Monday, January 28, 2019

Break of Day


 This Time of year we have front-row seats to break of day!



We rouse to watch dawn draw away
Dark, vaulted, velvet hold of stars
To splay on earth’s east fringe, flushed bars
That ushers in the break of day

Through far-off floodgates pours God’s might
That none can dam, detain or thwart
Across shorelines of hope and hurt
Proceeds a tidal wave of Light

Through streets of snow the workers go
Where through much change much stays the same
In ups and downs, smiles, frowns, praise, blame
In more-we-learn-the-less-we-know

Til this; the kiss-and-tell of time
Takes everybody by surprise
While we marvel at death’s disguise
Rose-ribboned dust of rhythm and rhyme

…oft jolted by matters of fact
Borne in hands work-worn, eyes tear-starred
Where aftermath, toil-soiled, hurt-scarred
Still leaves God’s promises intact

© Janet Martin



Shameless Confession


p-s-s-s-t...here is a glimpse of 'him' and all before noon... on a Monday!!!
Mind you there were some messier, not photo-ed shots as well, like
'let's shake my sippy cup til its empty while Grandma's on the phone trying to solve some of the world's problems, then let's splash! 
and, let's see how many marbles fit in my mouth
(also while Grandma was on the phone, round two, dealing with round one 'reason'😐)
(yes, grandma should know better than giving a toddler marbles but we had great fun with them til I turned my back and he climbed up to where Grandma had set the jar, she thought, safely,
so a think-twice lesson for her/me!)


Still, I'm shamelessly in love with a 'guy' that does not let me down easy,
does not save me from my choices 
but grants lots of second-dances and new-day romances, 
mostly with messes without roses

so, you might be thinking this poem is going to be about my grandson, but it's not really...
he, along with everyone/everything else I love is part of this poem!


Oh, you win me over somewhat like a lover
Woos his beloved, the belle of his dreams
For I am a maiden easily betaken
With the love-language of meadows and streams

Oh, write me a river that winds ‘neath the shiver
Of poplar-quiver, silver in the sun
Play me an evening of long shadows leaning
Against the hill where the wild geldings run

Strum me a serenade better than Mozart played
Simple seduction of wind-tousled trees
Darling, I am betrothed to your melody clothed
In common threads of almost-memories

Oh, you win be over with pom-poms of clover
Tassels of goldenrod, star-veneered snow
Let’s take the long way home through the lines of a poem
Let’s linger longer and not hurry so

Oh, there is no Mundane Monday with you, honey
Money can't purchase what you and I have
You will be faithful and I will be grateful
You will be truthful and I will (try to) be brave

Amiable Romeo, my, but I love you, oh
Your touch tells me more than ‘much words’ can say
Father Time, what a fool I’d be to play it cool
I’ll fall in love with you every day

© Janet Martin




More Than A Weather Warning

 For the past week the red 'BE ALERT' caution bar has flared continuously
 on the weather network with storm and temperature warnings!

 Imagine if the blue sky flashed with red warning-bars
 or a stop watch to let us know the The Day and The Hour!
But 'no man knows the day or the hour, not even the angels in Heaven or the Son himself.
Only the Father knows!'
Matt.24:36

Be alert, stay on your guard
The hurt and work of life is hard
Pay earnest heed to what you hear
The Word of God is truth, my dear
A solid Rock on which to rest
For time is delicate at best
Vapour of mist that disappears
Into the blue of yesteryears
So be alert, in deed and thought
For the end comes when we think not

© Janet Martin

The Word of God is filled with loving and earnest caution 
for us to be alert

kinda like 'whether warnings'; whether we are paying attention to what matters most!

"Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak."
Matt 26:41

Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day on which your Lord will come. 
Matt.24:42

So be on your guard! Remember that for three years
 I never stopped warning each of you night and day with tears.
Acts 20:31

Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.
1 Peter 5:8

We must pay the most careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away.
Heb.2:1

My son, do not lose sight of this: Preserve sound judgment and discernment.
Prov.3:21

Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.
Luke 21:36

Sunday, January 27, 2019

Here's Hoping!


 Last night Jim said (while we were watching the All-star Game being played in San Jose, 
while adding logs to the fire to ward of the deep chill from the north)
that he wishes we could move to San Jose and leave this bitter cold behind for good.
 I replied if he moves that would be very sad indeed because
 I am so glad to live in a climate that grants four true seasons, 
so he would be moving all by himself.😀

(no more just chillin' side-by side like two old love-birds)

Then Judy's post this morning added perfect YES-seasoning to
some tids and bits simmering in my poem-pot...
Here's hoping we love each season for what it lends,
because everything in life is but a season!


Here’s hoping we learn to accept what life sends
And love every season for beauty it lends
And never let longing give leave to destroy
With want’s inward pining, today’s would-be joy

Here’s hoping the orchard in winter’s white tress
Rings with sparkling echoes of spent happiness
While wild, the wind whistles up one street then down
Where trees like stark thistles shape harvest’s ghost-town

Here’s hoping we treasure Time’s measure of sand
Aware that whatever we hold in our hand
Is but for a season, like the flowers that bloom
While we cherish, not worship, what none can exhume

Spring; heaven for dreamers with restless bare feet
Summer; like a song of long days, toil sun-sweet
Autumn; awed awareness of Time tender truce
Winter; slows the dreamer once young and footloose

Here’s hoping we learn to let go when we must
To live for far more than Time’s loaned dust-to-dust
To look for the good in each day that God sends
And love every season for Beauty it lends

© Janet Martin

 To every thing there is a season, 
and a time to every purpose under the heaven:
Eccles.3:1

Saturday, January 26, 2019

The Reason I Pray


Yesterday I wrote the Reasons I Write Poetry.
On a far more sacred note today I write a few of the reasons I pray!

I pray to obey Love's command and appeal
Even when words fail me He knows how I feel
I ask God for trust where Unknown veils The Way
I praise Him for mercies unveiling new day
I plead for His Presence to guide, keep and such
For loved ones too far from my fingers to touch
His hand on their shoulder to protect and cheer
His voice in their choices, His Hope in their fear
His joy in their sorrow, His Light in the dark
His strength in their weakness, His word in their heart
I pray and in this way touch the Hand of He
Who fashions the flower and favours the field
With sunshine and shower for bountiful yield
I pray so that I may not forget His grace
Vile curse of sin broken, Death robbed of its goal
In Eternal life for the undying soul
I pray for those blinded by unbelief, hate
…that they will find Truth before it is too late
That they will repent, confess Him and receive
Blood-bought inheritance for all who believe
I appeal to him for forgiveness of sin
Lest an evil shoot starts to take root within
I thank Him for His Word that will never fail
For His perfect love to direct and prevail
I thank Him and thank Him and thank Him again
For Hope springs eternal in spite of life’s pain
For His Pardon suffered and sealed, once for all
Still, I pray for conviction where sin would befall
I pray for believers to fight the good fight
To lean on the One whose way is always right
His thoughts so much higher than man’s want and woe
I thank Him for peace within, while still without
The world suffers, writhing in hate, fear and doubt
I thank Him that no mortal power or threat
Can thwart or usurp I AM’s Immortal ‘Yet’
Jesus; His Lordship and His Righteousness
I thank Him that his joy is our strength and shield
That in His right timing all will be revealed
That in the meantime, we, humble human race
Hallelujah,
Amen

© Janet Martin