(Love's) Better Poetry

PAD Challenge day 6: For today’s prompt, take the phrase "Better (blank)," 

replace the blank with a new word or phrase, 

make the new phrase the title of your poem, 

and then, write your poem.

This take on today's poem-prompt 

was inspired by yesterday's photo-session;

the aim being to get a few good ones

(aka everyone looking forward with eyes open!!) 

for a page in a family calendar for my parents for Christmas

You are the laugh-lines that I earn

And collect thankfully

As by the grace of God I learn

Love's Better Poetry

You overflow my cup of joy

Filling love's crooks and curves

With happiness, dear girl and boy

More than one heart deserves 

You are my gentlest lullaby

My tenderest of care

And each, the apple of my eye

And each, my humblest prayer

You are heaven-to-earth's caress 

You are my home-sweet-home

You are more holy thankfulness

Than pen can ever poem

© Janet Martin

Getting to the Root of the Problem...

 PAD Challenge day 3: For today’s prompt, write a problem poem. 

Below an excerpt from Peter Marshall's sermon-

Keeper of the Springs

(and this was in the 1940's!!)

One cannot fix a problem until one pinpoints the source

But one ought to note symptoms that should trouble you and I

For epidemic-proportion-populace on a course

Of Ignorance to Truth, where empty churches testify

A somber lack of reverence and interest and care

For the Great Certainty for which we all ought to prepare

...and so tis no small wonder that things go from bad to worse

 In laws of twisted logic of confusion gone berserk

Where right is wrong and wrong is right and God, a name they curse

And well-intended master-plans of Fix-it just don't work

In a world doomed to madness as they seek but cannot find

Hope's everlasting gladness that yields joy and peace of mind 

When truth is seen as lies and lies are heralded as truth

It is because the Word of God is trodden underfoot

Then darkened understanding errs and bears pitiful proof;

Denial of the problem that yields problematic fruit

And gross incomprehension of the sad state we are in;

Because they/we do not recognize the root problem of sin 

The problem is not war or poverty, but hate and greed

A proud and unrepentant heart, thinking, utterly flawed

A negligent apathy to sin's subtle, deadly seed

In seeking first this world rather than the kingdom of God

Where empty churches gape and children/people traipse toward a Goal

Ignorant of Love's problem-solving Saviour of the Soul 

Sad problem this; too many homes where God's Word has no place

And homes where the Bible is but a book upon a shelf

Ignoring that apart from God, there is no saving grace

Apart from the Vine the branch is a Dead Thing by itself

Revealing that the culprit in this problem's quandary

Until we surrender to God, is always you and me 

© Janet Martin

Rom.1:16-17

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, 

because it is the power of God 

that brings salvation to everyone who believes: 

first to the Jew, then to the Gentile. 

17 For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed—

a righteousness that is by faith from first to last,[e] 

just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.”[f]

So many do not know

or believe or care

about the day of redemption 

and reckoning drawing near...

Malachi 4:1-3

The Day of the LORD

(Zephaniah 1:7–18; 1 Thessalonians 5:1–11; 2 Peter 3:8–13)

1“For behold, the day is coming, burning like a furnace, 

when all the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble;

 the day is coming when I will set them ablaze,”

 says the LORD of Hosts.

 “Not a root or branch will be left to them.”

2“But for you who fear My name, the sun of righteousness 

will rise with healing in its wings,a 

and you will go out and leap like calves from the stall.

  3Then you will trample the wicked, f

or they will be ashes under the soles of your feet 

on the day I am preparing,” 

says the LORD of Hosts.

Better Examples

PAD Challenge day 6: For today’s prompt, take the phrase "Better (blank),"

replace the blank with a new word or phrase,

make the new phrase the title of your poem,

and then, write your poem...

Children are imitators of Example...

As soon as Big Brother clapped, so did Little Brother...

Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children,

Eph.5:1(NIV)

Therefore be imitators of God as dear children.

Eph.1:5 (NKJV)

The only hope we have of improving what waits to be

Is a better Example set by likes of you and me

Therefore, the likes of you and me ought to pay earnest heed

To what and who influences power of word and deed

Because it is our words and deeds that set the sacred sway

For those who follow in the footsteps that we leave Today

For what we leave today is not as fleeting as it seems

But sets the stage where morrow's wage of today's onus teems

With the after-effects of who we strive to imitate

Subject either to laws of love or lawlessness of hate

Then, there is only one solution that passes the test;

To be better examples is to imitate The Best

Anything less is but our children's futures sacrificed

Our only hope, the perfect Example of Jesus Christ

© Janet Martin

Phil.2:5-11

(Isaiah 52:13–15)

5Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus:

6Who, existing in the form of God,

did not consider equality with God

something to be grasped,a

7but emptied Himself,

taking the form of a servant,

being made in human likeness.

8And being found in appearance as a man,

He humbled Himself

and became obedient to death—

even death on a cross.

9Therefore God exalted Him to the highest place

and gave Him the name above all names,

10that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,

in heaven and on earth and under the earth,

11and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,

to the glory of God the Father.

Rom.13:8-10

Owe no one anything except to love one another, 

for he who loves another has fulfilled the law.

 9 For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,”

 “You shall not murder,”

 “You shall not steal,” [a]

“You shall not bear false witness,”

 “You shall not covet,” 

and if there is any other commandment, 

are all summed up in this saying, namely,

 “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 

10 Love does no harm to a neighbor;

 therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.

Better Reason

PAD Challenge day 6: For today’s prompt, take the phrase

"Better (blank)," replace the blank with a new word or phrase,

make the new phrase the title of your poem, and then, write your poem.

Better critique better, Reason's Sleek Begetter

So eager to charm and entice

Desire's effulgence with instant indulgence

Better to first ponder the price

And weigh velvet voices that prey on quick choices

And trick us to trade truth for lies

Better, first to measure the worth of the treasure

And cost of the pleasure we prize

Because oft desire can be a soft liar

If we heed no Higher Decree

Than gratification of infatuation's

Accommodating fantasy

Better to look better where seduction's fetter

Is not always easy to spot

Better to fight battles before Fool's Proof tattles

On Reason's Begetter of Thought

To weigh the approach of a 'promise'-drawn coach

Where knights in shining armor plead

To study the path and the long aftermath

(of) Where Yielding to Impulse may lead...

...better to pray before we leap

Into the fray of Whim

Better to ask the Lord to keep

Thought's pleasure stayed on Him 

© Janet Martin

Today's devotion...

...from this book!

Or, So It Seemed to the Dreamer...

 PAD Challenge, day 2: For today’s prompt, write a childhood object poem. 

up and away

undefined 

by time and place

brushing perimeters of space

or so it seemed 

to the dreamer, 

then

with honey-colored braids

and an insatiable

 yen

that turned out to be

the cocoon that cradled

 Poetry...

On that rope swing

 she would try

to touch the sky

...the monotony of

an endless July 

afternoon

no match for the butterfly

inside the

 cocoon...

Janet~

Celebration-Declaration or Celebration of Life

 PAD Challenge day 1: For today’s prompt, write a declaration poem. 

(I clicked on the Writer's Digest Chapbook Challenge every morning

but simply could not carve out the freedom to join...

Trying a few of the challenges here this morning!

BTW, everyone is welcome to join in the poeming fun

 at Writer's Digest poem-a-day challenge all through November!)

Yesterday morning a friend dropped by with some

homemade soup she made with some kale I had given her

the week before!

Such a sweet surprise seemed perfect for sharing so

I packed up an impromptu picnic lunch and visited my mother-in-law!

I told her our lunch was a group-effort/blessing...

Pears from my sister Lucy, soup from my friend Elaine

and Apple Bread baked by my daughter Victoria!

We had a most precious afternoon so

completely unplanned!

So today I call a celebration-declaration

for all un-expectation waiting to turn to joy!

I call a celebration-declaration for Today

A kind determination of joy-expectation when

We purpose to be kinder, and humbly thankful; to pray

And thank God for the mercy's that He renews once again

To thank Him for blessings that we too oft under-esteem 

Loved ones within arms reach; those never out of reach of prayer

To praise Him for His goodness no matter how bad things seem

To know that He is able, as we cast on Him our care 

To look a little closer at what we call Commonplace

And then to realize it is not common after all

But rather, celebration-worthy measures of God's grace

Each task a sacred mission as we heed love's creature-call 

...and suddenly sweet wonder steals our breath with gratitude

For favors humbly noted, that we overlooked before

A celebration-declaration for Regard renewed

As we reply with prayer, especially for countries at war

 💔😢🙏

Janet Martin~

I also received a very special love-created thank-you card from Elaine...

Let's make today our thank-you card to God!

November-Frames

Stark silhouettes etched on backdrops of hasting dusk and tardy dawn...

 Joy-grief relief of gardens shucked, and turned and tucked beneath the sky...

(next year my make-shift grape-arbor needs a serious upgrade!!)😅

Still, stubbled sweeps of harvests reaped and gathered into bins and barns...

The morning-tide, a soundless sea that bathes the still-life lea with bronze...

Stark silhouettes etched on backdrops of hasting dusk and tardy dawn

Joy-grief relief of gardens shucked, and turned and tucked beneath the sky

The heart, a little like a cart by steads of fondest farewells drawn

The wind, a brisk custodian that whisks the brittle leaves awry

Still, stubbled sweeps of harvests reaped and gathered into bins and barns

The morning-tide, a soundless sea that bathes the still-life lea with bronze

The sudden, sweet tweet-tweet greeting as long-gone feathered friends return

The brooding tent of heavens bent with imminence of frosty fronds

The gaping gate where wonders wait to stun our gaze with grays and browns

Before the first soft snowflakes waft earthward from welkin worlds above

The beauty of spartan landscapes, of nature’s threadbare capes and gowns

Duty’s breath-stealing tasks, as thankfulness basks in God’s love

Brigadoon of November Noon, funereal fallow-hallowed hush

Fruit and root cellar shelves and floors festooned with toil and mercy’s toll

A heart-string unpreparedly snared on a crab-apple-dappled bush

The swing, bereft of barefoot child, a Masterpiece of Childhood’s Soul

Happiness dons kerchiefs and caps; laughter sounds small in fall’s ballroom

Each breath emits a puff of cloud, a bit like engines of a train

In ruddy cheeks and noses November’s kissable roses bloom

As leaves are raked and piled, and the child in each of us wakes again

Twilight’s twinkling front porch lights cheer work-weary streams of traffic home

Luxury is a cup of tea, a good book nook, and knitted shawl

And life is like the savoring of surprise flavours in a poem

Because November sometimes seems to be The Fairest of Them All

© Janet Martin

As we raked and heaped pile after pile of leaves at my parent's place

, we three children of yesterday (my brother, his wife and me)

 couldn't resist a a flying leap and romp because

something about leaf-piles wakes the child in us all.

A heart-string unpreparedly snared on a crab-apple-dappled bush...

Sheer Veneer

Is the haste of a season sometimes almost more than you can bear too?

Tonight we lingered, sipping rich, black espresso in the crisp, gold dusk...

Time’s fabric is so sheer

Like mist-embellished gauze

That gathers up laughter and tears

Into the year that was

How easily it slips

Through fingertips and sighs

Like poetry of eyes and lips

Of hellos and goodbyes

Futile to linger where

The daylight disappears

Beneath a shawl of dark blue air

Un-weathered by the years

How swiftly seasons waft

Like silver thistledown

Above the quiet woodland doffed

Of spring-to-autumn’s crown

We reach but cannot trace

The thread that weaves the year

As season-stitches interlace

Time’s fabric remains sheer

Let's savor its sheer bliss

With love's sheer appetite 

And let the sheer wonder of This

Fill us with sheer delight

© Janet Martin