The Beautiful Blessing of Friends...

They help us to handle

Whatever life sends

A flesh-and-blood candle

We simply call Friends

How sad would be sorrow

How biting its tear

How dreary tomorrow

Without friends to cheer

They gladden Time’s ages

Peasants feel like kings

As friends smooth the pages

Of trouble life brings

Friends fill heart-shaped fountains
That swell with pure laughter
Friends ring out the joy-bells
Hung from Heaven's rafter

How harsh would be heartache

How colder the cold

If there was no handshake

Of friendship to hold

They keen with compassion

Whatever life sends

This beautiful blessing

We simply call Friends

© Janet Martin

Who’s that? asked the little guy I babysit, as I waved at a lady walking her dog. Oh, that’s my friend, I replied and found myself slowly cherishing the word ‘friend’ and how little the word of the largeness it holds.... We were in a nearby town to pick up some ingredients to make a birthday supper tonight for another friend.

   Friend is a small 
   word with a big
  heart 

Some friends we meet on a regular basis
Others are friends met through words, not faces
But no matter how or where we 'meetest'
Of all of life's blessings
friendship is sweetest .

Thank-you to all my friends who pause on this porch.
Blessings to you and yours.

 

What Sister's Say...

 

Image Source

They say

‘I understand’ with nothing

But a glance

Meeting above

Our daughters’ heads

They say

‘I know’ with nothing

But a slow smile

Shared behind

Our husbands’ backs

They say

‘I care’ with nothing

But a prayer

Breathed behind

A tender tear

© Janet Martin

Thank-you Lucy. (I know this is a week early but there are no guarantees from day to day so I spill as it hits the quill;))

My daily dozen, thanks be to God could be multiplied over and over daily!

Friend or Foe

If you look to pin-point my faults and flaws

You will find quite a few, I fear

But if you are looking my way because

You want a friend, I am here

***

The critical eye is greedy and cruel

Preying on weakness and dirt

He fills his plate with envy and hate

And a scoop of gossip for dessert

***

Love knows we are not perfect

Yet is willing to suffer a bit

To get to the flower, it suffers our thorns

And love’s us in spite of it

***

Life has a myriad of things it will send

But none takes the place of a really good friend

***

A really good friend is life’s most cherished gift   

When burdens grow heavy friends give us a lift

They know without asking what they need to do

Life’s burdens are lighter when carried by two

***

I do not ask for wealth of gold

But simply this, a hand to hold

And when I come to this life’s end

I’d like to know I was a friend

© Janet Martin

Of Friends

After all is said and done

And this small life draws to an end

Our dearest worth upon this earth

Must surely be that of a friend

Life’s road yawns into the unknown

With many a trying twist and bend

Yet darkest miles are warm with smiles

If we can share them with a friend

‘To have a friend we must be one’

This truth is surely ages-old

And oh, the measure of its treasure

Cannot in humble words be told

For friends, in spite of us, are true

Seeing beyond the veil of skin

They weep and laugh and pray with you

To fill the empty cup within

…so, after all is said and done

Regardless of what life may send

The dearest, rarest, purest wealth

Is ever found within a friend

© Janet Martin

Dedicated to my dear friends.
The wonderful time at our writer's group last night
reminded me how truly wonderful and priceless good friends are...

You enrich my life more than mere word can tell.

Thank-you.

Longevity of Love

Girls, men are not really

That different from us

We both desire deeply

Respect and love

If we gave to our better halves

The things we hold dear

Perhaps some of love’s struggle

Would disappear

Complicated simplicity

Just you and I

Yet, this thing called love

Can drive us wild

But we are not so different

If we learn to live

Knowing what we both want

We must learn to give

© Janet Martin

 

Of Failure and Friends

No one begins at failure

Failure is nobody’s goal

So we ought to encourage each other

And not be so critical

We all need a shoulder to lean on

Love does not boast or gloat

Iron sharpens iron

It is not a blade against the throat

Nobody is a failure

Who among us has not fallen?

We should reach out to each other

Helping the feeble and burdened

Failure is not a destination

But simply a stepping stone

And we all need each other

Nobody should struggle alone

No one begins at failure

And failure is not an end

We all ought to encourage each other

And simply be a friend

© Janet Martin

Last night at my mom's birthday celebration my dad encouraged us to, as parents, never to give up or dwell too long on our failures but to keep the faith and keep on keeping on.

Why is it so easy for us to believe in failure rather than success?

Failure is a rung on life's ladder. I'm contemplating the definition of failure this morning.

I Feel Your Lips Smile

I feel your lips smile softly in the dark

The quiet swells; an ocean without form

I rest my head where retrospect is warm

A summer’s eve as autumn’s stance grows stark

The surge of centuries claims one more day

October sheds her final farewell leaf

Her shoulders droop; fall’s lithesome dance is brief

And leaf by leaf her garment drifts away

The darkness cannot shield the thought of you

A thousand midnights cannot seal your sigh

I crawl to kiss October’s feet good-bye

She fades across a field of frosted dew

The echo of her past rides on the breeze

I hold it fast in ageless memories

***

Is there an antidote for loneliness?

And is it found within a crowded crowd?

Where images are wearying and loud?

The night is kinder in its wantonness

I lean into its still, somber embrace

Its solace is both friend and enemy

Exposing both the best and worst of me

I feel your lips smile, soft against my face

A soul-mate comprehends unuttered thought

Spilling into night’s deep and onyx hole

As we exchange the language of the soul

Not chained in word or shared in ink-formed jot

But rendered to each other part by part

As we converse in whispers of the heart

***

The by and by of summer’s twilight waits

Even for deviant poets such as us

The noise of plebeian masses fume and fuss

October’s farewell tolls and dissipates

As up into the froth of sequined air

The ebb and flow of moments coalesce

We tremble; the portend of love’s caress

Is almost more than you and I can bear

The hour plods toward November’s dawn

We cannot halt its winnowing intent

How soon, how soon another year is spent

As tears of autumn deck the street and lawn

Ah, this is life; so much of love to learn

I feel your lips smile; I smile in return

© Janet Martin

As I Think about Men and Women

Men and women seek

Other men and women

Trying to fill a void within

Men and women find

Other men and women to nurture

Or heal its damaged mien

Men and women love

Men and women

For Love is a thread, its power profound

As men and women wish

For other men and women

By its gossamer potency we are bound

Men and women need

Other men and women

To satisfy love’s single utter plea

There is no other way

And no other beauty

Like these friendships both now

And yet to be…

© Janet Martin

The Sunday Whirl

The Wide World Over...

Above is the road from my house if I turn left...Below is the road if I turn right.The farm on the left side is 'the old home place' where I grew up with nine siblings; five boys, five girls and hard-working mom and dad.

You are nothing like me…

Where you have come from

or what has shaped you

is so unlike my own walk

of highs and lows

that life has led me through thus far

and yet

you are so much like me

in every way

as a universal kin-ship

binds close the heart

because love and longing

cannot decipher

twixt beggars and kings

and hope is the common ethereal cord

to which we cling

as we laugh, weep,

pray, stumble sing,

hold and let go

through common needs

of daily living

of love's taking 

and its giving

where time is a wave

reclaiming each and every thing

that once it gave

whether trembling or brave

we hope and trust

to a common end

of cradle to grave 

and

dust to dust

© Janet Martin

The title of this book on my sister's blog struck me.

…as for beyond the grave,

we each must choose to make

our calling and election sure.

Don't Let Go...

For every up there is a down

For every high there is a low

For every love there is someone

Hold my hand and don’t let go

For every joy, oh there is grief

With every wonder there is woe

For every bud there is a leaf

Hold my hand and don’t let go

For every smile there is a tear

For every tear there is a crown

For every hope there is a fear

For every up there is a down

For every triumph there’s despair

For every gain, something to lose

For every trouble there is prayer

It’s up to you and me to choose

For every high there is a low

Only, only love secures

Hold my hand and don’t let go

Hold my hand and I’ll hold yours

For every night there is a day

For every day a night to rest

For every doubt there is a way

For every better there is best

For every road there is an end

For every yes there is a no

And for each other, there’s a friend

Hold my hand and don’t let go

Oh darling, hold my hand

And

Don’t let go

J~

A Cup of Tea with a Friend...

We may travel the wide world over

North, south, from end to end

But it cannot measure the pleasure

Of a cup of tea with a friend

Many are life’s vast achievements

And many kind hands it extends

But none can replace the contentment

Of a cup of tea with a friend

© Janet Martin

Intangible Satisfaction

You warm me,

Not with cloak or shawl

Nor with sweaters of wool

Or quilted blankets

In nostalgic hue

But,

With the beautiful

Intangible

And ever irreplaceable

Thought of you

You touch me

Not with gentle brush

Of fingertips

Nor with the

Pleasing whisper

Of your lips

But you

Touch me

Like flesh can never do

In the beautiful,

Bittersweet

Satisfying

Thought of you

© Janet~

Mountain-climbing

To reach the top

We are guaranteed

Darling, I know if we keep climbing

To give up or to stop

To release you

It never was my intention

I struggle upward and pray

From vows of my youth

Dangling precariously

While moments slip away

Gripping the truth

I cling tenaciously

So when it comes to us

Love weathers all weather

And when it comes to the heart

When it comes to love

Than to be apart together

I prefer to be together apart

Not compelling resistance

I release the hour

That is the way of love

Without creating distance

Expanding history

Moments push between us

© J~

Hello down here…are you confused? Congratulations! You just read this poem backwards…we are mountain-climbing so we must begin at the bottom(as with all things in life:) and work our way up! I felt like having a little fun:)

Comrades

Slip not your hand in mine to lead

Or with intent to tether

But if you would a comrade be

Then let us walk together

Hold me close, not to restrain

Or as affection’s duty

But may our hearts and hands remain

United in love’s beauty

Slip not your hand in mine to lead

Or with intent to follow

But side by side, together we

Will face life’s mantled hollow

© Janet Martin

Definition of comrade:

1. A companion who shares one's activities or is a fellow member of an organization.
2. A fellow soldier or serviceman.

Hidden Master-piece

you dipped your pen into the skies
and stole the tint from midnight eyes
transferring with deft, silent skill
the torment of your poet’s quill
to guarded palettes of the heart
where I, recipient of your art
resign myself to fettered years
as I behold your blue ink tears

time has no swift design on you
you paint the surface of the moon
in un-named shades of misery
while merry-wishers wave in glee
my paper smile is worn and thin
the thought of you as raw-edged tin
but poetry preserves, endears
the permanence of blue ink tears

someday this sea of buried art
like crumpled oceans in my heart
will lie beneath the earth with me
in un-penned vaults of poetry
untainted by mortal’s vile tongue
who dare to paint sapphire with dung
I’ll hold for all eternal years
a masterpiece of blue ink tears

J~

Maybe in Time...

Maybe in time
I will loosen my grip
And not rebel
As moments slip
Twixt you and I...

Maybe in time
I will turn the page
Without reluctance
For life's next stage
Where shadows lie

Maybe in time
I will release you a bit
But for now, I confess
I'm not ready yet
To say good-bye

Maybe in time
I will understand
And no longer tally
The miles on the sand
Twixt you and I...

J~

If I Had Known...#1

My apologies to you
If I had known that you would come
Then I would have changed my plans
To make sure that I was home

I would have put the coffee on
Tidied up and swept the floor
You would not even need to knock
For I’d be waiting at the door

Then we would talk all afternoon
Beneath the old red-maple tree
Time would disappear too soon
If you came to visit me

My apologies to you
If I had known that you would come
I would have gladly changed my plans
And rushed to put the coffee on...:)

Janet~

Thank-you to all of you who drop by here
To visit…I appreciate each and every one of you.
Please have a coffee on me:)
God bless.

Love

It’s not perfect
Darling, yes, I know
We could point out endless flaws…
…and we have, a time or two
I don’t know what 'they' call it
Those experts with degrees
But we call it love
Now, don’t we?

It’s not very fancy
And it sure isn’t cool
But we are in it for the long run
Love can be so cruel
If we relinquish tenderness
Appeasing selfish words
But we still call it love, dear
Even when it hurts

Seems these days nobody knows
Its meaning or its worth
Trading it like any other
Commodity of earth
Darling, love’s a beauty
But it takes another form
Beyond the call of duty
It’s a shoulder in life’s storm

…and when the war of words has stilled
And all that yet remains
Is a pair of stubborn wills
And self-inflicted pain
Love reaches to the other
There is nothing left to prove…
But to forgive and love forever
Oh darling…this is love

J~

Without Reasons.....

There are people God brings into our lives
And I thank him for the love which He gives
To us; sometimes in the most unexpected ways
I’m glad I do not need a reason to love you today
I am glad He sends arms to hold us with whispers and prayers
Friends to remind us that he or she cares
I’m glad I don’t need a reason to hold your hand
I don’t need all the answers or even to understand
Why God loves me so beautifully every day
I’m glad without reasons, so come what may
I will always love you; bitter-sweet bliss
Darling, that is just the way it is
And I thank Him…..

J~

Just Because the Sky Was Blue.....

I tried to lose myself today
on those blue hilltops far away.
I thought of how the wind would pull
And tease, and it was wonderful
And I yearned for the melody
Sung by a turquoise evening breeze
Where I could sit with my bare-feet
in the babbling of the creek
and then I strolled across the grass
where fleet-foot spring and summer pass
and I got lost in yesterday
where far too many memories lay
and there you were, as good as new
and just because the sky was blue
and just because an ocean lay
betwixt today and yesterday
and just because love is not bound
by barriers stretched across the ground
and just because I love you too
I got lost......
in thoughts of you.

J~