Showing posts with label friends. Show all posts
Showing posts with label friends. Show all posts

Friday, December 20, 2019

The Beauty of the Bitter (or Burnt;-)

 Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior,
    who daily bears our burdens. 
 Our God is a God who saves;
    from the Sovereign Lord comes escape from death.
Psalm 68:19-20 

I was looking for a beginning for today's post (Thursday-what's-for-supper)
and when I read this quote that my friend Bren L shared today on her FB post
it set thought's wheels in motion:

"Reflect on your present blessings 
of which every man has many, 
not on your past misfortunes, 
of which all men have some." 
~ Charles Dickens


...When the door bell rings and you answer
and a neighbor hands you a box of Christmas treats along
with best wishes for a blessed Christmas,
is that not one of life's sweetest happiness-es?
 (even before you taste the goodies in the box?!😋😊)

 Does it not make worth burning the first batch of white sauce
you were cooking for supper's green bean casserole

'cause you've been sweetly distracted by treats?!
but then, in the glow that can only come from love/friendship we try again...
melt butter, stir in a few tbsp. of flour, 
then whisk light cream or milk into it until it's a smooth, white sauce, not too thick, not too thin
 pour over green beans, canned or frozen,
Top with shredded cheese...
...and crushed cornflakes tossed with a bit 'o melted butter

Bake at 350 till bubbly...
We served it with Christmas coleslaw;
red and green thinly sliced cabbage, red onion, 
bit of chopped romaine lettuce, red cranberries and toasted sunflower seeds. 
Toss with your favorite vinaigrette dressing. 

cooked pasta tossed with chopped cooked chicken breast, 
cream of mushroom soup and cheese.


Imagine if what heaped our plates was all pudding and cake
If consequence would not follow the choices that we make
Imagine if our wish and whim were granted on the spot
And we would never have to work or wait for what we’ve got

Imagine if the bitter never did reveal the sweet
Or wake in us most sacred awe for bread we break and eat
Imagine if destruction was not the first-fruit of pride
How greedy we would be, never thankful or satisfied

Imagine if the plans we made played out beneath our touch
And hope would not be honed by broken dreams and hearts and such
If we would never taste the sting of meek trust’s bitter tears
Then we would waste the would-be sweetness turning days to years

Because the bitter makes sweeter the blessings that we count
It keens our sense to sparkles soft-spilling from Mercy’s fount
Imagine if we did not need each other constantly
How cold, covetous, ungrateful and lonely we would be

© Janet Martin

some more hand-delivered sweetness from friends yesterday afternoon...


This morning's breakfast from the treat-box above is an annual anticipated treat! 


Surely life's bitter parts would be too hard to bear
but for its sweetness-es kindly tucked between!

Here's to being somebody's sweetness today!

Victoria just became mine as she walked into the kitchen dressed for work💝

Saturday, April 27, 2019

Come Over For Tea

PAD Challenge day 27: For today’s prompt, pick a direction, make that the title of your poem, 
and then, write your poem. There are so many directions: north, south, up, down, left, right, over, under, etc. But there are also more specific directions like “Across the Way,” “Through the Woods,” and “Beyond the Clearing.” 
Or give directions like “Clean Your Room,” “Tie Your Shoes,” or “Get Over Here.”



( today's outdoor tea unfortunately includes mittens and a wind warning!)


I’ll put the kettle on
With sweet treat on the side
And we will pull our chairs beneath
A wreath of blue sky-wide
Then as the hour flows
Through careworn taste and touch
We’ll chat about the way time goes
And love and life and such

For tea is less the tea
Or where we choose to sit
And more about the company
We keep while sipping it
And while we pour the brew
Of first, then second cup
We’ll pour a bit of heart out too
And cheer each other up

…where thrill and spill and ill
Will always have its way
Where hurt and hope fill and refill
Without a holiday
…where life, whatever bend
The up or down might be
Is all ways best shared with a friend
Over a cup of tea

© Janet Martin
 

Tuesday, April 23, 2019

To My Family and Friends (with my blessing)

PAD Challenge 23: Time for our fourth (but not final) Two for Tuesday of the month! 
Pick one prompt or use both…your choice! 

  1. Write a free poem.
  2. Write a not free poem.

 Seems everything I dream is part of you...



You have taken (with my blessing)
What I used to call ‘me free time’
You make me feel undeserving
Of love's (often uphill) climb

Strange how we change what we wish for
From footloose and fancy-free
To the best life has to offer
When love turns ‘me’ into ‘we’

Once upon a long-gone freedom
I would dread The To-do List
That was before you and me and
All the love we would have missed

Love fills up life’s cup of laughter
And because not much is free
Love drains all but echoes after
Life turns time to memory

Keep on taking (with my blessing)
The 'me free time' I hear tell of
Because after Us there's nothing
I would rather have than love


© Janet Martin

As long as we love
there will always be
So much to do
and so little time!