Sojourners of Time

 (a rather shaky recording of golden moments falling;)

We gather, God, beneath Thy gaze

To tread life’s oft perplexing maze

Of highs and lows, of joys and woes

A mystical design

in hand-me-downs and wedding gowns

and flowers gilding summer’s crown

before the burnished laying down

of beauty from the vine

Yet, in this deft deliverance

from circumstance to circumstance

we will endure; we are secure

within a Master’s keep

as we behold the green and gold

and wonderment as seasons fold

from dust to dust, a transient hold

where garnered eons sleep

The Hand from which mute moments flow

like leaf-wrought flakes of golden snow

on summer’s lake, will not forsake

sojourners of Time’s charms

where soon we learn, its no return

requires grace we cannot earn

as we live, labor, love and yearn

toward His outstretched arms

© Janet Martin

...let men consider the steadfast love of the Lord. Ps. 107:43

Of Filament and Free-fall

Brooding breeze like melodies
of distant stream flows through the trees
as marigold in bold festoon
embellishes the afternoon
where wistful tone of willow moans
shedding its first free-fall of tears
and moments run beneath the sun
shaping the filament of years

Sumac wild-fire obscures cricket choir
collaborating; indolent quagmire  

of patient prelude to summer subdued
and innocence lost in its tune
as magenta dusk and dewy musk
mingle, a dissonant duet
of poplar tress and tear-caress
in twilight’s bluesy silhouette

 where you and I beneath a sky

of timeless Time ponder the why  
and wherefore of a wide-flung door

leading into forevermore
from this kaleidoscope of hope
and moment joy and sorrow

caught in between what once has been

and mystery of the morrow

© Janet Martin

Sing a Song of August

Sing a song of August

Peaches in a pie

Chicory-lined ditches

Monarch butterfly

Harvest to the silo

Bare-feet by the brook

Crickets-incognito

Wild-bloom laden nook

Sweet corn for our supper

Blue-sky opulence

Growing ever softer

In autumn’s advance

Ballad of bronze pastures

Sunflower festoon

Summer's spiraled laughter

Like honey from a spoon

Leaf-song in the woodland

Sea-song on the beach

Love-song keenly pulsing

As they slip from our reach

Sing a song of August

Cloying melody

Of summer softly slipping

Into our memory

© Janet Martin

Of Farewells and Kisses

No rustling of garments, no prints in the grass

No slamming of doors, yet how surely you pass

Hiding in daydreams, in midnight’s still dark

Brushing the morning and tuning the lark

You take our hand while we, quite unaware

Allow you to run rampant years through our hair

As we clutch the reins of duty and desire

You touch hills and plains with your autumnal fire

Ah, where do you come from and where do you go?

Where is the spigot from which moments flow?

Down from the heavens and out to a sea

Empires of soundless supremacy

No one can subdue your arabesque clout

Travail and triumph pour from the same spout

Yet in the mute, mystic, maddening sweep

Of constant departure, we find things to keep

Time; you leave tender trophies in your path

Echo of dances in your aftermath

Locket where laughter, love, learning and grace

Softens your stubble as you kiss our face

© Janet Martin

Mute Melody

Milkweed is mantled in mauve-silver mist

Summer is tucked like a child softly kissed

Hazy, the noon sighs and slips to a page

Of chapters forgotten in blue-strife and sage

Darling, to clench our fists and rebel

Will not refund seasons or deter farewell

Crimson and bronze escort green by the arm

Autumn steals summer in ravishing charm

Hope finds new wings; we bow and Believe

For we are all children of Adam and Eve

Dusk spills its vesper onto musky breeze

Darling, how quickly Time weaves memories

I sense Time’s touch re-arranging the air

Running red ribbons through summer’s gold hair

The dissonant murmur of autumn-pretext

Tangles within me; a summer-heart vexed

With whispers, my darling, and mute melodies

Shaping the hour into memories

© Janet Martin

Melody

Of Mulled Moments

Just one more week until the next school-year begins, we say

Yet, who can guarantee that we have even one more day

To dance in dusty gardens or to pause on cricket-stage

And who can say for certain we will turn tomorrow’s page?

We drink life’s little moments but we oft forget to taste

We dash through darling summer in an absent-minded haste

The cup of duty over-flows; the green is turning gold

God, teach us how to make the most of moments in our hold

Work, worry, want and wander-lust; perplexing doggerel

With summer mulling dreams and dust into winsome farewell

The orchard bends with harvest and the hour brims with hope

Lord, teach us how to taste this little moment in our cup

© Janet Martin

Before We Dream or Dance

Image Source

Before the sun has sped the girth

Of day, and sinks beneath the earth

‘Ere yester’s future fades to past

As dusk lowers its gleaming mast

Before we place our wantonness

Against the grace of morning tress

To taste the essence of an hour

Before we bend to pluck its flow’r

Or touch our feet to unknown’s path

Before midnight’s mute aftermath

Reclaims life's roses and romance

Before we dare to dream or dance 

Before slumber seals to the air

The pictures we have painted where

No brush or force can wipe the slate

Before we rush to heap our plate 

Before we even try to stand

Lord, let us reach to take your hand

© Janet Martin

“The Lord bless you and keep you;
 The Lord make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
 The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.” Numbers 6: 24-26

Birthday Poem for Daughter

A daughter like you

Is a blessing from God

Beautiful, gentle

Patient and kind

We wish His goodness

Wherever you trod

And dear, precious daughter

We pray you will find

Hopes to inspire

And dreams to come true

Courage to climb higher

In whatever you do

And always remember

Wherever you go

We love you, dear daughter

Much more than you know

Mom and Dad~

Happy 19th Birthday, Melissa