

It’s remembering another dearly,
Kindness that was shown to me,
And tears of loss, that shine so clearly,

It’s all the wonders of life I see,
The moon, the stars, the rainbows,
The seedling and the ancient tree,

The word “ beautiful” you chose?
To tell me how you’re feeling,
And I think, should I suppose?

That you find me so appealing,
To compare me to compassion,
And to hope and love and healing,

That is just my real reaction,
Such a humbling thing to say,
It brings my thanks and my inaction,

And as for me, though come what may,
I hope my soul stays intertwined,
With what is beautiful today,

JDoyle
55 · Sep 2020
Questions
Janet Doyle Sep 2020
I think that it’s the questions,
Some innocently ask,
That cause me such turmoil,
I falter at the task,
The problem is the answer,
Is often rather dark,
So then I try to lighten,
Though tend to miss the mark,
Too vaguely do I tell it,
And it never really sets,
But the closer I get to truthful,
The more uncomfortable it gets,
I struggle with a balance,
To tell the truth and lie,
Cause no one likes the answers,
That cause beliefs to go awry,
It’s compartmentalized compassion,
Just for situations, pre-explained,
Have replaced real human empathy,
For the many types of pain,
And I think it’s true of many,
What you see isn’t what you get,
And that really is a topic,
Society chooses to forget.

JDoyle
55 · May 2020
Time
Janet Doyle May 2020
Time continues just the same,
As always it has done,
A different person, a different name,
Under the same sun,
Countries rise and then they fall,
The Earth allies to none,
But gives its bounty to them all,
Nurturing each one,
All will heed our mothers call,
When it’s our time we’ll know,
If we cannot stand, suffice to crawl,
To life or death we go,
The moon remains as it’s been set,
Changing life just so,
Though each of us, one chance we get,
The same as long ago,
As the ocean changes where it’s wet,
And mountains rise anew,
To some a gift, to some a threat,
The many come from the few,
As it has been, before we came,
And what it will still do,
It’s not supposed to stay the same,
But life, it will continue,

JDoyle
53 · Aug 2020
Waiting
Janet Doyle Aug 2020
Life is waiting,
When I’m unsure,
I can’t decide,
What life is for,
I am tired,
I wait for night,
I cannot sleep,
I wait for light,
Waiting, waiting,
I think that I,
Am waiting for,
My turn to die,
But someday soon,
I’ll find inside,
Maybe tomorrow,
I can decide,
For now I’m waiting,
Don’t know what for,
But I need some time,
And then some more.

JDoyle
52 · Jun 2020
It’s Late Afternoon
Janet Doyle Jun 2020
Shadows cast by a late afternoon sun,
Are lounging about on the ground,
As my mind wanders upon the horizon,
Where magic and hope can be found,
And all of life’s wonders abound.

This time of day only happens now,
It is gone before winter’s first sign,
A time too precious to long allow,
As the stretching long shadows entwine,
In these perfect hours of sunshine,

A bit of childhood that gave me peace,
And still gives peace today,
A time that makes life’s hurt release,
And our worries to just go away,
How I wish that it would only stay.
51 · Jun 2020
The Circle
Janet Doyle Jun 2020
These new eyes, how strange to me,
The same places no more the same,
Looking back at who I used to be,
And the curious she who had my name,

My eyes now faded, the sun a glare,
In bitter disappointment, I turn away,
My painful heart, so worn with care,
With jaded soul, I’ll face the day,

Now I see paths I had missed before,
I’m feeling stronger, than I knew I could,
My sense of purpose, was never more,
And I understand now, what is good.

The circle completed, as life renews,
This time, as time and time again,
My life to live, my path to choose,
This peculiar me, that long I’ve been.

JDoyle
51 · May 2020
Of Aging
Janet Doyle May 2020
I should be getting old,
My youth long in the past,
Instead I’m getting bold,
Breaking the used cast,
Creating my own mold,
Seeing the contrast,
Of what I have been told,
And questions I have asked,
My working hands they hold,
Treasures rare and vast,
My troubles turn to gold,
Life’s fortune I’ve amassed,
Young beauty gladly sold,
For freedom bought at last.

JDoyle
50 · Jun 2020
Just Wait
Janet Doyle Jun 2020
Just beyond my fingertips,
On the other side of time,
I wander far and further,
Searching for the perfect rhyme,

A wanderer still hoping,
A traveler from afar,
A lost observer watching,
For the distant shooting star,

Just over the horizon,
Further than the dragons fly,
On the farther side of nowhere,
There’s a castle in the sky,

And we can go together,
We can find our way there soon,
And we’ll be forever happy,
On the dark side of the moon.

JDoyle
48 · Aug 2020
Of Vengeance and Gold
Janet Doyle Aug 2020
The clash of steel in lightning’s flash,
Canons louder than a thunder crash,
Blood with rain as waves they splash,
This night as dark as death,

Tattered flags, whipping to and fro,
Vengeance! give them what we owe,
The captain, he begins to slow,
As one we catch our breath,

No quarter asked and none I’ll give,
Another night I may not live,
Dear Father, all my sins forgive,
As my blade finds one more heart,

A musket shot lights up the dark,
I use the flare to find my mark,
I hear the captain, orders bark,
We must cut the ships apart,

The ocean’s roar and my wild flight,
My own dear ship within my sight,
Across the deep, and foam of white,
One more to come aboard,

Listing, plundered, and broken hull,
Lifeless captain, with a shattered skull,
I guess it’s not my time to fall,
Instead let’s split the hoard.

JDoyle
44 · Mar 2020
Of Unrequited Love
Janet Doyle Mar 2020
I think of your promises never made,
All of your words not spoken, never true,
Though what you didn’t say is what betrayed,
I’m longing for the life I never knew,

I know that I will not have another,
That from this day forward alone I’ll stay,
My heart and mind, dream of nothing other,
And I’ll be waiting for you come what may,

I remember what you hadn’t told me,
Together all the plans we never had,
But lies you didn’t speak I chose to see,
I’ve only me to blame for feeling bad,

Though time and time again they make me weep,
You’re promises never made I’ll always keep.

JDoyle
43 · May 2020
This is it
Janet Doyle May 2020
How often now, does emptiness
consume me,
Traded here and there for stoic pain,
Desperation rising up, as hope
eludes me,
As the tears of sorrow fall like rain,
Mockery that irritates and just
disgusts me,
Always someone bleating the refrain,
I’m trapped amongst a people that
confound me,
Not enough to hear myself complain,
My uselessness demeans and so
frustrates me,
My hands worthy of so much disdain,

JDoyle
42 · Jul 2020
The Duel
Janet Doyle Jul 2020
Rapier flashes, sun on steel,
Deftly, the point scores the heart,
Blood stained lace, and a dandy’s cry,
Death is sculpted to a fine art,
As body falls in the crimson dirt,
A desperate soul must soon depart,
Long we danced, and long we fought,
In lonely glade, our paths do part,
I to the road, and you to the grave,
The full rising moon bids me to start,

JDoyle

— The End —