June Jingle or Anticipation Undone

 Photos directly below from Gingko Footprints Peony Gardens

We have passed the halfway mark of June...already?!! 

Time for a little June jingle as we realize

that what we long anticipated is well underway;

That twinkle in time's eye after winter is past before it begins again! 

That first perennial-garden burst of columbine-lupine-iris-peony pleasure

before lilies-roses-phlox-delphinium-daisy delight

before dahlia-aster-sunflower-sedum...well, you get the idea 😊💖 

Below,  my first roses in many years!

Lupine longing is lavished!

Columbine craving contented...

First foxglove fantasy fulfilled! 

(a first for me in all my years of flower-gardening!

It may not look like much but it is the fruit of much perseverance and patience!!😅)

Anticipation lowers bars where once in winter’s world of stars

We lingered over dreamy hues of verdant greens and welkin blues

And visions of a garden walk midst peony and hollyhock

And benches where we would recline beneath plumes of wisteria vine

Anticipation realized is Pleasure, slowly, sweetly prized

In the luxury of a nose buried in summer’s first red rose

In lounging with tea and a book in a breeze-serenaded nook

Or where perennial bowers bend with the return of flower-friends

Anticipation turned to June is a green-giddy afternoon

Green pastures on yon hillside spread; green-leaf percussion overhead

Green ambience drenching the dell where once lackluster shadows fell

Before each stark, dark barren limb throbbed with nature’s green-whispered hymn

Anticipation kindles cheer for favours lent, year after year

For so much beauty to behold as hours, like flowers unfold

For laundry-lines where clean clothes waltz, for children turning somersaults

Beneath lofty vaults of soft sky tinted with twilight’s lullaby

Anticipation comforts souls where happiness is full of holes

Where joy would lose its wooing spark where dreams oft fall shy of their mark

But June is always right on time and full of delight’s seasoned chime

And colours of summer begun and Anticipation undone

© Janet Martin

Anticipation of long summer evenings...is Reality!! 

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!