Saturday, November 24, 2012

Cut to the Quick



 

Cut to the quick
By your half-grin
And all that
Words can
Never say…

Cut to the quick
Oh darling,
Who knew
Love could hurt
This way?

Cut to the quick
By whispered nothings
Held in
Prelude
To your kiss

Cut to the quick
Oh my darling
Love is a
Double-edged
Bliss

© Janet Martin

November Landscape (repost)





The ground is white this morning...a year ago I posted this poem at the first snowfall.


The wind has gleaned its harvest
And every tree is bare
Save for the golden birch leaf
A-drift on stringent air
The hour-glass of autumn
Has almost run its course
The gale, a moaning phantom
Upon a restless horse
 
The stillness of November
The silence of the soil
Breathes cold and moody splendor
On earth, stripped of its spoil
While orchard, field and vineyard
Like ghost-towns of the west
Are quiet now and empty
As laborers seek their rest

Departure and arrival
Converge in soundless flight
As autumn becomes winter
In nature’s surge of white
An aching fills our bosoms
In humble thankful prayer
We lift our hearts to heaven
And thank him for His care

Janet Martin

The Truth About Us...



 image source: islandnet.com

Poetics Aside Prompt: Take the phrase “The Truth About (blank),” replace the blank with a new word or phrase, make the new phrase the title of your poem, and then, write the poem.

Longing is that part
Of being human
That can never be entirely met
But it spurs the dreamer
To the dream
And keeps us looking
Ahead

I have found a reprieve
Of sorts
For the greater longing
Within
It bleeds in
Ink-drops shaping words
Its crux; a pen

The truth about us
Is nothing new
Too soon we all grow old
But longing
Drives us from the warmth
To search
In bitter cold

© Janet Martin

The Truth about Women

Poetics Aside Prompt: Take the phrase “The Truth About (blank),” replace the blank with a new word or phrase, make the new phrase the title of your poem, and then, write the poem.
This movie is a family favorite at our house...

We were supposed to be watching
Shop around the Corner
But suddenly I saw her
In my peripheral view
As she watched the movie
Twixt chatter and knitting
Suddenly it hit me
She is growing up too

For one wink a girl
Then forever a woman
I study her profile
Her nose, her chin
Somewhere between breakfast
And warm hugs at bedtime
Suddenly I wonder
When did it begin?

She turns to look at me
The woman inside her
Is restless and eagerly
Waiting to bloom
She does not know
Of the urge rushing through me
To hold back the moments
The hours consume

Inside every girl
Is the bud of a woman
Time will unfold
Its intent willingly
Inside every woman
In spite of the ages
Is part of the girl
That she used to be

© Janet Martin




Friday, November 23, 2012

Making Love

 
...There

On the floor
Where the full moon
Spills
 A silver aureole
I lie
Staring out
At the night
A big black hole
Where ‘good-bye,
I love you’
Whispers from the phone
The miles morph
Between us
And we are not alone
Sometimes making love
Comes with a great price
But the true language of love
Is sacrifice

© Janet Martin

November Song of Praise





Praise Him, the meadow is stripped of its harvest
Praise Him, the orchard is plucked of its fruit
Praise Him, the chill wind roams, cold through the woodlot
Where summer’s soft leaf-song lies still at the root
Praise Him though flaunt of the garden has withered 
As gray and brown pigment fills the Painter’s brush
Praise Him; the beauty of autumn’s departure
Bleeds on the landscape in somnolent hush

Praise him; His grace is not ‘but for a season’
Praise him; His hope makes our journey worthwhile
Sunshine and suffering both have their reason
The gauntlet to glory is worth every mile
Praise Him; though chill of the twilight is weeping
Tears on the windowpane, snuffing daylight
Praise Him; for safe in the Master’s kind keeping
Are all of His children; none lost to His sight

Praise Him in glad times or seasons of waiting
Wise is the blue-print of patience-wrought faith
Praise Him; though fathoms lie twixt earth and heaven
His love surrounds us in a hallowed wraith
Praise Him; the color of autumn’s abating
Settles against the backdrop of lost charms
Time treads the corridor of God’s creating
We tread the pathway that leads to His arms

© Janet Martin

Thank-you for Those Things We Never Know

 (my cousin had this picture in her room when I was a wee, wee girl and this is what I visualize when I think about guardian angels)

My hubby just called. He is in northern Ont.in a blizzard. He was up all night getting his truck(loaded with cattle) out of a ditch where he nearly rolled it! He said it was SO close, but he and the livestock are okay now and waiting out the storm. Praying for all the 'trucker-daddies' today.AND all the busy tow-truck drivers. what would we do without you?

Thank-you God for all those times
we grumble, fret and chafe
unaware of angels
you have sent to keep us safe

We see but with the naked eye
and we will never grasp
how oft Your tender mercy
intervenes on our behalf

Janet Martin~

Dig Deep

 Photo

The skies above are blue and bomb-free. My house is my home and my mortgage is not rent.

I am thankful one thousand times over for my two sons. They taught me why patience is a virtue and why  cars have insurance. Sons are pride and joy wrapped  in, "What now?" gift paperRaining Iguanas 
(with a blog name like that you've simply GOT to check it out:)

I picked a few favorite lines from a post I just read and it has caused me to

Dig Deep...
Past the fear and frustration
That attempts to steal our peace
Past the spoil of tiring toil
to a tender place of release
where we trace with humble thought
the countless gifts of love
bestowed; in moment-measured grace
From portals up above

Janet~