Wednesday, March 6, 2013

Sun-whispers...a Quatrain Cascade Poem

 (we are having our first serious sun-whispers of the season;)

I snitched the first stanza of a poem I wrote last night to try another Cascade poem. Poetic Bloomings is show-casing the cascade form today.


Sun-whispers softly grin
Where winds mutter, blue-cold 
And so this tug-of- war begins
Twixt gray and azure-gold

We long for the kind kiss
Of summer on our skin
And dusty lanes of bare-foot bliss
…sun-whispers softly grin

The dismal monotone
Of woodland's naked fold
Makes a body feel alone
Where winds mutter, blue-cold

Gold puddles warm the earth
Nudging the seed within
The womb of Mother’s nature’s girth
And so this tug-of-war begins

The firmaments declare
Winter is growing old
A duel provokes the air
Twixt gray and azure-gold

© Janet Martin




His Loving Proof



Poetic Bloomings invites us to attempt the Cascade form
(use each line in your first stanza as the last line in each following stanza)


The whisper of a new day yearns
On morning’s far ephemeral brink
The velvet veil of midnight’s deep
Dons pastel borders of soft pink

The past whereon we dreamed and danced
Is sealed, no refunds, no returns
But oh, the grace of second chance
…the whisper of a new day yearns

From astral streams hope’s halo beams
Time dips its quill into love’s ink
It’s signature of mercy gleams
On morning’s far ephemeral brink

The gossamer of purple mist
Embellishes the supine sweep
Of slumber’s bliss; mute murmurs kiss
The velvet veil of midnight’s deep

Ah, what is man that God approves  
Our offerings of splattered ink
His grace in glorious, loving proof
Dons pastel borders of soft pink

© Janet Martin

 When I consider your heavens,
    the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars,
    which you have set in place, 
 what is mankind that you are mindful of them,
    human beings that you care for them?

Ps. 8: 3-4

Arabesque Allure





Boldly you stare
Silver, like air
And lure me with
Beguiling grin
Ghostly you gloat
And like a fur coat
You beg me to slip in
To you, and do
Those things you ask
But this is not
Some plebeian task
That you dangle
You preen the bait
Sweet spangles
Tempting me to taste
And yield
But I embrace
The gift of grace
And hold it high
My sword and shield
For it protects me
From your charm
And guides me gently
On His arm
Leading me in
Each step I take
For you
Bad, sad habit
Are hard to break

© Janet Martin

Sometimes I still am tempted to stay up half the night 
and write, 
but it is a habit I have tried to break 
so I can be a nicer person during the day!;))
Tonight words whisper in my head
But I will…oh I will…
Go to bed.

Tug-of-war Time



 The duel twixt sunshine-sweetness and surly storm-cloud begins...

Sun-whisper softly grins
Where winds mutter, blue-cold  
And so this tug-of- war begins
Twixt gray and azure-gold

Subtle, its overtures
Of ruby-jeweled limb
Of rivers trickling through the snow
In muted meadow-hymn

The chill of winter-boast
Wavers, sensing the thrill
Of zephyrs tumbling from yon cloud
And rolling down the hill

But then in brutish scowl
He hails his motley fleet
Employing them to spill their worth
On woods and field and street

Across earth’s frigid cusp
His snowy squadrons seethe
But they cannot deter the touch
Of spring nudging beneath

…and soon the blustering
Of shiver-laden jeers
Uncurls its lip; a drop, a drip
And winter disappears

© Janet Martin


Tuesday, March 5, 2013

Eternal Riches





By word and deed
We plant life’s seed
And render to earth’s portal
The tattered lot
Of scattered thought
And offerings fully mortal

But in this blip
Of trip and slip
And moment-scope of living
We touch the sod
With things of God
In humble, gracious giving

Both word and deed
Fail and succeed
Often confusing reason
But if we live
Simply to give
How full the harvest season

© Janet Martin 

How often we seem to err
In the course of daily living
But one thing is certain and sure
We can never do wrong by giving



Windowsill Maidens





…and there they were
Like robust children
On a rainy summer day
Noses pressed up to the window
Asking, ‘May we go out to play?’

Rosy smiles,
Eager ambivalence
Heaven-splendor lent to earth
Laughing to despondent passers
With exuberance and mirth

What of silver
Splatters falling?
What of landscapes glistening white?
They can hear their mother calling
From a garden out of sight

So, there they wait
Blithe, buxom beauties
In the winter sun they dream
Red geraniums in the window
Where icicles fringes gleam

© Janet Martin

There they were, inside the window at the local gas station! My 'beauties' are looking pretty anemic compared to these...Time for some Miracle-grow, I think!





Of Fleeting Melodies





Sheer, phantom oceans surge
Sweeping a blood-red coast
Where joy and grief converge
To shape love’s uttermost

Our nearest, dearest thought
Spills ragged, without skill
And all that we are not
Humbles our stubborn will

I hold you close to me
But even in my clasp
Love’s raw and raging sea
Ushers you from my grasp

…as life’s relentless art
With cool indifference
Shapes and re-shapes the heart
In love’s relinquishments

God, let me never waste
One breath in drudgery
But freely, fully taste
It's fleeting melody

© Janet Martin

Monday, March 4, 2013

Our God IS Sovereign





This is our God
Sovereign and sure
And none exceeds His power
By His promise
We will endure
In life’s most trying hour

This is our God
Immortal King
Father and Son and Spirit
Sustain-er in our
Suffering
He kindly helps us bear it

This is our God
Lion and Lamb
Offering and Vindicator
Man of sorrows
The I AM
Heaven and earth’s Creator

This is our God
He parts the seas
No army over-throws Him
Deliverer
Of mysteries
And none can fully know Him

This is our God
Faithful, the One
This life is but a vapor
Before we bow
Before His throne
To dwell with Him forever

© Janet Martin

Yesterday afternoon we saw face to face the couple we prayed for .They shared the details of their flight from raw and real danger. They are safely at home, waiting on the Lord. Pray they can keep good courage as they face sudden new unknowns. As they shared they constantly reiterated that in spite of everything, no matter what happened and happens, God is Sovereign and to Him be the glory.

Last night we watched the first episode of The Bible and again God’s sovereignty impacted my heart. This is I AM, the Same yesterday, today and forever. The God of Abraham and Isaac is the God of you and I. hallelujah! This is our God!