An Echo's Silhouette

  

Tonight my love, the dark is ravenous for thoughts lonely and blue

When will the curse of longing wane without the want of you

I cannot dare to bleed in ink the breadth of what is not

Nor am I brave enough to bare the hunger of my thought

The music of a memory my love, is bittersweet

Like midnight when the moonlight and the dark of night compete

Or pictures on a heart-wall or an echo’s silhouette

…to think that once I thought perhaps someday I would forget

The habits of an hour remain staid, its firm discourse

Brushes a thousand afternoons to naught in soundless force

Before becomes the after; we are always in-between

The morrow’s sure uncertainty and yesterday’s ‘has been’

Laughter, like paper covers can offer a thin disguise

But it can never hide those frames we see behind closed eyes

Tonight my love, the dark is ravenous, the wind is blue

…to think that once I thought perhaps I would stop missing you

© Janet Martin

Three Little Words...

How swift those little feet traverse Time's eager street, Lord teach us what to say before they dash away

After she stepped from the van I wished I could exchange those three words 'and be careful' with these instead...

It doesn’t take long to say it;

Three little words will do

Why do we often forget then?

To speak it; ‘I love you’

Such a small moment to tell it,

Yet, is there a whisper more dear

Than three little words ‘I love you’

That we would desire to hear?

Before this day slips from its tether

This one thing we all ought to do

Utter while we are together

Three little words, ‘I love you’

© Janet Martin

Because Every Day is a New Gift From God

We are not worthy yet o’er star-strewn sky

Grace gently brushes night-shadows awry

Where is this vault from whence Time flows, how deep?

Where is the spigot from whence hours weep?

We do not know when will toll parting’s song

But this we do; time is short, death is long

How will we touch then and how will we fill

This gift of grace from a Giver’s good will?

See how its river of light sweeps the sky?

See how it rushes in silent good-bye?

See, where the land was cupped in midnight’s hold

How it is brimming in beckoning gold?

We dare not squander this heaven-lent Thing

None are entitled to Time’s offering

But from a place none can mete or control

God pours His mercy into night’s dark bowl   

May we be zealous and gratitude shod

Because every day is a new gift from God

© Janet Martin

Life's Little Lovelinesses

A quick walk to the mechanic to pick up the van gifted me with our first wild-bloom bouquet of the year! Then I read Margie's poem and couldn't resist spreading this Binding of Loveliness

We walk beneath noon’s azure wreath

And woodland’s leaf-green tresses

Wild flowers bloom where we consume

Life’s little lovelinesses

We cannot buy or own the sky

And none claims the caresses

of melodies strung on lithe breeze

...life’s little lovelinesses

The windowsill is bare until

The fruit of bud re-blesses

Our empty jars with petal-stars

…life’s little lovelinesses

The air is drenched with song unclenched

Where bird and blossom dresses

The barren earth with nature’s mirth

…life’s little lovelinesses

Dear Lord, I praise Your sundry ways
Of healing our distresses
As you deploy in leaf-spun joy
Life's little lovelinesses

© Janet Martin

Off to rid the garden of some ‘un-loveliness’ while 'little guy' sleeps...

Remember, There Is a God in Heaven

Remember, there is a God in Heaven who loves us no matter what! From the above message by Charles Stanley

When we do what we ought to do

Instead of what we want

When we, with tear-and-groaning rue

Battle temptation’s taunt

Remember, we are not alone

Nor do we fight in vain

For God abides on Heaven’s throne

Our struggle to sustain

When we think that we want to quit

And cannot bear the load

That presses on our little bit

Of will-and-want fraught road

Remember, there is One who knows

The intent of each hurt

And He is greater than the woes

Tormenting Time’s wee dirt

When gods clad in self-righteous cloth

Distract us with their guile

And we are tempted to think both

Can be served for a while

Remember, God in Heaven gives

us courage, strength and hope

And He equips us all our lives

With what we need to cope

© Janet Martin

  Above all else, guard your affections. For they influence everything else in your life. Prov. 4:23 LB

And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.Romans 8:28