Monday, September 9, 2019

Of September...





In russet hints it tints the tress
That broke and stoked spring’s happiness
It gleams in streams of goldenrod
And jars beaming with garden-laud

It stirs in blurs of burnished plume
That furnished earth with bud, then bloom
It drops in orchard thoroughfares
Plop-plop of plums, apples and pears

It croons in noon’s less savage heat
In cricket’s thinning tweet-tweet-tweet
In corn-rows rigid infantry
More brittle than they used to be

It bulges from dawn’s dew-pearled port
Indulges the spectator’s sport
Where wonder and worship entwine
Like tendrils from the pole-bean vine

It throbs in musky, dusky dust
And sobs in secret wanderlust
It folds the day in molten hues
Yet holds at bay certain adieus

It twinkles in wild aster stars
And other buttered, bumbled bars
And scrawls upon a tousled wall
Little love-notes of Almost Fall

© Janet Martin




Middle-age Melodrama


 Blame this one on the side effects of September-jazz...



Sweet-taunted by the music of
Those days gone by, these days I love
Soft-torn too oft it seems to me
Twixt lyric and the melody

Season and reason have their say
Flattery’s high has had its day
I’m too old to be lured by it
But too young to not 'want' a bit

Time tugs the strings of poet-hearts
I hug the sting that it imparts
Where rhymes are sometimes hard to please
They climb bars made of memories

After, is like the ruins where
Laughter-dream-drunk, I walked on air
Until youth’s fickle fantasy
Yielded to Truth’s reality

And all those things ‘I never would’
Become the things ‘I wish I could’
Half-haunted by the music of
Those days gone by, these days I love

© Janet Martin

A Praise Hymn to Praise Him




God, you ordain each season
From You all blessings flow
Love is Your steadfast reason
For every yes and no

God, daily You amaze us
Grace will not break its vow
You hear our humble praises
Through all that You allow

You lead us through green pastures
And by Your waters still
As we yield rebel-posture
And bow beneath Your will

Evil mocks the Creator
Seducing love with lust
God, You are always greater
In You each heart can trust
  
Your Word is everlasting
God, let us not forget
When doubt its clout is casting
You are not finished yet

© Janet Martin


Outer Fringes


Indeed, these are but the fringes of His ways;
how faint is the whisper we hear of Him!
 Job 26:14

Both sunset last night...

...and sunrise this morning


...were of exceptional caliber and colour!
Like an ethereal orchestra!
(it inspired a personal 'psalm' of sorts)


Psalm 19:1-6

The heavens declare the glory of God;
the skies proclaim the work of His hands.
Day after day they pour forth speech;
night after night they reveal knowledge.
Without speech or language,
without a sound to be heard,
their voice a has gone out into all the earth,
their words to the ends of the world.
In the heavens He has pitched a tent for the sun
like a bridegroom emerging from his chamber,
like a champion rejoicing to run his course.
It rises at one end of the heavens
and runs its circuit to the other;
nothing is deprived of its warmth. 



Master of Creation
Maestro of the sea
Author of salvation
For humanity

Dark and light are driven
Beneath Thy command
Artist of the heavens
Sculptor of the land

Comforter of sorrow
Keeper of Time’s toll
Father to the sparrow
And man’s deathless soul

Hope in doubt’s confusion
Shepherd to the flock
Peace amidst the doom in
Human-natured talk

Both Taker and Giver
Goodness, mercy, love
Guides the rippling river
To the ocean’s trove

Ruler of each season
There is none like Thee
Who else defies reason
Without Reason’s plea

Who else grants seed’s ration
Or saves us by grace
Taking kind compassion
On this human race

Who Thy might can fathom
None else can compare
Invisible awesome
Lamplighter of air

© Janet Martin



 There is none like You, O LORD; 
You are great, and great is Your name in might.
Jer.10:6

Psalm 86:8
O Lord, there is none like You among the gods, nor any works like Yours.
Psalm 86:10
For You are great and perform wonders; You alone are God.

Exodus 15:11
Who is like unto thee, O LORD, among the gods? 
who is like thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders?

Psalm 89:5-8
 The heavens praise Your wonders, O LORD—

Your faithfulness as well—
in the assembly of the holy ones.
For who in the skies can compare with the LORD?
Who among the heavenly beings is like the LORD?
In the council of the holy ones, God is greatly feared,
and awesome above all who surround Him.
O LORD God of Hosts, who is like You?
O mighty LORD, Your faithfulness surrounds You. 

Job 38:12
(click link to read the following four chapters of awesome declarations of God's might)
 “Have you ever given orders to the morning,
    or shown the dawn its place,





Sunday, September 8, 2019

Pensive Poemlets...




The line twixt want and need
Defines our love and greed
No matter how we try
This marker does not lie
Its wordless evidence
Is rife with recompense
Then we should pay close heed
To wars of want and need

© Janet Martin

Always we should be on our guard, lest we lose sight of truth
Lulled into living without giving God a second glance
Forbid that we with apathy or disregard uncouth
Would grind beneath the heel of unbelief the gift He grants

Always we should remember what so swift is left behind
This little life in light of evermore is but a flit
Then pray that each and every day we keep God first in mind
And live for Him as if our very death depends on it

© Janet Martin

Oh, Unbelief is like a strong and subtle undertow
It draws the fearless bark into deeps dark with deadly foe
Be not deceived; God’s grace and Righteousness is undeterred
Safe is the barge secured upon the anchor of His Word

The pleasures of this world unfurl in colourful appeal
Its lure is pleasing to the eye; it soothes the way we feel
Its attractive veneer can steer us straight into doubt's darts
Unless the word of God is hidden in our heart of hearts

Each breath we take is gifted from the One who does not shift
Steadfast, the vessel fixed on Him will never sink or drift 
But unbelief, hides beneath facades as smooth as jello 
Beware, lest unaware we are snared in its undertow
 
© Janet Martin