In Case We Forget...

…who whets the west with setting sun

Then lets it back to day begun

Who forges gorgeous heaven-hues

From nothing more than airbrushed blues

Who glisters winter’s dormant bow’rs

And tempers mercy’s rod with flow’rs

Who woos from woodland, vesper-hymn

And renews weary worlds with spring

Who wills the way whereby we live

And fills the tray whereby we give

Who plants this place with joy and woe

And grants His grace whereby we go

Lest we forget such loving care

We should greet each new day with prayer

© Janet Martin

Once Upon a Tree

Once upon a tree a lad climbed up to see the world

Once upon a tree an apple grew from bud unfurled
  Once upon a green-leaf tree its tune turned gold and fell
 Where winter, like a lonesome minstrel strums its citadel

Once upon a tree wee birdie learned to sing and fly
 Once upon a tree a swing, a wind-song lullaby

Once upon a tree, a pantry filled with nuts and such

Nature’s wildlife castles clothed and stripped beneath her touch

Once upon a tree redemption’s misery ran red

Once upon a tree salvation’s sacrifice was bled

Once upon a tree a king laid down his life and then

Became, for all humanity the Way into heaven

© Janet Martin

Quite a Friend

The luxury of you, my dear

Teasing my mouth, tickling my ear

With pictures waiting to be penned

Has turned you into quite a friend

The way you almost kiss my lips

And kindle flames in fingertips

Restless to snare the air you stir

Has turned you into quite a Sir

I cannot clutch the skin of thrill

Or touch your faerie blueness, still

Your whitewashed, star-splashed wherewithal

Has turned you into quite a pal

You never leave, yet never stay

But wander through this wish-worn clay

Footloose, your phantom whispering

Has turned you into quite a king

You lord your longing in my sigh

I drink the wink of common sky

I think your tug-of-ink-and-heart

Has turned you into quite an art

You please me with the want of you

And taunt me with frost-font and dew

The way you weave yourself through me

Has turned you into poetry

© Janet Martin

Thank-you God, For Families

It is Family Day in Ontario...

 We are looking forward to spending it with our family's newest member,

Brantley James Curry (grandson born on Jan. 4)

We thank-you God, for families

They turn a house into a home

And make a life of memories

With people we can call our own

We thank-you God, for families

And pray we never fail to find

The gift in what soon slips with ease

To art-galleries of the mind

We thank-you God, for families

The fuss and mess whereby we learn

To give and help, say thank-you, please

And remember to wait our turn

We thank-you God, for families

And hope that we never forget

To cherish mercies such as these;

Life’s silver cords not broken yet

© Janet Martin