Showing posts with label friendship. Show all posts
Showing posts with label friendship. Show all posts

Monday, April 14, 2025

Sometimes I Miss The Bliss of Ignorance



This post began taking shape through some very precious get togethers
 with friends of Lucy's who have now become friends of mine.
What bittersweet joy these friendships hold...(for both sides)
as we near the 7 mo. mark since she left this world for the next.

Today marks a year since this community
mourned/mourns the loss of a dear wife, mother and friend...

This poem is written
In Loving Memory of Kelly and Lucy

These photos were lovingly composed mementos from a caring friend...



 
Sometimes I miss the bliss of ignorance borne happily
Till sorrow tore the front door from the hinges of my heart
And I welcomed in strangers who were friends waiting to be
To teach me lessons about love and friendship’s priceless part/art

Sometimes, in the raw longing of remembering Her face
I fear that I would trade them all for one more sacred chance/dance
To linger without looking at the clock, in the embrace
Between hello and the farewell that Time never recants

Sometimes goodness and mercy’s Tender Shepherd steals my breath
He comforts me; and crowns my grief with joy, words cannot spell
He draws my want beyond the somber outer folds of death
(Futile to lean upon the place where last Her shadow fell)

Beyond the somber outer folds of Death, I gaze because
The bitter cup of grief when tipped is like a curtain-rise
Then, sometimes when I miss the bliss of ignorance, I pause
And thank God for the unveiling of angels in disguise 

© Janet Martin

 

 

 

Friday, February 21, 2025

God Bless You As You Celebrate...



I have four friends celebrating birthdays today!
A 70th, a 61st, a 50th, and a sweet young 30-something 💝
Happy Birthday, Karen, Debbie, Kim and Paula!
All of you have enriched my life immensely!
Esp. in the past 5 mos. 🙏
God bless you are you celebrate.



God bless you as you celebrate the gift each birthday brings
An opportunity to count the gifts we sometimes miss
For life is full of cares crowding to cloud love's finer things
Caught between hello hugs that lead to farewell's tender kiss

God bless you as you celebrate each face-to-face delight 
Let a firm handshake steal your breath, let laughter make you cry
With joy and thankfulness for everybody you hold tight
And never take for granted looking loved ones in the eye

God bless you are you celebrate another year complete
Where highs and lows collect in settled dust of Past, surreal 
And Today, Happy Birthday, grants a milestone, bittersweet
Because no one can hold at bay, Time's hastening appeal 
 
God bless you as you celebrate the give and take of love
And make the most of Here and Now, because we cannot see
How near or far we are to where the Soul slips off its glove
And leaves behind the precious treasure of A Memory

Love, from Janet 

And to all of us who have or will, 
Lord willing, celebrate a birthday this year!

Author unknown for the poem below...







Saturday, September 25, 2021

To Frame a Memory...




Today is perfect cup-o'-java-joy-bottomless-refill weather!


Part of the reason I spent this morning's hours outdoors 
was the promise of a rain-song afternoon!




I began painting another poem this morning, 
then got distracted by duty and beauty
While along came this poem to
 interrupt the previous one...
'composed' by the last 24 hours of life!
A peek onto a poet's 'colour-palette' 😊

If I could I would frame it;
that moment when she and I
stood spellbound by an egret
beneath autumn's brooding sky

That cozy fall contentment
with a coffee-pot between
That season of enchantment;
as bronze seeped through summer green

That solace of the woodland
and its shadow-dappled path
Its palace built with remnants
of butterfly aftermath

The orchard that not long ago
was wreathed in white and pink
Lanes decked in perfumed petal snow
Where now red apples wink

Dawn, as it drew ajar
windows of opportunity
Dusk, as it pinned a star
on pages of fresh history

September's cinnamon-kissed sweeps
we tasted with our eyes
The playful puppy as it leapt
through laughter's paradise

Saturday pitter-patter fueled
by rain-symphony 
Where ink and order dueled
(they will never quite agree)

My mother in her kerchief, warm
against fall's chill embrace
Love, evoking a perfect storm
*for joys so un-commonplace

Wonder, in all its rapture
never snared by brush or pen
I wish that I could capture it
to touch and taste again

...and then I smile, and then I say
Thank God for poetry
A poem is the perfect way
To frame a memory

Janet Martin

* a mother's kerchief-framed
most-beloved-of-all-faces
is anything but commonplace 
so I edited that sentence💖
Another un-commonplace joy today
is my parent's 58th wedding anniversary!



Saturday, July 3, 2021

Consolation Canticle


This post is inspired be this dear old hymn;

We may come to Him just as we are!





When life doles out double trouble; when hearts break with bitter grief
Each day like an uphill struggle where disappointment seems chief
What sweet comfort to remember There is One who will defend
Then we weep with joyful wonder ‘What a friend, oh, what a friend’

When love feels too great a burden; thorns bereft of Beauty’s crown
When we groan beneath the hurtin’ and we want to lay it down
What sweet solace to remember There is One who will restore
As we lean on Him and murmur ‘What a Saviour I adore’

When the weight of what is waiting seeks to steal our present strength
When the process of the breaking strips away well-trained pretense
What sweet release to remember There is One who fully heeds
As we hope with humble hunger in He who supplies our needs’

When faith's altar is the rubble that remains of plans and dreams
What a friend we have in Jesus; no matter how all else seems
What sweet goodness to remember, there is One who will prevail
Then we walk, stronger than ever because Jesus will not fail

© Janet Martin

Matt.11:28-30
Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, 
and I will give you rest. 
29Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, 
for I am [f]gentle and lowly in heart, 
and you will find rest for your souls. 
30For My yoke is easy 
and My burden is light.”
Jesus~





Tuesday, April 23, 2019

To My Family and Friends (with my blessing)

PAD Challenge 23: Time for our fourth (but not final) Two for Tuesday of the month! 
Pick one prompt or use both…your choice! 

  1. Write a free poem.
  2. Write a not free poem.

 Seems everything I dream is part of you...



You have taken (with my blessing)
What I used to call ‘me free time’
You make me feel undeserving
Of love's (often uphill) climb

Strange how we change what we wish for
From footloose and fancy-free
To the best life has to offer
When love turns ‘me’ into ‘we’

Once upon a long-gone freedom
I would dread The To-do List
That was before you and me and
All the love we would have missed

Love fills up life’s cup of laughter
And because not much is free
Love drains all but echoes after
Life turns time to memory

Keep on taking (with my blessing)
The 'me free time' I hear tell of
Because after Us there's nothing
I would rather have than love


© Janet Martin

As long as we love
there will always be
So much to do
and so little time!

Monday, April 1, 2019

Hello Fellow-Traveler...


 PAD Challenge day one; Write a morning poem

 Just can't resist showing a pic of my newest-sweetest-baby-est fellow-traveler
(our grand-daughter, not quite 2 days old)




Hello, fellow trav’ler of pleasure and pain
Of twilight’s goodnight and dawn’s ‘begin again’
Because none of us sets out to fail or fall
Let’s lean on each other and love one and all

Hello fellow-trav’ler where we always meet
On morning’s fresh threshold of gold or gray street
Where we all grow old if we’re given the chance
So let’s help each other through each day God grants

Hello fellow-trav’ler of high road and low
My, my, but what waits to be we cannot know
Where future is never the picture we drew
And we're all just learning what we thought we knew

Hello, fellow-trav’ler where Time’s tolling bell
Soft-nudges us nearer to tears of farewell
Where no one can tell when death’s knell bids us part
So let’s love each other with all of our heart

…and let’s greet each morning like an honoured guest
In all that life offers let’s give it our best
And taste like word-sugar love’s sweetest words yet
Hello fellow-trav’ler, so nice to have met

© Janet Martin

Monday, December 3, 2018

Let's Just Be Friends...


“A new command I give you: Love one another. 
As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 
By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, 
if you love one another.”
John 13:34-35

 These two youngsters are still learning the art of friendship; 
one minute its hug-you love, the next its hit-and-shove.
But they are babies and simply 'acting their age'
I've seen similar 'action' whether in body or language 
from we who are 'old enough to know better!'

 

...for there is always more to It Than that which meets the eye
Where judgment’s quick analysis cannot the full descry
So before we ignore the More that Mercy’s love defends
Let’s put our arms around each other and let’s just be friends

Let he or she who has not sinned be bold enough to stand
Aha! See there is no one who is fit to raise a hand
Then let’s not be so quick to shed a fellow-trav’ler’s blood

Let’s just be friends and then instead of condemnation’s slight
The love of God in us will fit us for life's soul-full fight
Instead of fist-a-cuff His love will change hearts, hard and blind
And turn fear into courage because words are soft and kind

© Janet Martin

inspired by a moment yesterday when I oh, so dearly wish I would have kept my mouth shut!

Thursday, October 18, 2018

As If...No Time Has Passed At All

For Jesus-followers, as hard as farewells are, 
we have a bond that goes beyond miles right through eternity!
There is nothing in this world like the bond between fellow-believers!
It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
1 Cor. 13
Never enough time with those we love!
I was going to do this post way before a month passed but...
you know how it is; the days feel twice as short, it seems, since we're back,
 catching up on fall work and adjusting to a new child-care routine!
I have a lot of thought-hugs (aka prayer:) for this gal (an old neighbor) since visiting a month ago!
And when we meet each other, sisters in The Faith, it's as if no time has passed at all...
This gal had a huge welcome' sitting on our counter and in the fridge when we got in...
 (in a  house lent to us for our east-family visit) by its owner-angel we have never met!


I cherish the face to face moments we had...almost a month ago already?!!
...and some moment are nice immortalized in poem!
A few people have asked how many poems my East-trip-visit inspired
and my answer is always the same...I don't know yet!
I was thinking as I cleaned a mundane lunch mess, 
about where we were a month ago and how nice it was to just sort of pick up where we left off...

..to a heart-neighbour (not an old neighbour:)

...As if our children had not grown
taller than she or I
where year on year has softly flown
into That Big Oh My

as if a couple thousand miles
did not exist twixt Touch
so then hugs drowned in teary smiles
Don't hurt us quite so much

as if, deep down we try not to
dwell on the Big Fat When
of days-weeks-months, a year or two
until we meet again

as if her house was next to mine
or not far down the street
we say with Confidence Divine
farewell until we meet

Janet Martin