Happy May!

Today's poem is inspired in part by the first day of May,

and then, because of May's awesome debut I was drawn to Psalm 19!

The first and last verses of this beloved Psalm are very familiar!

And tucked between the beginning and end 

we have verses of profound worship;

awed recognition of God's holiness and righteousness

 evoking contrition and humbler desire for obedient submission/service!

(Psalm 19 included below)

The sun is drawn from ether deeps

Its glory rends night’s veil. amen...

The sun is drawn from ether deeps

Its glory rends night’s veil. amen

Thank God, His watchful kindness keeps

Perfect vigil beyond our ken

He loves this human race, sin-cursed

Oft blinded by desirous schemes

That often do not seek Him first

In hidden worlds of hopes and dreams

With precision that God ordained

No astral orbit spins awry

All celestial circuits maintained

Beyond the reach of you and I

And always, without fail the chill

That slows the splendor of bud-birth

Will, given time enough, fulfill

Our joy for flower-dappled earth

How very foolish to despair

And fret when wishes disobey

Thank God, He rules the school of air

And always, always brings us May

Janet Martin

Psalm 19

1The heavens declare the glory of God;

And the firmament[a] shows [b]His handiwork.

2Day unto day utters speech,

And night unto night reveals knowledge.

3There is no speech nor language

Where their voice is not heard.

4Their [c]line has gone out through all the earth,

And their words to the end of the world.

In them He has set a [d]tabernacle for the sun,

5Which is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber,

And rejoices like a strong man to run its race.

6Its rising is from one end of heaven,

And its circuit to the other end;

And there is nothing hidden from its heat.

7The law of the Lord is perfect, [e]converting the soul;

The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple;

8The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart;

The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes;

9The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever;

The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.

10More to be desired are they than gold,

Yea, than much fine gold;

Sweeter also than honey and the [f]honeycomb.

11Moreover by them Your servant is warned,

And in keeping them there is great reward.

12Who can understand his errors?

Cleanse me from secret faults.

13Keep back Your servant also from presumptuous sins;

Let them not have dominion over me.

Then I shall be blameless,

And I shall be innocent of [g]great transgression.

14Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart

Be acceptable in Your sight,

O Lord, my [h]strength and my Redeemer.

May Melody

June happened before I had a chance to complete this May Melody 

started on Saturday...

May never turns its moments back; each hour once and done

In blush of blossom bric-a-brac

... and lilacs kissed by sun

In verdant vistas, velvet green ‘neath vivid, welkin eaves...

In granting planting season, as earth bursts with birth of leaves

And dandelion-dazzle, luring eyes and feet to pause...

Where soon each mane is frazzled into orbs of silver gauze...

May plays its precious pleasures once; of brief, half-leaf festoons...

Of gardens, where glad children bounce like colourful balloons...

Thrilling to feel spring’s awe-filled, fresh-tilled soil...

...between their toes

May grants a dance of joy to joy, tulips and daffodils...

Like regal harbingers deploying fleets of petal-frills

A virtual kaleidoscope of ever-shifting hues...

May never turns its moments back; each hour once and done

In blush of blossom bric-a-brac and lilacs kissed by sun

In verdant vistas, velvet green ‘neath vivid, welkin eaves

In granting planting season, as earth bursts with birth of leaves

And dandelion-dazzle, luring eyes and feet to pause

Where soon each mane is frazzled into orbs of silver gauze

May plays its precious pleasures once; of brief, half-leaf festoons

Of gardens, where glad children bounce like colourful balloons

Thrilling to feel spring’s awe-filled, fresh-tilled soil between their toes

Eager to learn the law of seeds; how ‘one reaps what one sows’

How harvest’s sacred imminence bids us to plant with zeal

Where soon the thief of innocence will bite the carefree heel

May grants a dance of joy to joy, tulips and daffodils

Like regal harbingers deploying fleets of petal-frills

A virtual kaleidoscope of ever-shifting hues

Nature rallies with hymns of hope no skeptic can confuse

Or boast or claim credit or laud for glories on display

Where only a fool denies God, especially in May

May makes us glad to be alive in spite of sorrow's knife

That somehow keens an urgent drive to grow a lovely life 

Because each moment is a gift we hold but cannot keep

And life is too transient to drift through flowers, half-asleep 

Where opportunity abounds in plots we ought not shirk

To plant a seed that soon confounds us with God's handiwork 

© Janet Martin

and last but not least, 

celebrating June with the first fresh from the garden 

simple supper salad of the season! 

Spring-wonder

 

Spring, and esp. May, seems to ignite wonder at every turn!

below, a few wonder-frames which helped to kindle today's poem...

Wonder erects joy’s palaces in hidden landscapes of the heart

It spills from tulip chalices to thrill spectators with God-art...

In blossom-dappled masterpieces freely and profusely flung/hung

Where His handiwork never ceases to amaze both old and young...

Spring-wonder winds its way through smiles, like meadow-brooks meandering

Earth’s first burst of green-kindled isles replenishes hope’s eagle-wing

As gossamer-gold filigree weaves halos through lackluster limbs

Earth’s beauty spills abundantly from nature’s pockets, full of hymns

Wonder erects joy’s palaces in hidden landscapes of the heart

It spills from tulip chalices to thrill spectators with God-art

What meets the eye oft floods the soul with happiness no ink can tame

It triumphs winter’s weary toll with spring’s unfailing claims to fame

Wonder awakens gratefulness for spring’s return perfectly-timed

Praise God, whose loving faithfulness is evidenced in buds, bloom-primed

In blossom-dappled masterpieces freely and profusely flung/hung

Where His handiwork never ceases to amaze both old and young

The Composer of roses rouses us to slow our hasty stride

He bids us pause, then sweetly wows us with spring-mantled countryside

Wonder transcends thought’s plumbed dimensions; worship authors purest praise

As God captures our attention in grandest, minutest ways

We are too quickly prone to grumble; prone to fear, to doubt and fret

Till wonder makes us truly humble; if but for a micro-sec

When caught off guard by preaching flowers, bowers rich with bird and leaf

As the Maestro of sun and showers reminds us whose laws are chief

© Janet Martin

As gossamer-gold filigree weaves halos through lackluster limbs

Earth’s beauty spills abundantly from nature’s pockets, full of hymns...

We are too quickly prone to grumble; prone to fear, to doubt and fret

Till wonder makes us truly humble; if but for a micro-sec...

And Now the Hills Are Greenly Gowned ...

Eccles.3:11

He has made everything beautiful in its time. 

He has also set eternity in the human heart; 

yet no one can fathom what God has done 

from beginning to end.

and now the hills are greenly-gowned...

and now with universal tongue, dusk's slow-paced majesty 

spills heaven's masterpieces, hung where everyone can see...

The last two evenings drew many a marveling gaze and gasp!

and now the hills are greenly-gowned, now gnarly, naked limbs

with nature's softest wreaths are crowned in blushing blossom-hymns

and heady haze of half-blaze lamps; bud-wicks begin to gleam

with the enchanting ambience of once-upon-a-dream

as earth's vault, birth and beauty-lined, bursts with faithful 'ahoy'

from God, who richly grants mankind life's good things to enjoy

and now with universal tongue, dusk's slow-paced majesty 

spills heaven's masterpieces, hung where everyone can see

the evidence of He whose glory no one can deny 

(pity the one who cannot see, but with the naked eye) 

and cannot sense the holy ground that trembles with God's touch

where now the hills are greenly-gowned in hues we love so much 

and now once more the birds return, that fled winter's chill climes

and from last-autumn-felled filled urn flower-resurgence chimes    

the earth is charged with petaled bells, and bird-song friendliness

until the dullest of hearts swells with holy happiness

where worship knows no brooding bound, in worlds brimming with bloom  

where every hill is greenly gowned with May, from mercy's loom

the earth and its fullness thereof is like a fount restored

or, like a letter penned with love by our gracious Lord 

Once again, God has not withheld creation's let-there-be

now, gratitude and gladness meld in humble harmony

to He who clothes the tree, soft crowned in diadems bespoke 

and the hills that are greenly-gowned in the Creator's cloak  

Janet Martin 

now gnarly, naked limbs

with nature's softest wreaths are crowned in blushing blossom-hymns

and heady haze of half-blaze lamps;...

May Happy-Dance

A two-fer today

to celebrate the first day of May,

possible in part because it is raining and in part

because its the first 'free' morning in a while...

So it's a happy-dance under an umbrella😊😊

(most of the lines in this poem

are still 'eager anticipation'

so no photos...yet!)

Happy, happy greens and golds

Branches, blossom-kissed

Happy buds that burst with holds

Pink and amethyst

Happy sun-warm afternoon

Picnic getaway

Happy harbinger of June

Happy, happy May

Happy planting season’s prime

Praying that it grows

Happy hope and dreaming time

Picture-perfect rows

Happy tulip’s regal cup

Set on grand display

Happy raindrop-fill-’er-up

Happy, happy May

Happy silver zephyr-sass

Azure heaven-vault

Dandelion-dappled grass

Laughing summersault

Happy good-and-perfect-gift

Robin’s lusty lay

Cumulus schooners adrift

Happy, happy May

Happy hint ‘o-heaven dells

Lilac lavished bars

Lily-of-the-valley-bells

Forget-me-not stars

Wildly blushing apple-trees

Countryside’s nosegay

Rambling brookish melodies

Happy, happy May

Happy longer-days-again

Happy riverbanks

Hosting happy fishermen

Happy, humble thanks

For woodland’s shy, half-leaf haze

Nature’s hip-hooray

For earth’s million hymns of praise

Happy, happy May

For vim, rested and renewed

After winter-spent

For gladness of gratitude

Daffodil content

Happy carefree, barefoot child

Happy work-and-play

Happy worship, wonder-wild

Happy, happy May

Kick off shoes, kick up your heels

Happy young-always

Happy everything that steals

Our breath and gaze

Happy song and happy-dance

Happy livelong day

Happy people, pets and plants

Happy, happy May

© Janet Martin

Happy buds that burst with holds

Pink and amethyst...