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