The Morning of the Second Day of The New Year

And now the spout that doles time’s days has dripped one measure’s worth

Of this New year into that winsome, winding far-off firth

A glimmer from yon quiver to a shimmer that we chase

My, my, how swift the skyline dips to kiss dusk’s drowsy face

The scale that weighs the ways of men tips either left or right

The morning of the second day unveils its appetite

We stretch our mouths to drink anew from Bygone’s brimming base

Accepting invitations that oft thoughtless, we embrace

God’s laughter rends the sash that binds the darkness to the air

The tears we weep caught in His hands and held with utmost care

Where heaven gapes with gold; its mold of hope a shaping place

My, my how swift its morning and its evening interlace

Dawn's white-capped moments murmur like a summer full of sea

We gaze with sacred honor on its sweep of mystery

That soon will spill its fill until twilight droops to erase

With hue of deep, deep, deeper blue this second day of grace 

 

…but now the spout that doles Today is rife with Mercy’s mete

God claps His hands and lays Love’s fortune ‘neath our fumbling feet

Time's street, a holy highway that no new day will retrace

My, my, how we should try to run full-well its gifted race

© Janet Martin

Of Unmarred Now...

 The East its lowered bars withdrew and ushered to our arms, time's New! Happy 2015!

 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 1 Pet.1:3

Upon the prow of unmarred Now

Beams hope’s unblemished grace

Still, soon its air will sadly wear

Our scratches on its face

Man’s polished way too soon falls prey

To disappointment’s chill

His shoulder bent with discontent

And error-smitten will

Time disappears; Auld Lang Syne cheers

And bids the old adieu

As on the prow of unmarred Now

We dare to dream anew

For without hope, how can we cope?

And what bids us pursue

That which yet waits beyond the gates

If we disdain the New?

Upon the prow of unmarred Now

Kindly, the New Year gleams

As we press hard to streets un-scarred

…touch plunders Mercy-streams

© Janet Martin

The Dance We Had...

I love you, time’s smooth sally        Unveiling moment-spheres

Since our farewell cannot unchain  The heart from yester-years

     Its wherefore and its therefore    Flowers, then falls away

   Where thought is like a wanderer        In fields of yesterday

    The banquet-hall of Bygone  Echoes with phantom cheers

   Where tender-sweet remembering  Kisses the cheek

with tears        …and I will always love you

Thus I am sweetly sad  Not because

   Past becomes us   But for

the dance we

 had

Janet~

                                                            

Humbly Glad

These kin-ships dear that mark the year

With hello-farewell friendly tear

Becomes the string to which we cling

In spite of Time’s insistent wing

Where night takes flight on morning light

And gathers wisdom in hindsight

Before the door to Past’s Before

Is swinging shut on never-more

 

…but still, the will to taste the thrill

Where morning spills both good and ill

Compels us to embrace the new

Before the blue-dusk avenue

Slips from our eyes as star-frothed skies

Induce a dreamer’s dreamy sighs

And makes us humbly glad to know

The God by whose grace all, we go

© Janet Martin

Love-torn...

I let go softly

But ever within

Harbor the echoes

Of ‘never-again’

Sweet happy-sadness

Ah this, I am told

Is the fond flip-side

Of love’s have-and-hold

Thought is a lover

That walks tenderly

Back to the places

Of what used to be

Still, from Time’s spigot

Spills hope ever-new

Filling our fingers

With fresh things to do

Thus, I am torn

At midnight’s dark door

Twixt what is waiting

And Time’s never-more

© Janet Martin