True Worship

We worship you Lord

Not only in song

Or verbal fluency

But Lord,

We worship as we serve

In love’s humility

© Janet Martin

Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. John 4:23

Storm-watch

You glower; a gray-blue moody glare

And I reciprocate your stare

The skyline fades between our touch

A dance of glances, thoughts and such

An aura of intimacy

Of passion’s vulnerability

Trembles, taunting mind-citadel  

In all those wants you do not tell

You pause; are you a friend or foe?

Your inclinations ebb and flow

Longing and hunger plead and moan

A starving warrior coming home

No hint of your intention bleeds

In mention of your nameless needs

The night is cold, the fireside warm

I sense the prelude to a storm

© Janet Martin

Right now all is calm, but we are under a storm-watch;))

   

Beyond This Plateau

Someday

These places we touch

Will be wiped clean

Of our traces

Forever

Someday

The things we hold dear

Will be sorted,

Passed on

Or discarded

Someday

Our voices

Will be silent

Save for the echo

Of memories

Someday

These lips that smile and kiss,

These hands that hold and let go

These eyes that brim with joy and sorrow

Will be still

Someday

The stairs will not sound

The pause of our feet

While we listen to see

If everyone is asleep

But now we are here

Momentarily

On the plateau twixt

‘Before and

After

Me’.

© Janet Martin

Last night I had a friend over and we watched
You've Got Mail (Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks)
The inspiration for this poem came from various scenes in the movie, plus life in general:)

It is not Dead

It is not dead…

Beneath the hush

Of powdered brush

Beneath the shield

Of glistening field

Beneath the shroud

Of flurried cloud

Beneath the dark

Of frost-clenched bark

Beneath the plume

Of snowflake-bloom

Beneath the sheaf

Of fallen leaf

Beneath the shrine

Of argent pine

Beneath the glow

Of virgin snow

Beneath the gleam

Of frigid stream

Beneath the knell

Of gilded dell

...It is not dead

Beneath the white-washed winter slope

Waits the resurgence of  Spring’s Hope

Janet~

Of Allotments and Accounting

We are given its allotment

In a measure preordained

And we ought to treasure ardently

Each twinkle unrestrained

For its moment-spun oblation

Is a bidding from above

To embrace its obligation

In an offering of love

This sphere on which we tally

Life's tick of hour and year

Shapes time’s small dilly-dally

Which at death will disappear

So we ought to employ wisely

Time’s delicate amount

For the Giver of its gifting

Will require an account

© Janet Martin

  

Teach us to realize the brevity of life, so that we may grow in wisdom. Ps. 90:12 NLT

 (photos taken at Home Furniture, St. Jacobs Ontario, Canada)

Ah, Yes! (re-posted)

 I feel this poem in moments like this... Yesterday we ('mom' in middle, Emily, our oldest daughter on right and Melissa, middle daughter on left) had a day out pretending we were tourists. Rarely do they both have the same day off!

I cannot name it

But I must

This sense of loss

And complete trust

Sadness, gladness

Healing, hurt

Longing filled

With humble worth

Asking, answering

With our eyes

Joy and sorrow

Synchronized

Dancing, drowning

Jubilee

Wanting, haunting

Pondering plea

Urging, surging

Ebb and flow

Of having, holding

Letting go

Rushing, raging

Raw release

Pouring into

Perfect peace

Passion-pure

Beneath, above

I must name it…

…ah, yes,

Love

© Janet Martin

(because it's 'love poem month' there will be a few extra re-posts)

Irrefutable Proof of Love...a re-post

Love speaks

A universal language

And though hugs and kisses are nice

It declares

Its truest passion

In one word;

  Sacrifice

© Janet Martin

What we make and take time for proves where our loves lie…

Aren’t you glad He took time for us?

 Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer,
    and though the Lord makes his life an offering for sin,
he will see his offspring and prolong his days,
    and the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand. 

 After he has suffered,
    he will see the light of life and be satisfied;
by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many,
    and he will bear their iniquities.

Isa. 53:10-11

One of my all-time favorite songs ever!

When I Survey the Wondrous Cross

Because Love is all there really is

of any worth

Should we all not try

to take more time

to love?

  

Hope In Full Glory

Coral caress fans the cold crest

Of midnight’s star-frothed slumber

Daylight that faded in the west

Is rising over yonder

Blue-silver sweep of winter-deep

Kisses blushing horizon

The remnant-blue tenders its hue

Into the pastel sky-line

Plateau of unknown beckons us

To seek life’s moment-myst’ry

Before dusk’s periwinkle cusp

Absorbs this day to hist’ry

Lift up your cup and fill it up

God’s mercy over-flowing

Renders love’s grace to human-race

In a new dawn’s bestowing

© Janet Martin

 Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed,
    for his compassions never fail.They are new every morning;
    Great is your faithfulness. 

 Lam. 3:22-23

Hallelujah!

It is nothing now

Yesterday's trial and error

has slipped away

to its vaulted tomb

yet, Grace fills our wanton gaze

with the glory of 

a new day

spilling across 

earth's living-room.

Hope in full glory
Turns the page  with the rising sun
We are writing a story
By God's grace, let's make it a good one

Price of Love...re-post

I cannot be

Carefree

Anymore

Because

I love you

…but oh,

What a beautiful care

to bear

J~

Who Art Thou, God?

Oh Thou who sets in place

The morning, noon and night

Who cups the dawn in mercy’s palm

And spills its gold delight

Oh Thou, who fills the sky

With heaven-tenured strain

And tunes the earth with nature’s mirth

In myriad refrain

Oh Thou who holds the fount

Of Times four-season ken

And rends this span with Heaven’s plan

To test the hearts of men

Oh Thou who loves each one

Knowing intimately

What You have wrought; unscripted thought

Cannot be hid from Thee

Oh Thou; who art Thou, God

Who knows our secret pain?

Why this is He who sets us free

A Lamb for sinners slain

 

© Janet Martin

Love...an edited re-post

Love; such a heavy load to carry

We should give it away

Love; a pair of well-worn shoes

Because second miles can be unpredictably long

Love; a beautiful picture

But so unlike anything we visualized

Love; we give it as a gift

Never reminding the recipient of the cost

Love; refined by fire

Treasure the melting-pot

Love; a race with no earthly finish-line

Quitting is not an option

Love; never a vicious weapon

But a faithful shield

Love; patient and kind

A glimpse of God revealed

Love; the proof of God

In us

Love; in its suffering

It grows more beautiful

Love; the wonderful wonder

Of increase as we give

Love; it never steals

Cannot be stolen

Love; the epitome of ‘laying down self’

So we may stand tall

 

Love; because it is God

Never fails

© Janet Martin