Some Days Rain Gold...

One of my favourite fall things; Cortland apples!

I began this poem yesterday as I laughed out loud 

as I attempted to balance backdrops never exposed 

on the page where a poem serenely rests.

Yesterday morning's poem backdrop;

I put in a load of laundry first thing in the morning. 

Later, as I walked to the washing machine to change the load 

I stepped on a little toy car I didn't see and the next thing I knew

I was sitting in a puddle of  'Sie-shlop' aka pig-slop/compost scraps.

Why?!!

 because the night before after I got home kinda late, 

then, after calling Jim (truckdriver husband),

 I decided I can't leave the kitchen all in a mess 

so I did the dishes, piled in the sink

 because of some more pressing things that needed doing 

after kiddos left, before leaving for Small Group,

 (aka church Bible Study/encourage each other group)

but because it was almost midnight I decided to set the compost bowl 

on the laundry room floor till morning--

and that's where I landed, in a big puddle of  'YUCK!'

I cleaned up midst phone calls and texts like 'can you use carrots?'

so I paused to pop over to my sister's house to pick them up

  then, since I was on the road I stopped by Orchard Lane 

(local country store) to get some apples before their Cortland apple bin is empty,

and THEN, I returned home to finish the poem still in progress 😅

I snapped this photo at my sister's place

when I picked up the carrots.

It was raining gold!

 Stunning.

Behind the ink that spills love's verse

We weather life's for better-worse

Where thrills and spills erupt and merge

In medleys of delight and dirge

So then, let's be more patient, dears

Nothing is quite as it appears

Some days are smiles and some are frowns

Life's miles, a purge/surge of ups and downs 

Sometimes life is warm handshake

A cup of tea, a slice of cake

Sometimes it is a fist, clenched, mean

A ka-pow where wide smiles had been

Behind the part that meets our eyes 

A hidden world of learning lies

The ink that spills in poetry

Culled from so much we never see

In life's poetry, still unpenned

Let's treat people we meet, as friend

Because of backdrops hid from view

Some days rain gold, some cold gray-blue 

 

Janet Martin

Today is a mingling of cold gray and culled gold...

Living the Dream

Prov.13:12

Hope deferred makes the heart sick,

but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life.

2025 November PAD Chapbook Challenge: Day 7

For the 2025 November PAD Chapbook Challenge,

 poets write a poem a day in the month of November. 

Day 7 is to write a dream poem.

Row Row Row Your Boat 

Ah, once upon a time unfurled

She was a girl, imbibed with dreams

Impatient for the favoured world

Of carefree days where laughter streams

And hope is no longer deferred

As longing tips a treasure trove

No longer guarded by a word

Of caution from sweet mother's love

Ah, once into a world of stars

She flew, to learn a dreamer's cast

Soon scores the hero's heart with scars

And sets her on her feet at last

To dance upon the Day in Hand

And taste the sparkle in life's cup

 Treading Yesteryear's Promised Land

Before the dream is all used up

Janet Martin

Dream-Roy Orbison

I Have a Dream-ABBA

All I Have To Do Is Dream-The Everly Bros.

Dream a Little Dream of Me- Michael Bublé 

Dream of Me-Ben and Rose

Maggie's Dream-Don Williams

 

Of Kind Humility

 

2025 November PAD Chapbook Challenge: Day 6

For the 2025 November PAD Chapbook Challenge, 

poets write a poem a day in the month of November. 

Day 6 is to write a principle poem.

1 Peter 5:5

...Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, 

for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” (ESV)

The other day I visited the grave of my sister, Lucy.

Standing at a grave readjusts perspective 

more than anything else I can think of!

Soon life's dust-splash will settle

and only the ripples remain

Unless the ripples are humbly kind

the ripples will ripple in vain 

The older that I grow the more and more I start to see

The beauty that blesses the world through kind humility 

Where countless unsung heroes, like angels among us, bring

Joy to the world by walking with someone through suffering 

 True love for fellowman produces kind humility 

Without love we are empty of genuine sympathy

But, as we love each other we begin to truly care

Enough to lend a helping hand, a listening ear, a prayer 

Enough to put another's creature need above our own

To be part of the greatest work this world has ever known

To heed life's highest call then realize we hold the key

To happiness, as we forget The All Important Me

The older that I grow the less flashy facades impress

Give me the glow that flows from hearts of love and tenderness

Give me, no, make me part of what we need more of; to be

The beauty that blesses the world through kind humility

From kind humility, love bears a harvest of good fruit

For flowers of integrity will follow sacred suit

Transforming would-be gutters into gardens kissed by sun

And love's unrivaled Beauty, forever second to none 

Janet Martin

 

Beyond Perfect Description...

2025 November PAD Chapbook Challenge: Day 5

For the 2025 November PAD Chapbook Challenge,

 poets write a poem a day in the month of November.

 Day 5 is to write a description poem.

It's tots naps-time so I couldn't resist a crack at today's prompt.

Especially after fresh inspiration 

Your darling grin

can melt my heart

like ice-cream 

in July

You turn me very young

and old

You make me laugh

and cry

And as you slip 

your hand

 in mine

I feel so very small

until the way 

you look at me

makes me feel 

ten feet tall

Your innocence 

is holy ground

to hold your hand 

in mine

gives me a sense of

of being held

twixt mortal 

and divine

Dear precious, loving,

eager tot

so tender and 

so smart

You make me feel

as if I hold

the whole world

in my heart

Words fail, each time 

I try to spell 

love's ink-defying 

charms

Like trying to 

gather the sky 

and ocean

 in my arms  

Janet 💖

I played this song for them

this morning...they giggled with delight

I Love, Tom T Hall,

How Time Flies

2025 November PAD Chapbook Challenge: Day 3

For the 2025 November PAD Chapbook Challenge, 

poets write a poem a day in the month of November. 

Day 3 is to write a how blank poem.

While the momentous wingspan of petals grants and retrieves

 Whirlwind romance of buds, blossoms, nettles and falling leaves...

Yesterday's morrow finds its spartan foothold in today

As Moment's beating wingspan weathers fleeting interplay

Before it lifts into the air, beyond our reach, breath-soft

Leaving behind a thoroughfare where phantom feathers waft 

In blurs of kisses and hard knocks, we grapple with reply

As tug-of-wars twixt dreams and clocks, in constant conflict vie

While the momentous wingspan of petals grants and retrieves

 Whirlwind romance of buds, blossoms, nettles and falling leaves

Darling, let's dance; lest moments flail the air like threadbare looms

And an immense sense of loss trails through unraveled ballrooms

Before we turn to find the morning turned to afternoon

And Time's flurry of moments adorning floors, feather-strewn 

Janet Martin

How Wonderful the Ways of Ink

2025 November PAD Chapbook Challenge: Day 2

For the 2025 November PAD Chapbook Challenge,

 poets write a poem a day in the month of November. 

Day 2 is to write a fun poem.

2025 November PAD Chapbook Challenge: Day 3

For the 2025 November PAD Chapbook Challenge, 

poets write a poem a day in the month of November. 

Day 3 is to write a how blank poem.

behold the rolling sea unfurled

upon a barren page...

how wonderful the ways of ink

as swirls upon a stage

of parchment, paint a blossom pink

Or, spill a canon, sage

how endless are the avenues

and trails that ink-blades blaze

through wilds borne from font-curlicues 

centuries cannot faze

behold the rolling sea unfurled

upon a barren page

or, ink-frigates that sail the world

 while blizzards brawl and rage 

how holy are the howls of ink

unveiled for all to see

far able to eclipse the wink

of mere mortality

how wonderful, how terrible

the ways of ink reveal

the broken, yet invincible

beauty of love's appeal 

how wildly ink attempts to snare

Thought's beast and set it free

upon a stage of parchment where

 a poem waits to be  

how wonderful the ways of ink

how strangely 'fun', the verge

of waiting on a poem's brink

to see what will emerge 

Janet Martin

how wonderful the ways of ink

as swirls upon a stage

of parchment, paint a blossom pink

Or, spill a canon, sage

For Goodness' Sake

 It's November, which means-

2025 November PAD Chapbook Challenge: Day 1

For the 2025 November PAD Chapbook Challenge, 

poets write a poem a day in the month of November. 

Day 1 is to write an entrance poem.

Job 1:21

And he (Job) said: “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, 

And naked shall I return there. 

The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; 

Blessed be the name of the LORD.”

Eccles.12:7

Then the dust will return to the earth as it was, 

And the spirit will return to God who gave it.

Today, waiving all entrance fees...

Before we can partake...

Extends fresh opportunities...

(Today is my mother's birthday!

She enjoys scones so hopefully these Classic Pumpkin Scones 

will bring a bit of 'special' to her day.)

Naked we came into this world

For all we gain and learn

When life’s final breath is unfurled

Naked we will return

So rather than accumulate

What we soon leave behind

Tis better far to concentrate

On being good and kind

For we all share in common this;

Our empty-handed birth

And, to mimic life’s genesis

So too, we leave this earth

Today, (waiving all entrance fees

Before we can partake)

Extends fresh opportunities

To live for Goodness’ sake

So then, for goodness’ sake let’s make

Kindness a common goal

Remembering that all we take

Beyond This, is the Soul

Janet Martin

Of First Receiving ...

John 4:24

God is Spirit, and those who worship Him 

must worship in spirit and truth.”

If we were nothing more than what we could achieve

 by our own merit, we at best, would be pitiful.

Every opportunity we make the most of

 is possible only by abilities first God-granted.

The athlete, the artist, the architect,

the scholar, the teacher, the laborer, 

the business magnate, the journalist, the preacher etc.

pursues, performs, accomplishes and excels, 

only through the grace of first receiving

the gifts of health and strength, 

of intellect and perception, etc.

Because of these mercies/provisions/blessings we, 

not by our own merit but by the grace of God,

ought not hide in fear, but with constant courage 

each day ask God to make us a vessel He pours through.

 Then, whatever we get right is to His glory

and whatever we get wrong is to our refinement

as we keep learning, no matter who or how old we are.

so, no matter how great (like winning the World Series, 

(oops!! like trying to win the World Series)

 or small (like preserving pumpkins) 

we owe our best to He from whom we have first received  

So, no matter 

how great or small

The task at 

present seems

We owe our 

Very Best of All

To He who 

grants the means

To seize each 

opportunity

With noble 

intention

Because of who 

grants you and me

Ability. 

Amen

Janet Martin

Matt.6:9-13

In this manner, therefore, pray:

Our Father in heaven,

Hallowed be Your name.

 Your kingdom come.

Your will be done

On earth as it is in heaven.

 Give us this day our daily bread.

 And forgive us our debts,

As we forgive our debtors.

 And do not lead us into temptation,

But deliver us from the evil one.

[a]For Yours is the kingdom

and the power 

and the glory forever. 

Amen.

Rock of Ages Cleft For Me