As Vast as the Unknown Glistening...

As vast as the unknown glistening

On a new day yet untrod

So is the infinite mercy

And grace of our loving God

As wide as the ethereal heavens

In copious pastures of blue

So are the unwavering promises

God gave to me and you

In lengths of transient ribbon

The unknown cloaks the sod

But not one thread escapes the hand

Of our faithful God

Ethereal Echoes

In the evening she would lean against the pillar of the porch

As nature dropped its chatter like parishioners at church

The breeze ran cooling fingers soft against her pensive stance

And in the gathering twilight how those memories would dance

‘ Oh Mama, watch our somersault’ she sees two little girls

As cotton dresses flew awry with tousled braids or curls

And then her eyes would rest upon nasturtium, lily, rose

The ivy on the south-west wall; how subtly it glows

As noonday sheds maternal warmth in dusty pink and gold

The farmer walked toward her then, his stride youthful and bold

Unlike the creak of wooden planks as now he sits and rocks

While time re-plays before his eyes the ticking of life’s clocks…

…the weathered pride of heaven’s walls charms intrigued passers-by

Pausing to hear time’s clock rewind in nature’s reverent sigh

Frames of a perfect romance lure the wanderer to its door

Hungry for glimpses of the life that played across its floor

But timber seals its creaking lips, eyes stare back silently

Its staid facade a soundless dirge of sweet melancholy

The ivy claws tenaciously against its wooden breast

Beneath a hundred-season sky its longing is caressed

And we are drawn toward the song of hallowed history

Of tumbled lawn, perennial bloom and musing's mystery

Where in the eve she leaned against the pillar on the porch

We gaze with awe-hushed voices like parishioners at church

© Janet Martin

I loved all the pictures but kept returning to this one...

Thank-you Mary-Ann for sharing the wonderful photos!

Photo Prompt at Real Toads

It could work for the previous prompt as well:)

A Little like a Snowfall Haiku

It falls soundlessly

In profound transformation

And then we are old

 

Limbs supple; fruitful

Surrender to time’s wisdom

White crowns youth’s forehead

Back into the earth

Returns all manner of life

A tiny seed stirs

© Janet Martin

White Grace Haiku

In the quiet night
the sky parted her dark lips
exhaling white grace

Deliberate Surrender

Why is it so hard sometimes,

To trust the Hand

that lights the sun,

that paints the earth,

that fills the oceans

And directs the firmaments

That instructs the lightning

and feeds the wild

that stirs the seed

and topples mountains

And cares for me?

© Janet Martin

I watched this little wood-pecker today...

as God provided its needs.

On Suffering

Some are given painful sorrows to bear

Visible burdens of grief

Some carry great crosses deep in their hearts

Where God alone can see

© Janet

 Hope is like the sun, which, as we journey toward it, casts the shadow of our burden behind us.
Samuel Smiles

Of Valleys and Fathers

I have not walked in your valley
Nor you in mine
But it is the same grace and mercy
That brings the sunshine
Your valley may be longer and darker
Mine may be still yet to come
But it is the very same Father
That leads all of His children Home

Janet Martin

Yes, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death
I will fear no evil; for Thou art with me
Thy rod and Thy staff, they comfort me. Psalms 23

Whispers of Hell

When fiendish winds crackle

And seep through the walls

When anger, resentment

Hang like smoke in the halls

When kindness and patience

Have been snuffed by the flame

Of cold self-indulgence

Indifference and blame
When silence replaces
The echo of laughter
And jealousy graces
The once love-lit rafter

When all that is given

From our gracious Lord

As a foretaste of Heaven

Is crassly ignored

When prayer is neglected

And His Word as well

Then glimpses of Heaven

Become whispers of Hell

© Janet Martin

We all have bad days, but God forbid they out-number the good...

and God forbid we should seek hope without Him~

 But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.”Joshua 24:15