Undying Need

Lord, give me a need undying
And never let me stray
Nor lean on my understanding
But to need You every day

Lord give me eyes to see You
Within each little flower
To know the Hand that formed its cup
Holds me through every hour

Lord, give me ears to hear you
As nature throbs Your dues
For if You hear a sparrow’s song
Then you will hear mine too

Lord, give me faith to need You
When everything is fine
And never take a single step
Without Your hand on mine

Lord, give me an undying need
To need you every day
Lest in my folly I should lead
And sadly go astray

Janet Martin

The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not want…Ps. 23

If We Were Sleeping...

They are all asleep
The wise men of market-places
And money-changers
But the night is deep
Filled with mystic faces
And friendly strangers…

…and the cloud on the horizon
Is the softest purple-gray
If I would lay here sleeping
It would simply drift away
Without the admiration
And the whisper of a sigh
Or the memory of a moment
When, against the silky sky
We walked all night long together
You were there and I was here
And if we had just been sleeping
I would not fight back the tear
That glistens in the midnight
Like a star within my eye
While above, on heavens table
Gleams the moon, a silver pie
And the mere handful of minutes
Which expand to full blown hours
Are like daisies in my pocket
When the sky is filled with showers
So I cannot be a wise man
Sound asleep at half-past nine
For the night is far too glorious
And you, my dear, are fine
With the moonlight ‘gainst your olive skin
Your lips against my ear
Oh, it seems that once again
The night is far too short, I fear…

...they are all asleep
the wise men of fortune
or its fantasy
But the night is too deep
and I feel you breathing
somewhere inside of me...

Janet~

The Poet's Child

The poet’s child
has no choice
but is exposed
to the poet’s voice

The poet’s child
is quickly taught
that free and wild
is a poet’s thought

The poet’s child
must oft endure
upon life’s ride
a quick detour…

…because of something
Poet saw
and needed to
inhale its awe

The poet’s child
of lilt and rhyme
knows anytime
is writing time

The poet’s child
soon learns, the Muse
must surely be
paid her full dues

The poet’s child
whether boy or girl
is surely the dearest
(and most patient)
in the world

Janet~

Quatern...Tonight

http://poeticbloomings.com/category/quatern-form/http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif

Then let the darkness steal the day
And let it cover up the sky
Darling, it cannot steal away
Love’s timeless sparkle in your eye

Oh, let it lean against the hour
Then let the darkness steal the day
For it does not have the power
To steal our memories away

Then let it swallow up life’s fray
Or spew the stars like silver froth
Then let the darkness steal the day
For it cocoons a golden moth

Darling, we will not haste tonight
Tomorrow, let then come what may
The darkness holds its own delight
Then let the darkness steal the day

Janet~


A Quatern is a sixteen-line French form composed of four quatrains. It is similar to the Kyrielle and the Retourne. It has a refrain that revolves to a different place in each quatrain. The first line of stanza one is the second line of stanza two, third line of stanza three, and fourth line of stanza four. A quatern usually has eight syllables per line. It does not have to be iambic, or follow a specific rhyme scheme.

Tonight...

Then let the darkness steal the day
And let it cover up the sky
Darling, it cannot steal away
The tender sparkle in your eye

Then let it lean against the hour
That shifts this day into the past
For it does not have the power
To seize the memories I clasp

Then let it swallow up the moon
Or spew the stars like silver froth
The dawn waits in its veiled cocoon
Unfolding like a golden moth

Then let the darkness steal the day
And brush its failures from my sight
Tomorrow, let then come what may
But darling, let’s not haste the night

Janet~

What He Didn't Know...

He didn’t know that Iowa
Would be more than the goal for his freight
He didn’t know that for the first time
In twenty-five years, he’d be late
He didn’t know as he waved good-by
To the little brown-eyed girl
Or the two men-in-training standing near-by
That he was waving good-by to his world
He didn’t know as he kissed his wife
Then climbed up into his cab
Like he had done many hundred times
Tossing his overnight bag
Into the bunk; his second home
Or his first, as the case often was
He didn’t know his five day trip
Was about to be cut short because
As he shifted through all those gears
Whistling Iowa-bound
He didn’t know he was leaving here
Headed for Higher Ground
And he didn’t know that Iowa
Would be where he drew his last breath
That for an Ontario country boy
It would be the home of his death

Janet~

In memory Brad S.
Passed away Jan. 25, 2012
Age 46
due to a sudden heart attack.

Vision of the Past

Site for picture:http://www.jimfogarty.co.uk/Odd%20Bits%20Page.htm
http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif

I cannot return to who I was
And even if I could
It wouldn’t be the same
The willow tree with the old rope swing
Is nothing but a lucent limb
Its sigh a page in my memory
A tear in Time’s rushing stream
With the laughter of neighborhood children
Gathered to recline and dream
And the hours, carefree and golden
Slipping heedlessly through Augusts’ glass...
...but now where the proud willow tree once sprawled
There is nothing but wind-blown grass
Where, across its grave the younglings dash
Unaware of its hallowed space
Or the roots beneath decaying to soil
While years mark a woman’s face
Yet still, crystal clear in her mind is a world
And the sound of a young girls cry
‘oh, how I do love to go up in a swing,
Up to the clear, blue sky’

I cannot return to who I was
It wouldn’t be the same, you see
Yet, I am who I am because of who I was
On my way to who I’m going to be…

Janet~

A Child's Lesson in Patience

You can water the flowers
To make them grow
There is nothing to do
But wait; for snow

To catch a fish
You dip a hook in the pond
For snow you wish
Into the blue beyond

Patience, my child
For soon you will say
I wish the snow
Would melt away…

Janet

There is very little snow on the ground, much to the frustration of many children waiting with toboggans, sleds, skis, snow-boards, skates…

As soon as we get a substantial snowfall it is followed by rain.

The use of out-door rinks is finally beginning!