Sweet Summer is Over...

“Summer afternoon—

summer afternoon;

 to me those have always been the two

 most beautiful words in the English language.”

― Henry James

Autumn Afternoon,

Autumn Afternoon

To me those have always been the second two

most beautiful words in the English language!

-Janet Martin 😂

Hello, pumpkin lanterns... 

and fronds orange and gold

Sweet summer is over, 

Farewell, fields of clover

Where butterflies hover and honey bees buzz 

Farewell, blue lake splashes 

Popsicle mustaches,

 Farewell, barefoot dashes through Summer That Was

Farewell, sweaty noses

And roses on roses

And dusk's gate that closes Today, late and slow

Farewell, flower-bower

And warm, welcome shower 

And treetops that tower o'er shade-pools below 

...where blithe breezes dally

where leaf-whispers rally

In rivers that sally through meadows of air 

To cheer all who listen

With lyrics that glisten 

With glimpses of Heaven on earth, full of care  

Farewell, garden growing

With seeds overflowing

With mercy bestowing the fruit in its hold  

Farewell, front porch planters

And dew-drop decanters

Hello, pumpkin lanterns and fronds orange and gold 

Hello, season dappled

With reason, red-appled

And gratitude grappled from goodness, profound 

Where summer is over

But hails to the lover

Of autumn, where favours of wonder abound  

Hello, nature's banjo

Hailing the crescendo

Of scarlet and yellow, of harvest's full swing 

As wind-tumbled pleasure

And hope-humbled treasure

 Kindles the fine measure of awed thanksgiving  

 

Janet Martin

....of harvest's full swing

As wind-tumbled pleasure...

...and hope-humbled treasure

 

  

Dear Lucy, It Is Summer

...and now it is ten months since our hearts were suddenly broken,

never to be the same again!

Dear Lucy, how we miss you!

The honeysuckle vine you gave is gilt with clusters, pink...

The breeze chases a winsome wave that rolls through wheat fields, gold...

The lily and the hollyhock lure honey bees to drink...

And everywhere we look earth gleams with beauty to behold

Summer has much on offer to rekindle awe and praise

The garden like a coffer brimming with the fruit of dreams

The countryside, a work of art entitled Summer Days...

Dear Lucy

The honeysuckle vine you gave is gilt with clusters, pink

The breeze chases a winsome wave that rolls through wheat fields, gold

The lily and the hollyhock lure honey bees to drink

And everywhere we look earth gleams with beauty to behold

Summer has much on offer to rekindle awe and praise

The garden like a coffer brimming with the fruit of dreams

The countryside, a work of art entitled Summer Days

(where joy and sorrow rush the heart in conflicting extremes)  

Sometimes, when missing you ignites fresh, sudden pangs of grief

I count the ways I loved you, sister dear, and love you more 

Then, from a world of yesterdays, descends divine relief

Love's symphony of echoes plays a tender repertoire 

The memories I have of you are like a garden path

Traced and retraced, soft woven through with threads I cannot touch

They gently bind the isles Thought trods to Laughter's Aftermath

Of Summers where we oohed and a-ahed, and talked and walked and such

....while watching our children grow too fast; they always do

While weathering the ebb and flow of tides that stole our youth

While planting flow'rs in trouble's dirt like our mother did too

While learning from parental hurt, lessons of timeless truth 

What I would give to hear you sigh or exclaim with delight  

Over something that caught your eye while your heart skipped a beat

A field full of wild flowers, purple, yellow, red and white (we were out on a sister's day)

Or twilight's tranquil bowers, or a yummy fresh-baked treat 

No, summer has not changed its ways, it still burgeons with bliss

And never ceases to amaze on both good days and bad 

The sky is blue; the lake is too, but, oh, in spite of this 

Somehow sweet summer without you just isn't quite as glad 

Janet Martin 

The memories I have of you are like a garden path

Traced and retraced, soft woven through with threads I cannot touch...

This year I planted a little flower garden in my vegetable garden...

A place to work, and let the therapy of flowers comfort me.

A place to sit to pray, read and remember Lucy, as well as my parents,

my other three sisters and their spouses,

my five brothers and their spouses

And of course her husband and children

We, as a family, all share in this deep grief of missing Lucy..

I hope in August when more flowers bloom, 

and you also would love a quiet moment of reflection and remembering Lucy,

you know you are welcome to drop by my garden too 💛🙏 

In the Garden

Especially Summer's Morning

I began this poem yesterday morning, a masterpiece of gold and jade.

Among other colors!

This morning's mercy-masterpiece is autumnal in its air...gusty, rainy and quite cool!

'beauty blooms midst brokenness...'

The roma tomatoes have been devastated by blight. I am so sad!

...and these are but tomatoes! 

Imagine how God's heart breaks as He looks

upon a heart, blighted with sin He longs to forgive,

 in a sinner He longs to redeem,

with a life He longs to transform!

 

While this morning feels fall-ish it is still August so let's celebrate its loveliness!!

Or, even better, the Giver of its loveliness!

Soft ushered through untrodden deeps, fresh from God’s faithful care

Daylight dissolves the dark and sweeps night’s shadows from the air

To beckon us to the threshold where summer morning streams

Like a gold welcome mat unrolled beneath our hopes and dreams

Wildflowers, tossed like colored stars bedazzle summer’s world

God’s smile unstoppers welkin jars, His paintbrush dipped, then twirled

Unfurling masterpieces where we’ve made an awful mess

His goodness never ceases; beauty blooms midst brokenness

His majesty adorning everything that He has made

Especially summer’s morning; like glimpses of Eden played

Like glints of paradise, to rouse a hymn of gratitude

To He who fills the earth and skies with kind mercy renewed

Then come, let us adore Him; He whose glory fills our gaze

Behold, who can ignore Him while creation shouts His praise

Behooving us to do the same where summer morning spills

Like a love song, from He whose Name, sweet joy and peace instills

© Janet Martin

Ps.100

Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth.

2 Worship the Lord with gladness;

come before him with joyful songs.

3 Know that the Lord is God.

It is he who made us, and we are his[a];

we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.

4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving

and his courts with praise;

give thanks to him and praise his name.

5 For the Lord is good and his love endures forever;

his faithfulness continues through all generations.

Simple Summer Saturday Morning Song...

 Happy Summer Saturday!

Summer-soft rustle in lofty leaf-tress...

Summer-soft rustle in lofty leaf-tress

Where breezes tousle, rousing happiness

Round sound of raindrop pitter-patter-plop

Bird-twitter-chatter, horse-clippety-clop

Tinkle of teacup and spoon as they meet

Ominous stumble/rumble of yon thunder-feet

Plush hush, morn lush with shower after shower

Click of keyboard unfolding poem-flower

Tick of the clock before workday implores

Scattering silence with Saturday chores

Clatter of dishes and splatter of mess

Sparkle of laughter, earthly heaven-ness

As Summer-Saturday spills its 'ahoy'

Beautiful bustle and hustle of joy

© Janet Martin

'Clatter of dishes' created some reunion food!

Potato Salad and

Queen Elizabeth Cake!

 

 Psalm 86:8-13

Among the gods there is none like you, Lord;

no deeds can compare with yours.

9 All the nations you have made

will come and worship before you, Lord;

they will bring glory to your name.

10 For you are great and do marvelous deeds;

you alone are God.

11 Teach me your way, Lord,

that I may rely on your faithfulness;

give me an undivided heart,

that I may fear your name.

12 I will praise you, Lord my God, with all my heart;

I will glorify your name forever.

13 For great is your love toward me;

you have delivered me from the depths,

from the realm of the dead.

Of This...

 

If I should dare to wander where the feet of angels fear to tread

And yield to worlds that want unfurls with abandon inside my head

Then, linger where fools stand and stare at faded font of yesterday

Ah! I might miss the bloom of this before its petals drift away

If I with skilled desire should build a bridge that only thought can cross

And boldly woo a rendezvous with what will never be or was

Then vainly pause a bit because pleasure and pain must have its dance

Ah! I might miss the thrill of this, while lost in Fantasy’s romance

If I should long for some lost song because of how it made me feel

Ah! I might miss the hymn of This, where original anthems peal

To interweave with what I grieve bequeathed at birth to dusk-wreathed death

To softly kiss the joy of This as it unravels breath by breath

If I should scorn the brimming morn while hungering for what is not

And feast my eyes upon a prize contrived by idle hands of thought

Ah! I might waste the pleasing taste of sweet, sweet berries on my spoon

And I might miss the bliss of This; a glorious summer afternoon

© Janet Martin

Morning Wonder-storm

A bitty dawn-ditty before a little blogging summer-break.

See you, Lord willing, in August🙏💝

Heb.13:5

Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have,

because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”

Dawn’s countryside is steeped in mist-kissed hues

The Unknown cradled in a cup of gold

The pressing presence of impending dues

Glitters where dew bedazzled worlds unfold

The gleaming gong upon earth’s eastward edge

Is drawn by a hand that eye cannot see

By He who keeps His unwavering pledge

‘Wherever you go, dear, there I will be’

© Janet Martin

Praise God from Whom all bounty flows...