My 'Every-day Heaven'

It waits for tender touches

Of loving care

The begging of Duty

Hangs on the air

I gaze at the mountains

Of mundane spoil

Shaping my moments

Of prayer and of toil

As I thank God above

For all He has given

In the clutter of love

My every-day ‘heaven’

© Janet Martin

…trying to ‘spruce up’ the place a little and get some major cleaning done for some up-coming events we are hosting…the question... How much, how soon? Cleaning can be un-done very quickly here!

Half a Man's Life~

So many duties to fulfill

So many hands to hold

So many tender hearts to till

And so many fears to fold

So many poems to be written

And many a promise to keep

But God has deigned half a man’s life

To be spent in a thing known as…

Sleep

© Janet~

A Message to Duty

Today I will break all your rules, my dear,
So if you don’t mind, please sit over here
And relax just a little, put down your firm rod
Because after all, Duty, you are not God

It seems I spend too much time bowing to you
As I adhere to long lists of things I must do,
God planted fields brimming with wild Queen Anne’s lace
Yet you insist rigidly, 'I must clean up this place'

Through windows I'm polishing I see flowers and trees
You turn my head downward and say, 'back to work, please'
As you wield over me your tireless rod
I should like to remind you; you are not God

The grass sprawls its carpet beneath the blue sky
I want to lie on it just to hear the day sigh
As willow limbs whisper a soft serenade
And I defy Duty to sit in its shade

Duty is valid and wise, this is true
The devil loves hands that have nothing to do
But every so often for just a wee hour
Relax your command, please, for the sake of a flower

Janet Martin~

Summer is winding down and it is a busy time of year
But please, stop for a moment and look deep into a flower.
You may be astounded Who you see!

Torn

I am like a young child, torn
Twixt impulse and obeying
Desire throbs upon the morn
With duty ever preying

The stalwart lupine tugs my gaze
Scattering my wishes
I am torn by summer’s ways
And stacks of dirty dishes

Laundry baskets weight my arms
I sense the charted hours
But life is short, the sun is warm
And fields are bright with flowers

Am I to tread the rigid line
Controlled by austere duty
While morning zephyrs tease the vine
Of summer’s rampant beauty?

Too soon the eye of June grows dull
And faded is its flower
Laundry hampers will be full
Long after summer’s hour

I am like a young child, torn
Two voices taunt my reason
Duty wakes with every morn
But summer for a season

Janet~

My Task-Master

I used to think he ruled me with a tireless, iron fist
I sighed as he withdrew me from the fields of morning mist
And as he spread before my gaze each task that I must do
I plodded to the mundane maze of duty’s endless view

I used to think he stole me from my lesser travelled road
Where daisies nod beneath the sun in nature’s fair abode
Where care was a forgotten thing beneath a sky so blue
As all God’s little creatures sing, with nothing else to do

I used to think that heaven’s brink was clad with moss and fern
Its music was the brook that sang to lands of no return
Would life not be much better here in God’s created beauty?
Without the sad imprisonment behind the walls of duty

But life devoid of duty is a life sad and depraved
For where would be the beauty of a thing we never craved?
And duty comes from having people in our arms to love
Duty is a blessing from a Master up above

Janet

This morning I said I could seriously spend my days
doing nothing but laundry, cooking and cleaning!
Then I remembered who I am doing it for...
yes, my family...and my Master.