Frameworks of Farewell

 

The framework of farewell is filled with moments spilled and spent

Into a little locket frilled with laughter and lament

Where what we argue or reject, or believe and embrace

Becomes part of the retrospect that farewell’s frames showcase

Sometimes it seems I almost see Father Time tease my sigh

With a fedora jauntily pulled down over one eye

He tips his hat and with the other hand touches my cheek

‘There, there, you know I understand the words you cannot speak’

Sometimes I think I sense him wink as one more year becomes

The latest, stationary link of soldered cookie crumbs

And sums soft-shook from flowers that we plant, then pluck and press

Between books filled with hours of love’s hopeful happiness

Where bittersweet, an echo-fleet embarks upon a sea

That surges with the thrum of bare feet lost on Bygone’s lea

Where frames of farewell gaped while hellos rang in the New Year

From thresholds barely shaped before their doorways disappear

...into the mist of faces kissed and arms that ache because

We cannot gather back the vista of The Way/Day That Was

Where the New Year that tolled a bell dangling from midnight’s skies

 Is stilled in frameworks of farewell with now Old Year’s demise

Darling, (dear, Father Time, forgive my bold intimacy)

But you perplex the poet's rhyme without apology 

And vex brave fantasy with fact; darling, then hold me near

And I will hold your hat while you kiss away yesteryear  

© Janet Martin

With Love that Never Fails (As Surely as the Morn)

But as for me, I will sing of Your strength;

Yes, I will joyfully sing of Your faithfulness in the morning,

For You have been my refuge

And a place of refuge on the day of my distress.

17 My strength, I will sing praises to You;

For God is my refuge, 

the [t]God who shows me favor.

Psalm 59:16-17

We can so easily get caught up, attracted and distracted by what we see

rather than what we know is so because God said it!

The One who constantly awes us with masterpieces

of morning sky and nature's my-oh-my,

He is our refuge and strength!

Though so much seems to fail

Never The Hand that draws

The break of day across the vale

That groans with mercy’s cause/laws

And unfolds in the palm

Of grace, the molten sky

And parts the wingspan of the dawn

Like a new butterfly

Where we, creatures of dust

And mist/must of numbered days

So often fail to fully trust

The higher thoughts and ways

Of He who never fails

Is spite of what some say

Even while mercy’s Hand unveils

And grants another day

Where morn-to-morn unfolds

(a twinkle in time’s eye)

Exteriors that man beholds

Beneath fringes of sky

Where so much seems to fail

When weighed by what we see

In worship’s hour of travail

Before eternity

Consider this, dear friend

Before we shake a fist

And curse He whose mercies attend

Both saint and atheist

Who makes the rain to fall?

Who does love emerge from?

Who paid sin’s ransom, once for all?

And calls on all to ‘come’?

He knows each creature care

And suffered every one

Because Love did not choose to spare

The status of His Son

A manger met His birth

A cross displayed His death

Where no one could fathom the work

Fulfilled at his last breath

Then, though so much seems loss

Remember, we behold

As they who stood beneath the cross

But fringes of the Whole

Where, though thought’s logic fails

Never the Hand of He

Scarred with the imprint of the nails

That set death’s captives free

He is the King of kings

He is the Lord of lords

Who bore salvation's sufferings

Beneath the thrust of swords

With love that never fails

As surely as the morn

The landscape of life's path unveils 

His mercies are reborn 

© Janet Martin

As surely as the morn

The landscape of life's path unveils, 

His mercies are reborn 

Of Glorious Winter-tide

This week its the snow!!!

The other week the ice left us speechless with awe!!

Now is the time of cheer

Of cozy countryside

Tucked beneath white starlight veneer

Or the veil of a bride

Now is the time to pause

From plant and harvest toil

While earth receives the wild applause

Of gales and sparkle-spoil

Of snowflakes swirling round

In dizzying descent

Until the land is grandly crowned

With frosty filament

Now is the time to ling-

-ger longer in a book

And let the days of winter bring

The days summer forsook

Of bowers bent with leaf

Of flower-befringed walks

Of glad tidings of golden sheaf

Of rose and hollyhocks

Of looking back to where

We find ourselves today

Before we turn agape to stare

At worlds melted away

Where now is the sweet time

To slow our hasting stride

And revel in the crystal clime

Of glorious winter-tide

...as we combat the cold

That keens our appetite

With supper hour dipped in gold 

Of gentle candle-light 

   

© Janet Martin

A Love-ly Light

Matt.5:16

Let your light so shine before men,

 that they may see your good works, 

and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

Don't you love

the light of love

in loved one's eyes?

Esp. children!!

don't you love the way they shine

with love without disguise?

and don't you hope and pray that we,

God's precious girl and boy

look at our Daddy lovingly

then shine and shine with joy?!!

Love does not scorn its charge

Nor loathe its perfect law

But lets the grace of God enlarge

Faith’s diligence with awe

Love, the Light of the world

Has pierced sin’s darkness through

It is God’s evidence unfurled

To shine in me and you

…to glorify the Name

Of He who came to save

And live God’s goodness to proclaim

For the gift His love gave

It is impossible

To confess ‘Christ in me’

Without love’s candle visible

For all the world to see

Then pray the Lord to keep

Our love from growing dim

Lest unawares, we fall asleep

And cease to shine for Him

Lord, let our light so shine

So that all men may see

The evidence of love divine

Bringing glory to Thee

Oh, what a lovely Light

The love of God instills

Where until faith is turned to sight

His glory spills and spills

 

© Janet Martin

This is one of the songs the choir hoped to sing at our church on Christmas Eve.

Though we were disappointed to cancel the service

NOTHING can cancel the true believer's joy and or the Light of the World!

Sing Hallelujah!!

Light of the World

Winsome Woo

The magnitude of the snow-majesty we are enjoying is impossible

to capture with a camera-lens!

It rouses within a winsome woo words cannot capture quite...

Now woos a winsome sense of blues. Of golds and grays and greens

Impressionistic avenues woven through wafting scenes

Of unfurled hues of joy and strife’s herculean highs and lows

Where morn to eventide rolls rife with all that life bestows

And season-song cuts like a knife where so-long ebbs and flows

The catalyst to letting go can shield us from the sum

Of touch and taste and holding’s holy showdowns yet to come

Where youth soon dons truth’s tinges; it is futile to rebel

Where summer’s flashy fringes deck the halls of autumn’s knell

Where hello always hinges to the framework of farewell

Because beginnings always end and ‘end’ always begins

Now woos a winsome sense of friendship through what always thins

To Old Year almost over where the New Year waits to spill

Both knee-deep dell of clover and steep, courage-honing hill

New worlds yet to discover and blank pages yet to fill

Now woos within the stark, dark imminence of vast unknowns

A sense of golds and blues that mark the ‘Thence’ of Steppingstones

That ultimately lead toward That Single Certainty

Of face-to-face with Christ the Lord and of eternity

Thus, therefore, no one can afford to ignore what will be

Where we are lavished with what slips through fingertips with ease

To leave behind the winsome fellowship of memories

Where heartstrings bind the ties of love, of hope and hunger too

Around impressions of a glove filled with the winsome woo

Of what is never quite enough of love’s green-gold-gray-blue

© Janet Martin

Let Joy Ring Through the World

I hope you all had a wonderful day...

Here it felt like it went from morning

... to night in no time at all!!

Let joy ring through the world

The light of life is born

The One the prophets long foretold

Has put on human form

The hope of nations cries

A Babe in manger bed

Unveils God’s face before man’s eyes

As God and man are wed

The heights of Heaven bend

To dredge the depths of death

A gift man cannot comprehend

Has drawn salvation’s breath

Then praise the Name of He

Who saves us from our sins

So death/hell does not seize victory

When End of Days begins

Let worship’s song resound

As we rejoice and pray

Glad tidings of great joy abound

Even unto this day

Then bow with heart undone

Before our God of grace

Because He gave His only Son

To die in our place

...and make God's glory/love's story known

That angels still applaud

The King of kings stepped from His throne

To be the Lamb of God

© Janet Martin

Hallelujah, though colorful cookies are a nice, sweet

celebration treat

Christmas is SO much more!

It is the celebration of mankind's hope 

we tell to our children so they may tell their children!

My Christmas Prayer

From our house to yours-Merry Christmas!

The plan was to be part of a choir at church tonight at

 our Christmas Eve celebration

Celebration/worship is still happening at home, but not the choir!

Everyone is storm-stayed far and wide due to the 'crippling blizzard'!

Still

May we rejoice as we reflect on the Reason for the season,

and the Reason for the believer's joy!

This poem was also going to be shared tonight at the Christmas Eve service

I share it with all of you now, my prayer for us all,

 as we celebrate our Saviour's birth!  

My prayer for every one of us, for each day that we live

Is that we taste the joy of Jesus, only He can give

The glad tidings of joy angels proclaimed, in days of old

I pray, just as the shepherds did, we hasten to behold

And though we do not kneel, as they, that night at Bethlehem

I pray, that daily we rehearse the day we look on Him

And that the joy of living hope is like a Light unfurled

Because by faith we have beheld the Saviour of the world

I pray the joy of Jesus melts each shadow of a doubt

As we receive the Reason that Christmas is all about

Then, come what may, I pray that nothing in this world can dim

Joy’s Star, as we, like the Wisemen have come to worship Him

© Janet Martin

From me to all of you who faithfully drop by my 'poem-porch',

wishes for a blessed Christmas to you and yours!

Luke 2:1-20

And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed.

2 (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.)

3 And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city.

4 And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:)

5 To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child.

6 And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered.

7 And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.

8 And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.

9 And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.

10 And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.

11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.

12 And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.

13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,

14 Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

15 And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us.

16 And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger.

17 And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child.

18 And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds.

19 But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart.

20 And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them.

Snowbound!

We are in the thick of a blizzard! 

Stay safe and warm!

Now is the hour of reprieve

When every sprig becomes a sheave

Bent with a brumal burst of stars

When featherdown bedecks earth’s bars

As each snow-swaddled house and yard

Composes a vintage post-card

And every home becomes more sweet

When gales go howling down the street

And happiness is safe and sound

When we are cozy and snowbound

When window-frames are works of art

That only winter can impart

When mugs of steaming luxury

Are like hugs of coffee and tea

When nothing presses to be toiled

When we are awe and wonder spoiled

As nature brushes slopes awry

And swirls the scope of land and sky

With wild beauty, while tempests hound

And rile plans with two words; snowbound

Now books are like frigates unfurled

From fireside nooks, across the world

Because, ink snared in verbal font

Can take us anywhere we want

Like travelers who need no fare

To reserve a room or a chair

Clad in comfy flannel and fleece

As we are filled with joy and peace

While wild winds wail, pummel and pound

The storm-tossed seas we sail; snowbound

Soup pots simmer with five-star meals

Thankfulness bows our heads and feels

A hymn no words can capture, quite

As worlds are blurred with white on white

As we pray for the brave who bear

The elements, for creature care

While we are safe and sound and glad

For woodpiles heaped, feet slipper-clad

While winter wonderlands confound

We who are home-sweet-home-snowbound

Now is the hour of content

How swift the gift of came-and-went

Of so-it-goes, this-too-shall-pass

While we peer through snow-swaddled glass

To watch the birds and then recall

‘God sees the little sparrow fall’

Then to let smiles and laughter cheer

The solace of sweet home so dear

While we are snug and safe and sound

In hours of reprieve, snowbound

© Janet Martin

The First Christmas Morn