Awesome Acknowledgement

Oh God, who can paint on an infinite nothing?

Has ever a man brushed his thought on the air?

Who on this earth can arrange the vast heavens?

Or shift nebulosity with naught but a stare?

Who can design, from the seed its fulfillment?

Man can do nothing but what you allot

The fruit of the field, of forest and garden

Blooms by the measure of Creator’s thought

Who teaches the bud of flower to open?

Or tells the tree its season to leaf?

Has ever a man plucked the rain from the heavens?

Or ordered the wind’s velocity to cease?

How fearful the greatness of our dependence

But for a God who loves us so much

That not one pebble escapes His vigilance

Hope and forgiveness exudes every touch

…and He who arranges the colors of heaven

Or stuns man’s babble to quieted awe

Seeks ultimately, intimately, the best for His children

For in Heaven and earth there is none like God

© Janet Martin

No one is like you, O LORD; you are great, and your name is mighty in power. Jer. 10:6

We gathered there...some on the bluff, others down on the beach
each with our own version of  'watching the sun set...'

Ephemeral Farewell

See the Beam from yonder portals

How its bleeding colors splay

Lifting hearts of weary mortals

At the waning notes of day

See it flood the earth in purple

As He draws the lucent scrim

In deft moments, smooth and subtle

Over present growing dim

Light divine, Celestial Ocean

Drawing to its shore our eyes

Turning thought from earth to heaven

From this toil to paradise

See the glimmer of a Kingdom

As the twilight cools our brow

See the lowlight ‘neath the curtain

Etch the skyline in its glow

Hear the cooling vespers murmur

Rising in dust-fragrant dew

Serenading the departure

Of another stanza through

Sweet the fading sonnet lingers

Dangling from the crescent moon

Feel it trickle through your fingers

Soft, ephemeral farewell tune

© Janet Martin

The Bending of Time

It dissipates soundlessly

Into the clutch

Of history’s broadening palm

Splendor of heaven

That man cannot touch

Glorious, infinite calm

In the manner of centuries

Like never before

It bleeds on the edge of earth’s scape

Our humble gaze riveted

To the matador

Flinging o’er day's end a red cape

And moments of present

Dissolve on the lips

Of twilight dissolving the stage

Where purple-blue deepens

On time’s finger-tips

Bent on the turning of page

© Janet Martin

Above is a small taste of moody March, thus far. Actually, I quite like her mood this week! This poem was inspired tonight...the last # of photos on the slide-show.

Sun-down...

All day it hung
A polished orb
In heights of azure mirth
Til swiftly
and so silently
it fell beneath the earth
A fire-ball
of burnished orange
yet without much ado
it simply slipped
behind the woods
soundlessly out of view
All that it forgot to take
was a pink and purple lake...

Janet~

I intentionally waited to go for my run until sun-down.
I'm glad I did. The sun fell away in minutes
leaving a pink and gold wash in the atmosphere
before the blue twilight stole it away.

Captive Audience

We stood together, she and I
Beneath an orange and purple sky
As God, in shades beyond our grasp
Folded the day into the past
He didn’t need to speak a word
As all the earth His glory heard

He could have simply tucked away
The afternoon in mindless gray
But He is such an awesome God
He paints His grandeur o’er meek sod
As humble mortal hearts are stirred
In declarations without word

Out of the sky His wonders shout
His diadem no man can doubt
For there is none who can compare
To He who paints the evening air
We stood within the twilight hush
To watch Him paint without a brush

Janet

Victoria didn’t know where I was until she looked out and saw the sky…
….then she knew. She joined me with her camera (her Christmas present) and together we watched Him paint.
Awesome! We both knew there were no words able to capture this grandeur!


The heavens declare the glory of God.
The firmaments show his handiwork. Ps. 19:1

Aren't You Glad?

…we have no more power over our own lives
Than we do in choosing the shade of the skies
Nor can we erase from salvation’s plan
The power of redemption for any man
Though we are masters of greed and spoil
Slaves to the curse of sweat and toil
We cannot touch the perfect sky
As we behold with awe-struck eye
His glory; but a tiny glimpse
Of what a-waits beyond earth’s brink
And aren’t you glad we cannot mar
The canvas graced by moon and star?
And there is none too lost or low
To be washed clean in Calvary’s flow
And that the the Keeper of our souls
Is in perfect, complete control
Aren't you glad?

Janet~

No Trespassing

They draw cold metal chains across the trails that beg and plead
For me to wander in the grass where silent sunsets bleed
They bar me from the hills and fields of wind and sweet wild flower
As I glare at this frame that wields its mighty twelve inch power

In my mind I’ve built ramparts of intention to forget
But nonchalantly you still cross that barrier in my head
With disregard you breeze into my dear and deepest part
Effortlessly you ease into the fortress of my heart

The sign stares coldly at me as it wavers in the breeze
While I stare far beyond to barricaded mysteries
To stand and fume is all in vain as would be mindless cursing
The law sways on its iron chain in two words; no trespassing

It is no sin for you to cross the barrier within me
There are no repercussions as you wander quite freely
But here alone within this wilderness the law is king
Creating nature's prison with two words; no trespassing

Janet~

I pulled into this little ‘lane’ last night while trying to
Capture a few last shots of the swiftly sinking sun….
EVERYWHERE, it seemed the skyline was blocked by buildings or trees!
I found a secluded back road where I was sure I would get my coveted shot….
as I pulled into this little lane-way; the sun was dropping very quickly, my gas tank was on empty, so I simply decided I need to take the picture NOW!!!
I opened my van door balancing on it precariously while pointing my camera to the sky. Suddenly a ‘nice lady’ voice queried, “Do you need help?”
Trying to appear very casual I replied, “Oh, no, I’m fine. I’m just trying to take a picture”
“Of what?” asked ‘nice lady’ blankly.
For a moment I was speechless and then I turned and pointed to the fire in the sky and said two words “the sunset……”

The ‘nice lady’ continued on her walk……..past the No Trespassing sign!