Ah, April

Sorry for the unplanned hiatus!

Our internet is  'half' back.

It's blinking on and off while I'm trying to post this 

so if silence returns to the Porch that's why...

Here is a poem I wrote to bid April farewell

Ah, when we met you wore a threadbare robe of russet-gray

Now, when we part, your garb of green nigh-steals my breath away

Somewhere, my dear, between hello and farewell’s beating wing

You broke the seal that held at bay the bud bursting with spring

Ah, you were such a weather-beaten beggar when you came

Now heads are turning, hearts are burning with hope’s flower-fame

Ah, April, seems that you deserve more credit than you get

Where your ground-breaking, soul-awakening is wild and wet

Ah, artist’s overlook you in their ‘Magnus Opus’ Quest

But there is something about you that outshines all the rest

Where, dressed in modest Duty, kind, you tend to nature’s tasks

Showcasing spring’s stark Beauty before blossom breaks bud’s flasks

Ah, April, you’re a looker, in case no one tells you so

I fall in love with you and could not bear to see you go

Save for the flora-bundance poised like joy-banners unfurled

Because of you, the trail-blazer to every summer’s world

© Janet Martin

For Faith's Fortune-Seekers

Before us, to The Prize, unclaimed

Faith fixes humble eyes

Where Hope will never make ashamed

And God’s Truth never lies

The barrier twixt here and there

Is not an easy climb

Where warriors don Word and prayer

To carry them through Time

Because the fortunes that we see

Are nothing more than dust

And loving it is enmity

To God, in whom we trust

Who was before the world began

Who evermore will be

Who fathered mercy’s precious plan

For lost humanity

Then Lord, forbid that we forget

But rather, fix our eyes

Upon the Everlasting Yet

Of love’s eternal Prize

© Janet Martin

Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth,

where moth and rust destroy

and thieves break in and steal.

but rather, lay up for yourselves treasure in heaven

where neither moth or rust destroys and where

thieves do not break in and steal.

For where your treasure,

there will your heart be also.

Matthew 6:19-21

The 'Wait' Weight

Grand-daughter is already 4 weeks old, 

while a month ago we were anxiously/eagerly waiting to meet her!

(some small endearments...one dimple in her right cheek 

and she only wrinkles the left side of her forehead, 

and she LOVES being rocked!)

Right now, in this province, waiting for spring is everyone's common ground!

On a personal note I'm still waiting for someone to fix our internet issues.

It flicks on for a minute then it's gone and I have to wait for it to reboot

(or whatever it does.)

I have re-discovered a whole new-old way of life this week...

 a paper dictionary,

... a cook-book,

 work-out DVDs,

...no weather-forecast updates

... a telephone! (can sometimes see my e-mails but can't reply!)

...and last but not least, a record-player 

since we have no working cd or cassette player...

(or no music which means listening to my rusty singing voice :-/

‘Wait’ is a weight that can wear patience thin

‘Wait’ means the gate is still barred

‘Wait’ tries the trust we must muster within

‘Wait’ even when it is hard

‘Wait’ wafts in whispers of worlds held at bay

‘Wait’ is the bud full of flow’r

‘Wait’ is a word that teaches us to pray

‘Wait’ is a long-winded hour

‘Wait’ tests the will of the woman, man, child

‘Wait’ is not ‘yes, dear' or ‘nope’

‘Wait’ is an order that can drive us wild

‘Wait’ is the foothold of hope

‘Wait’ is the prelude to ‘if’, ‘then’ and ‘when’

‘Wait’ for the good of the ‘want’

‘Wait’ is the ship that has still not come in

‘Wait’ is an internal taunt

‘Wait’ is the lad wishing to be six

‘Wait’ is the babe before birth

‘Wait’ is a sleeve full of endless tricks

‘Wait’ is the way of this earth

© Janet Martin

Wait on the LORD: be of good courage,
and he shall strengthen thine heart:
wait, I say, on the LORD.
Psalm 27:14

While Staying True...

Love is not about staying true to ourselves but to God.

When we stay true to God, we stay true to the person He created us to be!

Doesn't this fill you with peace and relieve us of much needless fretting?!

If we just stay true to ourselves our pride is injured over and over!

If we stay true to God He helps us weather the 'weather' whether we like it or not!

Staying true, (not to ourselves) but to He who made us

Requires dedication as we forge from here to There

So often what we wait for is not what we thought it was

Thus we need more to live for than Time’s Temporary Care

While staying true to principles laid out in The Good Book

We learn that being true to ourselves is not divine

Thus, we should often ponder the Compassion that it took

As He who loves us so, wept ‘Father, not my will but thine”

While staying true to more than ‘points of view’ on that and this

We become more aware of He whose law is peace and love

Then we are not so easily offended by What Is

Knowing The Hope we fix faith on will be more than enough

While staying true to He who loves us all we should be kind

And find ways to forgive above the law of Duty’s Call

For soon the shell that Soul inhabits will be left behind

And we will see why staying true to God was worth it all

© Janet Martin

1 John 5:3
For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. 

And His commandments are not burdensome,

Come Over For Tea

PAD Challenge day 27: For today’s prompt, pick a direction, make that the title of your poem, 

and then, write your poem. There are so many directions: north, south, up, down, left, right, over, under, etc. But there are also more specific directions like “Across the Way,” “Through the Woods,” and “Beyond the Clearing.” 

Or give directions like “Clean Your Room,” “Tie Your Shoes,” or “Get Over Here.”

( today's outdoor tea unfortunately includes mittens and a wind warning!)

I’ll put the kettle on

With sweet treat on the side

And we will pull our chairs beneath

A wreath of blue sky-wide

Then as the hour flows

Through careworn taste and touch

We’ll chat about the way time goes

And love and life and such

For tea is less the tea

Or where we choose to sit

And more about the company

We keep while sipping it

And while we pour the brew

Of first, then second cup

We’ll pour a bit of heart out too

And cheer each other up

…where thrill and spill and ill

Will always have its way

Where hurt and hope fill and refill

Without a holiday

…where life, whatever bend

The up or down might be

Is all ways best shared with a friend

Over a cup of tea

© Janet Martin