Of Reluctant Relinquishments...

…and so then, when the sun comes up

Glazing with gold the dangling leaf

And the dew-lipped earth; a silver cup

Mirrors its eons of passion and grief

When the song-bird flits from its shady perch

To herald the morn awakening fair

From maple and willow, from elm and birch

They warble and fill the virgin air

With their song; you will not be here

…and just because I taste your name

Where once your kisses filled my mouth

And just because all seems the same

Against my east, west, north and south

And just because there is no grave

On which to shed my silent screams

And just because the heart is brave

In spite of torn and tattered dreams

That once we shared; you will not be here

…and all the ‘something mores’ we crave

If the raw, raging truth were told

And all the blessings that we have

Will not keep us from growing old

And all the ‘never mores’ we knew

Meld into fabrics of the heart

Where they remain, an avenue

Strewn recklessly with precious art

Called memories; you will not be here

…but you will be where all the rest

Like you have gone to fill the past

Briefly my love, you were the best

But now your void is iron-cast

I held you closely and we danced

But quietly you slipped away

Without a tender backward glance

You disappeared into the gray

And come what may you will never be here again

...for you are Yesterday

© Janet Martin

Righteous Brothers; Unchained Melody
J~

Beautiful Blanket of July

Beautiful blanket of July

Sunflower, lily and butter-fly

Queen Ann’s lace in the wild hedge-row

Wheat fields rippling with golden flow

Beautiful blanket of July

Quilt beneath an azure sky

Locust and cricket serenade

Sweet-tea on throws of dappled shade

Beautiful blanket of July

Sultry minuet sparkling by

Of bare toes skimming clover-mead

Of fair rose dripping petals, red

Beautiful blanket of July

Heavenly splendor pleases the eye

Summer perfection pinned to the sky

Oh, beautiful blanket of July

© Janet Martin

Of All We Full Well Know...

Full well we know we cannot see

Beyond our toil and trouble

Full well we know eternity

Will claim life’s fleeting bubble

Full well we know tis but one life

Allotted to each man

Full well we know we aught to give

The best of what we can

Full well we know these days of grass

Fall swiftly to oblivion

And soon eternities will pass

One moment as a million

Full well we know His way is Peace

His grace has paid our debt

And though full well we know all this

How sadly we forget

Full well we know Time is a glance

Full well we realize

We cannot fathom timelessness

Above life’s little skies

Full well we know we do not know

The ways of Providence

Yet, by the mercies He bestows

His gifts are evidence

…of Love and Joy and Hope and Peace

To comfort us below

In all of life uncertainties

For all we do not know

© Janet Martin

Poetic Bloomings Prompt: Uncertainties

Song of Grace

How Great Thou Art Alan Jackson

But by the grace of God go I

See how the rain falls from the sky

See how the spring time spawns new birth

How summer wheat leaps from the earth

Humbly, I lift my voice and cry

But by the grace of God go I

But by the grace of God go I

See how the fledgling learns to fly

See how the baby learns to walk

How corn hangs heavy on the stalk

And all that I can do is cry

But by the grace of God go I

But by the grace of God go I

We are born, we live; we die

The only boast within life’s hour

Is what is rendered by His power

As we join nature’s hymn to cry

But by the grace of God go I

© Janet Martin

The Poet's Pen

The poet’s pen

Is filled with blood

And stars

And flowers and tears

It spills

According to the mood

Of Muse

Or tilted spheres

The poet’s pen

Is like a knife

Or scalpel

Ruthless; keen

It slices through the outer flesh

To hearts

And scars

And dreams

The poet’s pen

Can be a curse

Or a divine-breathed quill

It shapes dull letters

Into sobs,

And aches

And chills

And thrills

The poet’s pen

Is filled with lust

For all unwritten things

It tears man’s longing

From the dust

It wails

It sighs

It sings

The poet’s pen

Is filled with blood

The tears of heart and soul

And oh, the passion

Of its flood

When it

Loses

Control

© Janet Martin

Pen and I

…and so we dance

On some days bold and sure-footed

On others

Trembling; uncertain

We trace the landscape

Of time and experience

Or inexperience

Always searching

For what lies

Behind those eyes

Beneath the smile

The skin

Sun-warmed 

The earth

Knowing in the end

Our dance will be

A configuration of curves and lines

To spell a poem

© Janet Martin

Of Ticks and Tocks

It ticks away

April then May

Fair June, dashing July

I cannot thwart

Its cool cavort

Into the by and by

It ticks away

Silent sashay

Moment to memory

Only God knows

How far time flows

Until eternity

© Janet Martin

Yesterday I laid in the backyard for a long time with a book and a camera...the sky was a constant slide-show of texture and change...and that's how and where the summer goes. I determine to slow the rush, absorb the hush of sunshine sultry-sweet...too soon the clutch of Autumn's touch will dull its rippling heat!

International Housewives' Day

Today is International Housewives’ Day

We will acknowledge the domestic ranks

For months and years and centuries

They have toiled with paltry thanks

Many are ignorant of her worth

They spurn the thought of mundane chores

Considered low-balls of the earth

Fit for cleaning drawers and floors

Orange rind from the coffee table

All the clutter as it falls

They think that she is merely able

To wash dishes, clothes or walls

But this is International Housewives’ Day

So we will shout her accolades

Eternity will owe her pay

For all the beauty she creates

She fills a home with simple joy

Not for monetary wealth

But for the love of girl or boy

For home and happiness and health

She toils in sweet obscurity

Subtracting nothing from her worth

No sting of shame encumbers she

For housewives are salt of the earth

Here’s to housewives the world over! Cheers!

© Janet Martin

Sunday Whirl