Music...

   

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The music of earth fills us with pain and pleasure

Orchestra playing life’s seasons and song

But someday when we leave its mimed moment-measure

The music of heaven will welcome us home

The music of earth moves us in awe and longing

Imperfect mantras of passion and need

But oh, sweet someday when the music of heaven

Ever will ring in perfect harmony

The music of earth spawns a heavenly yearning

Over and over its chorus we crave

The music of heaven will never stop ringing

Praising our God who is mighty to save

The music of earth draws us on in life’s journey

Cheering us upward in its melody

Nearer and nearer to that blest Beginning

Where only the music of heaven will be

© Janet Martin

Dear Alma, lover of the Lord and music is in heaven now.

Her daughter, gifted pianist played at Emily’s wedding. While Emily said ‘I do’ Alma’s husband placed a tender farewell kiss on his beloved’s lips…

I was so disappointed to miss her funeral. She was a dear woman.

Like Moments in a Madrigal...

Time wends its way across the day

It tints the tress of tree and such

A staid discourse of subtle force

And suddenly I miss your touch

The chamber of an autumn noon

Expands the echo of your sigh

I wish that I could see you soon

And end these hollows of good-bye

How swift the hour shapes a year

And none its measure can foretell

But sometimes I wish you were here

Instead of in this long farewell

An ocean-worth of leaves can fall

Without a sound; they take their place

Like moments in a madrigal

Of wishing I could touch your face

Janet~

Falling Like Echoes...

Autumn

Bleeds

Auburn

Its pain

Tender-sweet

Falling

Like echoes

Of childhood

At our feet

Janet~

There's something 'bout fall that makes me feel like a kid again .

Mr. Autumn

Hello Mr. Autumn, you empty your pockets

In leaf-song and rain-song and splashes of sun

You are a piper; we dance in your shadow

Guile-less seduction of beauty and brawn

Oh Mr. Autumn, you tease us and please us

We almost forget who your successor is

Pumpkin-pie pleasure, apple-orchard treasure

Oh Mr. Autumn, how fine is your kiss

Dear Mr. Autumn, bronze arm ‘round our shoulders

Lest we’re distracted by noon’s brooding chill

You lure our gaze to the raiment of woodlands

We’re soon mesmerized by your vexatious thrill

Sweet Mr. Autumn, like kindness of strangers

You touch us and we don’t know what to say

While ever so deftly you run rampant fingers

Over our eyes before slipping away

© Janet Martin

Autumn...

Autumn is in the garden

In every nook and rill

And autumn is in the brooding cloud

Above the ragged hill

Autumn is in the valley, dear

River of ruddy leaf

Whispers beneath the wanderer

In rustling rainbow sheaf

Autumn is in the brook, child

Autumn is in the field

And autumn is the orchard where

We garner summer’s yield

Autumn is in your eyes, love

Autumn is in your kiss

And autumn is in the aching teardrop

As we reminisce

© Janet Martin

Of Veils and Tides...

 Morning dawned, an orange crease in black...it seems the wall of cloud is reluctant to dissipate...

The veil that drew across the fell

Where past and tomorrow ally

Recedes; as from the mystic swell

Of time a new day fills the sky

The awesome import of its grace

Where expectation spars with dreams

Anoints our weariness; we trace

The skyline where a new day gleams

This gifted chance to live and love

Compels us to return with zest

To labor in the treasure trove

Of heaven’s merciful bequest

…for soon the veil, if Time abides

Will snuff the hours that implore

But now in faith we forge its tides

To God the glory evermore

© Janet Martin

It is the LORD who created the stars, the Pleiades and Orion. He turns darkness into morning and day into night. He draws up water from the oceans and pours it down as rain on the land. The LORD is his name! Amos 5:8

Stilly the Flow'r is Dying...

Stilly, the flow’r is dying

Spring’s feathery first-fruit

Under bare branch are lying

Returning to its root

Stilly the hours are garnered

To Storehouses of Time

Its rivers running rampant

Abhorrent with sublime

Stilly, autumn is waning

The brook cradles its grief

The breeze, a somber maiden

Severing limb from leaf

Surely, hearts are a garden

For as life’s seasons pass

Stilly its petals gather

Where memories amass

© Janet Martin

My day did not turn out as I thought it would. Due to an unexpected visit to the Dr. with Matt (nothing serious) and then car trouble on the way home (our mechanic is a few doors down from us:-) I did not make it to my friend's mom's funeral. Instead Matt and I began trimming away the tired blooms in front of the house.

'Tis Morning Now...

‘Tis morning now and where the mist

Of autumn’s midnight filled the sky

A new day dawns all heaven-kissed

With hope and grace for you and I

…and who can know what will befall

Before its velvet veil descends

And dusk extols its madrigal

As yet another chapter ends

They come to pass, each moment-chant

The pulse that draws us nearer where

No longer evening shadows slant

Upon earth’s swift, four-season stair

Tis morning now; a day of grace

Expands to light earth’s little shore

The fulcrum of Time’s brief embrace

Our ticket to forevermore

‘Tis morning now; and who can dare

To squander it, for who can tell

Which step will lead from here to There?

So take this day and live it well

© Janet Martin

My friend’s mother will be laid to rest today…after the service we will return to the calling of Time, but only for a little while.