Happy Day

  

Oh, happy day, the flower splay their colors glad and bold

To satisfy the drifter's eye with purple, blue and gold

The Artist spills to ditch and hills those gardens undefiled

As fair and free their filigree embellishes the wild

Oh happy day, we turn to stray from Duty’s beaten path

Bumblebees drone in monotone; zephyr tickles the grass

Somewhere a robin trills and spills its praises heartily

The sun is bright; the clouds are white on heaven’s azure sea

Oh, happy day, where willows sway and we lie there beneath

Its filigree of poetry and yellow-gilded leaf

Oh happy day, we pause to pray to He who holds in place

The gold, the gray, the come-what-may, kind signatures of grace

© Janet Martin

I thought I should finish this poem before I turn in…mostly I write them all at once but this one was up most of the day; I would add a line on my way through the kitchen before returning out-doors. It was a happy day!

Of Happiness and Success...oh! and canned sausage

Success, for all its promises

Of comfort, luxury and bliss

Cannot, when all is said and done

Favor the heart with happiness

But happiness is that fair thing

Elusive to the hand of greed   

Its joy leaps from an obscure spring

Where love extends itself to need

The triumph of a life well-lived

And its rendition of success

Lies not in fortune’s vanity

But in the key to happiness

This key opens a precious vault

Filled, not with gold or silver boast

But with endowments visible

To those who’ve found what matters most

© Janet Martin

Sometimes happiness is a simple as sausage-on-a-bun with mustard!

...and sometimes God blesses us with the acquaintance of those who we know have found it and they seem to share it without realizing it; happiness.

We had a great day together. While I taught her of canning sausage she taught me of happiness; trust, joy, peace in spite of great unknowns as we chatted about families, marriage, love and souls; the everlasting-ness of souls bound to one of two destinies...and of how much God loves us and His desire is that not one soul should be lost.

Canned pork-sausage may not look so appealing but it is so great for a quick meal! Simply order your sausage in bulk. Spiral or place cut pieces in sterilized canning jar until full to the neck of the jar. Wipe jar-rim before placing sterilized lids on each one. Place in *Canner-pot. Cover with cold water and bring to a rolling boil. reduce heat to med. and steam for 3 hrs. Remove from heat.do not move jars while they are cooling. After they are sealed wash them and store jars in a cool, dry place.Meat will keep for months! Simply brown and serve. 

* Canner 

'They Grow Up Fast' (Rob and Emily are Engaged!)

 Rob and Emily are engaged! Emily is our oldest daughter. They are engaged to be married on Oct. 12 2013.

I took this photo last night right after they told us!

a Mother's thoughts the morning after...

Back then I didn’t know

Eternities were so short

‘They grow up fast’ other mothers said

And I nodded, kissing your newborn fingers

Curled tightly around this new

Mother-finger of mine

Glad there was an eternity

Twixt then and now

‘They grow up fast’ other mothers said

And I blinked back the tears

As you climbed on the bus,

And we both waved vigorously

I, so glad that between Kindergarten

And Commencement

Spread an eternity

‘They grow up fast’

Commencement; years past

While tears shape a mother’s

Joy-drenched grief

Because there are no eternities on earth

Only gasps

They grow up fast

…and you laugh

High on love and dreams

As you show us your ring

And you teach us new words

Like ‘plan a wedding’

And you think six months

Is an eternity

© Janet Martin

All her Dad can say is 'I'm not ready for this!' (though he is happy for her/them)
Are any of us ever truly ready?
Congratulations and God bless you, Robyn and Emily.
Love, Mom and Dad

Solace

 My 'Happy-place' is the corner of our living-room or The Poet's Den where I recently moved my ever-expanding poetry collection.

Poetic Bloomings invites us the share our 'happy place' today.

Soft surrender like no other

It’s a bit like coming home

To the arms of gentle mother

In the comfort of a poem

Timeless treasure tunes the silence

Promises from God to men

Murmur in the troubled darkness

As His whisper moves my pen

Ache of longing, fear of morrow

Flows in quiet tenderness

Melding pleasure, pain and sorrow

In this think-in-ink caress

Healer of heart-ache and hunger

Troubadour of sonnet-song

Passion, prayer and promise murmur

In the solace of a poem

© Janet Martin

Happiness is Happening...

Happy is he who has learned to be

Content in the moment he holds

Instead of wishing for what seems missing

And searching until he is old

Happy are they who have found the way

To taste the moment on their lips

Instead of yearning for past’s no returning

As into the past, present slips

© Janet Martin

Happiness is happening,

Don't miss it!

 Happy is the man that finds wisdom, and the man that gets understanding.
Prov.3:13 KJV

In Thankfulness...

In thankfulness lies this thing

Which we all thirst for and covet

So instead of intense searching

For the elusiveness of it

We should lift our heart,

And bow our head

And bend the stubborn knee

For to be truly happy

We must learn to live

Thankfully

© Janet Martin

A Holy Experience

Joy-shapes

Who can explain the shape of its cup?

These moments of joy that we hold up

To our Maker; as we dance and laugh

On summer’s tangled after-math

Even the chill wind cannot dull

The song in our heart and mouth; thankful

Thankful for the golden walnut tear

Marking the close of another year

Thankful for duty, never-ending

For the colors of farewell softly blending

With nature’s response of mute, barren trees

Stoking the moan of the wandering breeze

Thankful, yes, even for the aching sigh

Spawned by love and the tear in our eye

Who can define its measure of worth?

Humble design;  startling treasures of earth

Shaped in a smile, or the driving rain

As we dream from the dry side of the window-pane

Shaped by the leaf dangling from a limb, brave

Before spiraling, drifting to its umber-musk grave

Or else, by the madrigal of bronzed corn

As it rustles; once emerald, now brittle, forlorn

Shaped by the reaper bent on filling his sheaf

With the scattered remnant of sun-flower grief

What is the shape of summer-end joy?

Of bittersweet, beautiful autumn alloy

Of moment-drops melting away soundlessly  

In prelude to the music of memory

© Janet Martin

Refocusing...

God, help me to remember

Every moment, every breath

Is part of a bigger picture

We cannot behold on earth

Remind me, when I lose focus

That success is so much more

Than the ‘what’ that we are doing

It’s the ‘Who’ we are doing it for

© Janet Martin

Three things I can always count on...lots of laundry,
lots of dirty dishes and
lots of big beautiful sky in whatever hue the Creator decides!

International Housewives' Day

Today is International Housewives’ Day

We will acknowledge the domestic ranks

For months and years and centuries

They have toiled with paltry thanks

Many are ignorant of her worth

They spurn the thought of mundane chores

Considered low-balls of the earth

Fit for cleaning drawers and floors

Orange rind from the coffee table

All the clutter as it falls

They think that she is merely able

To wash dishes, clothes or walls

But this is International Housewives’ Day

So we will shout her accolades

Eternity will owe her pay

For all the beauty she creates

She fills a home with simple joy

Not for monetary wealth

But for the love of girl or boy

For home and happiness and health

She toils in sweet obscurity

Subtracting nothing from her worth

No sting of shame encumbers she

For housewives are salt of the earth

Here’s to housewives the world over! Cheers!

© Janet Martin

Sunday Whirl

 

No Wasted Days

As long as love

Fills the heart

There will be no empty days

As long smiles

Adorn our mouths

There will be no darkest days

As long as duty

And desire blend

There will be no futile days

As long as you

Remain my friend

There will be no wasted days

Janet~

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!

Long After...

This…

Would be nothing more

Than cold, clinking silver and china

But the anticipation

Of what lays in store

I can think of nothing finer

Than the gathering

Of family,

A circle of friends

Sharing the food and the laughter

For even though

All special times must end

The memories still cheer us

Long after

Janet

My mother and sisters are coming to lunch!

This Forward-facing Journey

It is nothing more

Than beating of heart

And placing of trust

This forward facing journey

From dust

To dust

© Janet Martin

Tuesday Late Afternoon Haiku

Blissful caffeine jolt
Pianist seeking pleasure
Painful notes collide

Knitting needles click
Rush of rain beneath traffic
Supper sizzling

Daylight swallowed whole
Aroma of contentment
Sighs in the twilight

Janet~

Happiness

Happiness comes in moments
It is not a destiny
It falls in tender splashes
To soften misery
I would never realize it
If it became my quest
I could not recognize it
This soft aching in my chest
If not for life’s small heart-aches
Or the tear upon my cheek
Happiness is waiting
Even as life’s sorrows speak
It comes in tender whispers
In a kind touch or a smile
It sweeps across an azure sky
To brighten weary miles
It drops in sudden sparkles
Fragments tinged with hope and love
It comes in songs and flowers
Heaven’s laughter from above
It shines in childish innocence
And fills our hearts with glee
For happiness is something
Living inside you and me


Janet~

I just know it made someone happy to think
maybe Mom wouldn't notice
that the last item on the grocery list wasn't her hand-writing!!!

Almost Perfect~

It would have been a perfect day

Love warmed the garden dull and gray

Joy sang from dark-limbed silhouettes

Where hope spawned buds of ruby red

The sun was warm upon my face

Before it melted in the west

In pools of rapture, glory-sent

I sigh; I am almost content

A lone bird wings its way to rest

The moon hangs low on heavens crest...

...above the silent after-math

As this day wanders down the path

Where all its predecessors lie

Somewhere beneath a phantom sky

Yes, it was almost perfect, dear

My happiness shines in a tear

In folds of blue and gold and rose

Another day draws to a close

As on the still and trembling air

I reach to touch you in a prayer

For all the blue and all the gold

Cannot give me you to hold

Almost perfect; yes, it’s true

Almost perfect, but for you

Janet

Some Days

On some days the hands that I hold are enough
I’m grateful through and through
Complete, complete in a moment of love…
…but on some days I wish it was you

On some days love is lithesome and fair
The sky is perfect blue
On some days I become keenly aware…
…that on some days I wish it was you


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~

The Quest

Some long for fame and fortune
Their hour in the sun
Forgetting in a moment
It could all be gone
Some long for the arms of
Anyone but who they’ve got
Forgetting that true love
Is not a game of ‘love me not’

Some long for a destination
Far across the sea
Their life an imitation
Of whom they wish to be
And some long for anything
It seems but what they have
Living in a foolish dream
Instead of in their life

But I’ve got what I want
I’m glad to be me
I wouldn’t wish me on anyone else
So its better this way, you see
And I’ve got what I want
Because when God gave me you
Well, I guess He must have known
That no one else would do

Happiness is not a city
Or a place where we arrive
Yet, is it not a pity
Some search for it all of their life
Happiness is the journey
Contentment in God’s great plan
Happiness needs no money
And is free to anyone

Let's not waste our moments in longing
For things beyond our reach
We all have moments of wanting
Or the ache of an unfulfilled wish
But oh what a pity to miss it
The moment we briefly clasp
Because we were foolishly wishing
For something beyond our grasp

Janet~

Favorite Love Song.......

You are my favorite love song
Music that never grows old
I have found where I belong
In your arms the world is not cold
Fame and fortune belong to the wind
Soon its quick melodies fade
But here in your arms life is tender and kind
Written in the love we have made

You are my very best love song
Together we are never off key
Let its clear timbre slip off of our tongues
In love’s perfect harmony
For all of the music recorded
And all of the tunes ever played
Can never come close to the most perfect song
Written in the love we have made *

Janet~

*Making love is not a three-letter word.....