Master Peace

The sun also rises, and the sun goes down,
And hastens to the place where it arose.

Eccles.1:5

The crow caws and the wispy gauze

Of violet whispers on yon vale

Turns pale and melts into what was

As Mercy tips time’s awesome grail

The cricket sings and daylight flings

The star-frothed strings of night awry

To spill to streets of common kings

Jewels of dew and gold-hued sky

Love’s ocean sweeps from unplumbed deeps

Man’s near-sightedness bars from view

The Everlasting God that keeps

These spectators of green and blue

Horizons blush; the Artist’s brush

Moves soft across Hope’s weathered wings

Where tumbling through pastel-hued hush

The crow caws and the cricket sings

© Janet Martin

Had to get up extra-early this morning so I enjoyed the glorious unfolding of New Day...
first from my porch then from the bike:)

Lest Thought Yields to Despair...

Lest thought yields to despair

And hope dejected cedes defeat

And hunger leads to feeding where

Nothing its howling want can meet

 

Lest Unknown seems too hard

And what we know is not enough

To mediate twixt head and heart

Mortal’s intrinsic need for love

Lest ‘if’ offers no grace

And brokenness bleeds spirits dry

Without the Wherewithal to face

What is not known to you or I

…we ought to bow in prayer

And break the Bread of Life and eat

Lest thought yields to utter despair

And hope dejected cedes defeat

© Janet Martin

In Lieu of Task To-do ...

Today I'm trying to ignore this to-do list...(except the last thing:)

...for more of this...

Fill blank windowsills with flowers,

Let to-do lists idly sit

Soft, soft, summer doffed of hours

Drains to eons echo-lit

Lie beneath the beaming leaf-bough

Wander lanes with plumed pit-stops

Climb to heaven in a hay-mow

Or a wild-grass strummed hilltop

Drive without a destination

Run, but only if you must

Make Today a celebration

Of what morrow turns to dust

Drink the ink that poets plunder

Do not blink, oh, there it goes

Summer murmurs, spilling wonder

Like pink petals from a rose

Hesitate where barred gates beckon

Trespass; then plead pardon’s grace

Disturb lane-ways lush with bracken

Blue-strife, aster, Queen Ann’s Lace

Soon this berth of blooming bowers

Strips earth’s loom of petal-stars

Leaving in the wake of flowers

Winter’s ache of empty jars

© Janet Martin

But THIS...has a mind of its own!
Just went to choose a juicy snack and there are a whole lot of 'juicy snacks' to choose from!

A Very Present Responsibility

How do these things happen?! we ask as we watch the news and mourn the aftermaths of atrocities rendered one to another. They happen when we cease to love another!

He answered, "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind';
and,
 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'"

Luke 10:27

By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."

John 13:35

So much noise these days, some evil, some intended for good,

but because of the noise some become quiet

and because of the quietness some becomes noisy!

All is in vain, but that which is love!

So Today, let's let Love lead

I’m glad we do not need to see

Tomorrow and what waits to be

I’m glad we do not need to bear

Tomorrow with its weight of care

I’m glad we do not need to know

Tomorrow’s lot of joy or woe

But that, by grace of God we may

Give our best to each Today

Anxiety for morrow’s mile

Drains Today of its sing-and-smile

To fret about the ‘yet’ is vain

Tomorrow, no one can attain

Still, we are never called to be

Sojourners of complacency

But rather, with meek heart to pray

And seek God’s guidance for today

For oh, the weight of it is great

But love makes worth its earth-estate

Therefore, with kind humility

How mindful of Time we should be

Yet never try to carry more

Than what today is granted for

Where Mercy’s present help is laid  

In each today the Lord has made

© Janet Martin

 God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.

Ps.46:1

Love Suffers Long...And Is Kind

When love weighs hard upon the heart

And soft upon our tears

When it is at a loss for words

Save thought, God alone hears

When it is understood that love

Suffers long yet is kind

Then we begin to glimpse the love

The Author had in mind

When what we first perceived as love

Tests mortal uttermost

Then, then we have a chance to prove

Validity of boast

…and when we come to end of self

And what we thought we knew

Oh, praise God for His faithful help

His love will lead us through

© Janet Martin