Hereafter...

 Mom, are you making lunch or am I? Emily asks. Oh, I will in a minute, I reply, but I just saw the word Hereafter and it sparked something!...(they have ceased to wonder why:) or ask any questions.

Hereafter

I know I will return

In reverie to gently yearn

To touch again this lovely day

Slipping away, away, away

Hereafter

I shall smile a bit

As by the fireside I sit

To tenderly recall this hour

Falling, falling, a faded flower

Hereafter

I shall know that I

Lingered because it is July

And far too soon it disappears

Drifting, drifting in yester-years

© Janet Martin 

 Victoria and Emily toss pea-pods to the neighbors cows. Sisters chuckle as cows chomp:)

Gardening can be so discouraging! We got a few large bowl fulls of peas but I hoped for a lot more. It's been too wet and as the plants began to bloom they just sort of died.

Complete

We wash the dishes, polish sinks

Making living-quarters neat

We add the touch of blooms and such

But still, something is not complete

We do the laundry, fill the fridge

With healthy and good things to eat

And yet we sense a keen absence

Of something just not quite complete

We scrub the floors and fuss about

The mess left by way-faring feet

And almost there, we touch the air

Of something keen and incomplete

The front-door slams, someone calls ‘Mom’?

Ah yes, they say silence is sweet

I like the noise of girls and boys

Shaping what makes a home complete

Thank-you Lord, the daily war

Of cleaning-cooking-cares repeat

Yet, in the end they bind and blend

The joys that make a home complete

© Janet Martin

Last night at supper I tried recording the family in ‘lively conversation’ to put it mildly. I sort of missed the moment but it struck me how the completeness of living is not in its tidiness or quietness but in its noise and messes. I like being the listener to their debates/arguments; usually Matt versus sisters, something like-Why People Who Belch are Happier Than Those Who Don’t, etc…

Matt Versus Sisters (of course, at fifteen he enjoys few things more than driving his sisters CRAZY!)

Often, if hubby calls during the day and asks what I’m doing my answer will be something like, ‘oh, laundry, or cleaning or dishes’. ‘Again?’ he asks, ‘Is that all you do?’ No it’s not, but I do it a lot!

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!

Of Sisters

 I went 'home' to recapture a few echoes this morning.

In many ways we are so very different

Yet, in so many ways we are the same

Time draws our feet in personal directions

But cannot steal the past from whence we came

And from the fabric of a common childhood

Kindred memories and laughter flow

To thread the ties binding our hearts together

Spun in those precious days of long ago

Sisters share a friendship like no other

Of home-spun values shaping our thought

Preserving in ourselves a bit of Mother

For beneath her hand we each were taught

And now in our own personal journeys

Of adulthood, of motherhood, of work

We cherish the friendship of dearest sisters

Who ask no explanation for our quirks

The hand of Time may scatter our pathways

But sealed in childhood’s sweet and simple age

Remain the echoes of a common chapter

Before life’s eager ever-turning page

And there abides a kindred understanding

In spite of change; in spite of where we roam

The dear and precious friendship of a sister

Will always feel a bit like coming home

© Janet Martin

 The sisters are getting together today:)

What is a Sister?

What is a sister?
A sister is the person who comes to help
When no one else does
She says thank-you
With a dozen eggs
And knows exactly the kind of books
You like to read
And shares them
A sister makes tea just so we
Can chat a little longer
About our kids, love
And what makes us stronger
Or drives us crazy
We talk about babies….
How sweet they were
And still are on some days…..
We talk about the ways
That life has driven us apart
Yet brings us back together
To discuss weather,
Gardening, cleaning and laundering tips
Recipes and border-line gossip….(NEVER!!!:))
A sister is a friend forever and ever
To laugh with, cry, sing or pray
A sister is always just a phone-call away

With love,
From your sister Janet

Happy 42nd Birthday, Lucy!

Can you imagine what it would look like
If we all decided to pile on this trike
In the very same way, today?

Over a Cup of Tea.....

This is no ordinary event
When we share a cup of tea
This is the portrait entitled ‘content’
And moments that form history
For over a cup of our favourite blend
Be it chai or simple earl gray
Are the priceless moments shared with a friend
Over a cup of tea

Here we can share the moments of life
Between each comforting sip
We share our victories, our sorrow and strife
As some wee flowered chalice we grip
Moments flavored with lemon or mint
Chamomile or wild berry
Become rare memories heaven-sent
Over a cup of tea

Over a cup of tea we delve
Into matters of the soul
Sharing little pieces of ourselves
Yet, in it becoming whole
We speak of our children, our hopes and our fears
Dreams of what yet may be
Flavoring the moments with smiles and tears
Over a cup of tea

Over a cup of tea we restore
Our faith in fumbling mankind
Many like us have come before
And many will follow behind
Yet with every challenge that life may send
I pray there will always be
The moments we may share with a friend
Over a cup of tea

Janet~

Hi Lucy……
It was easier to rhyme ‘friend’ than sister…..
All I could come up with for ‘sister’
Was ‘mister’ and kissed her’…..
And THAT would have taken this poem on an entirely different course!!!!
And after all ……
A sister is most surely the dearest friend on earth!!
Love and prayers,
Thank-you for the tea last night,
It was special.

Sisters......

Was it not yesterday we laughed?
And climbed the shadowed limbs
Where silver petals shivered
In the flurry of the wind
And we would speak of our half-dreams
In wistful girls desire
But now her silver mantle gleams
On brows of tempered fire

Was it not yesterday we danced?
In meadows fancy free
Where every minute was enhanced
By dreams of what will be
Where hours drifted, now they race
As sunlight hurries by
And now we turn a softer face
Toward the whispering skies

Was it not yesterday our paths
Of life were much the same
We shared our pleasures and our strife
But then tomorrow came…
And now wherever we may roam
Regardless of the weather
It feels a bit like coming home
When we get together

All Rights Reserved
Janet Martin

Retrospect.....

I would fight for what we love
But sister, what’s the use?
Gold hails from the walnut grove
And pine-cones from the spruce
We're powerless against the rule
Of times allotted hours
And sister, we would be a fool
To rearrange God's flowers

The trail of daisy and blue-strife
The barley fields of gold
Become the portraits of a life
As we are growing old
For we were green and carefree too
In pastures of our youth
The day was long and deep and blue
Before life’s somber truth

And though we fight with all our might
Summer turns to fall
And all that there is left of it
Are memories to recall
Sister, in life’s silver streams
We'll toss a restless sigh
For in its course we see our dreams
Of youth go drifting by

We could fight for what we love
But sister, summer’s dying
The faded bloom is living proof
And there’s no use in crying
The shadow lengthens on the wall
A cool wind draws our hand
Yes sister, it will soon be fall
But wasn’t summer grand?

All Rights Reserved
Janet Martin

Written for my sister, Carolyn
who turned 40 two days ago!!!