Wednesday, February 13, 2019

We Die A Thousand Deaths, It Seems...


this poem?...when Realization hit a-fresh
how life is filled with daily deaths...
and it is futile to clench the fist 
where what we hold dissolves like mist
and what we cherish will fall prey
to the vast world of yesterday
So, pray the Lord to fix our trust 
Beyond this shadow-land of dust
(or as the case is right now; ice and snow!)




We die a thousand deaths, it seems
In death of days and death of dreams
The glory-tide of morning sweeps
Across time’s shore to phantom deeps
And draws upon its deadly wave
Footsteps that haste toward the grave

Love learns to let go as it clings
To tender ties of frayed heart strings
Where echoes, like coloured balloons
Bob across long-lost afternoons
And wake within this wisp of breath
A tug-of-war-twixt life and death

…where breadwinner and beggar meet
And barter on a common street
Where hunger chimes beneath the skin
Of rich and poor, like next of kin
Where what is will soon fade and lie
Like shadows when dusk dims the sky

…and life, for all its wish and whim
And love for all its verve and vim
Trembles within a fragile frame
That soon returns from whence it came
Where, with the breath of days and dreams
We die a thousand deaths, it seems

© Janet Martin


Tuesday, February 12, 2019

Mr. Winter Gayle


 Not sure if the fiddle music Victoria was listening to while baking influenced this one?...😉

note; this photo was an 'easier to ask forgiveness than permission' shot:)
I told her I'll remove it if she likes but she has now given me permission to
'not worry about it'!

Third Round of his rumpus within a week!
Take a break already!!




He breaks from his tether; a busker of breeze
Ruffles the feathers of fellers and trees
Without form he storms the earth, reckless and bold
Playing the streets like a fiddle of gold

No crowd kindly gathers; no clapping hurrahs
No nickels tossed with purple knuckles because
He is a wild rolling, bone-chilling bum
Playing the earth like an old tin drum

He is no crooner; he frazzles the fell
Tromping with trombone of highland and dell
Daring the dreamer to dance all alone
Playing the stream like a glass xylophone

Blue-lipped, he must be, but no one can say
He keeps the fans of his music at bay
In his own right, an infamous super-star
He plays the sky like a steel guitar

Mr. Winter Gayle, no one swings wide their door
To hail your carriage or plead an encore
But from windowed bunkers we watch you perform
While you play your number one hit; Winter Storm

© Janet Martin

On Saturday he forgot himself for a while
and played a soft snow-globe serenade...
 simply lovely!

With Love And All Its Gladness Lent...




With love and all its gladness lent
Like gardens bent with flow’r
Where laughter’s sparkling element
Delights the common hour

...where summer is a state of mind
In spite of season's toll
Unraveling the ties that bind
The hunger of the soul

…where wonderment too rare for words
To phrase love's ways in full
Is coupled with life’s deepest hurts
And sorrow’s sacred pull

For with love’s fond and splendid bliss
Flows grief’s fine-mingled art
Dear, love is not a carefree kiss
Or for the faint of heart

Love is a holy happiness
For in its cup of cheer
Shimmers the bittersweet caress
Of its most tender tear

© Janet Martin






Monday, February 11, 2019

Basking In Sonshine

A lot of us feel like basking in sunshine this bone-chilling time of year!

Thankfully we need no dollars or airplanes to bask in Sonshine each and every day!


Getting
Truth 
from the head
 to the heart 
is often the 
hard part, 
isn't it ?!
There is a world of difference between knowing and believing!
After a week where I fought brutal wars of self-condemnation and blame because action equals consequence etc. I was moved immensely as yesterday morning's message was summed up by the
encouraging 
reminder/
admonition 
that if we truly 
believe in the 
work on the 
cross we should
 'bask in God's
 forgiveness'! 
IT IS 
FINISHED!
Nothing 
and no one 
can change 
this! EVER!
Amen.
Hallelujah! 
Believe it!
Claim it.




The warlords of discord and condemnation never rest
But beat the drums of doom and gloom within the human breast
How hopeless, hope’s appeal where unbelief’s chief demons leer
And in the place of grace erect a monument of fear

How awful to adjust the love of God like pink play-doh
His Word is Truth and in it everything we need to know
The warlords of this world delight in vexing human race
With guilt and shame they heap the heart with blame instead of grace

What’s done is done; no one can change the past; no, not one bit
But ‘it is done’; Jesus, God’s Son once for all, declared it
The seal of His redemption none can break (though lies run rife)

Then, oh, how sweet the peace, when we release doubt’s damning rod
And accept without compromise, the promises of God
To bask in glorious Sonshine of forgiveness, full and free
And believe, once for all in the fullness of Calvary

The prison-guard of Self is hard to overcome until
We drink the Living Water and trust in the Author’s will

Do not despair; the ‘getting there’ is fraught with trip and fall
But God, through Jesus saves us, His forgiveness once for all
Then, glory-hallelujah, come what may, Promise prevails
And bids us bask in Sonshine of a love that never fails

© Janet Martin
 
Galatians 5:1
It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. 
Stand firm, then, and do not be encumbered once more by a yoke of slavery.

John 1:17
For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

Romans 5:17
For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, 
 how much more will those who receive an abundance of grace 
and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ!
Romans 5:18
Therefore, just as one trespass brought condemnation for all men, 
so also one act of righteousness brought justification and life for all men.
Romans 5:21
so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness,
 to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.



Saturday, February 9, 2019

Of Gifted Gold...


 A gorgeous gold-glitter-glazed gift
gladdens our gaze!



Cradle, don’t clench
Cherish, don’t clutch
Love softly grants
Whispers to touch
It’s beauty-kissed
Bubble we hold
Is like a mist
Of gifted gold

© Janet Martin