May Morning Medley

I had a little flower photo-shoot while waiting on the youngsters to arrive this morning...

Farewell, sweet, sweetest May

Leaf-lace on woodland’s viridian veil

Showcase for perfume of lilac-lined trail

Laughter from rafters of sapphire sweep

After the ire of winter-winds sleep

Romance of tulip and forget-me-not

Slow-dance of zephyr on hill and tree-top

Twitter and titter of fair, feathered throng

Dew-diamond glitter gilds dawn’s meadow-song

Garden-plots grin with the glint of first-fruit

Tiny tots traipse through its haven, bare-foot

Rain-streams and sunbeams ravish nature’s need

Daydreamers dally where bud-ballets bleed

Wealth wills bloom-wonder to beggar-like bards

Earth spills plumed plunder to gaunt limbs and yards

Gone is the groaning of ‘when will it be’

Spring spawns atonement for hope’s misery

Merchant and miser alike cannot claim

Garment of nature nor lock of Her mane

Silver sun-sparkles on shimmering seas

Shiver of poplar leaf-lay on the breeze

Summer, a murmur of moments away

Calmer, the commonness of middle day

Fairer the freeway of blush pinks and creams

Where May is heaven of earth, so it seems

© Janet Martin

Analyzing Outlooks

Ah, Sovereign Lord, you have made the heavens and the earth 

by your great power and outstretched arm. 

Nothing is too hard for you.

Jer.32:17

Darling, do your dreams seem futile

As the streams that forward flow

Through a hue of green-blue-purple

To a place we do not know

Darling, does your heart beat broken

By the art of push and shove

While each morning metes its token

Of mercy’s unspoken love

Darling, are you filled with anguish

For a shore of summers spent

Does your spirit thrive or languish

In this world of discontent

Darling, in life’s test and trouble

Have you learned a deeper joy

Than the elemental bubble

That a stiff wind will destroy

Darling, are you humbly thankful

For time’s fresh favor from God

Where each day is like a jewel

In a crown of season-sod

© Janet Martin

Oh, This Life

Oh, this sacred breadth of being

With its breath-by-breath decay

Is a journey toward seeing

How swift life’s gift slips away

Oh, this beauty of becoming

Where Duty and dream ally

Is like listening to the humming

Of a choir in the sky

Oh, this flower-favored laughter

Oh, this longing-labored fear

Cunning, shapes the stunning After

In the echo of a year

Cherish ev’ry bit of living

Savor its sun-shadow sweep

For Time’s hand, so full of giving

Leaves so little we can keep

Oh, this road of woe and wonder

Oh, this hunger-driven laud

Is a brief joy-grief encounter

On a journey back to God

© Janet Martin

Last evening I went out with a couple friends to celebrate a 50th birthday.

"Hi Marie,(sharing the poem from your card:)

You visit this porch from time to time

 so I did not want your card to be poemless!

Thank-you for reading and your kind interest and words of appreciation over the years".

Wishing each of you blessed miles in your journey today!

Whether we're coasting downhill or struggling up,

our God of grace is with us!

You make known to me the path of life;

You will fill me with joy in Your presence,

with eternal pleasures at Your right hand

Ps.16:11

The path of the righteous is like the morning sun,

shining ever bright til the full light of day.

Prov.4:18

Prayer For the Pilgrim

 

Lord, make us more than merchants of moments that fade away

Lord, fill our hearts with love for fellow-travelers today

For who knows by the time the sun sets who of us will pass

From here to where no one returns to shout hurray, alas

Lord, take our brokenness and make it fitting for love’s task

Banish our bitterness and live through us, I humbly ask

For who of us is better than the rest of us; no one

And we all need forgiveness for the sins that we have done

Lord, bind the heart that sorrows, with the kindness of Your word

Remind us that Your promises are pure and undeterred

For who or what can comfort besides Heaven’s Hope unfurled

In pages that prepare us for a place beyond this world

© Janet Martin

 My soul is weary with sorrow; strengthen me according to your word. 

Ps.119:28 NIV

The Stars Can Wait

Look Janet, gasped little Luke, it's a whole field of wishing-flowers!

...and soon they fly upon their wishes ...and instead of little colorful boots, it's bigger than mom or dad's shoes

 

  ....instead of toy trucks and cars it's big-boy trucks and cars

They heap the heart with happiness

And tender, simple joys

They keep us steady in life’s mess

Life’s little girls and boys

They teach us how to slow our feet

To listen, not just hear

To reach for more than bread and meat

While they are sweet and near

For, far too soon their wings will spread

And they will fly away

The stars can wait, dear mom and dad

Be with your child today

© Janet Martin