To Keepers of Home Sweet Home..

"What, no Thanksgiving Bake-Buffet??? but it's tradition"

said Victoria, after my suggestion of 'maybe not this year'

so I baked,

(if only to preserve a little sameness in life's constant change)

She tends the Flame, preserves a touch of sameness where Time’s tide

Is bent on change and the estrangements of its sultan stride

She keeps the kettle on, stirs supper-soup and hums a hymn

Turns on the lights of home sweet home when gloaming shadows dim

She guards the hearth where innocence of childhood days are doffed

Its laughter, sweet upon the lips spirals to echoes soft

As Time goes by she comes to learn how sacred-swift the role

Of discipline and cultivation of body-clothed soul

How small may seem the menial task that fills her résumé

And oft, when asked ‘what do you do?’ she knows not what to say

Strange how the mop-sweep-fold and keep of homespun commonness

Cannot convince the by-stander 'tis earthly heaven-ness

The plant and gather season is a smooth and subtle sweep

Baskets hold fruit and flowers; most of harvest rests heart-deep

She weeps for the full joy of it, oft caped in noise and mess

And treasures the kind measure of love’s humble happiness

She knows that she cannot afford to overlook her charge

Soon, far too soon young heads are turned by the wide world at large

And thus she bows her head, pleads for a Higher Hand to guide

As she tries to preserve a touch of sameness in time’s tide

© Janet Martin

This morning I am so thankful for what a good night's sleep bestows...
invigoration where weariness the night before felt eternal!