Willing...

I would be willing to drink for a while

The warm mellow, yellow

Of May’s genteel smile

And I would be willing to let the hour pass

Lounging on pillows

Of earth-scented grass

Beneath budding tresses of willow-tree sigh

The back-drop an azure

And cloud-coddled sky

Where nothing would wander from this perfect spot

But the pleasures I ponder

In the garden of thought

© Janet Martin

Temple or God?

  

Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies. 1 Cor. 4: 19-20

I flip through a myriad

Of glossy facade

And I wonder if our bodies

Are a temple

Or god

No mention made

Of the heaven-breathed dust

As air-brushed perfection

Arouses our lust

Look ten years younger!

Feel like twenty-four

Eat all you want

And lose inches galore

Laser to rob us

From the laugh-lines of life

There is Botox to numb

Or transformation of knife

Because looking your age

Is becoming a crime

None should surrender

To the soft touch of time

Cosmetics to paint

What cannot be ‘helped’

A vitamin drink

Is a miracle, gulped

Bleach, dye, remove

We are commodities

In the world’s most thriving

Of industries

As photo-shop images

Seduce the mind

In a quest that is hopeless

For we cannot find

Life’s rich contentment

In this transient facade

If our body becomes

Not the temple, but

A god…

© Janet Martin

Yes, I totally believe in taking care of our bodies…

because they are ‘a temple…’

God, let me not be so consumed by it that it becomes a god…

Thank-you Glynis...

Without the encouragement and editing
of a friend, kind and dear
The article I attempted
would not be here...

Janet Martin

Greatest

We shall overcome

Not by the merit

Of what we have done

But because of He

Who abides within

As He sets us free

From the power of sin

Thus by His Grace

He fills us with worth

For greater is He

Than any on this earth

Who ever were

Or yet will be

Greater

Oh, greater

Much greater is He

© Janet Martin

You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. 1 John 4:4

Hallowed Might

Over the foot-path of time-weathered sod
Onward and upward and homeward we plod
Many a danger and many a care
And many an angel attending our prayer

Into Your hands oh God, we place our trust
We are frail creatures of longing and dust
But You promise mercy that never shall cease
Your tender assurances whispering peace

Take our fear, God, remove our doubt
Be our Vision within and without
For You never leave us; we never escape
Your tender visage in each breath we take

Kind, tender shepherd, may each precious sheep
Heed to your Voice and the watch that You keep
May it bring us comfort; in life's darkest night
As we feel the Presence of hallowed might

Janet

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death
I will fear no evil,
for Thou art with me.
Thy rod and Thy staff, they comfort me. Ps. 23:4

April's Demise

We welcome it today

Ten thousand circle-kisses

Silver-gray

Fading out the

Lingering fringes

Of April’s demise

Settling vagabond dust

In a green paradise

As bud-vaults expand

Into venturing leaves

Softening the land

Still cradling seeds

Washing the world

In a river of gray

As April fades into

The embrace of May

© Janet Martin

On the last day of April we are enjoying our first true April Shower...we have had  brief periods of rain but nothing that lasted even an hour! This is a good 'soak-er'! thank-you God.

A Parent's Advice...

My dears, these are not merely ‘parental recitals’

That we compose for your indulgence

But they are a proffering of hind-sight

From life's biter-sweet divulgence

The 'advice' we seek to give you

Is not invented for your torment

But rather, with hope that its whisper

Will be a cherished, worthy instrument

My dears, though you may think we’re out-dated

And don’t really grasp today’s truth

The generation gap is a bridge of experience

Back to untried wisdom of youth

Dream on youth’s grand, blue ocean

Sail for that uncharted realm

But keep our whisper within your reach

And remember Who abides in the helm

© Janet Martin

Reflectively Yours...

Poetics Aside asks us to write a fading away poem

When the bitter-sweet pangs of parting

Have eased their grip on my heart

When the tears that threaten behind my smile

Have quietly played their part

When the sound of the door as it closes

And the click of the latch as it locks

Leaves me with nothing but memories

And the perpetual ticking of clocks

I shall retrace us: not in sorrow

But with humble gratitude

That God saw fit to touch me a bit

With the beautiful gift of… you

© Janet Martin