June-Hymn

June seemed to beg in my bones

to be turned/tuned to a hymn today...

As you may have noticed over the years...

I never tire of this view!

Each season turns it into its own masterpiece,

But June, oh, sweet, fleet June

must be its Crown Jewel!

(p.s.) the farmers have no idea of the close heed I pay in spring

as to what crops are being planted around me! because it greatly affects my summer-view!

Seems this year I will soon be fenced in by

knee-high corn by the first of July, thanks in huge part to last week's heat wave!!)

And so, we smile where lunch beguiles from garden salad bowls...

Where June unwinds its green-hued isles like rivers/ribbons through our souls...

June always hath too short a lease; Summer’s virginity

As God unfurls a Masterpiece of bird-bloom symphony...

June has too many loveliness-es to name, but we try

Because we know how soon its comeliness yields to July

The moments that compose its song like music notes that brim

Where bowers cannot keep for long each lily-lifted/gifted hymn

And so, we smile where lunch beguiles from garden salad bowls

Where June unwinds its green-hued isles like rivers/ribbons through our souls

And takes each summer heart by storm, thrilling spectator-woes

As wild flowers begin to perform annual roadside shows

June always hath too short a lease; Summer’s virginity

As God unfurls a Masterpiece of bird-bloom symphony

Where earth is fair of face; she dances like a carefree child

While Nature’s Magnum Opus grants a free-for-all run wild

June’s laughter is contagious, kindling laughter in us too

In spite of wars life wages and sorrows that run us through

We find a kindly Comforter as flower-fountains spill

Healing Want’s wounded wonderer/wanderer with thund’ring canticle

Front porches become perfect perches for hiatuses

Vistas of pop-up churches births worship in all of us

Where oh-so-many pleasures leave its seekers humbly awed

By the manifold measures of the handiwork of God

The earth and its fullness thereof belong to Him. Amen

In spite of mortal’s lack of love He blesses us again

And sets to perfect timing, lilt of leaf and butterfly

And vine labyrinths climbing trellises crowned with blue sky

The busy bee bumbles from rose to rose and drinks and drinks 

Heedless of pollen crumbs, he nosedives into reds and pinks

Heady with happiness of honey-sweet, sweet dreams, oh my

He knows that earth and heaven meet, first in June, then July 

June grins with lovely things like hummingbirds that dart and flit

From plume to plume; and we delight to be a part of it

Partakers of a love-song, where joy is never off-tune

But beckons us to sing along because God gave us June

© Janet Martin

June has too many loveliness-es to name, but we try...

Lovely June...

A medley of June mementos inspiring this poem...

It’s lovely to teach little girls new words, like hollyhock...

And find the kind of tasks that budding gardeners enjoy...

The earth unfolds green blankets on each hill, beneath each tree

Perfect for picnic baskets and a book or three to read...

And buttercups meander through meadowlands where sheep graze

And poet’s breath is stolen by dusting of daisy-snow...

It’s lovely to remember when June rolls across the lea

The things that we forget until they spill from bud and seed

The earth unfolds green blankets on each hill, beneath each tree

Perfect for picnic baskets and a book or three to read

It’s lovely to teach little girls new words, like hollyhock

And find the kind of tasks that budding gardeners enjoy

While leaf-breeze concertos, entertain us with nature’s Bach

And June caters to ageless eagerness of girl and boy

Peony petals uncurl rosy-ruffled elegance

Their short sweet bliss is worth the wait from June to lovely June

Regal lupines and dainty columbine glean compliments

Dusk’s blushing heavens are embellished with pale, crescent moon

And hearts are full of laughter in spite of trouble and such

The arbor is a haven mantled in wisteria plumes

Life dons an air of freedom as schedules relax their clutch

As restless, freckled fugitives are released from classrooms

And dewy dawn is heady with the scent of fresh mown hay

And the rooster is lusty at daybreak at five a.m.

And we arise because June always’ hath too short a day’

Though twilight lingers until at least a quarter to ten

…and orioles are June bug and grape jelly gluttons, oh

And buttercups meander through meadowlands where sheep graze

And poet’s breath is stolen by dusting of daisy-snow

And everywhere we look a Masterpiece captures our gaze

As we, with reverence applaud God’s Magnum Opus, though

We tend to be forgetful while being completely awed

For Want is easy to assuage while June puts on a show

And mesmerizes visage with the gentle hand of God

It’s lovely to remember when June rolls around again

How life’s medley of seasons spins and swirls to memories

And June, tucked in the middle of each year is like a gem

Of blue skies, golden sunshine, green earth and pink peonies

© Janet Martin

And June, tucked in the middle of each year is like a gem

Of blue skies, golden sunshine, green earth and pink peonies...

And everywhere we look a Masterpiece captures our gaze

Peony-June

Peak peony-blooming time and longevity

 depends a lot on the temperatures of June.

This year's moderate to slightly cooler temps 

will hopefully vibrantly extend the much anticipated lifespan 

of our beloved peony!

Here is an attempt to share

a bit of pink petal-pleasure with you.

Enjoy!

Many a face has been buried deep in your perfumed bloom

Many a burdened carried then lost in your ruffled loom

Many a heart has been lifted, and many a witness awed

And many a bouquet gifted straight from the hand of God

Many a poem has thundered, many a poet been born

Many a marvel wondered while praising thy lovely form

Many a prayer has been murmured, and many a care set free

In thee, plush harbinger of summer, in thee, pretty peony

Many a gladness kindled, and many a sadness cheered

Many an atheist humbled by many a Beauty endeared

Where many a bud has broken and many a posy has strewn

Many a petal-pink token of many a peony-June

© Janet Martin

Peony-Bliss Carmen

Care's Counterbalance...Creator's Kindness

Let's pray in these times-like-never-before 

where nations are turning from God like never before

that we who believe commit to seeing, hearing, obeying,

relying on and worshipping Him like never before...

Many are the witnesses of faith we may look to for courage, chiefly Jesus!!

Heb.12:1-2

Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses,

 let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us,

 and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,

 2looking unto Jesus, the [a]author and [b]finisher of our faith,

 who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, 

despising the shame, and has sat down 

at the right hand of the throne of God.

When we delight in the beauty of creation

it is not hard to believe that our Creator God is awesome above all else!!

Isaiah 46:9
Remember the former things of old:

for I am God, and there is none else; 

I am God, and there is none like me,

Sometimes life’s woes could blind us to God’s kindnesses unfurled

To counterbalance creature cares in a care-laden world

He tunes heaven and earth with boons too manifold to count

He woos us to drink deeply from June’s leaf and flower fount

Where once again He clothes the land with garb of seed and bud

In keeping with the covenant, He made after the flood

To manifest His evidence, creation shouts His name

To quench credence to atheism’s cold and calloused claim

He comforts us with colours only His thought can compose

And sweetens Heaven-hunger with reason only He knows

Where each season showcases masterpieces, mercy-lent

Where nothing in this world replaces Goodness, mercy-bent

To well in us, in spite of aches and pangs that sting and press

A worship-bidden, wonder-smitten hymn of happiness

Of reverence and honour to He from Whom blessings pour

To awe and cheer us onward to the joy still set before

...to capture our attention with surprises full of grace

To lavish wounds of learning with fond glimpses of His face 

To never let life blind us to He who is kind and good

Whose invisible qualities are clearly understood

© Janet Martin

Rom.1:20

For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—

his eternal power and divine nature—

 have been clearly seen, 

being understood from what has been made, 

so that people are without excuse.

Oh God!!! May I/we never live

 unawed!

June Love-song

This poem was inspired by a text I received from Jim (hubby)

this morning at 6:15 😍

Well, what better way to start the day

than a hymn extoling June and its Creator?!!

A lupine-appliqued blanket gloriously unfurled...

On gentle raindrop waltzes,...

(we are rain-jewel thirsty in southern Ontario!

This morning a few gems fell)

Your flower-pot-prettied porches,

(The blue pot from my sister for my birthday)💖

I love your bachelor-buttoned blue...

your peony-pink, oh...

I love to be breath-taken by fields, white with daisy-snow...

I love the way you wind your brooks through nooks and crooks of earth...

How each new day you toss a lure of pure June-happiness

To life’s care-laden thoroughfare, where awed wonder gives birth

To picnic-humble platitudes of joy and thankfulness...

…and frisky foals,

(below photo May, before the smoke haze was quite as dense as it is now)

This poem is a collection of delights from the first week of June

(except for 'the blue-sky afternoon!)

This year June-blue skies have been obliterated by smoky haze

due to many forest fires!

Our thoughts and prayers are with those directly affected

and esp. the many who are battling the blaze!

***

I love you, June. Ah, you must be the jewel in time’s crown

A lupine-appliqued blanket gloriously unfurled

A green pasture and still water tableau, hayfields, fresh mown

Each garden, like a bit of Eden in a broken world

I love you, June. Your early daybreak, and dusk’s lingering sigh

Your purple wild-phlox rivers pooled where highways run between

Your flower-pot-prettied porches, fledglings, learning to fly

I love your backdrop rich with every nameless shade of green

I love your bachelor-buttoned blue, your peony-pink, oh

And how each tree-top plays a perfect, leaf-lush hymn of praise

I love to be breath-taken by fields, white with daisy-snow

(Thank God, nature is oblivious to mankind’s godless/thoughtless ways)

I love the way you wind your brooks through nooks and crooks of earth

How each new day you toss a lure of pure June-happiness

To life’s care-laden thoroughfare, where awed wonder gives birth

To picnic-humble platitudes of joy and thankfulness

Thank-you God, for Your faithfulness where our faithfulness fails

Thank-you God, for your mercies and your Word to keep hope strong

Thank-you God, for the season that lavishes and regales

Long-barren breadth; your handiwork bursts into bloom and song

I love you June, the way you cheer a world with much amiss

You gild the lily-chalice with dew-diamonds, wonder sups

On gentle raindrop waltzes, on sweet, red strawberry kiss

On meadows, flaunting fleabane stars and yellow buttercups

…and frisky foals, and flocks of sheep; hollyhock sentinels

Wisteria-woven awning beneath blue-sky afternoon

And ageless Anne-of-Green-gable-like thrills where laughter swells

As a world full of kindred spirits sing, 'I love you, June'

...no one can copyright the beauty God alone bestows

Ah, June is like a showcase where masterpieces abound

To frameless canopies, where the Artist's brushstrokes compose

Roses and hummingbirds, sweet summer breaking holy ground 

© Janet Martin

Psalm 111:2

Great are the works of the LORD;

they are pondered by all who delight in them.

Do things ever give you a thrill?!!

Anne of Green Gables