Summer-sweep

With the last week of July underway

summer's swift sweep/leap is becoming increasingly tangible...

Wild grapevine climbs the fence

Bliss is a tendril caught...

Where summer brims with poetry

Like a fruit-laden plate...

The beach at dusk is grand

A speechless 'my-oh-my'

A wild, wind-wave-tossed wonderland

Of sand and sea and sky...

Wild grapevine climbs the fence

Bliss is a tendril caught

On the barbwire of consequence

Threading freedom of thought

Thought wanders, fancy free

So much to contemplate

Where summer brims with poetry

Like a fruit-laden plate

The fruit of toil is sweet

Cherry, blueberry, peach

Afternoon rolls across bare feet

Like waves across a beach

The beach at dusk is grand

A speechless 'my-oh-my'

A wild, wind-wave-tossed wonderland

Of sand and sea and sky

The sky is its own world

A burgeoning buffet

Glory's declaration unfurled

In blue-blush-swirled, mauve-gray

In ripe yellow and red

Earth echoes heaven's hymn

To overflow the garden bed

As seed and bud-berths brim

...with fresh five-star cuisine

Veggie charcuterie

Hollyhock bistros, pink and green

Beckon to honeybee

...as cricket-balladeers

Kindle tugs, bittersweet

Because we know what disappears

With each rippled tweet-tweet

Sunshine steeps soul and skin

Gold seeps into each pore

Where happiness cannot begin

To tally Delight’s score

While heights of summer pale

Like petals, bright but brief

While flower laden frigates sail

Where death is always chief

...while milestones beck and blur

Sun-sparkles on life's sea

To catch our breath before summer

Becomes a memory

...let's savour without guilt

Without apology

An afternoon spread on a quilt

Beneath a picnic-tree

© Janet Martin

...with fresh five-star cuisine

Veggie charcuterie...

Hollyhock bistros, pink and green

Beckon to honeybee...

A Ride (literally) Down Memory Lane

My third-youngest brother (Lewis) treated us to wagon-ride down Memory lane

(back our sideroad and local backroads)

on Saturday at our annual summer Martin family reunion...

Lots of laughter-filled reminiscing💖

(because most of us sister's childhood memories of wagon rides was to or from stone-picking,

 one of my sister's said 'yes! she would love a wagon ride!

 as long as there are no stones waiting to be picked😂😂)

 

(Dad and Mom, treasuring the flashbacks)

Young people getting a ride to the baseball field 

before we had our turn...

(to respect privacy faces have been blurred)

Where wild flowers still bloom and dust of youth still (almost) flies

Where fields gleam with bent barley-plumes beneath still cloud-strewn skies...

A few of my siblings teased me about a poem percolating as we trundled down dirt roads

and memory-lanes...while in the moment I couldn't imagine what was to come of it,

it was too special an occasion not to at least try to capture!

I tried to reel it in but it turned out longer than (Hubby, ahem,) 

quick readers would likely prefer...😅

We peer with distant gaze back to a long-forsaken world

Where out of Bygone’s haze an echo-mirage is unfurled

As scenes of common stomping grounds revive in hearts and eyes

And resurrect from misted Bounds, dear childhood’s paradise

Of dusty lanes and creeks and strains of weeping willow’s sigh

The thrill of racing to watch or chase freight trains rumbling by

Of dad and mom much younger then, although we didn’t know

Caught in the quick of hunger and molding what soon would show/grow

…while never going hungry, though a dozen mouths to feed

While learning about boundaries and how fruit follows seed/deed

While always loved no matter what we did or didn’t do

(…as we acknowledge the college, we drew dear parents through)

As we revisit places wakened by Past's sudden swell

As we dare to share secrets; laughing, brave enough to tell

As we retrace bare footsteps tripped through pastures; cow-pie rich

Or point to ‘there A Hay Load Tipped’, ‘there Fast Car Found the Ditch’

Where wild flowers still bloom and dust of youth still (almost) flies

Where fields gleam with bent barley-plumes beneath still cloud-strewn skies

Where little trees are big trees now, where yester-children learned

How swift the hand put to the plow will find time’s tables turned

Where correction we would not choose is worth its weight in gold

Where now we walk in well-worn shoes of swiftly growing old

Where mom and dad (still with us) hold a very precious part

In every single (ten of us’s) thankful-prayerful heart

So humbly blessed, we marvel at the patient, loving care

That surely must have tested their most earnest, pleading prayer

Of accidents (but life was spared) of mischief-foolish pranks

Of innocence guarded, work shared, of humble giving thanks

Memories mete a melody where music-shadows wend

As time perfects the harmony of notes that didn’t blend

As treasure-laden vessels, bent, broken, warped, chipped, and scarred

Embrace each tender token composing childhood’s postcard

Where weathering youth’s recompense makes us meeker of mind

Truth’s tethering of consequence and circumstance entwined

With what our precious dad and mom instilled, example-shod

The cornerstone of home-sweet-home; of love and faith in God

© Janet Martin

Motley Masterpiece

Hello again😊💓 

Due to this year's vacation being much quieter than any before,

(due to adult children with other commitments)

 let's get the sentimental tribute out of the way first, okay?

💝💖

I murmured the first line of this poem as we arrived at our cottage last Saturday,

 before/in spite of a much needed and appreciated week of R&R!

Many a pleasant hour can pass flawlessly here

while reminiscing, dreaming and simply enjoying the views/hues...

To every thing there is a season, 

 a time to every purpose under the heaven: Eccles.3:1

There is a hollow in her heart where children used to be

A sacred sense of loss amidst life’s generosity

The tender impact of love’s Once Upon What Disappears

Strikes Something in Her bosom that only a mother hears

Where edges, smoothed by ebb and flow of time’s finessing touch

Perfects a wake of letting go, echo-keepsakes, and such

There is a blade that carves a niche impossible to find

Sun-sparkles siphoned from a splash of seasons left behind

Amass, to meld, with measure of moments-to-memories

A panoramic treasure that only a mother sees

Of happiness soft-startled by the bittersweet divide

Twixt tempests snuffed by nightfall and today’s swift-ebbing tide

There is a hunger that poetic font cannot appease

A heart-shaped hollow of frames filled with fondest memories

Where twilight claims its dauntless prey as moment-sums compose

A Masterpiece of Yesterday only a mother knows

Of what time cannot reimburse and yet cannot estrange

In the clash twixt heaven and earth beneath the hand of change

There is a hollow in her heart too darling to portray

A sweet and sentimental smart where children used to play

While time will weave its winnowing into felled thoroughfares

To leave beneath her skin Something only a mother bears

Where, somehow past’s increase endears an echo-escapade

A motley masterpiece of years that she would never trade

© Janet Martin

See You Soon!

 A Few July Dusk shots...

We never know how near or far we are to Farewell’s severed ties

Or what waits to unfold where gold and blush begins to melt night’s skies

Or who will be the next to leave behind loved ones to grieve death’s wage

Or when the pen that writes life’s book runs out of moment-ink and page

So, wherever we are and with whatever today grants

Here’s hoping we cherish its lease while we still have the chance

And live as if today could be the last lap of life’s race

Remembering that everything is cradled in God’s grace

Remembering to trust and thank Him with hearts meek and true

And make the most of what soon hosts Past's panoramic view 

© Janet Martin

On this note...this is my annual Summer Break week!

See you soon, if the Lord wills💖

James 4:13-15

Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, 

spend a year there, carry on business, and make a profit.” 

14You do not even know what will happen tomorrow! 

What is your life? 

You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.

15Instead, you ought to say, “If the Lord is willing, we will live and do this or that.”

Below, one of my lifelong favorite hymns...

We Are Going Down the Valley

Our Single Boast

 Jeremiah 9:23-24

This is what the LORD says:

 "Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom,

 nor the strong man in his strength, 

nor the wealthy man in his riches.

But let him who boasts boast in this, 

that he understands and knows Me, 

that I am the LORD, who exercises loving devotion, 

justice and righteousness on the earth--

for I delight in these things," declares the LORD.

I Will Boast (only in the cross)

The only goodness we can boast about or claim or laud

Is possible and only, always about and from God

The evil that exists is from the subtil serpent, pride

It mocks the Rock of Christendom; Jesus Christ crucified

…and resurrected. Victorious over death and hell

The only goodness we can boast is God’s great love to tell

Because God, rich in mercy gave His Son to pay sin's debt

God’s goodness is our single boast; oh, may we ne’er forget

© Janet Martin

 Evil people are evil because they do not have/know Jesus.

Evil leaders are evil because they fail to recognize their Leader

and the one who loves them and would forgive them if they repented

and believed on He who gives everlasting life and Heaven

in place of death and hell.

Let's pray that the love of God would become a reality to our godless leaders

and everyone who does not know the truth that sets us free

and pray, lights love's ceaseless fire on the altar of our hearts.

Summer Morning Slice of Heaven

Amos 5:8

He who made the Pleiades and Orion

And changes deep darkness into morning...

...the Lord is His name.

Don't you wish summer mornings lasted longer

than their perfect little jot and tittle?

Behold, without bribe or barter

Like a universal Prize

From Mercy’s unbounded charter

Morning refills earth and skies

New Day’s buffet-table thunders

With feasts too sumptuous to waste

Summer morning groans with wonders

Beckoning Gladness to taste

Behold, without price of money

Without blight of mortal boast

Night melts like golden mist-honey

On a slice of buttered toast

Darling dewdrop-faery favors

Each lily-face with a kiss

Overflows rose-cups with flavors

Of sweet, summer morning bliss

Look, without constraint or bias

Whispers unveil sea and sod

With Mercy's tender alliance

Fresh from the goodness of God

Summer morning jot and tittle  

Did yon pearly gates undo

Just enough to let a little  

Slice of Heaven sparkle through?

© Janet Martin

Without (The Word of) God...

This morning I wasn't sure what today's poem would/should be about

till I open God's Word. An inexhaustible wellspring 

of awe and exhortation, 

of love's truth and grace!

Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.

John 17:17

Blessed is the man

Who walks not in the counsel of the [a]ungodly,

Nor stands in the path of sinners,

Nor sits in the seat of the scornful;

2But his delight is in the law of the Lord,

And in His law he [b]meditates day and night.

Psalm 1:1-2

My soul faints for Your salvation,

But I hope in Your word.

Psalm 119:81

Forever, O Lord,

Your word [n]is settled in heaven.

90Your faithfulness endures to all generations;

Psalm 119:89-90

John 1:1-5

Without the word of God we are so ill-equipped to face

This day that He has made where hope and pitfalls interlace

The Giver of each good and perfect gift of grace appears

Upon each page; He is The Word which guides, instructs and cheers

Then, how the humble heart applauds the gospel we confess

As we are reconciled to God, and clothed in righteousness

‘Old things are passed away, behold, all things are become new’

Through He who became sin for us though not one sin He knew

When on the altar of the cross His life He sacrificed

So that we might become heirs and joint-heirs of Jesus Christ

Without the Word of God we do not think the things we should

As human nature silences what is pure, noble, good

Opinionated logic becomes wise in its own eyes

Without the counsel of God’s Word to proclaim, fend, advise

Without His lamp unto our feet and light unto our path

We cannot see where we should walk, led by his rod and staff

Nor feel the shadow of his wing cover us with his care

Nor hear his whisper when life’s sting and slight is hard to bear

Nor know Him as a Teacher, Comforter, Shepherd and Friend

Without His word to edify, sanctify and commend

Without the word of God we are like blind leading the blind

Impossible to love Him with all heart, soul, strength and mind

Without his Word. He IS The Word; the Way, the Truth, The Life

Sharper than a double-edged sword; His word is like a knife

It penetrates the soul and spirit; judges attitude

It is the blade by which the subtil serpent is subdued

It is the seed that falls oh, pray it falls on fertile sod

It is the law of  Love, the gospel by which faith is shod

Then, pray,  we do not face today unarmed, without God’s Word

Lest unaware we fall away from that which we had heard

Without the Word of God we miss the glory of the Lord

The power of his might, severed relationship restored

The healing touch from heaven to the heart and soul of we

Who are so very broken; we miss divine majesty

The wonder where earth thunders with His ways past finding out

The peace that passes understanding's plagues of fear and doubt

We miss out on the living bread and water, pure and sweet

We miss out on the fellowship of sitting at His feet

We miss out on the mustard seed of faith that makes us whole

We miss darling communion with the Saviour of the Soul

 

© Janet Martin

Your word is a lamp to my feet

And a light to my path.

Psalm 119:105

Jeremiah 23:29

"Is not My word like fire," declares the LORD,

"and like a hammer that smashes a rock?"

John 12:48

There is a judge for the one who rejects Me and does not receive My words:

The word that I have spoken will judge him on the last day.

Heb.4:11-13

Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, 

so that no one will fall by following the same pattern of disobedience.

 12For the word of God is living and active.

Sharper than any double-edged sword, it pierces even to dividing soul and spirit,

joints and marrow. It judges the thoughts and intentions of the heart. 

13Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight; 

everything is uncovered and exposed before the eyes

 of Him to whom we must give account.…

Morning Flowers...

 

Morning metes its sweet Beginning

Mist-burnished petals unfold

From night’s nebulous bud thinning

Until Time is blush and gold

Flushed with mercy to behold

Like a lily, dew-anointed

Fresh from the Creator’s hand

Darkness fades; hope’s reappointed

Brigades wade until they stand

On shores of star-dust and sand

Strewing in the wake of slumber

Daybreak’s diamond studded world

Where the cares of life encumber

Where faith’s warfare is unfurled

Morning flowers, promise-pearled

© Janet Martin

God's word overflows with wonderful promises that He will keep!

A few promise-pearls to pin to today's To-Do's/dues

Lam.3:22-23

Because of the loving devotion of the LORD we are not consumed,

 for His mercies never fail. 

23They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness!

1 Thess.5:24

The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it.

2 Pet.3:9

The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. 

Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, 

but everyone to come to repentance.

Psalm 144:15

Happy are the people whose God is the LORD!

Isa.26:3

You will keep him in perfect peace, 

Whose mind is stayed on You, 

Because he trusts in You.

John 16:33

These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. 

In the world you will have tribulation;

 but be of good cheer,

 I have overcome the world.”

John 14:27
Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you. 

I do not give to you as the world gives. 

Do not let your hearts be troubled; do not be afraid.

Romans 8:37
No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.

2 Corinthians 2:14
But thanks be to God, who always leads us triumphantly as captives in Christ 

and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of Him.

Psalm 29:11
The LORD gives His people strength; 

the LORD blesses His people with peace.

Heb.13:5

Let your conversation be without covetousness; 

and be content with such things as ye have: 

for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.

Heb.13:8

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

2 Corinthians 1:20
For all the promises of God are "Yes" in Christ.

 And so through Him, our "Amen" is spoken to the glory of God.