Wednesday, April 25, 2012

He Makes Us Beautiful



Bruised and battered,
Disappointed,
Riddled with
Discouragement
Dreams are shattered
Tears anoint
The ragged fringe
Of hope’s garment
But in spite
Of our failure
Jesus makes us beautiful
As we raise hope
To His window
And His Light shines
Through the holes

© Janet Martin

The Daily Bread ‘Thought’ today is…
God doesn’t remove all of our imperfections
But he makes us beautiful by shining through them

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

My 'Every-day Heaven'



It waits for tender touches
Of loving care
The begging of Duty
Hangs on the air
I gaze at the mountains
Of mundane spoil
Shaping my moments
Of prayer and of toil
As I thank God above
For all He has given
In the clutter of love
My every-day ‘heaven’

© Janet Martin

…trying to ‘spruce up’ the place a little and get some major cleaning done for some up-coming events we are hosting…the question... How much, how soon? Cleaning can be un-done very quickly here!

Imminent Mystery




Gazing toward the sky-line
I wonder what lies beyond…
…beyond the curve, the dip, the bend
That everlasting yawn
Yet, though I push toward it
I never reach its crest
But remain in the epicenter
Of north, south, east and west
So I’ll drink in the green and the purple
Of spring’s temporal diadem
Embracing the imminent mystery
Of the moment I am in

© Janet Martin

His Glory Days



Poetics Aside Prompt: Write about a sport

He recalls his glory days
Bleachers packed with cheering fans
He could do no wrong
Five is a great age

Janet~

 (the little guy I baby-sit is five, a little timid
but he knows when he is playing hockey,
HE IS A STAR in all the eyes that matter;)

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Love Poemlets




Love makes beautiful
The drab and the plain
It makes worthwhile
The thankless and mundane

***

As deep as the longing in the Groom
to lift His Bride's veil
may our love ever be
then it cannot fail

***

It is impossible
to love the Lord
yet live in disobedience
to His Word

***

We love, yet we stumble
but this truth remains
God's love through forgiveness
removes every stain

***

Love can be strongest
In the frailest beings
As they accept and receive
All they are unable to give…

***

The Future
Our dreams
Never quite turn out
How we envisioned
But love, oh love
Teaches us how to adapt

***

Love:
A seed
A stem
A bud
A bloom
A forever flower…if watered

***

Love does not pick and choose
It reaches to all
For love loves every creature
Whether great or small

***

If you have been touched by love
Then you have been touched by God

***

Love took dust
And formed a man
Love gave it living breath
Love bled in red
Conquering
The curse of sin and death

***

For the love of poetry
Sometimes I ignore Duty
For the love of family
Sometimes I ignore
The poetry of ink
To taste the poetry
Of love~

**

Love is patient
Love is kind
It does not envy
Nor does it remind
Others of how they have failed
Love does not seek
In others, perfection
But true love mirrors
Perfection’s reflection
Of hands to timber nailed

***

Love is a bloom
It must be nourished
With tender and watchful eyes
If disregarded
Then, what once flourished
Withers and shrivels and dies

***

Love, oh love
Life’s beautiful lament
Perplexing in its pleasure and pain
Love, oh love
Bittersweet torment
But never, oh never in vain

***

I have been blessed
To taste life’s best
A beautiful good-bye

***

Is love a noun 
or a verb 
to you?
Love must first be a verb
to become a noun
no...love cannot be a verb
until it is a noun...
...HUH?

***

Love: its resources are never depleted
An infinite well that never runs dry
It grows in the giving, it cannot be hoarded
and only when kept, will it shrivel and die

***

Sometimes its easy to confuse the depth of love
By the measure of our comfort
when most often its measure is proven
through discomfort

***

The fullness of love
will never be known
until we bow before
God on His throne

***

Wipe those teardrops from your eye
Embrace life's richest pain
For in love there is never good-bye
Only, 'until we meet again'

© Janet Martin

Image Source: http://worlldinformation.blogspot.ca/2012/04/love-quotes.html

I Do Not Know...




Poetics Aside Prompt: Write a love poem or an anti-love poem.

I do not know
How to write of love…
…this double-edged thought
Of wonderment and faith
Oh love, the fulfillment
Of mortal torment
Yet ever the longing
and thirst beneath
our holding on
And our release
A gripping storm
Yet, rock-solid peace
In the ‘going beyond’
When nobody knows
But One
As we suffer long
Love’s highs and its lows
Leaving the heart ragged
With disbelief
Of humble gratitude
And earth-shattering grief

© Janet Martin

Forever Hope



Tonight we had the closing Mother-daughter night for this season of Gem's. 
 It was a fabulous evening with a Roman/Greek era theme spawning from thoughts of the Olympics and how in life we also need to never quit trying and to give it our best.Their motto this year ....Get wisdom; go beyond the gold.... The MC for the evening did a spectacular job and it brought tears to my eyes as she encouraged a room FULL of girls (and moms) to keep their eyes on Jesus, because life tries to throw in all kinds of distractions. She encouraged them, that in spite of what life may bring to remember who they are! ...who we all are because of grace!


There will be obstacles
And distractions
Disappointment
And infractions
There will be days
Of carelessness
Of shocking failure
And more shocking…success
There will be neglect
Busyness, despair
There will be worry
Where there ought to be prayer
There will be apathy
Where there should be concern
…yet, there will be patience
We have so much to learn
And there will be One
Who will never replace
With lesser hope
His amazing grace
And there will reside
Though often we fail
A steadfast Guide
Within the vale
And there will be forever
Forgiveness of sin
In a blood-red river
That cleanses within
Yes, there will be enemies
To lure us from His Word
Yet, through it all there will be
Jesus Christ, the Lord
Our Alpha, our Omega
Our beginning and end
Our precious Savior
Everlasting Friend

© Janet Martin

Song: What a Friend we Have in Jesus
She read this verse among others:

 Trust in the LORD with all your heart
   and lean not on your own understanding;
 in all your ways submit to him,
   and he will make your paths straight. Prov.3:5-6

Monday, April 23, 2012

Yanked from a Dream...(re-post)



 Poetics aside prompt: Morning poem

The morning’s verdict comes too soon
On night’s like this
But dawn is fading out the moon
With silent kiss
Her curves align intricately
Against the dark
As day becomes a silver sea
And night the spark

I close my eyes willing night’s spell
To linger on
It is no use; for I can tell
That you are gone
The warmth of you against my skin
Is hard to bear
Ten-thousand wishes hovering
On stringent air

The morning’s verdict will not sway
Its fingertips
Methodically brushing away
Your sleep-warm lips
Smoothly the smiling morn invades
The dreamer’s bliss
And with the dawn you slip away...
...no farewell kiss

J~

Morning Miracles Haiku


Liquid miracle
Colombian pleasure melts
Early morning fog

 ***

Satin edges trim
Unyielding shrouds of darkness
Revealing its breadth

***

Keen ambivalence
Tunes emerging awareness
Slumber dissipates

Janet~


Wild Awakening




The howling gale deploys its wrath
Against the shivering dawn
Nothing remains within its path
That is not fastened down
It screams and shrieks at every door
In urgent nothingness
A mammoth bully with a roar
Tormenting budded tress
And yet, the dawn creeps to the air
Above the earth's turmoil
I fold my helpless thought in prayer
And trust God with my spoil

© Janet Martin
 

  

Sunday, April 22, 2012

Coda-moment

exquisite threads  woven
to a familiar ache
shelved memories open
...no shimmy or shake
to unfold ethereal edges
-thought origami
as your memory wedges
its cacophony
into abstract beings
of what is and what was
and a spangling dragon
unfurls harmless claws
in futile ferment
for your face disappears
in this coda-moment
of bittersweet tears

J~

Sunday Wordle- Anniversary Edition

Your Permission Slip



Poetics Aside Prompt: 'Judging' Poem


Unless you've lain with me in the trenches
and tasted the same gritty dirt
And unless you have climbed the same fences
and endured the same bitter hurt
If you have not suffered my sorrow
or borne my invisible crosses
or carried my fear of tomorrow
or wept for the self-same losses
and if you have never slipped into my being
or the flesh that covers my bones
nor worn the shoes I am wearing
to walk the miles I have known
or given and taken in like-measure
the fairness and unfairness of life
or partaken of my pain and pleasure
or my allotment of strife
Unless you've traced all of my footsteps
The beauty and the misery
to understand why I am who I am
Don't judge me

Janet~

Saturday, April 21, 2012

Haiku...'under the microscope' Prompt



Image Source:  123rf.com


From umber granules
Laced with countless miracles
Everything begins

***
God breathed on dust
Man became a living soul
Setting him apart

 ***
Earth’s organisms
The study of scientists
All victims of Time
***
Microscopes cannot
Examine the mystery
Of man’s living soul

***
Immortality
Mankind cannot comprehend
Vast eternity

 ***

Janet Martin

Through my Lens

Through my lens
I see a miracle
of chromosomes
In other people’s eyes
criticism may rise
Swiftly.
But I have known you
since you were
a flutter near my heart
rearranging
my entire universe
Hope abides.
And beneath the microscope
of a mother’s love
there is only perfection
Imperfect perfection.
God’s threads woven
to a beautiful you
a reflection of His wonder
poured into freckles
and stumbles
and the beautiful ache
in my soul

© Janet Martin
(this is a photo from the archives...
Matt had been showing me how he can make his bike jump!
A life-lesson followed.:)
It is one of my favorite photos.
Matt and his 'shadow'.


Friday, April 20, 2012

Haiku on Love


It’s safer that way
She says, locking herself in
Or, is she locked out?
 ***
A wall with no door
Is a barrier to flesh
But never to love
***
Love does not build walls
And walls cannot dissuade it
Love can seep through steel

J~


Gone Fishin'



Image Source:  zazzle.com

Jes’ trollin’ the waters
Hopin’ for the big one
I cast and re-cast
Then get snagged by distraction
Release inhibition
Try a fresh lure
This oughta work
On that big one for sure
So I’ll sit here awhile
Thinkin’ an’ wishin’
If anyone asks
Tell ‘em I’m fishin’
fer words

© Janet Martin

Let's Get Dirty



Come, let’s get dirty
Not with dirty dirt
But with garden-dirt
Gardening dirt is different, you see…
It cleanses the mind and sets the heart free

It’s a soil-carpet solace
It’s a simple, safe touch
When the care and the clutter
Of this life is too much
It’s a beckoning beach
On an ocean of dreams
It is therapy for stress
Enchanting hope-streams
It is better than a psychiatrist
Yet it won’t cost a dime
All it takes is some energy
And sweet sun-kissed time
In the company of roses
Or zucchini and garlic
…or the chatter of children
Discovering its magic
It’s a haven of sorts
Built of fruit on a vine
Of vegetable beauty
Of rain and sunshine
Of love and of labor
Of patience and trust
A table for neighbors
Sprouting from the dust
It’s a vision of perfection
On the threshold of June
It’s a mini-vacation
On a slow afternoon
It’s a stroll for no reason
On earth’s humble sod
It’s the pearl of the season
It’s the whisper of God
Its spring, summer, autumn
With life-lessons to show
For a man cannot gather
What he does not sow…
…so come, let’s get dirty
In the cleanest of dirt
In a garden; it is simply
A small heaven on earth…

© Janet Martin

Kisses of Spring...

(No, these flowers are not this year...but it will be...soon:)

Let’s immerse ourselves
In the song of the breeze
Of robin and sparrow
And lace-collared trees
Let’s inhale the potion
Of bursting delight
Where earth is an ocean
Of emerald and white
And let’s discard duty
For free wander-lust
Admiring the beauty
New-born from the dust
Of hope in a blossom
And awe in a bud
As sleepy-eyed pansies
Awake from the mud
Let’s frolic in meadows
On carpets of clover
Let’s dream in the shadow
Where time is a lover
As moments, then minutes
Then wee hours wing
While we are immersed
In the kisses of Spring

© Janet Martin

Let's Admit It...



Poetics Aside Prompt: Let's...(fill in blank)

Let's admit it
We need each other
Life's load is too heavy
To shoulder alone
Let's encourage
And love one another
For two together
Are better than one

Janet Martin:)

Opposite Poem

 

 NaPoWriMo says write an 'opposites' poem. Take someone else's poem and switch it entirely...

Autumn

The thistledown's flying, though the winds are all still,
On the green grass now lying, now mounting the hill,
The spring from the fountain now boils like a pot;
Through stones past the counting it bubbles red-hot.

The ground parched and cracked is like overbaked bread,
The greensward all wracked is, bents dried up and dead.
The fallow fields glitter like water indeed,
And gossamers twitter, flung from weed unto weed.

Hill-tops like hot iron glitter bright in the sun,
And the rivers we're eying burn to gold as they run;
Burning hot is the ground, liquid gold is the air;
Whoever looks round sees Eternity there.

John Clare

(I switched it to Spring)

Spring

The bud remains quiescent though winds moan and seethe
On dull-crested garden; the seed waits beneath
The ground, freed of winter is clenched by deep frost
Hiding spring, like a miser still counting the cost

The ground, rich and ready, is like under-baked bread
As buds becomes heady on tree-limbs overhead
The rested field sprawls, humbled by its naked bosom
As honey-bees fall, tumble, from blossom to blossom

Valleys, like cold dungeons are dark before dusk
But the orchard is burgeoning with pink-petal musk
Yet still cool is the air; silver-gray is the shower
But we do not care; Spring hath too short an hour

© Janet Martin

Thursday, April 19, 2012

Carved Especially for You



Image Source:  chrissytravels.com
For each of you
I’ve never met
Or held or touched
Face to face

But on deeper plains
Heart to heart
And soul to soul
I carve a place

For each of you
I’ve never cherished
Eye to eye
…but tear on tear

I carve a rare
And sacred place
Within my heart
To hold you near

J~

We Write...

 This picture is on the blog at Poet's United...wonderful quotes!

My friend Megan sent me some quotes yesterday. I'm thrilled to be able to share a favorite!

“We write to taste life twice, in the moment and in retrospect.”
― Anaïs Nin

And so we write…
To hear that voice in the deep midnight
To languish once more in its startling touch
That was there
Then gone
And we miss…
So much
And we write to hear
That song again
The one we danced to in the rain…
We write to hear
A new-born cry
Or soothe the anguish
Of good-bye…
We write to experience
Again and again
Love's two-toned measure
Of pleasure and pain

© J~

Think Tank Thursday asks us to find a quotes that inspires us...

Not Found in Coffee-shops




To sit quietly,
not in noisy coffee-shops
but on nature’s window-ledge
And then, drink deeply of thought
Pleasures me much
For as I sit quietly
Sipping my coffee, black
On the sill of a new day’s edge
Drinking deeply of thought
I feel your touch

Janet


Echo


Poetics Aside Prompt:

For today’s prompt, write a life event poem. By life event poem, I mean a poem that takes place at or describes a life event, such as a wedding, birth, death, graduation, etc. There are so many possibilities.

 
We buried her today
Beneath skies dull and gray
But dirt can never seal away
The echo of her laughter

Dirt holds her lifeless shell
For she has bid farewell
But it can never quell
The echo of her laughter

Oft in the tears I weep
I smile in spite of grief
For I will ever keep
The echo of her laughter

© Janet Martin

Don't you find that? 
whether Time or Death has stolen away a loved one...
isn't that what lingers?
the echo of their laughter...
J~



I Love the Way...



I love the way You breathe upon
The skyline in the dark
And gently soften heaven’s gown
To fade out heaven’s spark
You veil with mist the mountain crest
The valley, field and sea
The moon, a wafer in the west
Slips to obscurity

I love the way the sunlight pools
In yellow on the slope
As Time unravels from its spools
Translucent threads of hope
And we commence, with lightened step
Upon the road un-taken
With humble whisper on our lips
For seeds of faith unshaken

I love the way the dew and rain
Pearls on the musky flower
The scent of morning on the lane
After a midnight shower
I love the mercy You portray 
To mankind’s fumbling story
As you unveil another day
In all its pristine glory

© Janet Martin 






Unforsaken...



I’ll wait, my dear
The time, the tear
Are temporal in their torment
The purpose sought
Within my thought
Is worth each drawn-out moment
Love has no clock
No tick or tock
And all who’ve held its measure
Have come to know
The ebb and flow
Of both its pain and pleasure
For love is not
For faint of thought
Its bulwark is not shaken
With dark despair
Love hopes, with prayer
Its promise un-forsaken

© J~

Completely...



When we stood on the shore
Looking out to sea
Were we thinking ahead?
Or to what used to be?
Or did we simply exist 
In the moment; completely?

There is no pleasure
Greater than this
Than to be fulfilled 
Within life's soft kiss
As we exist completely
In the moment that is

Janet~

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Time's Grand Door


The dawn unfolds with buoyant tune
But now its trill reposes
With vesture of late afternoon
Upon a door that closes
Across what never more will be
Nor threatens its returning
Of this days joy or misery
Its pleasure or its yearning

A wisp of thought expands, a sea
Retreating to the reaches
Of mystery and history
Of love and what it teaches
Of how our moments in the sun
Or perhaps in the shadow
Must be relinquished; one by one
To past’s vespertine meadows

The clock upon Time’s fated wall
Someday will cease its order
And every man, both great and small
Must cross earth’s transient border
But on life’s little avenue
And for a little season
We bear our little grief or two
And do not ask God’s reason

The Dawn awaits, its buoyant tune
With ballad unrecorded
Whispers beyond the sallow moon
In versicle un-worded
With humble plea and gratitude
We gather thorns and roses
For years are swift and hours few
Before Time’s grand Door closes

© Janet Martin



A Tri-fall for my friend, Viv...Word Vertigo



Poetic Bloomings asks us to write a Tri-fall.

The Tri-fall, created by Jan Turner, consists of three 6-line stanzas, for a total of 18 lines.  The rhyme scheme per stanza is a,b,c,a,b,c.  The syllable count for each stanza is 6/3/8/6/3/8.    This form has no specific meter, requires little-to-no punctuation,  and may be written on any subject matter.

 
I have my best money
on the bet
that you will return soon because
words have a way, honey
they won't let
us rest without justified cause

What seems vapid tonight
or too dull
may regain charm beneath fresh eyes
wait until morning light
when wakeful
thought rages, rampant with surprise

Such is the poet’s curse
Or blessing
Victims are we of vexing Muse
Keened to sudden whispers
Caressing
The silence where we wept the blues

Janet~

Hope you are feeling better, Viv.

Gardening Haiku



Digging and dreaming,
Peas, beans, squash, greens, tomatoes
Perfect spring garden

Weeding and hoeing
Pruning, staking, gathering
Summer sweat-drops pour

Rustling after-math
Trial and error complete
Autumn’s garden sighs

Pure, pristine canvas
Buried dreams begin to nudge
Winter’s garden sleeps

Digging and dreaming,
Peas, beans, squash, greens, tomatoes
Perfect spring garden…

© Janet Martin~

Yes, that’s pretty much it!
Yet, it is the best therapy I know!

Favourite Foods Haiku



Poetics Aside Prompt: For today’s prompt, think of a favorite regional cuisine, make that the title of your poem, and then, write the poem. For instance, you may title your poem something like “Brunswick Stew,” “Deep Dish Pizza,” or “Jambalaya,” though the poem doesn’t exactly have to be about food.

 Favorite Foods Haiku

Oatmeal and wheat germ
Add ground flax and honey
Favorite breakfast

***

Fresh greens, red onion
Kidney beans and sharp cheddar
Simple salad bliss

Janet~

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

A Little Thinkin'...

What a gift is
This weariness
Not merely oppressing
Dreariness
But simply the effect
Of toil and duty
A tired Mother
Love’s hard-earned beauty

***

To have much to do
Is God’s gift of love
I bow humbly in thanks
To the Giver above

***

There are many words
Whispering; oh, how they beseech
Detained on a fringe; lingering
Just beyond my reach

***

If the flip-side of joy is sorrow
Come what may…
Is the flip-side of today, tomorrow
Or yesterday?

***

Leave your worry and care
and do not despair
at the unknown that murmurs dark warning
My mother always said
Just go to bed
Things will look brighter in the morning

(I find myself repeating those words to my kids…and I have lived to see they are true!)

Janet~

Dreamland Unbarred

( I commented to the kids tonight how tired and ragged that pine tree appears after yesterday's tempest)

When April’s smile
Has nestled awhile
On this blue puddle
Referred to as Earth
When she has spun
From threads of sun
A garment of green-leaf
To warm its girth
When the slighted stance
Of winter’s romance
Melts in defeat
Beneath her caress
When skeletal limbs
Are feathered with grins
And every tree
Is a graceful princess
When robin-lay
And break of day
Unite to greet
The morning star
The gardener sings
As the Gate-keeper swings
The door to digging
And dreamland ajar


© Janet Martin
I think the gardener and the farmer sing...
(I'm watching the dust fly in neighboring fields as a few of the farmers are seeding)
...as they enter a new season of dreams aka. Hope:)




Fantasy Poem



Poetics Aside Prompt: Write a science fiction or fantasy poem


It seems entirely
Out-of-character
For this logical
And practical mother
To don glass slippers
And an evening gown
As her pumpkin chariot
Draws her to town

It does not seem
Like her at all
To attend
a midnight ball
With the rest of her kind
Parental royalty
Dressed up like they were
Twenty-three

We had forgotten
Until given a chance
That we were weightless air
As we danced and danced
Until the tolling clock
In the old church tower
Reminded us primly
Of the waning night-hour

We tipped the door-man
Or was it a lion?
Climbing onto the bare back
Of a prancing white stallion
With a flourish we departed
Sailing over the trees
Oh Pegasus, tell me kindly
What they put in the punch…please?

© Janet Martin

National Haiku Day

Prayer transports man's hope
on lucid wings of wee faith
to God's loving care

***

Buds soften in rain
Petals push against dark odds
Coloring our world

***

The absence of you
Bittersweet moment of bliss
Waiting for your kiss

***

A Moment on Moments...



Flickers of joy
Shadows of sorrow
Live in today
And not in tomorrow
Why tarnish the present
With uncertainty?
Worry is the employer
Of futility
A thief of moments
Forever lost
For tomorrows bridges
Have never been crossed
And tomorrow’s battles
Have never been won
So live in the moment
Before it is gone

© Janet Martin

 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow,
for tomorrow will worry about itself.
Each day has enough trouble of its own.
Matthew 6:34

If You Had Asked Me...




If you had asked me
I would most likely have said
Keep them…
Keep all of them
And then I would have covered
With my hand the one I thought most beautiful
But God,  You know better than I
The unfolding of time takes moments even in the giving
So you take them
All of them
As You give them,
All of them
And cover my hand
With Yours
Making each moment
The most beautiful
Moment of all

© Janet Martin