Of Each Newborn Day

Hail, hail the toll of morning’s bell

Our God did not forget

*The innocent brightness

Of a newborn day

Is lovely yet

From century to century

The dark dawn’s spark begets

And *the innocent brightness

Of a newborn day

Is lovely yet

Holy, holy, arise, my love

See what God’s grace hath let

Where *the innocent brightness

Of a newborn day

Is lovely yet

Time cannot dim the love of Him

Whereby its gauge is set

And *the innocent brightness

Of a newborn day

Is lovely yet

Arise, arise, for who can say
How many morns are left
Where *the innocent brightness

Of a newborn day

Is lovely yet

© Janet Martin

Inspired by *this line from a poem by William Wordsworth entitled Intimations of Immortality

Where? Here To There.

 

Where morning rings with newborn hope

And twilight tolls the death of days

Where seasons clothe then strip the slope

Where nature’s common rites amaze

Where rich and poor together bide

Time’s subtle tide; sun up, sundown

Where innocence is young, wide-eyed

And wisdom wears a hoary crown

Where pride spars with humility

Where greed and need war and pervade

Where bewildered humanity

Is too oft by exterior swayed

Where still the bud is filled with bloom

And strings its beauty over dust

And sings to He who grants its plume

And brings to gnostic seekers, trust

This constant round of day to day

Is like a holy ground unfurled

Where what may seem habitual sway

Blows like a shofar to the world

Sun up, sundown, and in between

The noise of buy and sell and trade

Where marketplaces gold-gray-green

Fold to the hold where death is laid

…where death is all life’s certainty

Each breath the medium whereby

We approach vast eternity

Its gateway swallows up the sky

Where even now each day of grace

Becomes a steppingstone toward

This body’s final resting place

As Soul goes on to meet the Lord

© Janet Martin

 Just as man is appointed to die once, and after that to face judgment, so also Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many; and He will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who eagerly await Him. 

Heb 9:27-28

Walking Well, Discerning Delight

 Delight thyself also in the Lord: and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.

 Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.

Ps. 37:4-5

We get it all mixed up

The law of love’s delight

How often we forget to walk

By faith and not by sight

How futile is the fight

Of self-sought happiness

Choice speaks a language, loud and bright

The love that we confess

For as we think we are

Oh, pray then that the mind

Seeks first the kingdom of God then

He who so seeks will find

Today is a new day

Hope fills communal skies

Lord, teach us to trust and obey

And walk thus, well and wise

© Janet Martin

 See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, Ephesians 5:15

Like A Fist-full of Flowers

We woke to something we have not seen in quite a while...a raindrop bejeweled world! Thank-you, thank-you Lord!

Life holds within its fists

Hard knock and soft caress

The hand of tick and tock untwists

Heartache and happiness

This small place where we climb

Whittles, with give and take

A more humble approach to time

And memories we make

We touch, but not for long

Each day that disappears

Its rise and fall, a subtle gong

Tolling with yester-years

Like a fist full of flow'rs

 Life's hours bud and bloom

Then fade into those phantom bow'rs

Of mem'ry's living-room

Thus, as the years go by

We learn, like scads before

To cherish moments as they fly

To Bygone’s nevermore

For none can see into

Tomorrow’s eidolon

Therefore Love bids us to value

Today, ere it is gone

© Janet Martin

Two birthday parties yesterday and as I looked around at all the beautiful time-kissed faces I was dearly smitten by love’s fine intermingling of intense sorrow and immense happiness!

Unspoken Understanding

Today's Poetic Bloomings Prompt:

Today,  I ask you to write a love poem. Not for your spouse or significant other. Not to your children or parents. Not to a lost love. I want you to write a love poem to your favorite character in literature. Or Television show or Movie. A variation of this… write the love poem to yourself as that character you admire! Even though the “love” will be unrequited, spill the passion. Write the love poem! (Don’t worry, no relationship will be harmed in the execution of this exercise!)

Yes, we understand each other

Kindred spirits, kept apart

By too many generations

Long lost lovers, heart to heart

They don’t make them like they used to

Your blue eyes can undo years

Until nothing seems between us

Then we dance; time disappears

When you waited in that meadow

Grief and passion inter-wound

I knew I’d love you forever

Farewell forced by moral ground

I won’t tell, and you can’t, darling

Come close, let me hold your hand

Soft, the seasons fall between us

Yet I know you understand

© Janet Martin