Vision

If we would catch one fleeting glimpse of Him

Nothing but the shadow of His glory and His might

We would bend harder to the humble task at hand

And seek more earnestly His given command

We would loathe the wrong and love the right

If we would catch but one fleeting glimpse of Him

If we would see Him walking across the field

With the Reaper’s sickle in His out-stretched reach

We would bow, forsaking all fickle earthly ties

Trembling beneath the gaze of loving, holy eyes

We would run to seek His law to teach

If we would see Him walking across the field

If we would see the table in Heaven’s Banquet Hall

We would not desire the secret crumbs we crave

But eat the Bread and drink the Cup of His suffering

Knowing that all earthly loss is heaven’s rejoicing

And we would not fear a cold and lonely grave

If we could see the table in Heaven’s Banquet Hall

If we, for one brief twinkle of the eye

Could behold but a fleeting glimpse of Him

The measure of this world could never begin to hold

Anything more desirable than Him in silver or gold

Its lure would instantaneously grow feeble and dim

If we could behold but one fleeting glimpse of Him

© Janet Martin

  Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter:

Fear God and keep His commandments,
For this is man’s all.

For God will bring every work into judgment,
Including every secret thing,
Whether good or evil. 

Eccles. 12:13-14

Peaches on my Mind

Like the nectar of peach

Let it run from my chin

A smile on my taste buds

Sweet satisfaction

May I savor each morsel

And not waste one drip

Of this beautiful moment

On my fingertip

***

 Peach-coral dawn climbs into the blue

Mist-laden valleys don a silver-pink hue

Breath-taking mercy swings wide morning’s gate

Lessons of faith and forgiveness a-wait

Trust in the Lord, His love does not fail

Soon the dark night will again draw its veil

And dusk will descend in a peach-coral sea

One day nearer to eternity

***

I’m thinking the fruit

That hung within Eve’s reach

To tempt her so

Was a sun-warmed peach

***

 Soon the peach sweetness of summer will fade

I sense a dusky-blue gaze

Whispering in the willow-wind shade

Lingering in deep, late-day haze

Hints of departure rush to the shore

Of late summer’s less crowded beach

I sense the creaking of a door

Still somewhere beyond our reach

Summer will last a few hours more

I savor another peach

© Janet Martin

Yesterday was 'beach day'...
Today it is 'peach day'!
Tomorrow...who knows, but One!

Being Us

It is not easy

Being us

The drum we hear

Though oft perceived

Is more often misunderstood

Yet we are drawn

Not of ourselves

To the path of its beat

And I ask only this

God, guide our feet

It’s not easy

Being us

We battle

Not so much with others

As with ourselves

Born as shy soloists

Struggling to harmonize

And join the melody

Of God’s

Beautiful choir

It’s not easy

Being us

My dearest daughter

A mother cannot always choose

What her child receives

So just  continue being 'beautiful you'…and sing

Returning to the Giver

The gifts He allows

Humbly, from us

To Him

© Janet Martin

Happy 18^th Birthday, Melissa 

Love, Mom

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding.

In all your ways submit to Him and He will make your paths straight. Prov. 3:5-6

Sonnet of Farewell

The aching twist of ‘knowing’ hovers low

Against the languid mellow yellow day

Over the hill a breath of moments flow

Stealing another gasp of life away

Bloom by falling bloom the moments pass

One lonely cricket serenades the hour

As August surges swiftly through its glass

Laden with tears of summer’s faded flow’r

I shed my own; Time’s unrelenting pace

Plucks summer’s thinning shroud from my embrace

***

The solo cricket-lay is amplified

Into the hush its chirping cantos swell   

Filling the shadow-lengthened countryside

With affirmation of summer’s farewell

Where latent hints of gold and scarlet brood

Beneath the placid flush of sighing green

Too soon the gale will howl through rustling wood

Stripping the petal-garb from nature’s queen

I too feel stripped: Time is a brute uncouth

It snatches up the remnant of my youth

***

Breath by breath and tick by ticking tock

The fullest hour shrinks and disappears

The rigid order of Time’s austere clock

Expands its swift demise to days and years

The goldenrod replaces daffodil

But soon it drops its gaudy, burnished plume

Surrendering to autumn’s painted chill

Thus seasons file across earth’s living-room

I too surrender; pleading with Time is vain

And if it wills, summer will come again

© Janet Martin

Thoughts and sounds of the day and evening...

Of Other Loves

Sometimes when I try to hate you

Up to my elbows in duty

You overtake me completely

By your innocent beauty

Sometimes, when I try to ignore you

And wipe away your taunt

You stroll before my firm employ

 Languid, nonchalant

Sometimes, when our eyes meet

And you fill every thought

I still pretend that I don’t care

Neither one tittle nor jot

But then, oh then sometimes I know

It is no use to fight

Ah pen, poetry, I love you so

…and I write

and I write

and I write

© Janet Martin

Evening Vesper

It tips against the evening sky

The edge of Time and all its girth

A crimson-tinted lullaby

In breathless nuance bathes the earth

The progress of man’s centuries

Lies mute ‘neath Eden’s unmarred dome

As Heaven spills its mysteries

In foreshadows of things to come

Man cannot blemish heaven’s floor

The thief of hours cannot steal

The brush from He who holds the Door

Through which vague shades of glory peal

It fingers twilight’s solitude

In pure and unrestrained caress

A timeless masterpiece renewed

In sundry tones of awesomeness

The sheaves of harvest deck the sod

As just and unjust taste its fare

The wondrous handiwork of God

Spills freely on the evening air

Unto its breadth we lift our eyes

A glorious and gilded scrim

Twixt toil and tears and Paradise

We behold whispers of Him

© Janet Martin

The heavens declare the glory of God;
    the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
Day after day they pour forth speech;
    night after night they reveal knowledge.  
 They have no speech, they use no words;
    no sound is heard from them.
Yet their voice goes out into all the earth,
    their words to the ends of the world.
In the heavens God has pitched a tent for the sun.
    It is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber,
    like a champion rejoicing to run his course. 
 It rises at one end of the heavens
    and makes its circuit to the other;
    nothing is deprived of its warmth.

Psalms 19:1-6
 

A Request

His mercy is new every morning....

Throughout this day Lord, help us say

Only kind and gentle things

May our hearts trust You, Oh God

As we face what this new day brings

And if the eventide should splay

Once more across the land and sea

And the wee hours we call today

Deepen and fold to history

May we have served with willing hands

And offered You a servant’s heart

Then as the twilight sweeps earth’s sands

Oh, may we know we did our part

© Janet Martin

Dance to the Music

Dance to the music God gives you

A montage of moments is brief

Soon its lay will drift away

A whisper on autumn’s leaf

List’ to the melody playing

And do not ignore its worth

Tomorrow’s sorrows are waiting

To strip the lip of its mirth

The music of this life is fleeting

We see not the end of its song

But we hear drums repeating

Eternity is long

…is long…is long…is long…

© Janet Martin



Sing to the LORD a new song; sing to the LORD, all the earth. Psalms 96: 1