Thanks-living Lyric

Happy Thanksgiving to our American neighbors and friends!

For heavens that declare God’s glory age to age to age...

For children in the sweet, fleet sacredness of innocence...

For front porch lights 

and blazing hearths 

and fresh-steeped cups of tea...

For heavens that declare God’s glory age to age to age

Masterpiece after masterpiece ignites awe’s flawless wage

For nature’s law unruffled by the changes progress brings

Beauty’s bounteous coffers charged with Eden’s glimmerings

For children in the sweet, fleet sacredness of innocence

Before the tug twixt right and wrong begins its arguments

For home’s most cherished havens and the love of family

For front porch lights and blazing hearths and fresh-steeped cups of tea

For worth earth cannot grant, but He whose breath of life we breathe

For mirth to plant its laughter where our spirits often grieve

For hope to help us cope with ‘nope’ when we had prayed for ‘yes’

For ups and downs that humble and meeken our happiness

For all the ways we could have erred, but by God’s grace, did not

For mercy’s goodness undeterred though He is oft forgot

For God’s unfailing promises for better or for worse

For dawn, unveiling Today like a gift from heaven’s purse

For faces not yet kissed and wonder not yet tasted, oh

For sadness of farewells hinged to the gladness of hello

For doors waiting to fling ajar on shores beyond our reach

For knowing that right where we are has lessons left to teach

For friendships and for favors, free of charge and fit for kings

Like the trill of a songbird or the thrill new baby brings

For night’s rest from our labours and for neighbors, sweet and kind

For duty’s wealth to guard against snares of an idle mind

For farm fresh eggs and other fine culinary delights

For simple fare to satisfy heartiest appetites

For fresh-ground, fresh-brewed coffee, for the cup of life that brims

With still untasted melodies of still unfolding hymns

For seasons that we sail through, like the twinkle or a chime

Stunning new generations with the olden ways of time

For challenges that teach us to trust more and worry less

For flowerpots on windowsills and tot-anointed mess

For dreams that keep us on our toes/knees and drive impatience wild

For moms and dads committed to the welfare of the child

For unexpected moments that bestow a breathless ache

With bliss we miss when hurry’s flurry sets the pace we take

For faith to face the new year with our faces all aglow

Like children as they dash to play in fresh untrodden snow

For jar shelves laden with collections gleaned from garden fare

For cozy nooks and books when the weather growls like a bear

For flowers, and for bowers bright with fall foliage, for spring

After winter relinquishes its grip on earth’s awning

For treasuring the timelessness of life’s most simple joys

Shared with the cheerful company of little girls and boys

For poetry still wafting in whispers still unsubdued

For more than we can tally when it comes to gratitude

For love's lingering essence like a fragrant curlicue

After the flame is snuffed that flickered with life's me-and-you  

And, (last but never least), for salvation’s security

To make our joy complete despite what was, is and will be

© Janet Martin

For treasuring the timelessness of life’s most simple joys

Shared with the cheerful company of little girls and boys...

For love's lingering essence like a fragrant curlicue

After the flame is snuffed that flickered with life's me-and-you