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Tuesday, April 30, 2024

Dear April...a Love letter of Relinquishment



For today's Two-for-Tuesday prompt:
Write a The End poem, and/or...
Write a Beginning poem.


One evening as I listened to this glorious piece of music below...

  

....it seemed as if it played the heart of April
and I began to pen an April love song that was never completed
This April, my joy as been visited by its inevitable counterpart; sorrow๐Ÿ’” 
 calling to mind these words of old
from Eccles. 3:1-4
There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under the heavens:
 a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
 a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
 a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,...
***
Sorrow makes sweeter every joy.
It makes sacred every opportunity to love
It rouses in the poet a meeker awareness
of the potency of ink endurance
and the voice that spills from a page long after
the breath of said author has ceased
***
This is the Love Song, revamped
because this is the last day of April...

Dear April,

Don't leave me yet,
I didn't get my fill of thrills
that the soul bares
Into sonnets of snared quadrilles
From violet-starry thoroughfares
or driveways dimpled with plip-plop
of raindrops wakening the dell
I didn't spell first swells of green
into an April doggerel 
or waltz enough, across a world
that somersaults with joy's spent grief 
because of little puddles pearled
like jewels on a newborn leaf   
I didn't tame to page the rush
of hope as winter disappears
from the austere, north-facing slope
as the forlorn countryside cheers
beneath sun-kisses, warmer now
where mild zephyrs counter the chill
that sneaks into the winds that blow
but cannot thwart the daffodil

Dear April,

Don't leave me yet, 
Because, it feels like we just met  
now we must part
before I satisfy the thirst
that almost bursts the poet's heart 
with art that you alone bestow;
the calm, that crowns the countryside
like a prelude before the show
before a creaking gate swings wide
to gardens tickling soft, bare feet
to fields mantled in dusty haze
to busyness we gladly greet
yet meet with half-reluctant gaze 
because Time never takes a rest
beneath the yellow willow tree
where the robin has tucked its nest
within its sighing filigree
where April showers spill and splash
to wake flower-worlds held at bay
And I would be too sad to laugh
But for your sweet successor, May

Janet Martin



because of little puddles pearled
like jewels on a newborn leaf 




I love this poem by John Clare
so fitting on this last day of April...
April












Sweet Synchronicity (of endings and beginnings)




For today's Two-for-Tuesday prompt:
Write a The End poem, and/or...
Write a Beginning poem.

The trees are beginning to don sheer, green chiffon!
A welcome sign that surely now
Old Man Winter has gone ๐Ÿ˜๐Ÿ˜Š




A breathless beckoning appeals 
It throbs in barren limb
Until the bud relents its seals
And frees a flower-hymn

As a Baton we cannot see
Conducts a mighty choir
And homage to God's Majesty/fealty
Resounds in every spire

Each lilting gold-green note unfolds
A lacy leaf  'hello'
Earth's eager audience beholds
Glimpses of spring's Maestro 

And hails, with humble gratitude
The Author of the song
That spills from hill and dell and wood
In winter's sweet so-long

In subtle synchronicity
Of hugs and tugs unfurled
On farewell's heels a symphony
Of welcome sweeps the world 

~Janet Martin







Monday, April 29, 2024

Until We Love Each Other More...

 From Robert Lee Brewer @ Writer's Digest...

Tomorrow is the final day of this challenge, but remember:
This challenge ain't over until it's over, so...
For today's prompt, take the phrase "Until (blank),"
replace the blank with a new word or phrase,
make the new phrase the title of your poem,
and then, write your poem.








It's easy to love the 'easy to love'.
But, not everyone or everything is
easy to love, in turn, turning life into a
big lesson-book!


Until we love each other more and cling to grudges less
And take care never to ignore or neglect promises
Until we gently contemplate our words before we speak
And rather than retaliate, we turn the other cheek
Until no envy-twinges sting when others steal the show
That we worked very hard to bring about. Until we sow
Aware that we will reap. Until the onus of return
Impacts the seeds we spill; it seems we still have much to learn

Until we live to give all that we can to life’s demands
With empathy for fellowman, with open hearts and hands
Until we pray more than we do and fret a little less
And weigh the wants that we pursue for more than happiness
Until we kindly reverence the Giver of our days
Mindful of worship’s Recompense by what our actions praise
Until we do not slight or spurn the things that God esteems
We still have so much yet to learn, of hopes and plans and dreams

Until we have mastered the art of humble gratefulness
Until we are purer in heart and start to grumble less
Until we smile more than we pout/shout and befriend more than feud
And walk a second mile without reluctant attitude
Until we cherish what we have while it is within reach
And, unafraid of mistakes, brave the lessons life must teach
Until kindness does not keep score or wait for its return
Until we love each other more, we still have much to learn

Until we want for others, more than we want for ourselves
Until no secret cupboards groan with miser’s laden shelves
Until love has nothing to hide, each motive boldly bared
Until longing is satisfied because blessing is shared
Until we realize that joy is the flipside of grief
Until the pursuits we employ are rooted in Belief
Until we recognize Dawn’s Door is hinged to Twilight’s Urn
And start to love each other more, we still have much to learn

© Janet Martin

John 13:34
A new commandment I give you: 
Love one another. 
As I have loved you, so you also must love one another.

John 15:17
This is My command to you: Love one another.

Romans 12:10
Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. 
Outdo yourselves in honoring one another.

Romans 13:8
Be indebted to no one, except to one another in love.
 For he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law.

Romans 13:10
Love does no wrong to its neighbor. 
Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law

Saturday, April 27, 2024

Sonnet of Love From a Father

For today's prompt, write a remix poem.

I'm not sure if this qualifies as a remix poem
but yesterday, as I finished
another poem began to form from another Father...



 


"Someday the way I work all things for good
To those who trust in me, will be made clear
Someday I will not be misunderstood
Faith’s dark glass in between will disappear

And we will see each other face to face
The substance of hope, Father-Spirit-Son
Will grant the final portion of My grace
As you behold Salvation’s Three-in-One

Someday the cares that press will cease to be
The battlefield will fade like morning dew
My armour will be shed in victory
For I AM Faithful, Trustworthy and True

So, take heart, though wars test and teardrops fall
The joy, still set before is worth it all

Love, Your Heavenly Father

p.s. and I shall supply all your need
according to my riches in glory by Christ Jesus~"

© Janet Martin

And my God shall supply all your need 
according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.
Phil. 14:19



Rev.21:1-8
Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,”
[a] for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, 
and there was no longer any sea. 
2 I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God,
 prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. 
3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! 
God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. 
They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. 
4 ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’
[b] or mourning or crying or pain, 
for the old order of things has passed away.”

5 He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” 
Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”

6 He said to me: “It is done. 
I am the Alpha and the Omega, 
the Beginning and the End. 
To the thirsty I will give water without cost from the spring of the water of life. 
7 Those who are victorious will inherit all this, 
and I will be their God and they will be my children.
 8 But the cowardly,
 the unbelieving, 
the vile, 
the murderers, 
the sexually immoral, 
those who practice magic arts, 
the idolaters 
and all liars—
they will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur. 
This is the second death.”


Friday, April 26, 2024

Love Letter from a Father




For today's prompt, write a persona poem.
 A persona poem is just a poem narrated in the voice of a persona who is not yourself.

Because I grant no guarantees
I tick and tock, I fly and chime...



Dear You, proprietor of dreams
And plans, that I alone estrange
Where, no matter the age, it seems
Human Nature will never change

Dear You, I'd like to, if I may
Before I take you by surprise 
And what now seems secure, falls prey
To resting places I disguise   

I'd like to remind you to pause
And ponder well, all I have lent
Making the most of Now, because
You never know when I am spent

Futile to want what Bygone seals
Or wish for what may never be
Better the hour that still peals
With fleeting opportunity 

Some think that I am on their side
And live as if I thought so too
But I am the taut, tender tide
 That tugs and tolls with dust and dew 

No respecter of persons, I
Am but a servant too, you see
Morning, noon, night is my reply
To a Higher Authority

Before it is to late to give
What I cannot, when 'we' have passed
I want to remind you to live
As if each day could be your last

Because I grant no guarantees
I tick and tock, I fly and chime
My legacy, your memories,
Yours duly, truly, 
Father Time

© Janet Martin

For All the Ways of Wonderful...




For today's prompt, write a homonym poem.

I began this post yesterday morning before Duty Beauty hailed...

The brook gurgles and bursts with lays
That sparkle to the sea...




The robin, quite industrious
Flits to and fro, intent...



From backroads to main thoroughfares
And all points in between
The landscape tosses fresh manes, fair
In dashing hues of green

The woodland wears an air of wealth
The wares of nature, free
For all to drink to our health
From founts of leaf-primed tree

Spring gushes from a trillion springs
Earth’s wakened deluge streams
Where bare branch bears from supple strings
A rush of bud-requiems

The robin, quite industrious
Flits to and fro, intent
In spite of housewife’s threat and fuss
To build nest in the vent

The brook gurgles and bursts with lays
That sparkle to the sea
To see the birds and hear their praise
Births praise in you and me

…for yellow frill of daffodil
For silver raindrop waltz
For purple pansy-violet thrill
For deep, blue, welkin vaults

For pastel-pink of blossom tulle
For sunbeam’s golden kiss
For all the Ways of Wonderful
Spring weighs our gaze with bliss

In beauty of both earth and sky 
In heaven-hints unfurled
Without reserve, from God on high 
To all the wooing world 

© Janet Martin

Isa.40:22
He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth;
its dwellers are like grasshoppers.
He stretches out the heavens like a curtain,
and spreads them out like a tent to dwell in.

click HERE to read in full Isa. 40, entitled Here is Your God

…for yellow frill of daffodil



For deep, blue, welkin vaults


For all the Ways of Wonderful
Spring weighs our gaze with bliss








Wednesday, April 24, 2024

On Living Life to the Max

For today's prompt, write a maximum poem...

We never know what a day will bring
so let's live each one to the max!




 These past few evenings have been spent
 in the barn next door...
It reminded me of a song from my youth..
esp. this line
'it's nice to think about it, maybe even visit,
but I wonder, could I live there anymore'.
because
Farming is very serious business these days,
and not for the faint of heart.




let's live life to
its precious max,
work hard, love kindly,
run, relax

push, pull, pray, play
smile, sing, give thanks
make the most of
spring-green creek banks 

pick buttercups
plant seeds, sip tea
engage in
real-time poetry 

aware of the
far-reaching way
of deeds we do 
and words we say

where finding joy
is no secret 
the more we give
the more we get

where happiness
holds out its key
...to make the most
of you and me

so, let's live life
to its lent max
the same up front
as behind backs

© Janet Martin

Col.3:23
And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men,



Tuesday, April 23, 2024

Morn's Melody of Mercy Pours

It's been a solemn week,
after a tragedy mentioned HERE and HERE
as well as another neighboring farm mishap,
 bringing two next door neighbors together
in rooms side by side
in a hospital over an hour away!
I cannot divulge the details of some very anguishing moments
juxtaposed with some very awesome ones 
only a comforting God could orchestrate!


Isa. 43:1-2
Now this is what the LORD says—
He who created you, O Jacob,
and He who formed you, O Israel:
“Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;
I have called you by your name; you are Mine!
2When you pass through the waters,
I will be with you;
and when you go through the rivers,
they will not overwhelm you...

A melody of mercy pours in strains of blush and blue
Hope beckons us to bow before the Lord and trust anew...






Morn's melody of mercy pours in strains of blush and blue
Hope beckons us to bow before the Lord and trust anew
Remembering that He who grants the onus of today
Is bigger than the circumstance that soon passes away

Heaven and earth are in the faithful, loving care of He
Who authors birth; all life exists by His authority
Thus, we are not our own; we do not orchestrate time’s sands
Nor arrange Today’s stepping stone, God cradles in His hands

With every joy, a grief is born/borne; life's bloom soon bears death’s due/dew
And oft the human heart is torn as sorrow runs it through
With higher thoughts and ways of He whose love perfects command
Who hears the praise and pleas of we who cannot understand

Day turns to night; night turns to day; Time’s tugboat nears the goal
Where dust will claim Frame’s petal-fray and God reclaims the Soul
Behold! morn's blush-blue medleys poured from founts where mercies brim
Hope beckons us to bow before the Lord and trust in Him

He will not fail through love’s travail that life is bound to bring
He hoists, within the howling gale the shadow of His wing
And pleads to all ‘come unto Me’; the cares that bear grief’s groan
Are but a glimpse of Calvary ere death was overthrown

A melody of mercy pours from love that knows no bounds
Faith feels its way between two shores where circumstance confounds
But cannot curb the ocean of God's compassion and grace
To deepen our devotion till we see Him face to face

© Janet Martin


With every joy, a grief is born; the bloom soon bears death’s due/dew...





Psalm 36:7
How precious is Your loving devotion, O God, 
that the children of men take refuge in the shadow of Your wings!

Ps.145:13
The Lord is trustworthy in all he promises
    and faithful in all he does.[c]



Friday, April 19, 2024

Gladness (in spite of sadness)



For today's prompt, pick an emotion, 
make it the title of your poem, 
and write your poem.

I have received so many kind words, 
messages, hug and heart emojis,
and prayers and I thank you all!
there is gladness!

Grief keens awareness
 and renewed gladness for life's simple blessings, doesn't it?





In the midst of so much taken, always still so much remains 
Kindness and compassion waken where trouble and sorrow pains 
Time is ever but a Lender; have-and-hold, a sacred lease  
Gratitude, Time's humble Spender; Gladness is its masterpiece 

Gladness finds a tender foothold in hugs, kind words, tears and prayers
Where, in grief would be hope's threshold without these and God who cares?  
How could we survive joy's sorrow? Hark, sweet words of old proclaim,
'Yesterday, today, tomorrow, Jesus Christ remains the same'

Goodness and mercy still follow; Gladness grips the Shepherd's staff 
Without Him hope would ring hollow; love would forget how to laugh
Death's shadow would not release us; but God changes everything 
Gladness shouts the name of Jesus; through Him, Death has lost its sting  

© Janet Martin






Psalm 23

The Lord is my shepherd;
I shall not [a]want.
2 He makes me to lie down in [b]green pastures;
He leads me beside the [c]still waters.
3 He restores my soul;
He leads me in the paths of righteousness
For His name’s sake.

4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil;
For You are with me;
Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.

5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;
You anoint my head with oil;
My cup runs over.
6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
All the days of my life;
And I will [d]dwell in the house of the Lord
[e]Forever.

Sadness




For today's prompt, pick an emotion, 
make it the title of your poem, 
and write your poem.



 It bleeds from my eyes
How it aches in my soul
It authors heart-cries
Where death leaves a large hole 

It bids me to fly
To the hills of God's Word
And like David, cry
'My help comes from the Lord'

© Janet Martin

Ps.121:1-2
I will lift up my eyes to the hills—
From whence comes my help?
 My help comes from the Lord,
Who made heaven and earth.








Thursday, April 18, 2024

It Would Be Easy To Despair...or Hope's Great Counterclaim


For today's prompt, write a pessimistic poem.
***
I shared the verse below on yesterday's post HERE
I am sharing it again today because it felt
like a divine reminder when I needed it most!

Psalm 116:13
I will lift up the cup of salvation
and call on the name of the Lord.
(read the whole glorious chapter HERE)

Sometimes I forget...
The cup of salvation and the name of the Lord
supply every need!
Hallelujah and thank-you, dear Savior!

Sometimes I forget, happiness in this world
is not the end goal!
(But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness;
 and all these things shall be added unto you-Matt.6:33)

(dear readers, not from this community.
I am mourning the loss of a neighbour and friend,
a mother to three children, very dear to my heart
and who still visit on a let's-go-for-a-walk-to-Janet-whim๐Ÿ’“
bearing gifts of farm fresh eggs, cheese, fresh cookies, etc.
and always so much love.)

but through Christ, we have Hope's great counterclaim to despair!

Sharing a few recent YouTube uploads to cheer us on


It would be easy to despair
To be crushed beneath weight of care
Where the world at large has gone mad
Testing the quests that make us glad

It would be easy to lose sight
Of faith's position of delight
If we fixate on what we see
Of suffering's great misery

It would be easy to fall prey
To gloom and doom's cheerless dismay
It seems like Satan's bag of tricks
Has left a world no one can fix 

It would be easy to believe
The one whose hate aims to deceive
To plant a seed of doubt, to lure
Us from God's promises secure 

It would be easy to lose heart
As we watch the world fall apart
Because of the rejection of
God's Cornerstone of Truth and Love

It would be easy to give in
Crushed by consequences of sin
Without salvation's brimming cup
It would be easy to give up

...ah, here we find Hope's Deathless Rose
Salvation's cup still overflows
Redemption's flood still runs between
The part we see and the Unseen 

For this is not the Destiny
This is The Joy that Waits To Be
Lift up your eyes, behold the Yet
That we are so prone to forget

Remember, God is good and kind
He opens eyes, otherwise blind
Do not lose heart, do not despair
Time, but the path we pave/brave with prayer

© Janet Martin

2 Pet. 1:3-4
His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness 
through the knowledge of Him who called us by His owna glory and excellence.
  4Through these He has given us His precious and magnificent promises, 
so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature,
 now that you have escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.

Matthew 5:11-12
Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you,
 and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. 
12 Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, 
for great is your reward in heaven, 
for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Ps.122:1
I was glad when they said to me,
“Let us go into the house of the LORD.”

John 15:9-11
As the Father has loved Me, so have I loved you. 
Remain in My love.
10If you keep My commandments, you will remain in My love, 
just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and remain in His love.
  11I have told you these things so that My joy may be in you 
and your joy may be complete.