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Wednesday, March 27, 2019

A Few Things Learned In Fifty-plus Years


Happy 50th Birthday to my beautiful sister, Lucy
(sharing a few things I've learned in my own 50+)
(photo credit; Brittany Ruppert)

To touch without clutching
To look without wanting
To have without holding
Save deep in the heart
To taste life more slowly
For each breath is holy
Where alone and lonely
Are worlds apart

To be kind and tender
For we share the splendor
And brunt of hope, hunger
And try-try again
Where stumble and fumble
Helps to keep us humble
And laughter full-free is
Life’s best medicine

To bask in the beauty
Of task’s humble duty
For who knows what mis’ry
Its taper may snuff
To try not to borrow
The weight of tomorrow
Today’s joy and sorrow
Are more than enough

To cherish the treasure
Of each moment-measure
Where burden and pleasure
Keep pace, side by side
Where trust tests our self-will
Where faith none can prove til
With fires of trial
Our idyll is tried

To speak with intention
And gentle affection
To earn through correction
The wisdom it brings
To scavenge the coffers
That dawn-to-dusk proffers
For the best this life offers
Is its simple things

To drink coffee often
And where our curves soften
Delight in the cotton
Of baggy night-shirts
To fling flirty answers
Where laundry-line dancers
Are quite the romancers
In flapping denims and skirts

To pray without ceasing
For every season
Has every reason
To call upon God
Where no one is able
To set supper’s table
Save for mercy’s staples
Of seed-sun-rain-sod

To find the word 'grandma'
Fits nicely with 'mama'
Then not mind the drama
Of sprightly white hair
But to start embracing
That old woman facing (well, maybe not you...yet😉😝)
Our puzzled expression
When/if we look in the mirror

To give without ration
For love and compassion
No matter the fashion
Are welcomed by all
To work with devoutness
And honour its commonness
For in the King’s service
No chore is too small

To forgive each other
And love one another
We’re all sister-brother
And creatures of need
Then, to be more gracious
For each life is precious
Whatever our age is
Or country or creed

…and, just to be thankful
For spoon, mouth or handful
For Time is a candle
And life is a gift
Filled with death and yearning
And hearts always learning
The art of returning
To the Giver of it

© Janet Martin

Give thanks to the LORD,
 for he is good; his love endures forever.
Psalm 107:1

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