Wednesday, September 10, 2014

Of Gifts and Givers...




 Working at some canning this evening, listening to the rain and thinking...
 
Imagine receiving a gift, turning it over in your hands, marveling and exclaiming at its loveliness but never turning to acknowledge or thank the giver. Imagine if we gave a gift and the recipient dashed off after snatching it out of our hands without a backward glance or smile or thank-you…

He fills the dawn with daylight
He fills the night with rest
He fills the seed with what we need
Before we make request

He refills while we empty
He spills; we take and eat
He wills; and we go forth, He fills
The hills with meadow-sweet   

He tilts the fount of blessing
To shower us with grace
We drink and often never think
About a Giver’s face

He opens wide His storehouse
And fills the earth with plants
Fruit tumbles to our humble reach
In spite of ignorance

How gross our utter wanting
How base our needy ways
To take yet never bow our heads
Or lift to God our praise

© Janet Martin

I know I shared this song a little while ago but it bears a repeat...


We Call This Piece September



 (September feels like cello music to me)

...the first line came to me as I watched  from my dentist chair perch this morning; yellowing branches strumming the sky outside the window...

The Fellow in the yellow on the Cello
Plays a musk-dusk mellow tune
Gone is the lilt of the doggerel spilt
To budding May and June

Now, the fellow in the yellow on the cello
Draws his bow across the strings
In minor key, its melody
Like fireside evenings

And we pause because he draws our thoughts
To Time's sun-burnished art
for the fellow in the yellow on the cello writes
In whispers of the heart

…and we call this piece September; we remember
Why we love it so
As we linger licking fingers dipped in apple and ginger
And slow, slow letting go

© Janet Martin

...or in our case, tomatoes and icing;))


Ah, Today



...yes, even root-canals are a blessing in disguise! At least that's what I'm telling myself as I prepare to leave for the dentist. ;)

The Past is brushed away
The future lies before
Beneath our touch Time draws Today
And lays it on earth’s floor

The Past has shaped what is
The Future none can claim
But ah, Today; what Awesomeness
Permits its very name

The Past no man can reach
The Future is likewise
But ah, Today; what grace beseeches
Us to recognize

…what soon will spill to Past
From threads no hand yet held
While 'ah, today' slips through our grasp
As moments mutely meld

...to heart-scapes of the Past
The Future threads Time's loom
Where Today's font falls free and fast
...Past is a gaping tomb

© Janet Martin

Today's Exhortation...

 We urge you, brethren, admonish the unruly, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with everyone. See that no one repays another with evil for evil, but always seek after that which is good for one another and for all people.…1 Thess.5:14-15


The Overcomer of Summer



The Overcomer of summer steals
Across earth's slope on phantom reels
Of dawn to dusk; the sumac feels
Her easy touch and blushes
Where winsome green of younger days
Surrenders to the subtle ways
Of change while an orchestra plays
Amongst the stalwart rushes

The Overcomer of summer slips
Like laughter where the blue sky drips
With pleasantness; we part our lips
To drink its willing wishes
Where sadly, suddenly we taste
The bittersweet of moment-haste
Strawberry wine evaporates  
In draughts of farewell kisses

The Overcomer of summer strolls
Where violet dusk and vesper lolls
And crick-cricket cadence cajoles
The earliness of evening
Behind us now the field is stripped
And orchards bow while we tight-lipped
Acknowledge what has softly slipped
Beyond the reach of being

The Overcomer of Summer laughs
We cling to things like photographs
as Her sun-dappled autographs
Distract us from mere hours
while all along, though we ignored
The certainty of Her reward
She leads us lady-like toward
A garden without flowers

© Janet Martin



Last night I tugged my sunflower jungle from the garden. I hope it has not yet re-seeded too profusely! They were oh so very friendly and oh so bossy for they really do take over a garden if allowed!

 We are wrapped in a pink blanket this morning...

Tuesday, September 9, 2014

Truth-teller




It is such a secret place, the land of tears. ~Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, The Little Prince 


You are no liar
Though oft we aspire
To veil your
Vulnerability
With prattle of speech
Or laughter, we reach
To quell your
Silver sea


Still, your language speaks
Upon our cheeks
Its common voice
Runs clear
Without a word
Love’s aching hurt
Is uttered in
A tear

© Janet Martin


 Tears are words the heart can't express. ~Author Unknown

 Those who sow with tears will reap with songs of joy. Ps. 126:5