More Than We Can See...(so be kind, my friend)

That brazen hill once wore the fragile frill of Queen Ann’s lace

That frozen field by snow concealed was once a sea of gold

The barren tree, on winter’s lea doffed of Her green-spun grace

Is not all that she seems to be, that woman bent and old

Was once the girl that turned the heads of Casanovas past

Was once a mama’s pride and joy, a husband’s heart and soul

A mother to the girls and boys that grew up way too fast

A fairest-of-all-flowers before winter took its toll

That hoary head once red-blonde-chestnut-raven tossed, carefree

Is but the crown of wisdom on the girl she used to be  

© Janet Martin

Kaleidoscopic Doggerel

 It's that time of year...letting Nostalgia have its say😘

Kaleidoscope of hope-hued gems

And disappointment’s diadems

Soft crown the brown and silver hems

Of Bygone’s burnished sweep

Time’s pattern of felled petals pressed

Like pastel-parchment, mist caressed

Into a heart-shaped treasure chest

Filled with what none can keep

Save between fingertips of thought

Like wisp of wind on moonbeam caught

Where hug and kiss soon ties a knot

With hands gentle, yet gruff

Because nothing can stay the same

All things return from whence they came

Where what we hold is but the flame

That twilight’s train will snuff

Darling, this daring doggerel

Of balladry where flowers fell

Like rainbow-shards to tune the dell

Taunts-haunts the bard’s keen ear

Torn between touch and letting go

Where summer green and winter snow

Melds into a tender tango

Only the heart can hear

This warp, weightless yet full of years

This galaxy of star-eyed cheers

And vagary dissolved in tears

…laughter and longing’s ilk

Throbs like the sob of lowered dark

Silent, save for dog’s far-off bark

And lone leaf strumming moon-beamed arc

With blades of steel and silk

© Janet Martin

Solace of Surrender

Fear is a predator that Faith will conquer!

Fear looks like this...

 ... to the little birdies at our feeders

Fear takes the fun out of love/life
It stalks it prey, paralyzing prayer!
But, as we pray Fear relinquishes its prey

Bigger than the storm before us

Greater than our deepest fear

Love’s Author never ignores us

Always and forever near

Waiting for our heart’s surrender

Waiting for our will to yield

To His Mercy, kind and tender

Through faith’s fire-tempered shield

© Janet Martin

 I sought the LORD, and he heard me, 
and delivered me from all my fears.
Ps. 34:4

Because This Much Is Clear...

These are the day’s we’ll look back on in days to come, my dear

Better and worse are soon immersed in past’s elusive sphere

And in the din of grit and grin and aspiration’s reach

We learn that what we earn returns with something new to teach

Aha, the law of life is such no one outgrows its school

Beneath the birth and death of touch we break its Golden Rule

While waking to the wonder of Mercy’s unflinching rod

Bequeathing to our blunder, dear, the tender grace of God

…where the spirit is willing, yes, but oh, the flesh is weak

And wisdom comes as humanness submits to reproof’s tweak

Where all that we can do, my dear, as year to year adheres

Is but to keep on keeping on and trust God with our fears

…and not give in to wallowing in quagmires of regret

Futile, the fumbling with a key to doors in Bygone set

But, bow the head instead, to pray, because this much is clear;

These are the days we’ll look back on in days to come, my dear

© Janet Martin

 But one thing I do: 

Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead...

Phil.3:13