Of Present Push and Pull #2

We are thankful

Life’s push and pull

Poised upon perhaps

Keeps us guessing

At the next thing

Pressed into our laps

It might be sweet

And kitten-soft

We'll pet its purring mew  

Until it scratches,

Bites and claws

Then we'll want something new

And we'll be glad

That what we had

Wore out its welcome, oh

And broke the ice

For something nice

-er, at least we hope so

Sometimes the tears

For far-fled years

Blind us to Here and Now

Until we see

How swift the plea

Of season stills the plow

Forbid we miss

The full of This

Arabesque, shimmer-kissed

Where present push and pull

Soon lulls

And new push-pulls insist

This montage of

The laws of love

Oft leaves us awed and vexed

Caught in between

All that has been

And what will happen next

© Janet Martin

Of Easel and Wine Press

My, what a fretwork of artwork we hold

Frames filled with claims, lent by God

Glimmers of cobalt and shimmers of gold

Tickle Time’s trembling facade

Ah, what an awesome Invitation, This

Rife with life’s breath-by-breath ‘oh’

Showers and flowers and hours we miss

And some we kiss once and let go

Duty is beauty in common disguise

Thank He who sends it each day

Savor the flavor where soon noon-day’s Prize

Like footprints in sand wash away

Well, well, we say, then the gray of goodnight

Brushes from sight, window-scapes

Thought traces places naught erases quite

It sips wine pressed from yester-shapes

What are we making of this holy haste ?

Eyes and ears, mouths, fingertips

Say, what will season the vintage we taste

When we lift thought’s glass to our lips

Darling, the arbor is heavy with grapes

Autumn insists on its due

Ah, something stirs; it blurs brawny landscapes

Shattered by silver and blue

© Janet Martin

Of Present Push and Pull

It grants us dances, thwarts our steps

It lets us leap and fall

A labyrinth of dreams and debts

And wonders big and small

Laughter and longing intermix

What seems a gathered sum

Is but a bitty bubble fixed

To what it will become

It bursts the bastioned bud with bloom

Bloom spills its beaming laud 

Threading the shuttle of a loom

 Mastered by nature's God

Earth’s births are hinged to death, but wait

Farewell hails veiled advent

It forges from felled gold a gate

To seasons not yet spent

It never stays the same for long

This present push and pull

Composes stanzas in a song

We never hear in full

© Janet Martin

The Source That Lends The Force...

This morning I got two words typed before the phone rang and

the bustling day swept me into its Must-dust,

but what a beauty it was, even if it was well-chilled;-)

I'm not sure if this is where the poem was headed this morning, but its what it became tonight!

The Source that lends the force whereby the discourse of day dawns

Stuns sleepy-headed spectators with gold on sun-kissed slopes

Stirred shadows stretch like charcoal sketches on streets, fields and lawns

And earth is like a freeway brimming with fresh dreams and hopes

Good morning, hallelujah and the new today begins

Swept into the direction of its predecessors, oh

I wish it would not hurry so; I scarce can take it in

Before dusk’s farewell colors fringe its intangible flow

High noon tunes heaven with fathoms of blue; ah, who dares boast?

We are so small compared to all the Awesomeness we see

Where we are honored onlookers to heaven’s billowed host

And earth showcasing glimpses of Creator’s majesty

The Source that lends the force whereby day’s discourse yields its zest

 Is like a fount from whence God’s autographs of love abound

Stark shadows stretch to dark etched paintings sculpted on the west

And earth is like a cot with heaven tucked in all around

© Janet Martin

Time Takes Its Toll...and A Dave update!

 Time definitely takes its toll on bodies, no matter who we are sooner or later something gives out!
I have a friend who suddenly without warning lost sight in one eye. She, so youngish-seeming, will turn 70 at the end of the year, Lord willing, but oh, adapting to one-eyed vision is such a test!
Hard to drive, hard to read, hard to judge distance! Will you pray for her encouragement?
Jenny 15 yrs. old, one day a school-girl, the next in hospital with no feeling in her legs, then a cancer diagnosis, still in hospital and undergoing chemo-treatments!
Please pray for her and her family's encouragement!
I have a brother whose journey of healing after a fall at work in June is a huge test of patience for someone who loved work, and life! Will you pray for him and his family and their encouragement?
We all deal with small surrenders as we age, no matter how hard we fight;-)
Time takes its toll...on all but Soul!
Let's pray for each other's encouragement to fight the good fight!

Time takes its toll on all but Soul

This fragile flesh born for decay

Bears highs and lows as days disclose

High hopes and doubt, joy and dismay

And all that we can know for sure

Where we know trouble will not cease

Is this; nothing keeps us secure

Save God who grants midst mayhem, peace

In days of old wild flood-deeps rolled

Across the world, where Noah’s ark

Because he did what he was told

Carried him through days long and dark

…the ark of mercy waits today

Its door to safety beckons, come

Before grace seals The Only Way

Through His spilled blood to heaven’s Home

Then lest we, caught, when we think not

Are swept from this world up to God

We should pay heed to what we ought

And never scorn what saints applaud

Time does not wait but nears A Gate

Then pray the Lord Thy soul to keep

Lest caught off guard, we learn too late

That only flesh succumbs to sleep

© Janet Martin

 We must pay closer attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away.
For if the message spoken by angels was binding,
and every transgression and disobedience received its just punishment,
how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation?
Heb. 2:1-3

The author of this song Fanny J. Crosby, was blind!

So no matter how hard the journey the believer's hope is fixed on things to come!


Dave update: It's been a while! but the journey is on-going.
(for previous updates click on Dave and Karen in labels section at the bottom of the post)

Yesterday he had an appointment with a specialist in Toronto.

 Here is an update from Dave's wife, Karen.

Hi Everyone

Here is the update from today's appointment

Today we went to meet with the specialist in Toronto. Came out of it with a lot of mixed emotions.
He has two problems. First is that he has a frozen shoulder, 2nd that the tear of the rotor cuff is so large not sure if surgery will even work.
He said surgery would not have happened right now anyways until we get the frozen shoulder fixed. He said that Dave's shoulder just doesn't move at all and has no strength in it. So he will be in contact with Dave's Physiotherapist in Elmira and let him know what he wants him to work on with him. Once we get that fixed then I think we will meet with the specialist again and go over our options.
I was kinda surprised,( I was sure that he would have surgery and it would be fixed) so at the appointment we didn't ask a lot of questions, but of course thought of a lot of questions that we should have asked on our way home - First we need to get the frozen shoulder gone- and see if that helps him to move that right shoulder and arm.
The one good thing is Dave doesn't have any pain with that arm ( unless of course he moves it the wrong way)
2nd is I was so worried about Dave going under for surgery with his lung - but I don't have to worry about that now. I know that God has the right time for everything, so please remember us in your prayers for us to have the patience we need with this part of his healing.
Dave ribs are still sore, but we know they said that that can take up to 6 months and we are not at 4 months yet.
Have a great weekend.