Monster of the Mind...

2025 November PAD Chapbook Challenge: Day 15

For the 2025 November PAD Chapbook Challenge, 

poets write a poem a day in the month of November. 

Day 15 is to write a monster poem.

“Assumptions are the most damaging enemies of our mind’s equilibrium... 

An assumption is an imaginary truth.”

— A.A. Alebraheem

Assumptions are the termites of relationships.

Henry Winkler

You are a foe to joy

The scenarios you erect

Are dark and destined to destroy

Gratitude, gladness and respect

Assumption is a monster cursed

With bidding us believe the worst

Get thee behind me, foe

You thrive on thought-evoked blood shed

And vicious, verbal blow for blow 

In the dark hole inside my head 

Assumption turns love's sumptuous feast

Into a meal fit for a beast

Janet Martin

Like Silver Star-dust, Inked and Versed

2025 November PAD Chapbook Challenge: Day 12

For the 2025 November PAD Chapbook Challenge, 

poets write a poem a day in the month of November. 

Day 12 is to pick a color and write a poem.

Life is a train of moods like a string of beads,

and as we pass through them

they prove to be many-coloured lenses

which paint the world their own hue

and each shows only what lies in its focus...

~Ralph Waldo Emerson~ 

Through these many coloured lenses

poems are born...

Sometimes the poem glides and skims

The page with rainbow shards and hymns...

Sometimes the poem leaps and vaults

And turns cartwheels and somersaults 

And dazzles pages with a burst

Of silver star-dust, inked and versed 

Sometimes the poem sobs and groans

And seeps like a gray chill, through bones

And weeps upon the page that wears

The charcoal whispering of prayers 

Sometimes the poem glints and gleams

And rolls through laughter's joy like streams

Of gold, rushing the barren page

Through vistas of purple and sage

Sometimes the poem balks and scowls

Resisting consonants and vowels

The page, like a black thundercloud

The poet, broken, blind and bowed

Sometimes the poem glides and skims

The page with rainbow shards and hymns

And the blithe poet is immersed

In silver star-dust, inked and versed 

Janet Martin

To Form or Not To Form...That is the Question

2025 November PAD Chapbook Challenge: Day 11

For the 2025 November PAD Chapbook Challenge, 

poets write a poem a day in November. 

Day 11 is to write a poetic form and/or anti-form poem.

Some poetry adheres to form, like river-banks to curb a tide...

Some skim the surface for sun-pearls...

Some poetry adheres to form, like river-banks to curb a tide

That rushes like a gushing storm where folly and wisdom collide

Where we are at the mercy of the littleness of what we think 

Yet wild with wonderment and love for possibilities of ink

 

Sometimes hunger and thirst unfurls a torrential tug of war

That foams and frets, surges and swirls like floodwaters without a shore

Until meter and form command the chaos where thought's battles wage

And resistance melts in the hand that moves between the mind and page

Long live the age-old song and dance of sonnet, ballad, villanelle

Thy iambic lyric enchants the wanderer of parchment fell 

And kindles in fathoms of thought a fresh onslaught of noun and verb

To taunt Troubadour's jaunt and jot with font that only form can curb 

To thee of footloose fantasy and rebel to rhythm and rhyme 

Who prefer free verse odyssey to forms withstanding tests of time 

Blessings on thee, but do not scorn the poetry that lilts and brims 

And winds between the banks of form to storm thought's holy grail with hymns 

Form is not tyranny, my friend, nor superior to the spawn

Of fine and noble prose to bend the rules that form insists upon 

So, here's to every work of art wrought with humble regard for ink

And reverence for every heart touched by some littleness we think

Some poets love the challenge of surrendering to tempo-ties 

Like a tango where word-impassioned lover's clash and compromise 

Darling, the world of words unfurls ballrooms and oceanic sweeps

Some skim the surface for sun-pearls, some dredge its diamond-metered deeps 

 

Janet Martin

 

The Inexhaustible 'More' of God's Word

2025 November PAD Chapbook Challenge: Day 8

For the 2025 November PAD Chapbook Challenge, 

poets write a poem a day in the month of November. 

Day 8 is to write a more poem...

Ps.139:17-18

How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God!

How great is the sum of them!

If I should count them, 

they would be more in number than the sand;

When I awake, I am still with You.

As I puttered about the house, doing Saturday tasks

like muffin-making...

...I listened to the beautiful funeral message for Cecil Shoemaker,

(someone with close ties to many people we know)

who passed in the blink of an eye, from Time into Eternity.

In my own grief-journey I often marvel 

at the sweetness of joy to comfort sorrow,

as the death of a loved one who has received

the gift of salvation when they put their faith in Jesus,

transports them to the presence of God. 

What joy unspeakable and full of glory 1 Pet.1:8

fills the aching void!

I am so thankful for the Word of God

filled with truths that will never fail!

Every Christian, regardless of denomination

turns to the same Word of God

to be taught and encouraged etc. 

Because...

What hope the Word of God secures

In a world plagued with sin

What peace the Word of God assures

To all who trust in Him

What grace the Word of God proclaims

To save the deathless soul

And spare us from eternal flames

As endless ages roll 

What joy the Word of God bestows

To all who love his law

What wealth of wisdom overflows

What height and depth of awe

What truth the Word of God makes known

To calm confusion's gale 

Truth's Everlasting Cornerstone

Will never shift or fail

What might the Word of God instills

With power from on high

All He has promised He fulfills

His decrees never lie

What help the Word of God supplies

What answer to our prayers

Enough to know He hears our cries

Enough to know He cares

What worth the Word of God unveils

We cannot comprehend

Love and mercy that never fails

Purpose no one can bend

What cheer the Word of God imparts

He comforts us. Amen

Bringing courage to fainting hearts

To strengthen faith again 

God's Word is a light to the world

A beacon undeterred 

The path of righteousness unfurled

Through the light of His Word 

God's word is faithful to correct

Exhort, safeguard and guide

 Oh, pray that we do not reject

 His Presence to preside 

What love the Word of God confirms

Proved through salvation's price

What merciful, relentless terms

Succeeds His sacrifice

What life the Word of God commands

What confidence in death

To rest assured within the Hands 

Who hold/made Heaven and earth

What praise the word of God inspires

He paid salvation's cost

Because He utterly desires

That not one soul be lost

What more and more the Word of God

Reveals to all who seek

His holy, just judgment, unflawed

To satisfy the meek

The more we seek the more we find

Humbler, purer delight

As God equips heart, soul and mind 

To walk by faith, not sight

Janet Martin

1 Pet.1:22-25

22 Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth 

[i]through the Spirit in [j]sincere love of the brethren,

 love one another fervently with a pure heart, 

23 having been born again, not of [k]corruptible seed but [l]incorruptible,

 through the word of God which lives and abides [m]forever, 

24 because

“All flesh is as grass,

And all [n]the glory of man as the flower of the grass.

The grass withers,

And its flower falls away,

25 But the [o]word of the Lord endures forever.”

Living the Dream

Prov.13:12

Hope deferred makes the heart sick,

but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life.

2025 November PAD Chapbook Challenge: Day 7

For the 2025 November PAD Chapbook Challenge,

 poets write a poem a day in the month of November. 

Day 7 is to write a dream poem.

Row Row Row Your Boat 

Ah, once upon a time unfurled

She was a girl, imbibed with dreams

Impatient for the favoured world

Of carefree days where laughter streams

And hope is no longer deferred

As longing tips a treasure trove

No longer guarded by a word

Of caution from sweet mother's love

Ah, once into a world of stars

She flew, to learn a dreamer's cast

Soon scores the hero's heart with scars

And sets her on her feet at last

To dance upon the Day in Hand

And taste the sparkle in life's cup

 Treading Yesteryear's Promised Land

Before the dream is all used up

Janet Martin

Dream-Roy Orbison

I Have a Dream-ABBA

All I Have To Do Is Dream-The Everly Bros.

Dream a Little Dream of Me- Michael Bublé 

Dream of Me-Ben and Rose

Maggie's Dream-Don Williams

 

Of Kind Humility

 

2025 November PAD Chapbook Challenge: Day 6

For the 2025 November PAD Chapbook Challenge, 

poets write a poem a day in the month of November. 

Day 6 is to write a principle poem.

1 Peter 5:5

...Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, 

for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” (ESV)

The other day I visited the grave of my sister, Lucy.

Standing at a grave readjusts perspective 

more than anything else I can think of!

Soon life's dust-splash will settle

and only the ripples remain

Unless the ripples are humbly kind

the ripples will ripple in vain 

The older that I grow the more and more I start to see

The beauty that blesses the world through kind humility 

Where countless unsung heroes, like angels among us, bring

Joy to the world by walking with someone through suffering 

 True love for fellowman produces kind humility 

Without love we are empty of genuine sympathy

But, as we love each other we begin to truly care

Enough to lend a helping hand, a listening ear, a prayer 

Enough to put another's creature need above our own

To be part of the greatest work this world has ever known

To heed life's highest call then realize we hold the key

To happiness, as we forget The All Important Me

The older that I grow the less flashy facades impress

Give me the glow that flows from hearts of love and tenderness

Give me, no, make me part of what we need more of; to be

The beauty that blesses the world through kind humility

From kind humility, love bears a harvest of good fruit

For flowers of integrity will follow sacred suit

Transforming would-be gutters into gardens kissed by sun

And love's unrivaled Beauty, forever second to none 

Janet Martin

 

Beyond Perfect Description...

2025 November PAD Chapbook Challenge: Day 5

For the 2025 November PAD Chapbook Challenge,

 poets write a poem a day in the month of November.

 Day 5 is to write a description poem.

It's tots naps-time so I couldn't resist a crack at today's prompt.

Especially after fresh inspiration 

Your darling grin

can melt my heart

like ice-cream 

in July

You turn me very young

and old

You make me laugh

and cry

And as you slip 

your hand

 in mine

I feel so very small

until the way 

you look at me

makes me feel 

ten feet tall

Your innocence 

is holy ground

to hold your hand 

in mine

gives me a sense of

of being held

twixt mortal 

and divine

Dear precious, loving,

eager tot

so tender and 

so smart

You make me feel

as if I hold

the whole world

in my heart

Words fail, each time 

I try to spell 

love's ink-defying 

charms

Like trying to 

gather the sky 

and ocean

 in my arms  

Janet 💖

I played this song for them

this morning...they giggled with delight

I Love, Tom T Hall,

How Time Flies

2025 November PAD Chapbook Challenge: Day 3

For the 2025 November PAD Chapbook Challenge, 

poets write a poem a day in the month of November. 

Day 3 is to write a how blank poem.

While the momentous wingspan of petals grants and retrieves

 Whirlwind romance of buds, blossoms, nettles and falling leaves...

Yesterday's morrow finds its spartan foothold in today

As Moment's beating wingspan weathers fleeting interplay

Before it lifts into the air, beyond our reach, breath-soft

Leaving behind a thoroughfare where phantom feathers waft 

In blurs of kisses and hard knocks, we grapple with reply

As tug-of-wars twixt dreams and clocks, in constant conflict vie

While the momentous wingspan of petals grants and retrieves

 Whirlwind romance of buds, blossoms, nettles and falling leaves

Darling, let's dance; lest moments flail the air like threadbare looms

And an immense sense of loss trails through unraveled ballrooms

Before we turn to find the morning turned to afternoon

And Time's flurry of moments adorning floors, feather-strewn 

Janet Martin

How Wonderful the Ways of Ink

2025 November PAD Chapbook Challenge: Day 2

For the 2025 November PAD Chapbook Challenge,

 poets write a poem a day in the month of November. 

Day 2 is to write a fun poem.

2025 November PAD Chapbook Challenge: Day 3

For the 2025 November PAD Chapbook Challenge, 

poets write a poem a day in the month of November. 

Day 3 is to write a how blank poem.

behold the rolling sea unfurled

upon a barren page...

how wonderful the ways of ink

as swirls upon a stage

of parchment, paint a blossom pink

Or, spill a canon, sage

how endless are the avenues

and trails that ink-blades blaze

through wilds borne from font-curlicues 

centuries cannot faze

behold the rolling sea unfurled

upon a barren page

or, ink-frigates that sail the world

 while blizzards brawl and rage 

how holy are the howls of ink

unveiled for all to see

far able to eclipse the wink

of mere mortality

how wonderful, how terrible

the ways of ink reveal

the broken, yet invincible

beauty of love's appeal 

how wildly ink attempts to snare

Thought's beast and set it free

upon a stage of parchment where

 a poem waits to be  

how wonderful the ways of ink

how strangely 'fun', the verge

of waiting on a poem's brink

to see what will emerge 

Janet Martin

how wonderful the ways of ink

as swirls upon a stage

of parchment, paint a blossom pink

Or, spill a canon, sage

For Goodness' Sake

 It's November, which means-

2025 November PAD Chapbook Challenge: Day 1

For the 2025 November PAD Chapbook Challenge, 

poets write a poem a day in the month of November. 

Day 1 is to write an entrance poem.

Job 1:21

And he (Job) said: “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, 

And naked shall I return there. 

The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; 

Blessed be the name of the LORD.”

Eccles.12:7

Then the dust will return to the earth as it was, 

And the spirit will return to God who gave it.

Today, waiving all entrance fees...

Before we can partake...

Extends fresh opportunities...

(Today is my mother's birthday!

She enjoys scones so hopefully these Classic Pumpkin Scones 

will bring a bit of 'special' to her day.)

Naked we came into this world

For all we gain and learn

When life’s final breath is unfurled

Naked we will return

So rather than accumulate

What we soon leave behind

Tis better far to concentrate

On being good and kind

For we all share in common this;

Our empty-handed birth

And, to mimic life’s genesis

So too, we leave this earth

Today, (waiving all entrance fees

Before we can partake)

Extends fresh opportunities

To live for Goodness’ sake

So then, for goodness’ sake let’s make

Kindness a common goal

Remembering that all we take

Beyond This, is the Soul

Janet Martin

Dear April...a Love letter of Relinquishment

Final prompt for April's poem-a-day challenge from Robert Lee Brewer @ Writer's Digest!

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...

HAUSER - Tristesse

  

....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; sorrow💔 

 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)

Final prompt for April's poem-a-day challenge from Robert Lee Brewer @ Writer's Digest!

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 😏😊

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

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

Love Letter from a Father

Today's poem-prompt form Robert Lee Brewer @ Writer's Digest:

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...

Yesterday's poem-a-day prompt from Robert Lee Brewer @ Writer's Digest

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