Saturday, July 20, 2013

A Poem is a Lovely Thing





A poem is a lovely thing
A soft and gentle winnowing
Of duty's spoil; a poem smiles
Like flowers on life’s mundane miles

A poem is a tender touch
Between life’s lumps of dirt and such
It meanders through our thought
In twirls and swirls in winsome jot

A poem is a little light
A beacon beaming, brave and bright
It twists those tiny ticks of time
To lilting melodies of rhyme

A poem is sweet word-spun bliss
A pleasant pause, a kindly kiss
A poet’s sudden unveiling
A poem is a lovely thing

© Janet Martin

Sometimes, while I'm shining up the house I think of this poem that I memorized as a child and it makes me sing... thank-you to the poet's who took the time to print their rhyme.

"The Shiny Little House"  by Nancy M Hayes


I wish, how I wish, that I had a little house,
with a mat for the cat and a hole for the mouse,
and a clock going "tock" in the corner of the room,
and a kettle, and a cupboard, and a big birch broom

To school in the morning the children off  would run
and I'd give them a kiss and a penny and a bun.
But directly they had gone from this little house of mine,
I'd clap my hands and snatch a cloth and shine, shine, shine.

I'd shine all the knives, all the windows and the floors,
all the grates, all the plates, all the handles on the doors,
every fork, every spoon, every lid and every tin,
till everything was shining like a new bright pin.

At night by the fire, when the children were in bed,
I'd sit and I'd knit, with a cap upon my head,
and the kettles, and the saucepans,
they would shine, shine, shine,
in this teeny little, cozy, little house of mine. 

Summer-wealth





Swirl of gold and turquoise
Splash of garden-green
Bouquet of Queen Ann’s Lace
For every summer-queen

Garnet of red-cherry
Waved-washed pebble-pearls
Ruby watermelon
For summer’s boys and girls

Wild-flower atonement
Blessing ditch and field
Where we, in humble worship 
Partake of summer’s yield

Storehouse spilling sun-beam
And mercy’s gracious show’r
Soft, silver rush of poplar-song
In midnight’s mellow hour

Troubadour of twilight
Spangled star-dust spires
Weeping-willow whispers
And tireless cricket-choirs

Sheaves of gifted harvest
From fallow-dregs of grace
Myriad of miracles
In every floweret-face

As we behold His goodness
Our tripe and babble wanes
Beneath the kind hierarchy
Of summer-sweet refrains

© Janet Martin

Friday, July 19, 2013

Tick-tock




Oh, make life’s moments count, my love
Its gilded offering pours
From heaven’s ether spring above
To sweat-and-blood-drop shores
For if we simply toss away
These moments that implore
Philandering its gifted splay
Then what’s the giving for?
And what’s this living for?

Oh, make love’s moments count, sweet-heart
For none of us can tell
When we will drink the final draught
Of moment’s from Time’s well
And none can carelessly afford
To waste its pulsing laud
For every moment that is poured
Returns again to God
From God to man to God

© Janet Martin

This time of year it seems like there are never quite enough tick-tocks in a day:) It's back to the garden for now.

Tears in a Bottle





Above this fretting sphere
Above this maddened din of strife
Someone beholds each tear

Within the mocking dark
Where demons of regret
Would rob us of strength to press on
One remains faithful yet

The anguish that we clench
Does not escape His will
He plants His comfort in despair
And whispers, peace, be still

From far off we have seen
Though not as yet received
But you have promised, not by sight

We never cry alone
Each teardrop that we weep
Falls where the One who loves us so
Cradles them in His keep

© Janet Martin
 
 Psalm 56:8
You have kept count of my tossings; put my tears in your bottle. Are they not in your book?

Do you ever feel like you pray and shed tears over the same pleas, again and again and again, yet do not receive? 

 "Hear my prayer, O LORD, and give ear to my cry; hold not your peace at my tears! For I am a sojourner with you, a guest, like all my fathers. Ps.39:12
 
 These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. Heb. 11:13


Thursday, July 18, 2013

Beautiful, Beautiful Mourning





It’s the quiet, pink, slowly slipping away
Of another closer-to-autumn day
Or the wanting of you on that noon in July
When we parted but never said good-bye
Instead, letting our tears wash away tenderly
Those lovely things
That never again will be

It’s like the indistinguishable, precious lasts
Recognized only long after they are past
Like the last time you climbed into my lap
Where I rocked you to sleep for your afternoon nap
It’s in the recognition that dreams do come true
Even if they are
A different shade of blue

It’s the longing that grips us because we’ve held and cried
Bearing the beauty of laughter’s flip-side
It’s the darkness, as it seeps from its endless unknown
To cover creek-banks and warm cobblestone
It’s a coursing within us; an intangible flow
The beautiful, beautiful mourning
Of loving and
 Letting go

© Janet Martin




Trust Me




God what is your plan for me?
Trust me
God, why am I writing poetry?
Trust me
God, what is its purpose? Why?
Trust me
God, what if the well runs dry?
Trust me
God, time is precious. Is this my call?
Trust me
God, you inspire, do you also withhold?
Trust me
God, I’m not sure what to do…but
Trust you

© Janet Martin

Sometimes I type, with tears, a mingling of joy and questions. Am I doing the write/right thing?
He whispers, trust me.

 Trust in the LORD with all your heart; and lean not to your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct your paths. …Prov.3:5-6

Of Stubborness and Self-control



 
God, Your rebuke and reprimand
Remind us that we have a choice
To rebel, grumble, play the fool
Or humbly heed Your tender voice

God, teach us how to discipline
Our thought; make Your conviction strong
And let us never be too proud
As to admit that we were wrong

How sad, if we in ignorance
Refuse the wisdom of Your way
Forfeiting our inheritance
Because of words we would not say

Lord, help us to control our tongue
And not to speak anger or spite
But teach us how to love like You
Then everything will be all right

© Janet Martin

Sometimes the devil wants to get me down
...tell me what a failure I am and I frown, 
but sometimes I have to confess
it's not the devil; it's God, drawing me near,
Whispering words I don't want to hear
because it's hard, when stubbornness is strong
to humbly bow and say, I'm sorry, I was wrong'

...but when we do God forgives and increases wisdom.


Stubbornness is determination to keep my own point of view
Determination is  stubbornness to see something through
Which am I? Which are you?

(sometimes it seems I have a dose of both!)


Stitches in Time





Like gossamer embroidery
Above the canvas of the sea
The morning spills across the lea
In mercy’s kind bestowing
Life’s imperfection’s of the past
Are stitched in place; knotted, re-cast
The threads of this new day held fast
In Hands above our knowing

What is to be must first pass through
The fingers hidden from our view
We ought to do what we must do
With our best endeavor
For when this little day is done
And sealed beyond the setting sun
Our stitches cannot be un-spun
Today we shape forever

Behold; grace has not rent the thread
Nor severed us from mercy’s bread
He parts the darkness overhead
Unfurling pardon’s glory
Behold; to hands, fumbling and small
He gifts new threads; our tangled ball  
Is done away; new stitches fall
Oh, what will be their story?

© Janet Martin


Morning mist blankets the dell in gossamer cloth…

For he that sows to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that sows to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not. As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good to all men, especially to them who are of the household of faith. Gal. 6:8-10

Whether we're sowing or sewing, we owe our fellowmen and God our best!