Dear Little Children of Three

We fall in love with them constantly

Innocence coupled with mischievous glee

Carefree perfection and curiosity

Dear, little children of three

Sunshine spills from these eager tots

Wonderment fills their guile-less thoughts

Unhindered by living’s ‘what-are-nots’

Dear, little children of three

Flurry of chatter and childish kiss

Living each moment just as it is

Lord, give me faith as pure as this

Dear, little children of three

© Janet Martin

The little guy I baby-sit turns three today. I took him with me to pick up a few groceries.

When we told the cashier that one item is his ‘birthday treat, she asked him ‘how old?’ Without setting down his tub of ju-jubes he slowly and proudly popped up three fingers and grinned. INSTANT POPULARITY!

BUT…as I am writing this he just re-appeared. He is supposed to be napping! ‘not sleepy’ is his verdict…ah yes, those dear little children of three;))...right now he is waiting for the kids to come home from school...I told him 'any minute', and yes, here they are! Gotta go! There is a birthday to celebrate!

Of Lulls and Such...

Now the sunrise

Has dissolved

In yellow on the street

The azure hull

Of mid-day’s lull

Arouses rippled heat

The eager breeze

Hides in the trees

Among its leafy tress

The glistening brow

Coveting now

Her cool and kind caress

The morning rush

Dies in the hush

Of sweltering high noon

And all is still

Save for the trill

Of song-bird’s lilting tune

Now the urgency

Of having

Eases its duress

The heart is full

As living’s lull

Extends a kind caress

The eager gleam

Of spring-tide’s dream

Is filled with wisdom’s glow

As summer fades

And autumn shades

Suggest a hint of snow

Middle-age rush

Dies in the hush

Of twilight’s gentle breeze

The heart is still

Save for the trill

Of precious memories

© Janet Martin

My Columbian Love

I cannot resist you

As I embrace your warmth

Craving your brawny essence

Darling, there is none like you

Weak imitations make me laugh

As I inhale your richness

Knowing your bliss

Will not disappoint me

My lips seek your fullness

Slowly, purposefully

I draw you in and hold

Your perfection on my tongue

Before your robust passion

 Satisfies me
Completely

Ah Maxwell, you and I

Make beautiful music together

J~

Every so often I gain a new appreciation for the blessing of

COFFEE!

Poetic Bloomings Prompt: Burning Passion

God is Good

Creation groans, the world is fraught

With turmoil, hate and grief

It longs for peace, but there is naught

As doubt spawns unbelief

But still, one truth steadfastly reigns

Though oft misunderstood

In spite of evil’s corrupt gains

God is good

Since Adam’s fall mankind must toil

And till the cursed dust

Sorrow’s fruit leaps from the soil

Stained with our sin and lust

Yet, over mortal’s hopeless pall

We see a cross of wood

Where Living Hope declares to all

God is good

Though hatred wields its fearful sword

Feigning death’s victory

Though many curse creation’s Lord

Denying Deity

Above, beneath, without, within

The power of His blood

Flows ceaselessly for our sin

God is good

© Janet Martin

It Is No Secret-Jim Reeves

 

Impossible Undoing

If there was an undoing of certain things

I would gently loosen time’s tempered strings

And trace the scars that it has left

As I lay my head upon your chest

Then as past and present blend

Once more, you would be my friend

Moonlight seeps through the shutter-crack

A golden ladder on your back

Midnight is master of its craft

It strikes a current in the draft

And moans a haunting, sad refrain

Of things that will not pass again

A moment has no time to spare

It dangles briefly on the air

Before it slips into the past

Its latch secure and iron cast

The racket of our turmoil swept

Into the vaults where it is kept

It there was an undoing of certain things

My trembling fingers would loosen its strings

Slipping love’s sorrow from your chest

And we would leave its cloak to rest

While hours strike, one, two, three, four

Upon a sweet, forgotten shore

J~

The Sunday Whirl

Budding Expectation

Adrenaline rush

A mental hush

A pulsing intimacy

Eyes closed

Juxtaposed

Against vivid imagery

Beneath my skin

Somewhere within

A budding mystery

A whispered kiss

Expectant bliss

The bud of poetry

© Janet Martin

Enjoy the Ride

Like a thought or a moment

Slipping skyward

While daylight dissolves

On dusk’s tongue

Is the carefree hour

Of youth

On the stage of middle-age

We sense

A merciless turning of page

And keen, echoing

Declarations

Of truth

We cannot stem the flow

Of thought or moments

They come, they go

And all we can do, as we're caught in its tide

Is hang on for dear life

And enjoy the ride

© Janet Martin

 We had a family reunion today...LOTS of ages present to celebrate my oldest sister's B-day...and it struck me as I looked at all the teenagers how BRIEF their 'forever young' years are(and there is no way they can know it)! Seriously, at that age we are all going to be young for a LONG time;))

Some Dads...

Some dads are really, really cool, and some are really smart,
Some dads barely went to school but still have big soft hearts,
Some dads stand up straight and tall and look all sober-like
As if they’ve never thrown a ball or raced on their old bike,
Some dads like to tease and wink and some dads laugh a lot,
I guess, I suppose, it depends, I think, on how many bills they’ve got,
‘Cause dad says, as long as the bills keep a-comin’,
He’ll have to get up an’ keep on a-workin’,
And God bless the dad that keeps on a-hummin’
Even when the bills keep a-comin’

Some dads make lots of money and some, I’ve heard, are broke,
Some say things like sweetheart and honey and some dads never joke,
Some dads work from dawn ‘til dark with little time to play,
Some take their children to the park and some just go away,
Some dads work so very hard so mother can stay home,
Some dads are so very tired, when at last they come,
But, God bless the dad, who at the end of his day
Still gets down on his knees to pray,
And God bless the faithful dad who
Teaches his little ones to pray too

Some dads are really big and tough, while some are short and thin,
Some dads are kinda’ rough and some are gentlemen,
Some dad’s hair is curly and some dad’s hair is gray,
Some don’t really worry ‘cause their hair has gone away,
Some dads drive pick-ups shiny and new, some say any wheels will do,
As long as it takes me to work and such, and the insurance on it isn’t too much,
Some dads whistle and some dads sing,
At home some dads feel as rich as a king,
But for one thing I sure am glad,
God knew how much we’d need some dads

Some dads read God’s word every night, some never read at all,
Some dads teach us wrong from right to guide us lest we fall,
And some dads are a little like God, I suppose,
‘Cause through trial and error this dad knows
Though hearts be broken and sometimes need mending,
A father’s love is never-ending,
And God bless the dad whose love never fails,
When the going gets bad, love still prevails,
Thus, for one thing I sure am glad, God knew how much we’d need some dads,
Some dads’ sure leave big shoes to fill but the One who guides them will be there still,
Someday, when someone says they’re glad God knew how much we’d need some dads

Janet Martin

I wrote this a few years ago for Father's Day

On Second Miles

Second miles may cause us to groan

For they tug us from our comfort zone

It is in the second miles we trod

That we touch the hand of God

Second miles are not traveled by obligation, force or fear

But they are the miles that prove

Our testimony, loud and clear

Of love

Love is patient, love is kind

It does not seek its own

And oft its dark and second mile

Is seen by God alone

Second miles in life

Do not further our own causes

But if, in faith we walk them

Their beauty may surprise us

Second miles are not reserved

For either the gifted or the common

But they draw out of mortal crowds

The very best of them

Lift up your chin, take heart and smile

Love begins in the second mile

Walk with the one who needs a hand

Alone we fall, together we stand

Jesus, how thankful I am

You walked that mile for me

And oh, its blood-stains led me to

A place called Calvary

If we would follow Him

In authenticity

Then we will walk those second miles

For His sake, willingly

What blessing we forfeit

What joy we discard

If second miles we forsake

Because they are too hard

Take heart, oh traveler of the second mile

It will all be over in life’s little while

Then oh, how sweet our rest will be

At Jesus feet for eternity

© Janet Martin

 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’ But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also. And if anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, hand over your coat as well.  If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with them two miles.  Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.

Matt. 5:38-42

Oh Still the Hastening Bloom

Oh, still the hastening bloom

That crowns the summer’s day

I must hold its tender fold

Before it fades away

Oh, still the ticking clock

That peals the quickened hour

I must pause a bit because

I need to smell the flower

Oh, still the sassy breeze

That steals its fragrant leaf

And tucks to earth arboreal birth

With not one tear of grief

Oh, still the hastening bloom

Too soon its petals weep

For they as I, bud, bloom, then die

Restored to Heaven’s keep

© Janet Martin

Inside a birthday card I received she wrote ‘Bloom where you’re planted’.

On my run yesterday morning I was struck by the beauty in the wildflowers simply ‘blooming where they are planted’.

On Disappointment

 Image Source: quotepictures.net

Disappointment’s not the end

It is just a painful bend

In the road to future’s destiny

Disappointment’s not our fate

It just means we have to wait

God alone knows what must be will be

Disappointment’s not vile spite

To restrain us in our fight

Or to snuff our song is never its intent

But disappointment makes us strong

Though it hurts and feels so wrong

It often leaves us wiser in the end

Disappointment’s hidden good

Is oh, so oft misunderstood

Until miles down the road we turn to see

Forsaken dreams strewn in the dust

No longer near and dear to us

For God alone knew what was meant to be

© Janet Martin

I have a friend who experienced keen disappointment last night as he did not make it to the finals in the local singer/songwriter's competition. It was his first public competition and he learned a lot from it. ...'and you will by okay, my friend, because this was the beginning, not the end:)'

Mother to Mother

Tis a universal bond

We share with each other

A non-scripted empathy

Mother to mother

This bond is tempered

With blood, prayer and tears

It threads across oceans

And borders and years

It clutches our pulses

We know each other

Through the beautiful angst

Of being a mother

Mutual devotion

Bent on love’s greater good

As we share the bond

Of motherhood

Tis a common bond

We understand each other

In a universal kinship

Mother to mother

© Janet Martin

To June

You,

of seamless azure awning

and clover-dappled field

Of wild-flower spawning

in copious yield

You,

of ravishing verdance

in opulent jade

sprawled on a landscape

of sunlight and shade

You,

who rolls out summer’s carpet

in splendor supreme

and ten-thousand textures

And palettes of green

You,

Stage to the a capella

mourning dove minuet

Maestro to the sparrow

and meadow-lark duet

You,

of strawberry indulgence

and bronze, barefoot bliss

Of back-wood rendezvous

and lingering kiss

You,

who flings open

the coveted door

to earth’s glorious garden  

and summer-sweet shore
...we love you

© Janet Martin

Labor-pains

When they tell us it’s over

It’s a girl; it’s a boy

We are about to discover

As virgin joy

Washes our faces

Our new daughter or son

That it will never be over

It has just begun

The labor of love

The ebb and flow

Of white-knuckle clinging

And letting go

Is a sacred experience

Simple word cannot grasp

We teach them to fly

While we cradle and clasp

I close my eyes now

As I strain to recall

The curve of your face

When you were so small

And all those thought pictures

I sealed in my heart

Have somehow grown blurry

In love’s ceaseless art

I trace you again; hungrily

Time is a foe

Pulling you from me

But I’ll never let go

For holding is not

A physical grip

I hold you even

As from my arms you slip

The call of life

Is like no other

It tugs love’s off-spring

From the arms of a mother

And this is the way

It surely must be

We cannot remain

On our mother’s knee

Yes, when they tell us it’s over

Childbirth’s groaning and pain

We are about to discover

It never will be again

For this travail of agony

And heart-wrenching bliss

Is a life-long embrace

Of love’s farewell kiss

© Janet Martin

Elusive Attribute

Image Source:  quotespicture.org
 

If we try to possess it

It is instantly gone

This special attribute

God’s grace shines upon

Those who achieve it

Kindly, gently show it

But the reason they have it

Is because they do not know it

Most beautiful, are they

Of all humanity

Because God’s grace shines upon

Humility

© Janet Martin

But he gives more grace. Therefore he says, God resists the proud, but gives grace unto the humble. James 4:6

Thursday Thoughts on Prayer

Through valleys

Over mountains

And oceans of air

I reach out

To touch you

With my prayer

Wherever you go

My dear daughter and son

I want you to know

You can never outrun

My prayers for you~

Chase your dream

If you must

Place your will

And your trust

In a prayer

My thoughts keep returning to you today

So I fold you against my heart and I pray

A prayer is more than wishful thinking

More than a fretting tear

A prayer is the stair to the doorway of heaven

Straight to our Father’s ear

These are not just words I say

When I lift my thoughts and pray

These are petitions of trust

Rising from a shell of dust

But in this shell He placed His worth

When I received my second birth

Boldly yet humbly we commune

With He who graces earth with June

How fearful would be

This thing called Day

If God did not hear

Us when we pray

There is no such thing

if we earnestly groan

as a prayer too unworthy

to touch His throne

Yes, no, wait

God’s answers to prayer

Are never late

J~

If you read this...I prayed for you today.

Often I whisper a prayer for you

-those who pause here; and I pray

that whoever and wherever

in life you may be

that God will bless you today

 God bless~

 You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on you: because he trusts in you. Isa. 26:3

Life's Journey Sonnets

When failure grips the hearts ragged edges

When murderous words have mangled their mark

When grievance builds adamantine hedges

And snuffs from life’s glimmer its lusty spark

When sorrow, heartbreak, and disappointment

Plague with discouragement each in-drawn breath

When temptation threatens discontentment

And we grow weary to the point of death

Still, there is simply one thing we can do

Trust God, step by step to carry us through

***

It is not ours to give up and quit

Life’s moments come from God’s grace, not from man

We cannot escape what He has deemed fit

Nor can a man reconstruct Master-plans

But it is ours to forgive and forget

Though oft yet we err and stumble and fall

Wisdom is gleaned from the hand of regret

Grace without patience is no grace at all

It is God who gives and who takes away

It is ours to live, love, to watch and pray

***

When heart-linings bleed with love’s agony

When distance is mapped by unspoken thought

When faith is the mile that we cannot see

As all the things hoped for seem endlessly sought

Still, even then we cannot lay it down

This weight that besets us with torment and grief

Tis he who endures that will win the crown

And so we cry, ‘God, help my unbelief’

This is life’s journey, to be strong in the Lord

Rich is the inheritance of reward

 © Janet Martin

 Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. 2 Tim. 2:3 KJV

It was so much fun to watch the Stanley Cup celebration's and rejoice with them after all the hard work, set-backs, etc.

It makes me think of life...to win we cannot quit.

Permanent Luggage

When children leave home
They leave most of their 'stuff' behind
But what they carry with them
They carry in their mind

And no matter where life takes them
Or where on earth they roam
The luggage they will carry
Are their memories of home

Janet~

Memories...luggage we cannot easily discard.
Make today a good one.
J~

The Journey of a Moment

From moments
to memories...
God, remind us of this
so it will be a pleasure
to reminisce

From moments
to memories
God, open our eyes
to the value of moments
so we may be wise

From moments
to memories
Both joy and regret
God help us remember
But teach us to forget...

Janet Martin~

If we refuse to redeem time wisely
It is possible
for breadth of thistledown
to crush us...

Memories

They adorn phantom stages

They breathe on night’s breeze

Turning invisible pages

Into memories

 

As we weep on a coffin

I thank God for these

For they comfort us often

They are memories

Parting can be heart-rending

But through grief’s agonies

We have the tender blessing

Of memories

Now we hold a moment

How precious are these

Seeds; for they grow into

Memories

© Janet Martin

Let's make today
a good memory!

Counting Lessons

We could count our sorrows

But tell me, what would we gain?

For the blessing of tomorrow

Often sprouts within the rain

So we should count our blessings

For we cannot really know

The depth of their conception

Or the Stream from whence they flow

© Janet Martin

The sun smiles in puddle-mirrors

After a Rainy Night in June...

The woods, veiled  in the distance

Crowns the border of the land

The earth; refreshed and glistening

‘Neath the Giver’s gracious hand

Where pastures, parched and pleading

Longed for nectar, pure, divine

Emerald fields ripple with promise

Replenished by heaven’s wine

The heart, veiled with the body

And the body, fresh from sleep

Have relinquished yester’ sorrow

For it is not ours to keep

But the hour pleads with Promise

And we dare not dance in vain

So we drink the Spirit’s nectar

Replenished by holy rain

The border of the hour

Is a phantom consciousness

Yet we recognize the Power

Whereby it is lent to us

The known, veiled in the distance

By a mist of vast unknown

Draws our hearts from fear’s resistance

To the footstool of His throne

© Janet Martin

His Word to the believer

Is what rain is to the earth

This is the day the Lord has made,

Let us rejoice and be glad in it. Ps. 118:24  

Rainy Night in June

Tonight the screen is heavy
with  warm,silver tears of June
The wind weeps; melancholy
a low and mournful tune
over the darkened pasture
and through my rain-swept heart
where I hold you to me, darling
while we are far apart

Tonight the sky is a hollow
without border, base or breadth
Its blackness seems to swallow
The wee, winsome drop of earth
Tonight I cannot hold back
the tears that fall like rain
And so I hold you closer
Until we will meet again

I feel your soothing whisper
Cool the longing on my skin
I hear our tumbled music
Soothe the aching deep within
I taste our salty teardrops
As they sweep thought's vague rampart
Oh, who knew that an ocean
Could be held within a heart?

J~

Thank-you for Calvary

Jesus said, “It is finished.” John 19:30

When I think of my weakness

And how lost I would be

I cry thank-you Jesus

For Calvary

When I think of my wretchedness

And my vast need

I cry thank-you Jesus

For Calvary

When doubt and despair

Seek to over-whelm me

I cry thank-you Jesus

For Calvary

When I see myself

Bound for eternity

I cry thank-you Jesus

For Calvary

© Janet Martin

 When He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” ²⁵ In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.”

²⁶ For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes. 1 Cor. 11: 24-26

Right on Time

You guide the seed on the wind, Lord

You see the place where it rests

Give us discernment of mind, Lord

Help us to plant our best

You teach the seed how to grow, Lord

We simply water and wait

There is much we do not know, Lord

But we know you are never late

© Janet Martin

Perfect Order

The vibrant bloom is drooping

And my pulse is charged with grief

As I see the quiet workings

Of a stealthy, subtle thief

As sure as spring turns into summer

And the summer turns to fall

Is the fair and fleeting favor

Of life’s youthful madrigal

Soon its eager glow is ravaged

By the pilferage of time

Soon the bud of blossomed beauty

Succumbs to the season’s rhyme

And the flower weeps its petals

Back to earth from whence it came

Leaving nothing but its memory

And the whisper of its name

Yes, the vibrant bloom is drooping

Man cannot dissuade the course

Or design of nature’s order

Nor the Hand beneath its force

To everything there is a season

And a time for every plan

We cannot thwart God’s perfect reason

For we are simply…man

© Janet Martin

I noticed that the peonies are beginning to die and something akin to grief stirred in me to realize another year of peonies is quickly passing...

Eccles. 3:1-8

Isa.55:8-13 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
    neither are your ways my ways,”
declares the Lord.
⁹ “As the heavens are higher than the earth,
    so are my ways higher than your ways
    and my thoughts than your thoughts.
¹⁰ As the rain and the snow
    come down from heaven,
and do not return to it
    without watering the earth
and making it bud and flourish,
    so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater,
¹¹ so is my word that goes out from my mouth:
    It will not return to me empty,
but will accomplish what I desire

  and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.
¹² You will go out in joy
    and be led forth in peace;
the mountains and hills
    will burst into song before you,
and all the trees of the field
    will clap their hands.
¹³ Instead of the thornbush will grow the juniper,
    and instead of briers the myrtle will grow.
This will be for the Lord’s renown,
    for an everlasting sign,
    that will endure forever.”

Equality's Behoovement

All flesh and blood is equal

In the eyes of its Creator

There is no person lesser

Nor is anybody greater

The filament by which we’re formed

From Adam has not varied

Dust we are; to dust returned

As lifeless shrouds are buried

And if all flesh is equal then

Does it not thus behoove us

To love fully our fellowmen

Before Time’s Hand removes us

Dust we are; to dust returned

A humble proclamation

Befitting us for but one thing

Love, without reservation

© Janet Martin

For through the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith. Romans 12:3 NAS

Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. Phil. 2:3 KJV

Flesh and Blood Compassion

When flesh and blood lies bleeding

Farewell thoughts against the sky

Away, away from loved ones

They weep out their last good-bye

When freedom’s price is blood-bought

With a brother, daughter, son

Our grief is universal

And our teardrops flow as one

When freedom’s charge is gathered

Again…again… again

We see, not nation or color

But simply women, men

With flesh and blood compassion

We plead out to God above

To comfort those who sorrow

For the ones they dearly love

When freedom’s price is blood-bought

Charted ramparts disappear

For in death we all are kindred

And our sorrow is a tear

© Janet Martin

Written in memory of four French soldiers killed yesterday in Afghanistan

My tears and prayers are for civilian victims as well.

Hello Megan. First, sorry for my english, I'm French. I often come to your blog because I like so much your tags and stationery (thank you so much for sharing them with us), and tonight I happened to see that post for Memorial Day. Yesterday, 4 french soldiers died in Afghanistan (I hope your poem is also for other countries fighting for freedom and not only the US). My brother, who is in the military, will be there in a few weeks, so thank you for that post. Thank you for sharing this also.
Louise

Thank you for sharing with us all ~ and impacting lives around the world...

How We Love Thee

Where wild phlox crawls in purple rivers

And azure seas of noon-tide gleam

On green fields rolling to forever

Beneath the sun’s coronal beam

Where butter-cups gold-vessel splendor

Pools on bluffs, on banks and hills

And our shadows, long and slender

On the twilight hour spills

Where the willow’s wanton weeping

Tunes the midnight’s moody moan

Where December’s stream lay sleeping

Now it laughs on mud and stones

Where the strain of sunset vesper

Lingers on the trembled hush

As the stain of heaven’s grandeur

Falls in mercy from its brush

Where the nail-hook says ‘gone fishing’

For these drawn-out days are small

Soon the summer heart is wishing

For the hours preceding fall

Where the heart is humbly happy

As the bumbling, tumbling bee

Imbibed with heady lupine-nectar

Fairest June, how we love thee

© Janet Martin

Sunday Whirl

Like Water...

The truth is

A little like

Water

We cannot

Dilute

Dissolve

Or drown it 

Janet~

Poetic Bloomings Prompt: Water