Over-looked and Under-rated

The intimacy of being

Completely understood

Is far too often overlooked

And under-rated

Hold me darling,

Not in your arms

But in the gentle smile

Of understanding

The warmth of your gaze

Coupled with two words

‘I know’ are ecstasy unequaled

And contentment unrivaled

Then I am ready to hear

Those other words

I love you, I want you

I need you

‘I know’

J~

Velvet-soft Bliss

'Tis tender-sweet bliss

to be hopelessly caught

in the velvet-soft kiss

of a beautiful thought

'Tis a beautiful thought

to be hopelessly caught

in the tender-sweet bliss

of a velvet-soft kiss

J~

Monday Musings on Today

We cannot shift one jot of the past

Tomorrow, today will be iron cast

The only thing that matters,

in all we do or say

Is the keen awareness

of the value of Today

In Tomorrow nothing has ever been done

It offers no guarantee

Today is a precious and priceless stone

As we build history

Yesterday is the memory of moments shaped 

Today

Time is doled equally

To everyone

Moment by moment

And then

It is done

Triumph and regret

Are woven with the thread

Of today

Treasure and taste it

Oh, do not waste it

Today is a beautiful chance

To plant in its keeping

A harvest worth reaping

As we gather consequence

Time does not reimburse

One sigh or one glance

But graciously offers

A second chance

Janet Martin~

May you have a beautiful Today!

A Collection of Reflection

The pink twilight deepens to purple and blue

Folding to memory the lilt of its day

The half-moon, hazy above earth’s avenue

Garnishes gently its slipping away

Autumn-bold attire grows stark on the air

Etched in precision on fathoms of dusk

Amplified silence stokes woodlands soon bare

Tinting the quiet with sweetness of musk

We shield our thought from the clutch of Time’s haste

And savor the portend of what yet awaits

Beyond perceived skylines of south, west, north, east

We sense the turn of a grand Master Reel

Soon the glad morning will spread out its feast

A glitter of moments from Time’s phantom wheel

And we, lowly partakers of Love’s tender grace

Stumble onto its fresh offering of hope

All the while carried in its pure embrace

Stripping the splendor from autumnal slope

Memories layer, an invisible sheaf

Of laughter and sorrow, of gladness and grief

Darkness to daylight, life’s four-season fling

Duty, desire and love’s soft lament

From summer to autumn, from winter to spring

This is the fullness of earth’s little tent

As we, the sojourner in this forward flight

Though we embarked with the haste of fair youth

Suddenly revel in each season’s delight

For age spawns awareness of life’s ageless truth

Time is a flicker of fragmented boast

Life is the threshold to what matters most

© Janet Martin

This poem began yesterday evening, but constant interruption insisted that I will not write about the gorgeous ‘folding of the day’ I had just witnessed while driving out to pick up my daughter at a friend's, in great depth, but only in one stanza.

Stanza two; this morning before a hint of daylight I scanned the ‘perceived sky-lines’ provoking a new train of thought…but then suddenly it was time to get kids up, make lunches, drive hubby to work so I would not be vehicle-less for the week, and as I drove home slowly, reveling in the beauty of a sunny autumn morning stanza 3 took shape.

The result, a totally different poem from first intentions :); sort of a collection of continuous reflection.

The Wide World Over...

Above is the road from my house if I turn left...Below is the road if I turn right.The farm on the left side is 'the old home place' where I grew up with nine siblings; five boys, five girls and hard-working mom and dad.

You are nothing like me…

Where you have come from

or what has shaped you

is so unlike my own walk

of highs and lows

that life has led me through thus far

and yet

you are so much like me

in every way

as a universal kin-ship

binds close the heart

because love and longing

cannot decipher

twixt beggars and kings

and hope is the common ethereal cord

to which we cling

as we laugh, weep,

pray, stumble sing,

hold and let go

through common needs

of daily living

of love's taking 

and its giving

where time is a wave

reclaiming each and every thing

that once it gave

whether trembling or brave

we hope and trust

to a common end

of cradle to grave 

and

dust to dust

© Janet Martin

The title of this book on my sister's blog struck me.

…as for beyond the grave,

we each must choose to make

our calling and election sure.

Out on the Sky-line

Out on the skyline the crimson is dying

Deep in the heart its raw surge is renewed

Fall is the cradle of June’s supple sighing

Timber-lined crypt of youth-passion subdued

Early the rain draws its cloak on the twilight

Here in the hour of past setting sun

We draw the echo of hello and good-night

Into trembling pulses where two become one

Bully wind vexes the thin, tattered tresses

Of scarlet and auburn, of russet and gold

Wandering philanderer tugging the dresses

From nature’s fair maidens, stark, shivering and cold

Faith is the substance of things that we hope for

We hope for spring even now as the will

Of autumn entwines with the portend of winter

The vine clings to stone like hope clings to fall's chill

Deep are the seas of midnight’s moody brooding

Dark is the hill where new-moon pitched its tent

Darling, the music of a wood-land’s undoing

Moans in the hollow of longing’s torment

Here in the quiet of rain-song reminiscing

Here in the whisper of what is no more

We do not dwell on the wants we are missing

But hope for the morrow that waits on the shore

Out on the skyline the crimson is dying

Earth is a vessel into which seasons seep

Darling, it is only the wind that is crying

Searching like us, for something we can keep

© Janet Martin

I finished cleaning out the garden etc. 

The past two days were beautiful with rain holding off until late day or evening! 

I felt like I was working in a painting, the colors are so vivid! The sky-scape shifting constantly, I found myself apologizing...'sorry God, I have to walk through this beautiful picture for a minute:)'.  

Song for the Mira...or wherever in the world you are:)

One Small Request

Dear Lord

I have one small request

As I lift up my pleas, my thanks

Dear Lord

My words are weak at best

So will you please fill in the blanks? 

Janet~

I'm thankful that He can fill in what I miss...

The Measure of Living

Janet~