Immaculate Invitation

Oh hush, the imminence of something trembles on the air

Of mystery and mercy winnowing the keeling deep

And I am drawn against my will from midnight’s gentle sleep

Toward its brink; and yet I do not know what tarries there

Arise; we must be going for The Hour is at hand

And like the bride preparing to meet her beloved groom

We go; the proof of Something sweeps earth’s yawning living-room

Stirring in dusty street, hillock, sea-song and sky and sand

Can we afford to slumber while This Awesome Thing is laid

Before our wondering gaze? It spills from hope’s immortal spring

Into our care, it fills the air with Passion’s offering

Beneath our feet; an affidavit holy, heaven-made

…and Darkness has no power where this lovely Thing is born

The past is but its shadow and the morrow fantasy

But see, upon the lea Today and what is yet to be

Beckons to all, oh come, behold the glory of the Morn

© Janet Martin

As long as earth endures…day and night will never cease. Gen. 8:22

Of Dark and Light; of Death and Life

The hollow of this night is dark and deep; the crescent moon

Obliterated by the blacker black of heavy cloud

Ah Death, oh Death how morbid would be thy eternal swoon

And darker far than this dark night of midnight’s moonless shroud

If not for Pardon’s promises sealed by Love’s dying breath

As He cried ‘it is finished’ conquering the curse of death

Foolish infatuation cannot save us from The Truth

How swift our little leap is summoned; dust returns to dust

Life has no guarantee; old, infant, middle-aged or youth

Are not assured of one more day; we place our earnest trust

In He who holds us tenderly and tolls the Evening Bell

Who will be next to answer it, our God alone can tell

Surely Goodness and Mercy longs to save us from Death’s fate

Love paid the Way from life to Life; His grace a boundless Room

We must make our election sure before it is too late

Salvation is The Gift and its rejection is our doom

Eternity is long and we are all one breath away

From that sure, solemn summons of that final Judgment Day

The hollow of this night is dark and deep; but soon the dawn

Will murmur in the foothills softening night’s heavy veil

And then another day of grace softly descends upon

The human race of dust to dust; compassion fills His grail

As He extends this span of Time for He beholds the cost

His will is that not one of us should perish and be lost

Janet~

The sky is a mass of black clouds tonight.  In darkness our eyes search for Light, and Light instantly pierces Darkness.

My Season-tree

 

 

Sometimes you wear a lacy shawl

Sometimes an emerald gown

You shimmer in the gold of fall

Against an azure crown

Today you stand motionless; gray

Exposed to winter’s will

Soldier of summer’s lightning-splay

Or rain-song’s rippling trill

You cradle bud and bird and snow

Beneath your verdant tent

The daffodil and lupine blow

A bonny regiment

The hands that placed your virgin wood

Into a bit of sod

Knew that his children’s children could

Enjoy this work of God

(last verse optional)

And as you flaunt spring’s ruby bud

…summer’s green melody

Fall-bronze, bark-fronds, I am so glad

My Grandpa thought of me

© Janet Martin

I’m so thankful that my Grandpa planted trees on the property we own. I remember he said that he won’t be around to enjoy their shade but we will…

December Dusk

Day retires blue and early

Past stark chimney-flute and wood

As December’s brogue, bleak, burly

Slips across dusk’s forlorn brood

June’s thicket once rich with laughter

Shivers in the sober chill

Dusk lowers its cobalt rafter

Stilly over field and hill

We behold day’s swift adjourning

Like a year of half-spent dreams

Thought amalgamates with yearning

In December-dusk requiems

Day surrenders contemplation

To a tide bantering; brusque

Death in spectral consummation

Drenches dark December's dusk

© Janet Martin

Last evening we stood at the window, the little guy I baby-sit and I, watching blue brood ever bluer over the dying day...

I've Been There...

When we struggle in life’s dirt

Weary, sad, downcast or hurt

There is One who knows our care

‘Hurt and cast down; I’ve been there’

   

When we feel misunderstood

Though we had intended good

Gently He pleads, ‘don’t despair

Misunderstood; I’ve been there’

When we are tempted and tried

Taunted on every side

Listen; soft upon the air

‘Tried and tempted; I’ve been there’

When we are broken, undone,

Feeling betrayed and alone

Hear Him; through our pleading prayer

‘Forsaken; oh, I’ve been there’

When the road is hard and steep

As we struggle, groan and weep

When our cross is hard to bear

Still He whispers, I’ve been there

…I’ve been there, my precious one

I am Jesus, God’s own Son

Come to me, I know, I care

Because, my precious, I’ve been there

© Janet Martin

There is nothing quite as comforting as someone who fully understands us because ‘they’ve been there’. Oh, what comfort to know that Jesus understands. Long ago Perfection, Spirit put on skin, came as a wee Baby and suffered in humility unto death, even death on a cross…

This Thursday's Thoughts ( a little late again:)

Bless he whose word is eloquent and tempered with insight

But bless him more who does not speak even when he’s right

***

Not what I say

Nor quiet thought

But what I do

This proves my God

***

The night is dark and still and deep

It seems that I should be asleep

But we are not like other men

…vexed by the whisper of a pen

***

Today is laid into the past

How did it slip away so fast?

A half-song writ of joy and hope

And seasons slipping from Time’s slope

Shaping our laughter, love and sorrow

Always winging to tomorrow

***

You are there and I am here

Yet somehow, through the atmosphere

I touch you and you touch me

Heart to heart in poetry

***

Sometimes when I am feeling blue

With ‘quit-melancholy'

The pep talks that I gave my kids

Turn to admonish me

***

We should never stay where we

Can see our full way through

For when we take that leap of faith

We see what God can do

***

Yes, it’s a big, scary world out there

But it’s still smaller than a half-breath prayer

***

God spoke everything into being

With these words, ‘let there be’

Then He asked that the earth be tended

By lil’ ole’ you

And lil’ ole me

This simple, awesome request

Should make us want to do our best

***

It’s easy to think it’ll be okay

It’s foolish to believe it

If we never pray

© Janet Martin

Waiting...

You are there waiting, dangling on a gate

Vexing ineptness and testing my will

Oh, how I want you but you wait until

Passion and pleasure and pain culminate

Oft I have felt you, presence without form

Just as the wind whispers in the wild beech

You tease the air where my thought cannot reach

Rousing within me a smoldering storm

You are a counselor, you are a gasp

You are a lion restrained in a cage

You are a tear on an empty page

Translucent vision evading my grasp

Far from my touch how you torture my breast

Vague compositions of gossamer gray

Oh, I have held you as you slipped away

Come to me now so at last I may rest

Somewhere out there where the dark and the light

Vie for the sky you remain, bittersweet

Wafting until thought and fingertips meet

You are The Poem I’m waiting to write

© Janet Martin

Flash-freeze or Flash-back

 Last night we put up the tree...always a sentimental return to years gone by.

The company of moments melts

And molds brief present to long past

How swift the sparkle ‘ere it rests

In the flash-freeze of ever-cast

I tremble for within my hold

I sense the sweet and sacred rush

Of mercy’s moment-metered gold

Soft-slipping through my fumbling touch

How quick a year gathers its frock

And girls and curls ride on its hem

Those darling lads that stole our hearts

Soon take their place among life’s men

The give and take within Time’s haste

Impresses on my thought today

That I cannot afford to waste

These moments ‘ere they melt away

© Janet Martin