Something About August

There's something about August in a garden
that thrills me almost as much as Christmas!" I said to Victoria yesterday as we picked
beans, corn, tomatoes, peppers...
beneath a moody, cloudy-heavy awning of mulled blue
fringed with sunflowers.

This after an impromptu picnic at a neighboring woodlot
that we have permission to enjoy whenever we wish!

 

Something ‘bout August noon yawning
Wind song strumming rows of corn
Cricket concertos, cloud awning
Makes me glad that I was born

Something ‘bout an August garden
Burgeoning with ripened fruit
Sends a rush of satisfaction
From joy’s tassel to its root

There is something so enchanting
‘Bout its morning dipped in dew
With the tarnished past augmenting
Something unsullied and new

Something ‘bout cicada droning
Births soul-billows, bittersweet
For we sense a subtle honing
In the gold and groaning heat

Something ‘bout August ensembles
Plays heart-strings with bows of air
Rise and falling music trembles
Over garnered thoroughfare

Something ‘bout the bees that bumble
From one flower to the next
Something ‘bout the leaves that tumble
Harbours autumnal pretext

Something ‘bout canning pots bubbling
Pickling spice and vinegar
Makes the world feel more un-troubling
Slice, chop, measure, pour and stir

Something about August thrills me
Feels like heaven-realms capsized
Something ‘bout August fulfills me
And undoes me, synchronized 

© Janet Martin 

 

Fellowmen...

" Oh no!" I texted Matt yesterday morning,
"you got a box of brownies in your lunch instead of a ham sandwich.
They were in the same type of container!"
Thankfully the route of the job he was going to
passed through not far from our home
and he could drop in and exchange it!
Our oopses are not always this easily fixed!
How do we respond?!

 

We all fall; all make mistakes
Thus I’d think we should be
A very understanding race
Of kindest sympathy

We all trip and we all slip
And need to try again
Therefore the bottom line is this;
We are all fellowmen 

We all fall, all drop the ball

All hurt and hope and fear

Therefore I'd think that we would all

Be a bit kinder, dear 

We all yearn and we all earn

Wisdom in ways not grand

Therefore I'd think (for all we learn)

That we would understand

© Janet Martin

Wonder-full, Wonderful Time

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wonder-full wonderful Time
A gift to treasure well
As seasons chime and flowers climb
From deep to pinnacle

Wonder-full wonderful Now
Burgeoning boulevard
Hand to the plow lest when-and-how
Leaves fields fallow and hard

Wonder-full, wonderful Here
Pied possibility
Of smile and tear, of faith and fear’s
Accountability

Wonder-full, wonderful Day
A showcase of God’s heart
As gold and gray unfold His say
Where we see but in part

Wonder-full, wonderful Time
A gift we daily spend
On Joy sublime, on peace divine
If the Giver is our Friend

Wonder-full, wonderful friend
He who supplies our need
Who stoops to mend and gently fend
The bent and broken reed

Wonder-full, wonderful time
What is to be must be
While seasons climb and flowers chime
In august luxury

© Janet Martin

 

 this poem was inspired by a garden stroll

and this message.

In The Midst of the Storm Dr. Charles Stanley

 

 

Morning Flower

Hello, the halo of new day unfolds earth’s ebbs and flows
Beneath the beaming countenance of heaven’s golden rose
Where petals of its former bloom have fallen in farewell
And no amount of wishful thinking can exhume its shell

Oh, ho, the yes and no of One much mightier than men
(Where all things work together for our good, if we love Him)
His is the hand that ushers in and opens up each hour
And breathes upon earth’s eastward brim the golden morning flow’r

Then rise and shine, His divine love will strengthen and sustain
And if we fix our hope in Him no flower falls in vain
But behooves us before Today decorates dusk’s headstone
To try to make the most of petals falling one by one

© Janet Martin

 

 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, 

who have been called according to his purpose.

Romans 8:28

For The Sake of the Gospel We Meet...

Acts 2:42
They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship,
to the breaking of bread and to prayer.

Heb.10:25
not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, 

but encouraging one another--and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

When We All Get to Heaven

 

For the sake of the gospel we meet
To tell it again and again
Love’s message from the One who died
To save the souls of man

For the sake of the gospel we meet
To build each other up
To fellowship and humbly share
Communion’s loaf and cup

For the sake of the gospel we meet
To preach, teach, edify
Salvation’s mercy to repeat
For That Great Day draws nigh

For the sake of the gospel we meet
And may it never be
That one should cry with bitter grief
'No one told it to me'

For the sake of the gospel we meet
The Good News for this world
Is greater than time’s transient street
On dust-to-dust unfurled 

For the sake of the gospel we meet

All hurting-hoping worn

To cheer us onward in the race

With confidence once more

For the sake of the gospel we meet
Lest we would be deceived
By those who do not fellowship
With those who have believed/received

For the sake of the gospel we meet
To sing Amazing Grace
To praise the Name above all names
Who suffered in our place

For the sake of the gospel we meet
To worship reverently
To King who left His throne to save
Death-cursed humanity 

For the sake of the gospel we meet
To hear His Word and pray
Because the truth found in God’s Word
Will never fade away

 

For the sake of the gospel we meet

Lest none remains to tell

The story of God's grace to keep

Undying Soul from hell

© Janet Martin

Of Secret Sacrifice

"Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies,
it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.

John 12:24

To crucify The Inner Man is a most painful task
But He who wrought salvation's plan will help us if we ask
For He is rich in mercy, with a most exceeding love
Where sacred immortality instills each mortal glove

To crucify the nature that is contrary to God
Is not a once-and done affair accomplished with a nod
Oh, no, this crucifixion is a lifelong enterprise
Seed is without fruition unless first the kernel dies

The noise that tongue employs is hollow when opinion-charged
Bold babble hard to swallow from a mindset, self-enlarged
Humility runs deep and wide; it is not loud and proud
The Inner Man, when crucified, does not attract a crowd

To offer up our bodies as a living sacrifice
Is to remember more than just Mercy’s initial price
But to revere the altar fastened to the rising sun 

From love that does not falter as we fight the evil one

These private executions as we crucify our wants
Seems perfect prey for liar’s sway and the deceiver’s taunts
But as we confess avarice and pray for its release
His grace anoints love’s sacrifice with perfect joy and peace

© Janet Martin