Time's Celebration

The fattest and most scrumptious of all flowers, a rare fusion of fluff and majesty, the peony is now coming into bloom.
–Henry Mitchell, American writer (1923-93)

Like children, young peonies take time to develop. They usually need a few years to establish themselves, bloom, and grow.

Peonies thrive on benign neglect. Unlike most perennials, they don’t need to be dug and divided.

June is like a festival
Honoring each hour
Pink parades of peony,
Purple wild-phlox bow'r


Buttercups and cowslip-seas
White anemone stars
Scatter summer's luxuries
From heaven-held jars


Daisy-dells ,musk-mallow bells
Fields of clover-swoon
Nature's invitation to
Time's celebration
June

Janet~

Our peony-season was cut short by scorching winds:(

Bravo!

How seasons change

They rearrange

Our window-scapes

…a picture show

Of rain and rose

Good-byes, hellos

Of holding close

And letting go

A soft, slow dance

Life’s strange romance

Its Casanova

Dressed as days

While, all the while

We try to smile

And brave the wave

Of grown-up days

© Janet Martin  

I try not to let it bother me...

the fading green,

where gold seeps in

 ...the subtle sweep

of summer caught

in curtains blue

and vapor-thin

Hope For All...In-form Wednesday at Poetic Bloomings

Today's form is the Pathya Vat...The Pathya Vat is a Cambodian verse form, consisting of four lines of four syllables each, where lines two and three rhyme. When a poem consists of more than one stanza, the last line of the previous stanza rhymes with the second and third lines of the following one.

The day is young

And so, its hope

Whereby we cope

…God in control

Press onward then

Toward the goal

Where only soul

Can access Heav’n

We, sinners all

Can be forgiv’n

The Lord is ris’n

His death bought life

Press onward then

Time’s joy and strife

Runs raw and rife

Until we die

This day is young

And you and I

Beneath its sky

Are not alone

Rejoice in this;

Love’s gift of grace

A resting place

Where fear would reign

Press onward then

Through grief and pain

Toward the gain

Eye cannot see

The love of God

Abides, full-free

Eternity

Waits to explain

© Janet Martin

Wonder-full Miracle

 The little guy I babysit keeps my heart and days full of laughter. 

He didn't even seem to notice his audience until he heard the camera clicking:)

The heart is like a miracle

Its hub, an open door

For when we think it should be full

There’s room for ‘just one more’

…and there is always room enough

For each new name and face

It is a miracle called love

The heart, its nesting place

© Janet Martin

Check out Dayle's oh-so-adorable heart-full here

(the inspiration for this poem:)

Don't Forget To Dally...

Don’t forget to dally

Where the valley brims

With the sacred sally

Of un-tallied hymns

Don’t forget to savor

The flavor of rays

Soon its golden favor

Fades to yesterdays

Don’t forget to wander

Over yonder There

Freely, holy, squander

Wonder like a prayer

Don’t forget to listen

…the wooing of hours

Glistens in green bracken

And chicory flowers

Don’t forget to linger

Where earth’s lure is cast

Laden with bloom valor

On the fringe of Past

Don’t forget to dally

Pink-green-purple mirth

Falls prey to the daily

Undoing of earth

© Janet Martin

Fool's Paradise;-)

Sometimes we cajole thought

With silly flattery

Knowing full-well that what we think

Is not what others see

Sometimes we fluff our airs

In spite of hurts and aches

For compliments from Self to Self

Overlooks our mistakes

…and though fool’s flattery

From Self to Self is vain

Sometimes it helps us to be brave

Enough to love again

© Janet Martin