Replay from a year ago...Reasons

Moments…clamoring for my attention
Then dissolving before I can give them
Their just due
Duty……in every shape and dimension
Crowding around me, distracting me
From you

Blessing…imperceptible in its grandeur
Of minutest and invisible detail
Surrounds me
Life….. a passage of splendor
For I am slipping and sliding toward Your
Arms around me

Seasons…marked by changing faces
Evolving into a lifetime
Of yesterdays
Reasons…..silent, motionless traces
Outlining thoughts of You
In poignant praise

Janet~

Busy day...time for a re-play:)
It is how I feel...a constant slipping and sliding toward victory!

Rolling Pin Collection

 

Mary, thank-you for reminding me to do this...it is a long ever-due promise I made to Megan, at Lilacs and Lavender. They used to be in baskets...as you'll notice on the last few photos, I have moved some up on top of my cupboards where they don't need to be dusted quite as often:)See comments for further explanations on how this came to be...:)

Dream to the Stars...

 Picture source: http://vi.sualize.us/mohadese/face/

Dream to the stars and beyond, my dear child

Dream to the depths of the sea

Wanting and wishes are what spur you higher

To what God has planned you to be

So dream with the Keeper of stars in your eyes

Dream with your hand in His grip

For He holds the plan for each day of our lives

As moments to memory slip

Equip your dreams with the wisdom and might

That grounds us in eternal truth

Let His wonder fill your wee heart with delight

Remember Him now, in your youth

© Janet Martin

Remember your Creator
   in the days of your youth,
before the days of trouble come
   and the years approach when you will say,
   “I find no pleasure in them”—Eccles. 12:1

Spring Song

He fills the night sky with celestial diamonds

Imbues with enchantment, dirt road and dull field

He embellishes dawn with mercy resplendent

And covers the earth in Hope’s infinite shield

He fills each moment with uncharted mystery

Lavishes meadows with gold diadem

He breathes on the bud, stirring from tight-lipped prisons

Ravishing garments for nature’s bare limb

He nudges the pulse of the seed, deep in slumber

Urges the soil to unclench its cold fist

In translucent whispers He flings without number

Petals of promise to vales heaven-kissed

He brushes the sky-line with wonder, bold, blazing

Quiets the daylight with unfettered grace

From the height of the mountain to the floor of the ocean

To the hearts of mankind, He does not hide His face

Sing to the One who appoints every season

Victory embraces cold-hearted defeat

Praise be to Him who with love beyond reason

Showers His glory to bloom at our feet

© Janet Martin

 “Listen to this, Job;
   stop and consider God’s wonders.Job 37:14

Tagged Again...round 2

Image Source:  http://firstprescamden.wordpress.com/witness-service/circle-of-friends/

I'm accepting the re-tag in part because Victoria, my 11 year old daughter  is out for a second night to a sleep-over and the house seems so quiet without her. This will occupy my mind.:)

So Happy Amateur. I accept the re-tag:) 

The Rules Are:

1. You must post the rules.

2. Post 11 fun facts about yourself.

3. Answer the questions the tagger set for you in their post, and then create 11 more to ask the ones you tag.

4. Tag however many bloggers you wish.

5. Let them know they are tagged.

6. Have fun!!

 11 fun facts about me:

1. I have never owned a cell phone

2 I went to a smash derby and had a latte- two firsts- a month ago

3. I am learning to type.

4. I am a home-body

5. therefore I am terrible with directions

6. and a very timid driver on unfamiliar roads

7.  Beth Powning is one of my favorite Canadian authors

8. I am sensitive, love deeply and quietly, and find it hard to let go

9. I collect rolling pins...120 and counting.

10. My comfort food is saltines and sharp cheddar

11. Happy Amateur said her hunches are usually pretty good...mine is almost the same!!! My lunches are usually pretty good...scrambled egg on a wrap with salsa and cheese or mini-wheat with blue-berries!

11 questions for you:  My answers

1.      Do you give yourself enough credit? No, I'm always a harsh critic of myself...

2.      What is your biggest hope? To hear 'well done, my good and faithful servant' when I leave this earth.

3.      Are you an early bird or a night owl when it comes to writing?  a night owl  hoot-hoot;))

4.      What are you most proud of? Of the way my hubby sacrifices for us!

5.      What gives you shivers?  Really great poetry and really awesome music! They are my 'good' shivers' A really black sky in the middle of the day gives me scary shivers.

6.      Do you believe there’s something more to coincidences? YES! I call them God-incidences:)

7.      Would you like to be a space tourist? YES!

8.      Do you fly in your dreams? Never have...but I do a mean fall:)

9.      Are you a “cat person” or a “dog person”?  Neither. But if I owned a pet it would be a dog.

10.  Do you edit your writing before posting it on your blog? Always...and I still find errors that somehow I over-look at posting time!

11. What do you want to be when you grow up? This question makes me smile...if ever I grow up I hope to be wise....and a better poet!

11 My Questions for you:  

      1. If you could change something about yourself what would it be? 

      2. What do you do to 'treat' yourself? 

I     3. What is a favorite memory of yours?

      4. What color are your eyes?

      5. How many times have you moved?

     6. What is your personal goal right now?

     7. What kind of music do you enjoy?

     8. What is your favorite meal...to cook?

     9. What hobbies do you enjoy?

     !0. What do you dread?

     11.  What inspires you?

I tag: with no pressure whatsoever to commit AND there is no time constraint on this either so if you want to play...YOU'RE IT!

  Megan at Lilacs and Lavender

Lucy at Heart and Hearth

Karen at Something Written

Beware the Ides of March

He makes us believe he has fled

Gathered his bluster and dread

Feel how he teases against the south hill

Kindling soft breezes in woodland and rill

And drawing the bud from its bed

When did he stumble away

Over the field dull and gray?

When did he shoulder the brunt of his ire,

Exchanging cold silver for emerald desire

And spring zephyr’s passionate sway?

He makes us believe he is gone

But, be not deceived by his charm

Inside his mouth he holds one final fling

Sweet bird of the south, hide your head ‘neath your wing

I sense in his chuckle a storm

Janet ~

The Ides of March

Just one of a dozen Ides that occur every month of the year

Read more: Ides of March http://www.infoplease.com/spot/ides1.html#ixzz1pEBa7hzb

Blogger Tag!

Carrie has tagged me in blogger tag. I have loved getting to know Carrie through her amazing talent shared at Hope Whispers. So, Here goes!

The Rules Are:

1. You must post the rules.

2. Post 11 fun facts about yourself.

3. Answer the questions the tagger set for you in their post, and then create 11 more to ask the ones you tag.

4. Tag however many bloggers you wish.

5. Let them know they are tagged.

6. Have fun!!

11 Fun Facts About Me! 

1. Black Coffee is my all-time favorite  beverage.

2. I went to see a movie in a theater for the first time last year.

3. I went to see a movie in a theater for the second time this year, and walked out part-way through! (lesson: DO RESEARCH!)  Wanderlust starring Jennifer Anniston is a new low for Hollywood!

4. I don't think there are 11 fun facts about me:) okay that's cheating. I like black jelly-beans.

5. I am left-handed to write and right-handed for everything else.

6. I prefer dandelion bouquets from a child to a dozen roses from a florist.

7. I don't care for chocolate

8. I love playing the harmonica

9. I love the sound of rain-fall

10. I've never been on an airplane.

11. I wear my hair up in a clip 99% of the time.

My answers to Carrie's Questions

1.  What is your funniest embarassing moment? A few weeks ago as I was leaving the restaurant I paused at a bowl of ju-jubes and jelly beans  put there for guests to help themselves on the way out. I felt the eyes of someone next to me watching as I fished for the black ones, so I looked up, winked a little and said 'I like the black ones'. He threw back his head and ROARED with laughter!!! (He was a lovely African-American gentleman) I didn't realize what amused him until I was walking out, then it hit me. I know he heard me laughing:) He didn't see me flat out on the step outside trying to get my breath;))

2. What inspires you most to write a story or poem. Many things inspire me, but God's creation in its limitless wonder and glory inspires over and over and over!

3. If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you choose to go? There are so many places I want to see!!! How can I choose just one? H-m-m-m, I'm thinking...I'd like to see the ocean!...oh, let's throw in the Alps and Mount Kilimanjaro while we're at it:)

4.  Is there a series on T.V. that you always record so you will not miss it? I've never recorded anything in my life so I can watch it. I don't really watch TV very much.

5. How would you finish this sentence? "the love of my life is..._poetry ( there are too many people I love dearly)_____".

6. What do you imagine heaven to be like? I've tried imagining a crystal sea and golden streets and many mansions, but a real picture evades me, so then I try to imagine what God on His Throne will look like and still I cannot see. All I can see is me, bowing before Him.

7.  What is your first memory as a very small child?  I remember NOT wanting a nap and I remember the quilt! Mom says she thinks I was two years old.

8. How old were you when you wrote your first poem? I think I was eight.

9.  If you could go on a vacation today, who would you take with you and why?

I would take hubby. There is no one else in the world I can be more myself with, in spite of our differences.

10. Is there a food that you just cannot eat? Rare steak.

11.  Have you ever witnessed a miracle?  Yes! Four times, at the birth of each of our children!

11 things I would Like to Know About You...

I liked some of Carrie's questions so I'm going to 'borrow' a few...

1. What is your first memory as a small child?

2. What do you like to 'sneak' when no one is looking?

3.  What is your favorite 'writing snack'?

4. Who is your hero?

5. What is your favorite kind of footwear?

6. When did you realize you NEED to write?

7. Who is your best friend?

8. What is your favorite color to wear?

9. Do you have a favorite TV show?

10. If you were stranded on an island who would you like to be stranded with?

11. What inspires you to write more than anything?

Now here are a few friends I would like to share the fun with: 

(I understand if there is anyone not wanting to jump on the ride....no worries at all!....just want you to know you are considered for the fun.)

Gotcha, You're IT!!!

Mary at In the Corner of my Eye...

Laurie at Conversations with Laurie

Brenda at It's a Beautiful Life

Sherry at STARDREAMING with Sherry Blue Sky

The Happy Amateur at The Happy Amateur

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.

Instruction Book

Teach me how to teach them, Lord

In this brief hour of holding

To weave a firm and kind regard

In moments smiling, scolding

Teach me what to teach them Lord

For there is no deliverance

So much have I to learn; yet now

They look to me for guidance

Teach me how to instruct them Lord

Oh where do I find wisdom?

You point me to your sacred Word

The beacon of instruction

© Janet Martin

 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. ¹⁰ That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. 2 Cor. 12:9-11

Listening to the Silence...

She listens to the silence now

The darkness seems enlarged somehow

Above the tiny feet of rain

Dancing upon the windowpane

And almost she can hear the knell

Of moments bidding swift farewell

And almost she can feel the touch

Of whispered memories and such

She listens to the silence now

The rise and fall, the ebb and flow

A cadence of forgotten years

Caught suddenly in one small tear

J~

The Cursed Thirst

She cried for him then
For the dear little lad
who loved the drunk
because the drunk was
his dad...

She wept for the lashes
on a back so young
because daddy crashes
when the whiskey is gone...
and then staggers away
crying
as he listen to his child
defending him,
lying
as a thirst drives him wild...

Some say *you cannot make a silk purse
from a sow's ear
But they've never known the curse
of a drunkard's tear

J~

Inspired in part by tonight's episode of Little House on the Prairie.

* A quote from the show

Strangers

Although you never tell me

I know your secret hurts

I study your reflection now

Without offering of words

For you know what I’m going to say

Before the air is broken

We share a world no one can see

In trysts, raw and unspoken

We sit together, you and I

In silences unhurried

I know your thoughts and you know mine

It’s always been this way, dear

I trace the outline of your stare

You crazy, sudden stranger

Who are you? I am unprepared

To attempt any answer

For I am you and you are me

And yet, I’ve never seen you

Get up and walk across the street

Or even to the next room

I’ve known you all my life and yet

I lean to see you clearer

For I feel like I’ve never met

That woman in the mirror

© Janet Martin

Most Holy God

You were not made holy

Oh God

But you were holy before time

And thus, I am stilled and humbly awed

That You,

All Holy, Sublime

Loved mankind so

That You sent your Son

Offering blood-bought freedom

To everyone

From thrones of Heaven

You heard our cry

And You beheld

With holy eye

The rivers

Of red futility

From goats and bulls

In an endless sea

Yet still sin remained

Victorious on earth

And man was chained

To its guilty curse

So in holy love

Lamb without blame

The Son of God

To men, You came

Not counting the cost

But knowing the gain

You loved the lost

Unto death

You testified

With your last breath

Our hope

Then died

But death, oh death

Could never keep

His Holy Love

In lifeless sleep

But once for all

His sacrifice

Has sealed our pardon

Paid sin’s price

And from the earth

He rose

Most glorious

His Holy reign

Supreme

Victorious 

Janet Martin~

 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, 

so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.  2Cor. 5:21

 Exalt ye the LORD our God, and worship at his footstool; for he is holy. Psalms 99:5

Color Me Spring

Color me spring

The enchanted fling

Of tulip and daffodil

With laughing lips

Tenderly kiss

To naught gray winter’s ill

Color me spring

Lavender, green

Silver teardrop in your eyes

Wash to the blue

The moody hue

Of winter’s sure demise

Color me spring

Weeping, dancing

Gather me close in your arms

As you brush away

Deep winter’s day

With crocus and violet charms

Color me spring

With an offering

Of grand re-birth and hope

In sun-kissed breeze

Through jeweled trees

I hear spring’s calliope

© Janet Martin

Evening's Dawning

When evening dawns, the harsher shades

Of toil are dimmed and muted

Staccato rhythms of noon-parades

Recoil, in history rooted

And from the cusp of earthen tongue

A somnolent caressing

Draws shadowed dusk o'er old and young

In heaven’s twilight blessing

The azure grin of laughing day

The tumbled cloud of sorrow

Are gathered in and tucked away

Lord willing, till tomorrow

And from the wall of hill and tree

Of sky-scraper horizon

A deepening shawl of symmetry

Expands from heaven's ocean

Across the girth of misery

And lust’s incessant fretting

  Behold the earth, a velvet sea

Beneath dusk’s dew-drop netting

Come; cast to naught your meager wants

Beneath an eye immortal

For evening dawns in mystic haunts

From heaven’s lowered portal

© Janet Martin

  

Today's Discoveries...

When you toss grape soda into the sun

It falls in amethyst rain

It is hard to be blue

in the midst of purple-grape giggling girly mustaches.

God smiles in little girls…and sisters.

The night is larger, its hollow deeper

Alone

Ocean waves may wash my soul, but never memories.

Ten fingers entwined are not hopeless wishes

But hopeful prayers

At midnight I paused on the edge of the day that was…

And the brink of what is.

It takes no extra effort
At all
To be
Selfish

A life-time happens but once, in moments.

So do it right…in moments.

Janet

Inspired by Tor's Birthday Party...and other moments

Speaking from the Future to the Past...

Aren’t you Glad?

Aren’t you glad

When they reached out their hands

Beckoning to you

Come, come

And you closed your eyes

And let them pull you

Too frightened to

Walk, so

They carried you

Forward

Yes, yes

They said

And would not let you retreat

To the comfort of

Obscurity

But they lifted you

Legs dangling

Heart trailing behind

All trembling

Until suddenly you knew

They knew

Exactly how you feel

For somewhere hands reached for them

And now you stand

Here

Glad to be

A part

Of a circle

Of

Friends

Janet~

Written for Poetic Bloomings prompt

Half a Man's Life~

So many duties to fulfill

So many hands to hold

So many tender hearts to till

And so many fears to fold

So many poems to be written

And many a promise to keep

But God has deigned half a man’s life

To be spent in a thing known as…

Sleep

© Janet~

This Forward-facing Journey

It is nothing more

Than beating of heart

And placing of trust

This forward facing journey

From dust

To dust

© Janet Martin

March Morning Haiku

Morning wakes, pristine
Perfection awaiting tracks
Marking history

Grace gently bestows
Sparkling opportunity
Gift-wrapped in new day

Janet

Transformation

Clenching the thought of you 

Pressing it to me

Until I feel you throbbing

In every heartbeat

Becomes nothing more

Than oceans of air

Slipping through my fingers

Until I fold them in prayer

J~

His Workmanship

Man celebrates what God allows

And never more or less

But simply what His hand bestows

Is all that we possess

Accomplishment and accolades

Spring not of man’s accord

For there is no man yet so great

He does not need the Lord

Whisper of dust, is mortal flesh

Life-breath from hallowed lip

What God allows man may possess

We are His workmanship

© Janet Martin

Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? Matthew 6:27

Just in case we've forgotten...

Enjoy fur Elise on your summer evening stroll...
(just click the wheel on your mouse to open a new link)

In case we've forgotten how the golden wheat field

stretches to the mouth of the sky

Or how the warm breezes of summer's late day

Soft 'gainst the evening lie

or how Queen Ann's lace graces the collar

of ditches and lanes, forgotten

or how God's handiwork awes us to stillness

in masterpieces dangling from heaven

In case we've forgotten the music of grasses

etched in the waning of day

or the sketch of a daisy outlined on the canvas

of twilight melting away

Perhaps we've forgotten, beneath winter's blanket

the dancing of wind on the corn

How each day of August is glimpses of heaven

begun on a summer's morn

In case we've forgotten, we wait while the curtain

of winter remains tightly drawn

We wait while the silver of ten-thousand miracles

dance over garden and lawn

No winter is able to out-live spring's verdure

soon its chill fury will pass

And soon we'll remember the peace of December

When its time to cut the grass

Janet~

I took a video of the howling gale but it will not upload...

...so I posted a sweet alternative:) Enjoy!

Blown Away by the Wonder of it all

The Tides of March

 

They rush in oceanic sweeps

To muffle winter's dirges

Startling the earth from vaulted deeps

In wild and untamed surges

These are the tides of March

They snuff the golden bliss of noon

In howling, hastening fury

To spill the honey from hope’s spoon

Lest spring should think to hurry

These are the tides of March

The pine of stiff and stately pride

Of groomed and gilded figure

Is bent against the sudden tide

Of winter’s desperate rigor

These are the tides of March

Oh, wail across petulant earth

Release your final measure  

For you cannot restrain the breath

Melting your futile pleasure

These are the tides of March

©Janet Martin

 Seriously, there is someone playing with the weather switches today!

We are shifting from blizzard to clear sunshine back to blizzard in the blink of an eye!

Moody March

At one a.m the day was still
no flicker, wisp or sigh
The earth a barren shoulder; brown
against a turquoise sky
But as night parts her restless lips
in moody March refrain
an ocean-tide of winter slips
to paint the earth again~

Janet~

Earlier today ;)) when I took a picture of the moon (see Lunar Torment)
even those low clouds slipped away and the sky was pure silver-blue,
without a hint of snow!

Yesterday there was NO SNOW to be seen!
Hello, March in Canada!

Birthday Verses

This is no ordinary day

This ‘moment-splash’ from heaven

This is the very special day

Victoria turns eleven

0~0~0~

Each birthday is mile-stone

Of heaven-gifted grace

It will not pass this way again

So stop, and celebrate

0~0~0~

I have learned a thing or two

Within my adult-skin

To celebrate, like children do

The moment/birthday I am in

O~O~O~

God splashed an ocean of sunbeams

Into the dark of this world

When he took His most tender heartstrings

And created earth’s best: little girls

O~O~O~

Today is a beautiful treasure

Oh, and I simply can’t wait

For today, my dear, is your birthday

A reason to celebrate

O~O~O~

God used his extra-special bits

Of wonderment and joy

He chose the best of heaven’s gifts

And made a little boy

O~O~O~

Today is extra-special

In each and every way

For an extra-special little girl/boy

Is having a birthday!

O~O~O~

Happy Birthday, my precious

Happy Birthday, my dear

Happy Birthday, I love you

Every day of the year

O~O~O~

I thank God that He made roses

And lovely skies so blue

But most of all I thank Him

For the special gift of you

Janet~

Yes, our 'baby' is eleven!

Lunar Torment

Tonight I allow you to take me

For I can no longer resist

Desire out-weighs common senses

Wrap me in your ocean of mist

Tonight I need more than a promise

Whispered through my window-pane

Tomorrow gleams on the horizon

Oh, let not this night pass in vain

Tonight you spread over my being

Translucent; you taunt, I beseech

But all I can hear is you breathing

In oceans that I cannot reach

J~

I had all the lights turned out.

I was going to bed...

and then I looked out through my bedroom window at the sky!

I ignored the clock and went outside...heaven like this waits for no one

and morning can steal it away! 

The Tides of 'Almost Spring'

The tides of spring

They weep and sing

In oceans from the sky

To glassy ponds

And stricken fronds

She lays her garments by

And on the girth

Of somber earth

She hints with softened lips   

Of under-tones

In violet moans

And emerald finger-tips

The darkened slope

Stripped of its robe

Is begging for her kiss

The umber tide

Of dull hill-side

Unclenches its cold fist

The woodland stark

Against the dark

Is budding with desire

And in the tomb

Of autumn’s bloom

Smolders a hidden fire

The tides of spring

They weep and sing

In love-songs warm and tender

Winter defies

But in his eyes

Are whispers of surrender

© Janet Martin

A warm rain has dissolved the snow!

Tonight a cold wind rebels...

Contemplating Faith

We speak of faith

This ‘thing’ not seen

In which we put our trust

Upon a Rock

Of hope we lean

To reach beyond this dust

Oh, what is faith?

How can we know

Until it has been tried

If it exists,

If it is real

Or just our misled pride?

We speak of faith

A precious hope

The anchor of our soul

But will it be enough to cope

When life’s vile tempests roll?

And will this substance

We hope for

This evidence not seen

Carry us to heaven’s door

When this earth’s shore grows dim?

We speak of faith

We cannot show

The doubter any proof

Of certainties

Of why’s or how’s

As we cling to its truth

And this is faith

To trust and know

In every step we take

That He who has

Ordained it so

He makes no mistake

© Janet Martin

Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. Heb. 11:1

“To one who has faith, no explanation is necessary. To one without faith, no explanation is possible.”

St. Thomas Aquinas~