Monday, March 11, 2019

Impressions of Majesty


 And these are but the outer fringe of his works; how faint the whisper we hear of him! 
Who then can understand the thunder of his power?"
Job 26:14




The Sculptor of mist
Where shadows untwist
Intangible menageries
Wakens in the heart
Sweet love for the art
Of simple ‘almost memories’

The Artist of air
That sets morn a-flare
Before its wick wanes on the west
Ushers to touch-taste
Meeker rev’rence and grace
Aware of time’s delicate zest

The Painter of awe
On determined law
Showcases so much come-to-pass
And makes moments feel
Like wisps on a reel
Serrated with feathers and glass

The Maestro of days
Wills ways to amaze
Even the most atheistic host
And makes us aware
That Someone Somewhere
Is bigger than man’s boldest boast

The sole/soul Author of
Life’s greatest gift; love
Allots and allows us to see
A glimpse, just a glimpse
Where earth-and-sky hints
At impressions of Majesty

© Janet Martin


 "The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth 
and does not live in temples built by human hands.
Acts 17:24

Then, When This Season Too Has Passed...

 Is there any place you would love to see that isn't too far away?
 I asked Victoria on Saturday as we tried to think of a way to make her 18th birthday memorable.
So, being a bit of a history buff she decided on
the Civic Museum (in the building that used to be a convent) 

 What a structure!!!
and Janus Books (a buy-and-sell bookstore) where we each bought a book 
as a memento of the day...

Then, when this season too has passed
Gathered its best and worst
And pressed it into pictures cast
With tinctures blessed and cursed
The best that we can strive for, dear
Where Time swings soundless gates
Is to embrace right now, right here
Before it dissipates

Those plans we prize with wayward eyes
Though dreams can kindle joy
Ought not to rob us of glad sighs
That Here and Now employ
For what may seem quite commonplace
As far as moments go
Soon whets the salt-star on the face
When tender echoes flow

To games and tricks that thought can play
We ought to be on guard
Today is always eager prey
For morrow’s s mystic bard
And who knows what its beggar brings
To keen a humble prayer
Before the whisper of it clings
To fragments of thin air

…then, when this season too has passed
Like all seasons before
To join the everlasting cast
Of what will be no more
The best that we can hope to keep
Of intangible gold
Is what we make with days that sweep
In moments through our hold

© Janet Martin

 Another thing that made this day memorable was a newly-tried Orange Layer Cake 




Saturday, March 9, 2019

A Birthday Poem from Mom to Daughter...


Our 'baby' is eighteen!
Happy Birthday, Victoria!

 Psalm 90:12 
  “Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.”


 Faster-faster, ordered Little Fellow to Aunt Victoria from his 'chariot'
 To Victoria from mom...

This poem is a little gift
To try to let you see
How you give every day a lift
Like a gift back to me

How you make life a lovely quest
And joy a dream come true
How our home feels extra-blessed
Because God gave us you

How you make mother’s love a prayer
And hope, a super-star
And happiness a bit more fair
By being who you are

I wish that poetry unfurled
A mighty rolling sea
…for love feels bigger than the world
Yet fits inside of me

It glimmers in a glad, sad tear
While Time, with tick-and-tock
Soft steals and adds another year
To ‘chip’ and The Old Block

Love, like an over-flowing well
Makes life a work of art
Where Poem simply cannot spell
The bottom of my heart

© Janet Martin

This is the corner of the kitchen where on every birthday-day a mother sits and beseeches God
for words to give the birthday-beloved a teeny glimpse of her heart...


.


Friday, March 8, 2019

Color-wheel of Love


I think we broke the winter weekly sunrise record easily this week!
5 in one week?! wow! Thank-you, Lord. (And help our praise to be more than lavish lip-service!)






The deep dark starts to hint at tints of turquoise fringed with pink
As stars that studded midnight’s arc are softly snuffed, blink-blink
The slumber-silenced orb of earth senses whispers of light
The Troubadour of Time’s rebirth restores image to sight

Thought reaches for more than the trouble man is born to bear
Horizon-lines transfix our gaze with morning’s mercy-flare
For God does not forget the ancient promise that He made
As long as earth endures; summer and winter, night and day’

How swift the gift of day erases traces of night’s claim
Heaven declares God’s handiwork on fathoms without frame
As far as eye can see the sky showcases majesty
Beyond the reach of human hands’ erring propensity

God’s footstool beams where beauty streams and crests earth’s eastward banks
The best that we can give is love well-lived in humble thanks
Where, whether rain or shine the earth and its fullness thereof
Is held by the Divine Artist whose color-wheel is love

© Janet Martin