Like Bidding Farewell to a Friend...

It had to be...

one final farewell poem to my friend, August

It is like bidding farewell to a friend

August's departure tugs at love's heartstrings

So we pay closer heed to simple things

Because summer is drawing to the end

And we cannot afford to miss its bliss

As August days fly upward like a spark 

As cricket-minstrels fill the early dark

With a prelude to summer's parting kiss 

As fruited vines and orchards steal the show

And we are torn between gladness and grief 

So we look longer at each flower and leaf

Sensing the imminence of letting go 

A slice of heaven slips beyond our reach

As August fades into the blue bygone

And we count countless blessings one by one

Buttery cobs of corn, and juicy peach

Fat tomatoes and rainbows, zinnia-hued 

And lawns, where shadows pooled and children played

And heart-shaped frames filled with memories made

And happiness, speechless with gratitude

I love your butterflies and honey bees

Aw, farewells always seem to come too soon

Especially for each August afternoon

That wafts away like bubbles on a breeze

'I love you August, till we meet again'

Time's bittersweet demise is bound to be

But is the thing that draws you back to me

So farewell, darling August until then  

Janet Martin

 

Sweet Summer is Over...

“Summer afternoon—

summer afternoon;

 to me those have always been the two

 most beautiful words in the English language.”

― Henry James

Autumn Afternoon,

Autumn Afternoon

To me those have always been the second two

most beautiful words in the English language!

-Janet Martin 😂

Hello, pumpkin lanterns... 

and fronds orange and gold

Sweet summer is over, 

Farewell, fields of clover

Where butterflies hover and honey bees buzz 

Farewell, blue lake splashes 

Popsicle mustaches,

 Farewell, barefoot dashes through Summer That Was

Farewell, sweaty noses

And roses on roses

And dusk's gate that closes Today, late and slow

Farewell, flower-bower

And warm, welcome shower 

And treetops that tower o'er shade-pools below 

...where blithe breezes dally

where leaf-whispers rally

In rivers that sally through meadows of air 

To cheer all who listen

With lyrics that glisten 

With glimpses of Heaven on earth, full of care  

Farewell, garden growing

With seeds overflowing

With mercy bestowing the fruit in its hold  

Farewell, front porch planters

And dew-drop decanters

Hello, pumpkin lanterns and fronds orange and gold 

Hello, season dappled

With reason, red-appled

And gratitude grappled from goodness, profound 

Where summer is over

But hails to the lover

Of autumn, where favours of wonder abound  

Hello, nature's banjo

Hailing the crescendo

Of scarlet and yellow, of harvest's full swing 

As wind-tumbled pleasure

And hope-humbled treasure

 Kindles the fine measure of awed thanksgiving  

 

Janet Martin

....of harvest's full swing

As wind-tumbled pleasure...

...and hope-humbled treasure

 

  

Farewell's Shadowlands

Oh, the undeterred momentum of moments no one can faze

It sparkles through our bearing to a world of yesterdays

It vexes rhyme-dazed poets and Duty's proprietors

As it hastens new morning through noon and dusk's gaping doors

Where, in the wake of choices that we make in its brief chase/grace

Remains the part that never stays yet no one can erase...

The above ditty was suddenly inspired from part of a 

conversation with Hubby this morning, who called

in the beginning/middle of the poem below,

begun after starting the fire, morning devotions

between putting supper in the crockpot,

filling empty bird feeders,

answering messages, texts and emails,

and other sundry domestic dues,

 while trying not to panic as

 I gaped at the clock that boldly declared

that the topic I began writing about

(daybreak's hello) in the waking hues of today

has long since ceased to be...

already part of farewell's shadowland!

but, in the afore mentioned conversation 

Hubby asked me if I ever think of everything

I could accomplish if I didn't write.

I guess none of us can see the hidden 'scale' within,

 where we weigh (hopefully) the eternal value of how we fill

fleeting moments!

Oh, how often I am torn between lyrical cadence

and domestic prudence 😔😅

...because what we do is so brief

yet so eternal!

Dawn, like an unplumbed well of ink

Unstoppers gold-gray, blue and pink

The tranquil tides of night soft-wane

Unveiling berths of mirth and pain

Beneath the tolling of a bell

Unfurling shadows of farewell

The halo of hello is brief

Harbinger of pleasure and grief

Like ripples of a pebble tossed

Dawn disappears; its advent lost

In hues and dues that rose then fell

To fuel shadows of farewell

How subtle spills life’s epitaph

A world where echoes weep and laugh

Composed from the momentous surge

Where daybreak and hello soon merge

Like melted mist, intangible

With long, deep shadows of farewell

Present, where past and future meet

Beckons reckonings, bittersweet

How careful-prayerful we should weigh

Think-ink, that fuels do-and-say

Soft spilling from our lips and hands

To dwell in farewell's shadowlands  

© Janet Martin

Ps. 121

I will lift up my eyes to the hills—

From whence comes my help?

2 My help comes from the Lord,

Who made heaven and earth.

3 He will not allow your foot to [a]be moved;

He who keeps you will not slumber.

4 Behold, He who keeps Israel

Shall neither slumber nor sleep.

5 The Lord is your [b]keeper;

The Lord is your shade at your right hand.

6 The sun shall not strike you by day,

Nor the moon by night.

7 The Lord shall [c]preserve you from all evil;

He shall preserve your soul.

8 The Lord shall preserve[d] your going out and your coming in

From this time forth, and even forevermore.

A Beautiful Life-Jim Reeves

Farewell, dear January...

January has been watered with many a private tear

and strengthened through many a private prayer!

Thank-you, everyone who has been part of this army

of casting our cares on God!

January granted some much needed down-time,

though not totally by choice but due to 

a variety of cold and flu bugs... 

January has given me a start in tackling

some long-procrastinated tasks;

 organizing-purging-cleaning

January has thrilled my snow-loving 'inner child' with heaps of it!!

(good, old-fashioned winter in Ontario)

January always makes me extra-thankful

for warm homes and simple, wholesome food

gathered in glorious summer...

Prepping veg frittata and sweet-potato fries (an air-fryer fav!)

January has blessed me tenderly,

 with many words and mementos of love

from thoughtful friends and family

January is such a wonderful way to begin

a New Year; its slower pace

(if we discipline ourselves to make it so)

grants us opportunities to reflect 

on days/God's faithfulness past

and reevaluate our goals for hope's ahead.

Yesterday Victoria (daughter)

remarked how January flew by!!

yet, Christmas seems so long ago!

I agree!!

Eccles.3:1

To every thing there is a season,

and a time to every purpose under the heaven:

so,

Farewell, dear January...

Farewell, sweet January days 

Of earth tucked beneath stars and lace...

Of, 'oh, how can I count the ways'

I love your slower, simpler pace...

Of home-sweet-home contentment's blaze

Of tea-pot where happiness steeps...

Of awnings that command awed gaze

As heavens crown snow-swaddled sweeps

Farewell, sweet January days 

Of earth tucked beneath stars and lace

Of, 'oh, how can I count the ways

I love your slower, simpler pace

Of home-sweet-home contentment's blaze

Of tea-pot where happiness steeps

Of awnings commanding awed gaze

As heavens crown snow-swaddled sweeps

Farewell, dear January lull

The threshold of another year

If the Lord wills, of push and pull

Of laughter's vim and heartache's tear

  Where birth and death will lend life's best;

Love's utter joy and utter grief

Where Abraham's God still will test

Faith's untried measure of belief  

Cheers, January, bittersweet  

While Old Man Winter huffs and blows

We find a comfy window seat

To watch five-star bird-feeder shows

While wiggling toes in cozy socks

And giggling at bickering breeds

Where a flurry of feathers rocks

 Tables replete with supplied needs 

Farewell, fond January hours

Farmer and gardener's respite 

Before a fresh season of flow'rs

And fields to plant, awe and excite 

Farewell, fleet, fickle afternoon

Still twilight's early, easy prey

Before we welcome the glad boon

Of February's 'longer day' 

© Janet Martin

Cheers, January, bittersweet  

While Old Man Winter huffs and blows

We find a comfy window seat

To watch five-star bird-feeder shows...

November-Hushed

Garden-scapes are strangely quiet...

Sheared and shucked and tucked and tilled...

Hushed, the heaven-on-earth riot...

Of frames, fruit and flower-filled

Autumn's auburn awnings dwindled

Golden haloes dimmed and fell...

Autumn's auburn awnings dwindled

Golden haloes dimmed and fell

Earth, a hearth of embers kindled

With November-hushed farewell

Hushed, lush, lofty leaf-song rivers

Nature's funereal repose

Quickens sentimental shivers

From our heads down to our toes

Garden-scapes are strangely quiet

Sheared and shucked and tucked and tilled

Hushed, the heaven-on-earth riot

Of frames, fruit and flower-filled

Hushed, the carefree, barefoot banter

Of life-heady, laughing child

Heedless of Time's fixed decanter

Spilling where farewells run wild 

Like a heart learning love's lessons

Earth endures That Which Must Be

Time's cacophony of seasons

Age-old, still stuns you and me 

Where the bud bursting with treasure

Bears its bloom, withers and falls

Till the whole of nature's pleasure

Decks November's doleful/soulful halls

Hushed beneath a sheath of snowflakes

Hope and joy toll welkin bells

Comforting a world of heartaches

With November-hushed farewells   

  © Janet Martin

 

Hushed, the carefree, barefoot banter

Of life-heady, laughing child...