Friday, January 13, 2017

Will It Be A Fair-poem Morning?



H-m-m-m, I sometimes ask of you as I survey Your fresh lines,
'will you be a fair-poem morning' or a 
or a tight-fisted fighter?
What a treat...those days when 'you' come to me without much resistance!



Sometimes you come to me, begging and pleading
Tender, I trace you from whisper to word
Sometimes I look for you, like a friend needing
More than the murmur of mantras soft-blurred

Sometimes you come to me without fair warning
Stealing my breath with the depth of word-rush
Sometimes you hover, a lover where morning
Will not relinquish what wish cannot touch

Sometimes you come to me all smiles and kisses
Running me through with your ready replies
Sometimes you linger beyond thought’s embraces
Vexing the place only verse satisfies

Sometimes you come to me, easy and willing
Spilling to page like a sea full of dreams
Sometimes I look for you, groan for you, darling
But you are far too far from me, it seems

© Janet Martin


Thursday, January 12, 2017

All We Need...





From the shoreline of the east
Ebbs the dark tide of the night
From a spigot no one sees
Pours the glory of daylight
Soon this too will be hereafter
Sea of blue from heaven’s rafter
Runs us through with grief and laughter
While we wage the wars of sight

Darling, so little we know
Who can tell what dawn conceals
Hunger’s holy ebb and flow
Shimmers where time spins its wheels
Glimmers where the day is waking
What a tender undertaking
Tugs at heartstring’s born for aching
Where love hurts and heals

Betwixt what was and will be
What is fills our reaching ways
Teaching us humility
With the high-tide of todays
Where the salt of sweat and sorrow
Spills from vaults of get and borrow
Whets the appetite of more, oh
While Want sings-toils-prays

Beg not for the gold of kings
Dance on dawn’s fresh-founded street
Full, the joy of simple things
If we have enough to eat
If we have rest for our labor
If we have love for our neighbor
If we have Christ for our Savior
Darling, we have all we need

© Janet Martin


Wednesday, January 11, 2017

Sonnets on Something Special





We are not bound by what we know or see
The come and go of days oft intercedes
And rouses from the dust of yester-deeds
The common grace of possibility
…a lithe-footed momentum, this ‘oh my’
A blip of eighth-notes in a serenade
They linger for a little ere they fade
Upon the effervesce of by-and-by
To place beneath our trip-and-stumble feet
The mercy of a brand-new music sheet
Where, if we have learned anything at all
We should try not to repeat the same fall

***


The Composer of Morning is no fraud
He knows and sees beyond our meager gaze
This consortium of deftly-numbered days
Is a most sacred grace from Holy God
And human race, privy to more than dust
After the gusto of hope-trust is through
Is commended by He to be and do
The best we can with man’s commanded Must
Left heaven’s throne to break the curse of death
...the Marksman of the grave cannot annul
Who Jesus came to save; debt paid in full

***

The sun breaks through yon blue with perfect poise
Today, the prey of possibility
And what waits in its wing no one can see
Save He who commandeers spheres, but not choice
We, with Surety of unfailing love
Ought to pursue more than earth’s mortal clime
Beyond this pitfall-riddled grace called Time
God waits, Alpha and Omega to prove
Then pray we do not overlook the Hand
Scarred by the sacrifice of love’s command
But with joy of forgiveness press toward
The place of ‘face to face with our Lord’

© Janet Martin

Let’s not get too caught up in head-lines.
Let’s be informed, but not consumed!
For there is a much greater Purpose to be served...

He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. 
And what does the LORD require of you? 
To act justly and to love mercy 
and to walk humbly with your God.

Micah 6:8 


Tuesday, January 10, 2017

That Which We Have...




 When I'm holding this 6-day old lad I wish for nothing more:)

Often, though glad with what we have
We might still pause to wish a bit
And then forget that which we have
And thus neglect to cherish it

Time’s hand fills both cradle and grave
Now is the slave to memory
Lord, remind us that which we have
Will soon fade to what used to be

© Janet Martin

Soon There Will Be Flowers...





Soon there will be flowers
Trove of tempest drained
Lilies from lulled bowers
Violet vales unchained

Soon instead of snowflakes
Layered white on white
Spring will unveil landscapes
Dappled with delight

Beneath snow-quilt dozes
Tulip, daffodil
Gardens pink with roses
Daisy-dazzled hill

Hyacinth and lupine
Patient peony
Lilac, apple-blossoms
Green-leaf lacy tree

Winter winds down hours
To the poetry
Of bright-grinning flowers
Where white used to be

© Janet Martin

Soon while supper is cooking we will be looking at the clock, trying to decide if we should till or weed the garden, cut the grass or clean the windows, sweep porches or prune perennials, edge borders or freshen something with a fresh coat of paint so…enjoy the break!
Make that tea!

Read that book!


Soon there will be flowers…
 and weeds 
and cobwebs 
and gardens to dig 
and seeds to plant 
and trimming to do 
and bikes to ride 
and… well, you get the idea!