Thursday, February 3, 2022

A Someday Song


I didn't get a picture of Victoria's car stuck. So stuck.
because we were busy shoveling, shoving, etc to no avail till
my brother came to help!
The bright side...
I simply could not come up with a third-last line for this poem
till then😅


On a regular basis tot asks for 'window up?'

...remembering the good old days of no snow

Sometimes they ask for picnics outside and I say someday...

Someday we’ll fling our windows wide
And let the glorious outdoors in
The wind will warm the countryside
Where we will all be starry-eyed
To see another spring begin

Someday we’ll take our tea outdoors
And set a table in the yard
Neath leaf-laced limb, on green grass floors
While robins sing and sunshine pours
Like scenes on a vintage postcard

Someday without a second thought
We will not need the time it takes
To bundle up each toppling tot
No missing mitten to be sought
No floor dotted with snow-melt lakes

Someday no knee-deep white on white
No breath-clouds on the chill-sharp air
No field and garden tucked in tight
Beneath a blanket of starlight
No icy walkways to beware

Someday we’ll lie with eyes half-shut
On banks beside the brimming brook
No more shov’ling ‘cause car-is-stuck
For winter will be nothing but
A picture in a storybook

© Janet Martin




Tuesday, February 1, 2022

A Picture of Perfection

February debuted in a blaze of glory!

 A picture of perfection is a morning, mercy-kissed...




Across the seam where earth and heavens fuse new day is drawn
Conflagration of blush and blues crescendo; it is dawn
The brunt of Being braces for fresh graces, soon the art
Of gossamer-like faces pressed to windows of the heart

A glamorous delight is kindled on yon hearth of pink
First rush of silence mingles with brushes and wells of ink
So, we delay the pressures of love’s dawn to dusky gait
Worship partakes of pleasures only God can orchestrate

A little like a flower breaks the bud once hard and cold
The trembling of an hour wakens petals that unfold
In sight and scent profusion like sweet honeysuckle mist
A picture of perfection is a morning, mercy-kissed

A little like an arbor spangled with hope’s purest wines
Like lower heights entangled in tendrils from Heaven-vines
Today tumbles in fairness, not from some strange far-off place
But, (oh, humbling awareness) from the garden of God’s grace

© Janet Martin

Thankful to be feeling, not best, but much better!
Thank-you everyone who expressed concern💗

Psalm 36:5
Thy mercy, O LORD, is in the heavens; 
and thy faithfulness reacheth unto the clouds.

Lam.3:40-41
Let us search out and examine our ways,
And turn back to the Lord;
Let us lift our hearts and hands
To God in heaven.



Monday, January 31, 2022

Let It Be...Winter!



And just like that, January 2022 is a memory!
Wow! Winter months really do seem to pass far
too swiftly to be fretted over!
(My truck-driver husband definitely begs to differ😅)

The distance between dawn and dusk 
dissolving ever-so swiftly...





We will soon be warmed with wonder
Where the orchard stark and still
Will burst with pale chiffon plunder
Of first blossom’s pastel frill
Where the creek, now sleek as satin
Will lure bare feet to its brink
And the children will laughin’
And the calf learnin’ to drink
And the mother will be singin’
In a world of blush and jade
And the garden will be ringin’
With the peal of hoe and spade
And the meadow will be gleamin’
With the aftermath of white
Where the whole world will be beamin’
With a poet’s sheer delight

Then, let winter be the willow
Bronze brush-stroked on brooding blue
Let it be a sequined pillow
The landscape of spartan hue
The midday third round of scrabble
While a vault of stars is spilled
While the birds twitter and squabble
Over feeders freshly filled
Let it be the woodstove’s glory
Days; the height of home-sweet-home
The vicarious life through story
-books; frost-fretwork of a poem
Let it be the bluff and bluster
Of Old Man Winter’s ‘hell-o-o-o ‘
Let it be the joy we muster
As he flusters plans with snow

Let it be the love of lamplight
Cup of tea and fireside chair
Knee-deep trek through rose-swept twilight
Autumn melted on the air
Let it be the wind berating
Dusk's unruffled shadow-piers
Poised between seasons in waiting
And the waft of yesteryears
Let it be the love of knowing
Every day is gone too soon
Reduced to a pale fringe glowing
Crisp dark singed with crescent moon
Let it be the rush of oceans
Tossed, white-glossed across the lea
Where Time’s salty spray is frozen
In a fray/frame of memory

© Janet Martin



Perfect For Love



The evils of this world cannot keep kindnesses at bay
Then give utmost attention to its Beauty every day
And live as if this life was heaven-lent for love alone
To be part of a mission that cannot be overthrown
To bite our tongue when stinging words could slip and hit their mark
To never mind if no one sees but God (He sees the heart)
And to do unto others as we would they do to us
To be gentle and patient; rather than shake fists and cuss
Because kindness is something that this world could use more of
No matter where we are, today is just perfect for love

© Janet Martin



Wouldn't it be wonderful if when God opens our
ledger of deeds on That Day it would reveal
one recorded kindness after another?!

2 Corinthians 5:10
For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; 
that every one may receive the things done in his body, 
according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.

I have been the recipient of a few kindnesses already today!
My sister and daughter texted to ask how I am feeling 
after a few days being 'under the weather.'


Though not completely recovered 
I am thankful to be feeling a bit better today.


Two of my sisters and I went on a walk on Friday afternoon.
It was very cold but beautiful.
I got a bit chilled as we sat in this gorge(ous)spot and chatted for a bit.
Maybe, if I was vulnerable that was the final nudge.



Eph.4:32
And be kind to one another, 
tenderhearted, 
forgiving one another, 
even as God in Christ forgave you.



Saturday, January 29, 2022

Contemplating the Incomprehensible...Love of God

 

To love You enough, God, to forget about 'me'
May this my daily desire be.
Amen




The Love of God- Mercy Me

1 John 3:1
Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, 
that we should be called children of [a]God! 
Therefore the world does not know [b]us,
 because it did not know Him.




The love of God,
Oh, cherished thought
Enough to satisfy
To turn our gaze
From lesser ways
That deceive and defy

Love without end
Oh, what a friend
Is more faithful than He
Who bids us come
And depart from
Profitless vanity

God, rich in love
Enough, enough
Ah, may our witness prove
The joy and peace
Of want’s release
Perfected though His love

How dear and sweet
Where fears compete
With faith’s meek confidence
To trust in He
Whose love sets free
An army of defense

The love of God
Oh, wondrous thought
While endless ages roll
Our melody
Of joy will be
The love that saved the soul

The love of God
Ah, thought cannot
Such vastness comprehend
The fullness of
The kind of love
That doth sinners befriend

That doth forgive
So we may live
Each day, devoutly awed
As we embrace
His gift of grace
The boundless love of God

Such love, proven
When through His Son 
Redemption crushed the foe
Enough, enough
This God of  love 
None but his loved ones know

The pleasure of
The lesser love
Of leisure's thirsting laud
Cannot console
Or fill the hole/whole
Shaped for the love of God  

© Janet Martin

Rom.8:38-39
For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,[k] 
neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 
 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, 
will be able to separate us from the love of God 
that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.



Friday, January 28, 2022

Of Footfall Frames

Each day is a 'footfall frame'! (no! not a football game. that's in a few weeks)😅
May we pay careful attention to the echoes we are composing
that will fill its frame tonight and eventually the frame of a lifetime!

Today a man I worked for, for eight years in days gone by, Merlen Kropf is being laid to rest.
Due to ongoing covid-restriction making traditional funerals impossible,
many will pay tribute to him by lining the streets of his hometown as the funeral procession passes.
We all have our own set of precious memories to accompany our tears...
And even though he lived to a ripe old age, 
Numbered Days is such a brief stage!

While I was employed by him
Merlen honoured me by taking a genuine interest in my love for writing poetry.
(a very busy businessman! Can you believe it?!)

Below is one from the archives that they put in their Christmas grocery flyer.


He often invited me to write something at Christmas for the flyer 
or the L&M Christmas Banquet 
one of those poems being In Search of Christmas Day,
many years later recorded by Scott Woods Band

I loved taking great pride in the instore bakery showcases and shelves
Below, photos of a few old photo-album pages


(And as I met Merlen occasionally throughout the following years
he took such a kind interest in my life/family
 and paid many beautiful compliments!)

Death makes us ponder more somberly
 the footfalls we are leaving behind
(doesn't it?!!) 
on this common ground of today!

This, while a Freedom Convoy rolls toward Ottawa
and passions are running at all-time highs in many Canadian breasts...

'God keep our land glorious and free'

as we are all part of a Convoy rolling toward eternity!
What/Who is fueling our cause?!!


The footfalls of a cast soon Past are rolling through the land
Where choice becomes the voice that draws its pictures in time’s sand
Where recompense of consequence always follows the act
No matter how we try to thwart the matters of this fact
Then pray as we step onto dawn’s fresh stage beneath our feet
For love, more kind and tender love for everyone we meet

How easily we prove by choice, what whets our appetites
As we move toward finish lines where we have set our sights
Desire is a fire that burns in each one of us
While morning unto morning turns into The Day That Was
Then pray desire’s flames are fueled not by spite or greed
But by love, kind and tender love for we of common need

The rise and fall of reason rolls with the call of the cause
Where carriages of Deathless Soul are like frail wisps of gauze
That appear for a little while and then we are no more
The echo of footfalls soon muffled by Now’s crowds that roar
Then pray, as each today is soon snuffed by a starry sea
For love, more kind and tender love to be our legacy

How long the Aftermath of Moment holds its frozen sway
How ever-so-important is the toll of day-to-day
Where, God, not time, is on our side and works for our good
If we love Him; then pray we love each other like we should
Before this life God grants becomes ‘their’ flood of tears that brim
Where how we love each other proves the love we have for Him

© Janet Martin

This verse is included at the end of Merlen's obituary

For God so loved the world
that He gave his only begotten Son
that whosoever believes in Him should not perish
but have everlasting life
John 3:16

Oh pray our lives may mirror His love in us
to our fellowman!

Matt.5:43-48
You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor i and hate your enemy.’
 44But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,
 45that you may be children of your Father in heaven. 
He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, 
and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. 
46If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? 
Are not even the tax collectors doing that?
 47And if you greet only your own people,
what are you doing more than others? 
Do not even pagans do that? 
48Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.



Thursday, January 27, 2022

Aren't you Glad Too?


Yahoo! I just had another baby!
Kidding😂
but sometimes that's kinda what it feel like 
when another poem is born;
Oh, the joy after the labor and the delivery💖💖💖

And no matter what composes picture-shows of 'life we’ve had'
On dawn’s skyline beams Beginning of a new day, aren’t you glad?


Sometimes Jim (husband) teases me over the plethora of sunrise pictures shared here,
but in my defense, 
I never want to get so jaded that I am no longer awed by The Utterly Awesome!
(and Jim agrees)




Aren’t you glad today is never replayed from dusk’s low’ring door?
That each bud of bloom delivers beauty not beheld before
That the glorious hope of Heaven waits at death if we believe
Not the cradle to be given one more lifetime to achieve

Aren’t you glad we start as babies; not yet set in our ways
That God’s mercy new each morning never His goodness betrays
That His Word is everlasting, not keeping pace with the times
Not like shifting cast of shadows, but steadfast as mountain climes

Aren’t you glad that we are never too old to learn something new
That the seasons keep their order, spring-summer-fall-winter through
That sunrise and set are always out of reach of fingertips
Set before our gaze to author praise from amazed hearts and lips

Aren’t you glad for cuppa something steaming, books and cozy nooks
For chatter and laughter brimming from sparkling children and brooks
That as we are growing older God surprises us with joy
Impossible to discover as a younger girl or boy

Aren’t you glad for socks and mittens, kitten-puppy happiness
For delight when the response to our ‘please’ replies with ‘yes’
For tap-dancers made of raindrops, shoeless freedom of bare feet
For the fervor of the vision and thrill of mission complete

For a table set for dinner for two, or for company
For redemption for the sinner; aren’t you glad God sets us free
For the poetry of wonder making ordinary Grand
For the feeling of belonging when we traverse hand in hand

Aren’t you glad today is never replayed; yesterday unbound
Even best days wouldn’t be as sweet the second time around
And no matter what composes picture-shows of 'life we’ve had'
On dawn’s skyline beams Beginning of a New Day, aren’t you glad?

© Janet Martin

And below
a glorious Glad Song

Psalm 113

Hallelujah!
Give praise, O servants of the LORD;
praise the name of the LORD.

Blessed be the name of the LORD
both now and forevermore.

From where the sun rises to where it sets,
the name of the LORD is praised.

The LORD is exalted over all the nations,
His glory above the heavens.

Who is like the LORD our God,
the One enthroned on high?

He humbles Himself to behold
the heavens and the earth.

He raises the poor from the dust
and lifts the needy from the dump
to seat them with nobles,
with the princes of His people.

He settles the barren woman in her home
as a joyful mother to her children.

Hallelujah!

Aren't you glad too,
That sunrise and set are always out of reach of fingertips
Set before our gaze to author praise from amazed hearts and lips


Notice how the sun no longer rises across the field
like it did a month ago?!
A sure sign that winter is trundling toward spring!


And last but not least,
did you know you are one of the rare people who pauses on this porch?
I would like to tell you thank-you!
I am so glad you do because as George MacDonald once penned...

A poet is a man (or woman) who is glad of something
and tries to make other people glad of it too!
George MacDonald~

Wednesday, January 26, 2022

A-a-ah! Awe-Aura or Tribute to Twilight


When the eastern skyline looks like this at dusk
then I know something pretty spectacular is going on in the west!



I ran upstairs and sure enough...


so I dashed downstairs, grabbed a coat, 
jumped into boots and hurried behind the house...


and even in that mere minute 
some of Farewell's flare was beginning to fade...

(Yes! I'll take the teaser!
although I confess there are times I wish I could snap my fingers,
say abracadabra,
and make the buildings disappear for a little,
then snap them again and put them back😅)

Time’s aura of farewell 
fills up 
the stillness of the sky
an artist spills 
to hill and dell 
a pastel lullaby
the aftermath of day 
composes poetry 
sublime
yet without parchment page 
or merge of syllable 
and rhyme
on a canvas 
devoid of substance 
flaming strokes 
release
to awe onlookers 
with the gift
 of 
One More 
Masterpiece

© Janet Martin