Questionku

Poetic Bloomings challenges us to attempt the questionku

Questionku is a new short form by Richard Lamoureux. By definition it consists of three lines:

Line one:  4 syllables.

Line 2:  5 syllables.

Line 3:  A 6-syllable question.

Questionku on The Wonder of Him

God holds the earth

He saves our souls

Why do we yet doubt Him?

***

God speaks; it IS

None can thwart His will

Is there any greater?

***

God loves us so

Beyond human grasp

Will we ignore His grace?

© Janet Martin

Where Do You Go and How? ...edited re-post

Where and how do you go, old year?

Running and thrumming and flying, my dear

Leaping and sleeping and crying, it’s clear

You have one destination in mind

Dashing and dancing, a skip and a whirl

Grinning and glancing, a trip and a twirl

Crooning and moaning, a swish and a swirl

With only your song left behind

Where do you go and how, dear sir

Spring, summer, fall and back to winter

Don't close your eyes for time is a blur

And slips through our fingers with glee

Where do you go and how, old year

Fleeter your foot with age now I fear

So cherish dear loved ones and hold them near

For Time offers no guarantee

Where do you go so swiftly now

Into the sky on the winds that blow

Never a curtsy, no wave or a bow

Silently into the night

Echo of laughter, of longing’s blue tear

Hope for tomorrow gleams on the New Year

Parting is such sweet sorrow, my dear

Softly you slip out of sight

Janet~

The Same, More or Less

 

Less negativity

More optimism

Less of me

And more of Him

Less grumbling

More thankfulness

Less harshness

More tenderness

Less criticism

More encouragement

Less procrastination

More confidence

Less waste

More care

Less haste

More prayer

Each day is a chance

More or less the same

It’s up to us

Which one we claim 

Janet~

It is Morning... 2013

It is morning

Somewhere in the dark

The old became new

It is morning

On the first page

Of a blank journal

It is morning

The end has become

The beginning

It is morning

And once again

By the grace of God go we

© Janet Martin

May God instill in us renewed desire and hope

To honor and glorify Him in 2013

  To him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy—  to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.  Jude 1:24-25

The Sunday Whirl...on Monday

The shards of fall are strewn about

Lining bronze banks along the creek

And winter gales brood from the south

Against stripped landscapes pallid cheek

The flame of autumn’s afterglow

Beneath Time’s tender, tangent kiss

Is mute; as stars in ice and snow

Bedazzle stricken emptiness

Moment to moment is betrothed

It will deliver in due time

A life; New Year is softly clothed

In ambiance of hope sublime

The aftermath of seasons bleed

Out to the point of no return

But tears of joy and sorrow knead

Life-lessons we are bound to learn

So pop the top and pour some cheer

Refurbish dim and dormant dream

For soon, too soon another year

Will drift to naught in Time’s swift stream

© Janet Martin

The Sunday Whirl

The Wonders of Love

There is no pride in love

No selfish vanity

To find its pure fulfillment

We must seek humility

There is no fear in love

And as it freely pours

It never empties but instead

Increases more and more

There is no guilt in love

But its vile tempter, lust

Will sully faultless purity

And rob the heart of trust

There is no greed in love

Nor self-sought indulgence

Yet Love succors our deepest need

In wondrous recompense

There is no loss in love

Its call, our greatest debt

The more we give to fellowman

The more and more we get

© Janet Martin

Humility needs no disguises

Pride screams to claim our view

What we think of ourselves is seen

By what we say and do

***

Love and lust
Are like oil and vinegar
They do not mix

***

Lust spawns gaping hunger
It is greedy and weak-willed
While love satisfies our longing
In its giving, we are fulfilled

***

Lust is a sign of weakness
Love is proof of strength

***

Squandering Second Thoughts

 

As softly I wander back over the year

I squander sweet second thoughts on you, dearest dear

Time’s subtle purloining seals each moment-gasp

Yet it cannot steal the fond memories I clasp

Here where the cold wind moans blue in the dark

I held your hand as we strolled through the park

I hold you still though the summer has fled

And all that remains is its song in my head

Down by the woodlot stark skeletal limbs

Reach for the echo of verdant midnight hymns

But all they can muster of their fallen grace

Are winter’s stiff bluster and a tear on my face

The gathering shadow cannot snuff your sigh

Though eve snuffs the daylight and dawn snuffs the night

And though Time’s purloining seals years in its clutch

It cannot steal the thought of you from my touch

© Janet Martin

This Year...

 

 Poetic Bloomings is eager to hear of our New Years Resolutions

(short version)

Help me Lord

To seek from above

Life’s lone measure of worth

Lord, teach me to love

(longer version)

This year I want to learn to love

Love fully, the moment unfolding from

Providence above

And to love you

Not coldly, from the outside in

But simply, in spite of myriad flaws

Because we are fellow-men

I want to slow down

And listen to the words

You do not dare to tell

But speak in hungry silences

I want to learn to listen well

Oh, I want to learn to love

Before you or I slip from this swell

This year I want to learn to love

…Love bears all things

In spite of us

It does not envy, boast

Or seek selfishly

Lord, teach me to love

Others, as you have loved me

Lord, teach me this four-letter word

With heart wide open

With vision un-blurred by

By greedy groping

What good is anything, its measure to prove

If I have never

Learned to love?

© Janet Martin

Why Me, Lord?