Thursday, January 31, 2019

This Plain, Age-old Appeal


 I laughed out loud when I saw this Bing-search on my blog; 
what is the point of a poetry-blog? someone asked
I hope when they find out they let me know😉

Below, part of my poetry-collection...

...this poetry-thing has been going on for a long time
but at the end of the day we still are not quite sure what to do with it;
especially in this day and age where poem-books are not on the Best-seller list
but rather perhaps on the Best cellar list😊
 Still, art has never been done for the money of it but rather for the love it
and I suppose a poetry-blog is one way to share the love!

There is no money in poetry
and no poetry in money!
Most publishers care more about the money than the poetry 
for obvious reasons so what does one do with poetry?!


From fathoms hung upon the air
As old as faceless Father Time
With seasoned hope and common care
The poet spins her winsome rhyme
And paints upon parchment-terrain
Scenes soft and oft somewhat surreal
For troubadour cannot contain
The ink that poets think and feel

Emotion’s oceanic crest
Is hard to harbour in the heart
The crash and surge of urge and quest
Ah, some must wrestle into art
Where skin and bone alone are small
For we are all mere mortal men
But what, after the madrigal
Makes worth the call of ink and pen

A poem seals upon a page
Time’s places, faces soon forgot
It sets upon thought’s open stage
The crashing sea, a flower-pot
It tugs at years and sets them free
It kindles fires with a spark
And stirs a tender melody
Where silence would be cold and dark

The poet, none can quite explain
Her heart and soul, thirst-cursed and blessed
Her Task-Master asks her to strain
And garner from life’s worst it best
But after thought has spilled its reel
(Heart-pieces for the world to see)
Remains this plain, age-old appeal
What does one do with poetry?

© Janet Martin

Game-changer

"I would go CRAZY after about 30 minutes of your life", remarked one of my dearly-beloveds
 as they helped themselves to a bowlful of homemade granola, (before heading out)
while surveying the wreckage of living in the 'not-so-background music' of tots!

Well, replied I, If it was the mere mechanics of Doing it would be dull indeed...

Life would be a doleful, soulful hole full of fear and despair
It would be a lonely, loathsome, longing-laden weight of care
Toil would be a mundane, mocking, morbid money-driven taunt
Where its filthy lucre’s purchase would be lacking what we want
And the most that we could cope for is to hope for bitter death
Without Heaven as the outcome as it severs soul and breath
But for this gear-grinding, mercy-finding, sorrow-binding Best
Love; ah love and only love makes worthy all the rest

© Janet Martin

 Love is the game-changer, I continued,
It makes all the difference in all we do!
I love making life lovely for those I love.
So, it's not always what we do but why that makes what we do worthwhile!

Though we give our bodies to be burned and have not love it profits us nothing...
1 Cor. 13

January and Juxtapositions





It's so cold
and so awesome!

Hard to hate a postcard heavy with the handiwork of God
Worship overcomes the burden; love makes worth each mile we trod
Beauty begets humble wonder while we bear The Ways of Life
Of Night always hinged to morning; of joy always hinged to strife
Of hope, always hinged to heartache, of delight hinged to dismay
Of desire hinged to blessing, of heaven hinged to today

© Janet Martin



For Old Man Winter's Shining Hour


 I found the above old book a few months ago, 
a chapter for each month written by a woman (after my own heart) in Connecticut...
but very relatable in Canada as well!
Weather certainly has come in capital letters this week!
Hubby is in Winnipeg with a brand new truck and frozen fuel!


Fellow, famous for your grit
For our love or hate of it
You don’t seem to mind a bit
Owning center stage
Seething in each crease and crook
Stirring love for tea and book
Making home the sweetest nook
While your tempers rage

While you tweak cheeks, nose and toes
While you shake Nature’s repose
While you make yourself at home
Right outside each door
Tumbling, rumbling, reeling g-r-r-r
Big, burly, breath-stealing b-r-r-r
Sparkling stillness, starred silver
Want and wonder war

Season of quilted desires
Frozen water-pipes, home-fires
Icicles like crystal spires
Fringe each rooftop’s edge
Where earth’s frozen floorboards creak
Where our hasty footsteps squeak
Where the birdie fills its beak
With God’s seeded pledge

Shovels, skates, skis and snow-shoes
Landscapes draped in hoary hues
Vantage filled with varied views
Of you, foe or friend
Old Man Winter, shine your hour
Flaunt your frigid super-pow’r
For with each day you devour
You hasten your end

While you leap with cold, bold stride
Fling your fortune far and wide
We smile at your foolish pride
Knowing one sure thing
With each flurry that you flail
With each fierce frost bitten gale
Slowly, surely you unveil
Earth’s rebirth, sweet spring

© Janet Martin




Wednesday, January 30, 2019

Like Quaint Quilt Patches


On Sunday a few friends and I marveled at the artistry
 in the quilts on display at a local restaurant (Crossroads:) 
A quilt is a one-of-a-kind-work-of-art!
A little like each of our lives; bits and pieces stitched together!
Today's moments would make quite the patch-work quilt,
 I thought as I 'arranged' some of its colors while others spilled, splashed and crumbled into place...
I love snowy kitchen-days and the tots didn't seem to mind either!

A few today-quilt-patches...





Good to be busy and thoughtful and thankful
Good to be glad in Time’s tête-à-tête verge
Good to be helpful and happy and humble
Making the most of mere moments that merge
Like quaint quilt-patches into the big picture
Drawing us oft to a soft, surreal cast
To marvel at the fine stitches and tincture
That turned from everyday life into Past

Good to be gentle while tuned to a spindle
Holding a wheel that unravels the thread
Weaving a fabric of freckle and brindle
Pink, periwinkle, gold, green, sapphire, red
Gold and gray shimmers of dirt-floor and rafter
Pastel and neon frays of hand and heart
Turning the colors of yearning and laughter
Into a one-of-a-kind-work-art

© Janet Martin



On the other side of the window B-R-R!!
On this side, COZY!
Thank-you, Lord