Gratitude For All Things August

For drenching rain from clouds that burst
To quench the angst of nature’s thirst

For harvest-sheaves; a teeming tide
Of rolled gold dotting countryside 

For rooms that brim with blooms that steal
Our breath with beauty’s fragile reel

For dusty dusk and dewy dawn
And crickets that sing on and on 

For hearts that race as moments chase
Sweet summer through its vain embrace

For aromas of pickling spice
For peach-happiness, slice by slice

For gardens brimming with fresh fare
As payoff for its constant care

For sunflowers that beam with cheer
No matter what the weather, dear

For enchanting sun-shadow art
On canvasses of leaf and heart

For fence-lines fringed with filigree
Of Queen Ann’s Lace and chicory

For ‘buffet tables’ that unroll
Feast for the eyes; food for the soul

For green sweeps glazed with silver stars

For rainbows snared in canning jars

For August’s happy, happy hours
Served on a platter steeped in flowers

...from He whose handiwork is lent
And ever filled with wonderment

© Janet Martin

Honour-bound...

 As we witness the proof of God's mercy renewed

(aka morning) what frames our first thoughts; faith or fear?

Matt never knows what his mom will say as he heads out the door to work

usually it's 'I hope you have a good day!' or something like it.

This morning for some reason I was moved with the words that inspired today's poem;

"I hope you have a day filled with the honour of serving God"

He replied with his usual morning dialogue of least-words-required "uh-huh" 😊

Doesn't it transform our outlook when honour, not duty drives us?!

I heard this stunning song written in 1855 by Harriet B. Stowe

 for the first time only recently!!

From eastward fringe

Dawn’s faint first tinge

Expands until darkness dissolves

As Unknown wafts

In gleaming lofts

While what is constantly evolves

Involving us

In fret and fuss

Of all that comes along to pass

Where none can will

What time will spill

In heaven-to-earth’s hour-glass

Where fear and dread

Can weigh like lead

If we forget to trust in He

Who knows full well

What time will tell

And when the end of This will be

We are not bound

By sight and sound

As hostages of Duty’s law

But by God’s grace

To human race

We may serve with honour and awe

Recipients of

The greatest love

Mere mortal cannot comprehend

While unknown groans

Where skin and bones

Harbours a deathless dividend

Thus, we press on

Behold the dawn!

That testifies Mercy renewed

As grace imparts

And moves our hearts

To serve with humble gratitude

© Janet Martin

 The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;^[a]
    his mercies never come to an end;

they are new every morning;
    great is your faithfulness.

Lam.3:22-23  

August Amour

I took my own advice today

Taking my tea (or coffee) into the garden

and hardening my heart against never ending work..for a little😉

 ...until I saw buggy, blighty blooms that needed to be treated.

Oh well! It takes more than that to dampen the delights of August!!

Ah, sun-sweet, spicy scents stir senses; flower-founts spill thrills unchecked

Cricket crescendo commences; vibrato stubble-bedecked

Darling hazy days of summer loll beneath cicada’s drone

While we soak in heat-wavy ripples before gales chill to the bone

How satisfying is the underlying blend of dewy dust

It rouses in the poet’s pen an untamed yen of wonder-lust

While peaches drip and moments slip like diamonds dipped in Commonplace

And we just want to wander longer down lanes lost in Queen Ann’s lace

Oh wow, my, how Now's tug-of-heartstrings gets tangled in hollyhocks

Chicory, zinnia, sunflowers, lavender, dahlias and phlox

For summer’s flower-clock is ticking, stripping petals, purple, pink

Vexing visions of Expectation with Soft Echoes Snared in Ink

Then, drink in the delightful draught of laughter’s August afternoon

Let satisfaction drizzle daydreams like honey from blue-sky spoon

And put off for a winter’s while what summer’s sweep cannot afford

Lounge on a float of green-grass isle where living is its own reward

Be not dismayed at time not stayed by wishful thinking’s drawn-out sigh

Soon August will follow the fading footsteps of blink-wink-July

But take your tea into the garden; harden your heart against work

(Now and then) to hear elves giggle or find fronds where fairies lurk

August amour, you sure do steal the summer heart with rise and fall

Of heavens hugging horizons steeped in arrangements, estival

As we savour your ample samples slo-o-owly lest, alas, we missed

What plunked like plump plums into a mist-basket woven wisp by wisp

© Janet Martin