Love's Purest Harvest

Teach us to number our days,

that we may gain a heart of wisdom.

Psalm 90:12

Thank-you, God, for the toil of rakes,

of pruning shears and petal-tears

and garden tours where farewell aches

with every tug and turn. As years

accumulate with searing ease;

sheaf upon sheaf

of memories

Thank you, God, for beggarly bliss

where happiness and hunger meld

where no morrow can cool the kiss

that weeps with joy at having held

and borne the sting of thorns to smell

the rose before

its petals fell

Thank-you, God, for the tender task

of tending graves; no cruel grief

is this; to linger thus, to bask

in the fullness of fallen leaf

and listen to the eulogy

that weans the whisper

from the tree

Thank-you God, for each little slice

of Heaven on earth’s dust-to-dust

season-altars of sacrifice

-es kindling utter wonder-lust

And humbler gratitude, to crown

Love’s tender teardrops

slipping down

© Janet Martin

A few more 'slices' 

of Heaven on earth’s dust-to-dust...