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

Images of Praise

How can our praise remain

A brief, un-uttered thought?

As images of passion brim

In shades that Heaven wrought

We pass this way but once

A sun and shadow flight

Where images of love entrance

Our vision with His might

The earth, beneath His care

Spills seasons on the land

As stunning images declare

The wonders of His hand

How can our song be still

In brief, anemic gaze

As sky and sea, as field and hill

Burst forth in nature’s praise?

Dare we to remain dumb

While stones and mountains swell

With images of wordless song

Mere men can never quell?

Oh, may our hearts and lips

Pour forth in word and deed

Pure images of thankfulness

As He sustains our need…

…and may our songs of praise

Never dare to be still

As images of hope and grace

Adorn earth’s mortal rill

© Janet Martin

“I tell you,” he replied, “if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.” Luke 19:40

Holy, Holy, Holy

August's Farewell Song

August plays its farewell lay

In chords of minor key

It ripples in the willow-sway

A wistful melody

August plays its parting hymn

In golden-petal tears

As summer’s strain begins to dim

Before it disappears

August plays its farewell song

A dusty-sweet caress

In notes wrought by the cricket-throng

And vesper-spangled tress

August plays its farewell tune

In sultry-somber sigh

It drifts across the languid noon

In preludes to good-bye

© Janet Martin

On this summer's final August week-end, can you hear it?

Time's Minuet

 Image Source: minuetcompany.org

Boccherini - Minuet

 Click on above link with wheel of your mouse)

 The hemlock and pine strum the sky as a lyre

On darkness encroaching dusk’s vulnerable air

Over the land dips a somnolent brush

Another day slips from earth’s slate in night’s hush

As skylines dissolve in the mouth of the sky

And wind-songs evolve to a slow lullaby

Whilst over Time’s silvery edges I hear

The whisper of moments as they disappear

Midnight’s troubadour moans, on transient bend

In amalgamation of beginning and end

As tomorrow becomes what yesterday was

And present succumbs to past’s deepening pause

While oceans of living and loving and lust

Pour into eons of ashes and dust

And still ever hastening days become years

As moment on moment a life disappears

Where is the piper; the sound of the flute?

Strike now the timbrel, ere laughing turns mute

Dance as the violin’s quivering lay

Pines on the moments yet slipping away

See how the Maestro directs this grand choir?

Of moments and memories, dreams and desire

Fleet foot of passion and prayer pirouette

Over the garden to Time’s minuet

© Janet Martin

Happy Birthday Lucy...may you enjoy life's dance!

The Sonnet of Still-song

The rain has ceased its miniature applause

Night’s hush is amplified in silver mist

Its scarf concealing blatant noon-day flaws

Intimidating North wind’s bully fist

The ragged edges of a fading day

Hesitate briefly; then slip to the deep

Tomorrow hovers, half a night away

Beyond the argent hills of tallied sheep

The silence plays a soulful melody

It rolls across the valley, hill and lea

The knife-edged blue softens its keenness now

As still of midnight rouses reverence

The rise and fall of longing sweeps earth’s prow

In passion searching for deliverance

Within this temple built of grass and sky

The shepherd of a thousand hills presides

Sacred extolment ripples in the sigh

Of rain-drenched willow-limbs and country-sides

Motionless, spectral legions sweep the sod

In secret thoughts of love and loss and God

The still-song of the darkness steals my breath

Its ghostwriter and maestro void of word  

Whist passages of time drip from the earth

In compositions felt rather than heard

A stray leaf wavers, circles on the air

Then spirals in an eighth note to the ground

It strikes the perfect chord, somehow, somewhere

I revel in the silver-threaded sound

Of still-song trickling from the astral stage

In choruses without author or age

© Janet Martin

After the sound of freezing rain

Pelting on the window-pane

The night’s still-song is amplified

Sweeping the misty country-side…    

Already Taken...or First Spring Rain

Suddenly, softly the eager breeze scatters
Her deluge in a chorus of pitter-patters
Its music resembling distant applause
As it spills on the tempered gardens and lawns
We’ve waited so long to hear this refrain
This is the song of the first spring rain

Smothered pastures grasp for each drop
Hoping at last frigid gales may stop
Here in the harbinger of warmer dreams
Her laughter pours into burgeoning streams
Taunting, beckoning us to dance once again
To the rippling ballad of the first spring rain

Robins appear and sleepy buds waken
I’m sorry my dear, but I’m already taken
I’ve chosen to dance in the arms of the wind
In his blue-eyed glance I shall twirl and spin
For my anticipation has not been in vain
Oh the elation of the first spring rain

Janet

A Girl can dream....can't she? ;)

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.....

Ballad of the Wind......

A trickle from the stars above
Draws a tear into my eye
It’s a tender song of love
And sometimes it makes me cry
I can hear upon its moan
Words like ‘gone’ and ‘missing you’
In its rippling undertone
I can hear the color blue……
Ballad of the wind

Seems to me there’s going to be
A continual encore
Music of a rolling sea
Or waves upon a distant shore
And I’m thinking that this song
Can not find a way to end
I will listen all night long
It’s become a sort of friend…….
Ballad of the wind

It’s a chuckle and a sigh
A ripple, and a rush, a roar
It’s ‘hello darling’ and ‘good-bye’
But oh, I think it’s so much more
Its ‘do you really need to go?’
‘When will I see you again?’
I hear the music start to blow…….
In the ballad of the wind
Oh, ballad of the wind

It’s a lonesome lullaby
Crooning from the star-strewn hill
It’s a love song from the sky
Pleading when the night is still
I would dance a little while
On some cold and darkened plain
To the music of your smile
And the ballad of the wind
Oh, the ballad of the wind


Janet~

Invisible Choir

It trickles from the willow limb
And whispers in the briar
The melody of winter's hymn
Sung by a faceless choir
An anthem tuned by sun and wind
In perfect harmony
While breakers add a distant blend
Of murmurs from the sea

It laughs upon the frozen girth
Of January’s palm
Played by instruments of earth
Yet without string or tongue
Its chorus spills in silver tones
Too grand for mortal choir
High, then low it lilts and moans
A holy, heavenly fire

Across the silent earth it spreads
In low and mournful lay
While reverently we bow our heads
As if to weep or pray
But then its tempo lifts and swells
In songs of victory
Sweeping up from haunts and dells
Across the frozen lea

Come; lay aside your tools of spoil
Admittance will be free
To he who pauses in his toil
To hear its melody
Timbre of immortal strain
Devoid of word or meter
Composed by He who rules the wind
And natures perfect choir

Janet~

Summer Song on a Winter Night

It trickles from the starry tresses
Falls like teardrops from the moon
And its tender note caresses
With a soft and winsome tune
Drifting from each haunt and hilltop
From the pine tree robed in white
Muffled by a snowy carpet
Soulful sonnet of the night

Plaintive strain of playful breezes
Rippling ‘cross a field of green
Warm the laughing wind that teases
Boughs where once the snow had been
Scent of pear and cherry blossom
Wafting o’er a pleasant sea
Skipping now on winter’s bosom
Summer’s gentle melody

Halt the chilling gale now dashing
Unconfined by leaf or flower
I can hear a sonnet splashing
From a warm and muted hour
Murmuring from over yonder
Where the purple twilight spawns
An orchestra of warmth and wonder
Melting on the violet lawns……

Here beside the glowing fire
Some may hear the cold wind moan
But beneath its calloused ire
I can hear a sweeter tone
Singing to me hymns of summer
‘Neath a low and lazy moon
From the frigid arms of winter
I can hear the song of June

Janet~

Music in my Mind.....

In the early, early morning
There's a fondness in my eye
As I listen to the music
In the song of days gone by
Its trembling cadence thrills me
In a slow and mournful sway
And the beauty of it chills me
In the bitter-sweetest way
Who knew that notes of laughter
Of a heart-beat and a sigh
Could still be heard long after
Like a sonnet from the sky
Who knew that love and heartache
Are a duet intertwined
And the faint harmony of it
Oft will play within my mind

Janet~

Sweeter Song......

I heard the sweetest song today
And I know its music drifted away
Far beyond this stratosphere
Drawing the brink of heaven near
I love the song of a midnight rain
Or the lovely tune of the evening
The symphony at the brink of dawn
The music in a dew-kissed lawn
The ebb and flowing of the sea
The rise and falling harmony
Of love in all its varied forms
The trembling calm before the storm
The orchestra of summer’s bloom
Or on a stage in some grand room
Oh, I have heard the melody
Of sunsets mirrored in the sea
Or in the creviced walls of time
Where the faithful bluebells chime
I love the anthem of first love
The chorus in the stars above
The sonnet in a deep blue sea
Or in a tender memory
But I heard a sweeter song today
When I heard a small child pray

All Rights Reserved
Janet Martin

Music.....

The sound of a star
Or a leaf as it falls
A dandelion seed on the breeze
The sun as it softly
Slips out of sight
Beyond the darkened trees
The dew that kisses
Slumbering blooms
And every blade of grass
The butter-fly
The deep blue sky
The sea as smooth as glass
Your soft, soft breath
The hard, hard earth
The moon-light’s gentle kiss
Ah, can there be
A melody
Fairer love, than this?

All Rights Reserved
Janet Martin

On a Night Like Tonight.......

Sometimes
On a night
Like tonight
I listen to ‘our song’
And as the
Sonnet soothes
Delights
I’m right where I belong
It stirs
With passion
In my heart
Yet calms my weary mind
Nothing
Like our song
Imparts
The gentle peace I find
For in its
Low and
Somber tones
I feel a sweet, sweet bliss
Only you
And I
Alone
Know where the magic is
And in the muted
Silence
I have found
A true companion
I sense the
Honest empathy
In moon-light undemanding
Our song
Unaltered from
Its first whispered debut
Our song
Forever sung
By only me and you



All Rights Reserved
Janet Martin

Love Song #2

It rolls across the gleaming hills
Of midnights silent rue
I now can hear its haunting trills
Like heavy-laden dew
Across each ramparts vain defense
In effervescent sighs
And in the moonlight I can sense
It flaming in your eyes

I once had known a tortured bliss
And in this solemn lay
I recall its searing kiss
Upon my memory splay
But now I turn to hear its chords
Redeem my agony
No finer gift could kings and lords
Ever bestow to me

Than this one gift that drifts upon
The moaning midnight breeze
As it softly sifts beyond
The swaying raven trees
This song in its grandest debut
Fit for royalty
As I turned to look at you
Your eyes sang it to me

All rights Reserved
Janet Martin