Alas, The Grass Has Disappeared...or The World Is White

Yesterday's dreamland...

...is today's reality check wonderland 😁
it's Canada and it's March!

The world is white where yesterday we soaked in gold puddles of sun

And reveled in delight as we began to dream of days to come

Before, while we were fast asleep a downy sky-wide blanket stole

Each whimsy-tickled Fantasy, tucked beneath winter’s ling'ring toll

The world is white where we caught sight of dandelions and jonquils

As we with half-shut eyes espied their golden storm upon yon hills

Now circumstantial evidence swaddles the fence, the woods and pond

Picnic baskets forsook by brooks that sparkle through the great beyond

The world is white and bids us fight the good fight we cannot ignore

Star-eyed reprieve of make-believe must face cold knee-deep facts once more

The garden stoked with dream-plants poked perfectly into earthy silk

Evaporates on plates of fresh baked happiness with tea or milk

The world is white, a sorry sight for we imbibed with heady thoughts

Of arbors wisteria-draped or over-flowing flower-pots

Alas, the grass has disappeared beneath an over-flow of stars

That fell from Old Man Winter’s beard to steal reluctant summer-hearts

© Janet Martin

It's true; this summer-heart is easily seduced by undeniable beauty

Even if it's white!

 Who can hate a world where every austere outline is stenciled in freshly-fallen snow?!

Where Hope Is...Not

Happy Leap-day!
Especially to those celebrating their birthdays today!

 "Come now, let us settle the matter," says the LORD.

 "Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; 

though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.

Isa.1:18

Pink flares and fades beyond plush grades of freshly fallen snow

Soon the whole sky is like a sigh of pastel overflow

The heath above earth’s pristine glove rouses a tender rhyme

Before the air becomes the stair the sun begins to climb

Where hope is not some routine jot tendered to to-do's chase

But God's abiding rod and staff; the autograph of grace

See how dawn’s glow ignites the snow; gold gilds white through and through

As mercy wields, o'er hills and fields, morn's olden orb anew

The showcase of faith, hope and love beams with Time’s practiced grin

The crepuscule of neb’lous wool withdrawn; Dawn wins again

Where hope is not Positive Thought derived by mortal breath

Hope is redemption; the exemption from eternal death

Then with the voice of earth rejoice and praise mankind’s Best Friend

No matter what, the love of God is faithful without end

The beauty we behold unfolds a glimpse of what hope grants

If we believe and then receive Mercy’s inheritance

Where hope is not circumstance-wrought, but purchased at great cost

For God so loved the world He gave His Son to save the lost

Pink flares and fades; care's escapades fuel what prayers become

For none of us can know the Thus ensconced in moment-sum

But we are clean as the pure sheen of freshly fallen snow

If we confess our sinfulness (for God’s word tells us so)

Where hope is not karma’s mascot that lucky stars achieve

Hope is the love that secures us the moment we believe

© Janet Martin

Pure Contentment

This morning beckoned to be a wander-land, 

we contented ourselves instead with its wonderland!

Just as I snapped the photo below a massive crow lifted off, leaving behind a shower of snow...

We woke up to a wonderland where hints of spring had been

Now every spire is a flower, every tree a queen

And everything that was itself seems to be something new

Bedecked in dazzling bric-a-brac and cotton-puff ado

Where wonder never wearies of nature and mercy’s ways

And hunger finds contentment for a moment, filled with praise

© Janet Martin

Storm-stoked...

 When I started writing this poem the snow was still held at bay,

but the winds have escalated and begin to add substance 

to the forecast of a big storm today.

The sky hangs low with unshed snow

The wailing wind begins to blow

Into each crevice, crease and nook

The vines that drape the boist’rous brook

Rattle; summer’s skeletal trace

Like scattered spools of tangled lace

Or ink-stains from a stoppered sea

That spilled vague strains of poetry

Still waiting to be recognized

By brittle frond and sprig disguised

The grumbling gale bullies the bush

And rakes the woodland’s solemn hush

A hoodlum looking for a fight

Harassing everything in sight

It storms the streets and marketplace

A hunter eager to give chase

To any unsuspecting prey

Not battened down or tucked away

So hang onto your hat, my friend

Or you may not see it again

The wind-chill seeps through walls it seems

And wakens simple fireside dreams

It makes the courtier of books

Content in modest, nested nooks

Where wanderlust’s tug is assuaged

Twixt sips of tea and turn of page

And everywhere we wish to roam

Does not compare to home, sweet home

Where paper ships on paper seas

Transport us anywhere we please

So, let the weight of lowered height

Burst through barred gates in white o’er white

White petals and white butterflies

White diamond-studded stars and sighs

White whispers on a white-washed path

White garnish on white aftermath

Unbroken save the curlicue

That spirals from the chimney flue

Or here and there a little bird

By ruffled feathers undeterred

© Janet Martin

Winter Worship and Wonder (a sonnet)

Fresh flakes of snow fell while we were asleep

And draped the earth in a dazzle of stars

Now it is hard for summer-hearts to keep

The joy of winter from breaking through bars

...intended to keep splendid scenes of green

Within thought’s reach (while winds cut like a knife)

To buoy hope through days and months between

Trees robbed of leaves and buds primed with new life

For something about white delight instills

Our sense of sight with kind humility

As the Author of awe always fulfills

And exceeds fanciful expectancy

His Masterpieces startle hearts with cheer

Wonder and worship smile from ear to ear

© Janet Martin

 Yes, I've shared the song below many times...

It is one of my favorite winter-welcome and prelude to Christmas carols!