Thursday, August 27, 2020

Compositions...(from many a common afternoon)

above photo credit Emily Curry; used with permission from tot's mom

below photo credit;  Victoria Martin




 

The passage to the past is strewn

With many a common afternoon

The melodies that echoes play

Composed on bars of day-to-day

As seasons spill the ilk of hymns

Where beauty with the broken brims

As hurt and hope of high and low

Composes from wonder and woe

The words that learn to be more kind

Where awe and angst are intertwined

Composing haunting harmonies

Like rain that falls through August trees

Where leaves like large, lush platters splay

But cannot hold the silver lay

That drips and slips into the earth

The tomb of death, the womb of birth

While we stand on its teeming sod

And contemplate the ways of God

That none can thwart or circumvent

As we escort with wild lament

The mercy that flows faithfully

To the plain likes of you and me

Where opening to curtain close

Can’t help but tenderly compose

A humble hymn of gratitude

For many an afternoon, soft-strewed

As moments so casually cast

Compose the passage to the past

Where none can hold for long the part

That writes the song that tunes the heart

That pray, before its anthems fade

We heard the music as it played


© Janet Martin


So disappointed this pic blurred.
I handed Jim the camera while I was doing dishes after Melissa's birthday supper on Saturday
before we drove her back to the city. He isn't up to all the tricks of my only-half-working camera...
but I treasure this one all the same of the girls hanging out on the porch laughing and talking and talking and talking


We are not shaped by our future, but by our past which is shaped by our present!
Makes the moment we are in feel kinda sacred, doesn't it?!!


Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
Be acceptable in Your sight, O LORD, my rock and my Redeemer.
Psalm 19:14




4 comments:

  1. Even though blurred, the photo is still quite lovely. It has a sort of ethereal feel to it.

    Interesting that you are mulling past and present sharing our future. Earlier this morning I was some words by T.S. Eliot, lines from Burnt Norton:

    Time present and time past
    Are both perhaps present in time future,
    And time future contained in time past.

    ...

    Footfalls echo in the memory
    Down the passage which we did not take
    Towards a door we did not open
    Into the rose-garden. My words echo
    Thus, in your mind. ...

    I don't know why, but those last lines echo in my mind every time I hear them.

    I loved the photo of that little fellow eating his cob of corn.
    And he's very colour coordinated with his outfit and blue glasses. :)

    Enjoyed my visit, Janet. Wishing you a beautiful day.
    Brenda xo

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  2. I love the lines you shared<3 You just reminded me that there is a lot to look forward to when the summer-gardening and gathering is done for another season!I was feeling a little sad this morning as I realized August is drawing to a close so quickly and as I mulled over so many 'ordinary' afternoons this poem started taking shape and sadness turned to gladness<3 I am loving the blurred photo in a new light;-)
    thank-you Brenda for always bringing beauty when you visit and leaving some behind when you leave!

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  3. I love the photo as it is! Beautiful young ladies.
    As such beautiful words again, Janet. Thank you for the poem.

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  4. thank-you Sasha. I love those beautiful, young ladies like little else in this world! except for a few fellows of course;-)<3
    Hugs and prayers for you and yours.

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Thank-you for stopping by my porch! I hope you were blessed!