For This Is Life...

 

2025 November PAD Chapbook Challenge: Day 10

For the 2025 November PAD Chapbook Challenge, 

poets write a poem a day in the month of 

November. Day 10 is to write an advice poem.

Some of us love the snow.

Some do not!

Snow is much like anything else in life;

loved or loathed,

it comes to pass...

Saturday...

Sunday...

Monday...

Life's holy haste 

Of touch and taste

And twist and turn 

Of live and learn

And give and take 

Of sleep and wake

Is bound to test 

The worst and best 

Of us

With smiles and frowns

And ups and downs

With faith and fear's

Laughter and tears

With ebbs and flows

Of yes and noes 

Hellos, goodbyes

Low blows, high fives

And such

While daily dues

Of win and loose

Of rose and thorn

Nightfall and morn,

Of loss and gain,

Pleasure and pain

Of hit and miss

Of kick and kiss

Amass

Do not lose heart

Come sting and smart

Come rush or lull

Or push and pull

Or sun-rain-snow

Hold or let go

Hip-hip-hooray

Or gold or gray

Or wonder why

Or fall or fly...  

 For this is life;

Come joy, come strife

Be kind and true

Because this too

Shall pass

Janet Martin

Eccles.3:1-8

To everything there is a season,

A time for every purpose under heaven:

2A time [a]to be born,

And a time to die;

A time to plant,

And a time to pluck what is planted;

3A time to kill,

And a time to heal;

A time to break down,

And a time to build up;

4A time to weep,

And a time to laugh;

A time to mourn,

And a time to dance;

5A time to cast away stones,

And a time to gather stones;

A time to embrace,

And a time to refrain from embracing;

6A time to gain,

And a time to lose;

A time to keep,

And a time to throw away;

7A time to tear,

And a time to sew;

A time to keep silence,

And a time to speak;

8A time to love,

And a time to hate;

A time of war,

And a time of peace.

The Inexhaustible 'More' of God's Word

2025 November PAD Chapbook Challenge: Day 8

For the 2025 November PAD Chapbook Challenge, 

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

Day 8 is to write a more poem...

Ps.139:17-18

How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God!

How great is the sum of them!

If I should count them, 

they would be more in number than the sand;

When I awake, I am still with You.

As I puttered about the house, doing Saturday tasks

like muffin-making...

...I listened to the beautiful funeral message for Cecil Shoemaker,

(someone with close ties to many people we know)

who passed in the blink of an eye, from Time into Eternity.

In my own grief-journey I often marvel 

at the sweetness of joy to comfort sorrow,

as the death of a loved one who has received

the gift of salvation when they put their faith in Jesus,

transports them to the presence of God. 

What joy unspeakable and full of glory 1 Pet.1:8

fills the aching void!

I am so thankful for the Word of God

filled with truths that will never fail!

Every Christian, regardless of denomination

turns to the same Word of God

to be taught and encouraged etc. 

Because...

What hope the Word of God secures

In a world plagued with sin

What peace the Word of God assures

To all who trust in Him

What grace the Word of God proclaims

To save the deathless soul

And spare us from eternal flames

As endless ages roll 

What joy the Word of God bestows

To all who love his law

What wealth of wisdom overflows

What height and depth of awe

What truth the Word of God makes known

To calm confusion's gale 

Truth's Everlasting Cornerstone

Will never shift or fail

What might the Word of God instills

With power from on high

All He has promised He fulfills

His decrees never lie

What help the Word of God supplies

What answer to our prayers

Enough to know He hears our cries

Enough to know He cares

What worth the Word of God unveils

We cannot comprehend

Love and mercy that never fails

Purpose no one can bend

What cheer the Word of God imparts

He comforts us. Amen

Bringing courage to fainting hearts

To strengthen faith again 

God's Word is a light to the world

A beacon undeterred 

The path of righteousness unfurled

Through the light of His Word 

God's word is faithful to correct

Exhort, safeguard and guide

 Oh, pray that we do not reject

 His Presence to preside 

What love the Word of God confirms

Proved through salvation's price

What merciful, relentless terms

Succeeds His sacrifice

What life the Word of God commands

What confidence in death

To rest assured within the Hands 

Who hold/made Heaven and earth

What praise the word of God inspires

He paid salvation's cost

Because He utterly desires

That not one soul be lost

What more and more the Word of God

Reveals to all who seek

His holy, just judgment, unflawed

To satisfy the meek

The more we seek the more we find

Humbler, purer delight

As God equips heart, soul and mind 

To walk by faith, not sight

Janet Martin

1 Pet.1:22-25

22 Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth 

[i]through the Spirit in [j]sincere love of the brethren,

 love one another fervently with a pure heart, 

23 having been born again, not of [k]corruptible seed but [l]incorruptible,

 through the word of God which lives and abides [m]forever, 

24 because

“All flesh is as grass,

And all [n]the glory of man as the flower of the grass.

The grass withers,

And its flower falls away,

25 But the [o]word of the Lord endures forever.”

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