Purpose..........

Across the frigid dawn a pale glow leaks
To speak of labor to the common man
Arise, arise cast off the slumbering cheeks
The hovering night will soon be here again
And there are many mouths to feed
And there are many things we need
We cannot bask in slothful ease
Or lay in careless laziness

The anonymity of yester-years
And Time itself cannot command
Soon, too soon the End of things appears
To still the diligence of our hand
Ah, what is life but the bud of death?
What is the purpose of each breath?
The silent past taunts in reply
As daylight spawns across the sky

Still, the present pivots on the past
The future is not loaned to anyone
We must work before night shades are cast
And we slumber ‘neath the shoulder of a stone
Ah, what is life; a tirade to an early grave?
Whilst man appoints the master and the slave?
Who anoints Life’s purpose, ah pray tell?
Hence we awake, in Heaven or in hell

Above the wave hovers a white-winged gull
Yet it, as Time dissolves into the blue
Flesh is but a temporary hull
Before the fruit of our life is due
Man that is born of woman soon must die
As Time meets with its Maker in the sky
The work of hands cannot redeem us then
Life’s purpose lies not in the hearts of men

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Janet Martin

All man’s efforts are for his mouth
Yet his appetite is never satisfied. Eccles.6:7

Consider what God has done:
Who can straighten what he has made crooked? Eccles.7:13

For it is be grace you have been saved through faith.
....and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God
---not by works, so that no one can boast.
For we are God's workmanship,
created in Christ Jesus to do good works,
which God prepared in advance for us to do. Ephes.2:8-10

Merits of Trouble........

There is nothing like loss
To remind us of what we hold
And in the darkest dark
We recognize life’s gold
There is nothing like sorrow
To make joy grow more dear
And the hope that we borrow
Oft renews in a tear
There is nothing like loneliness
To help us cherish a friend
And in our brokenness
We learn how to stand
It’s seems when we stumble
We learn how to seek
As He gives grace to the humble
And strengthens the weak
It seems to be filled
He must empty us first
And only in His will
Can we quench our thirst
It seems here below
We must oft look above
For it seems He must show
Us so oft, how to love

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Janet Martin

...my Strength is made perfect in weakness. 2 Cor. 12:9

They Pass Away

What is a book?
Or what is fame?
They are another’s words
And another’s name
That new hit single
Will soon be number one
But where does it go
When its climb is done
It will follow all others
Into decay
For everything in this life
Will pass away

Wreaths on a grave-stone
Clouds in the sky
Blooms on the grapevine
The tear in our eye
The storm in its fury
The calm of the morn
Youth in its beauty
All dies that is born
The bud then the glory
And the slow sad decay
This life and each story
Will pass away

The knowledge of scholars
The wisdom of age
The rise of a nation
May grace this earth’s stage
The dormant fallow
The dell rich and green
The winter and summer
And all in between
The lonely, the lovely
The bright and the gray
Mere drops on a canvas
That will pass away

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Janet Martin

Heaven and earth will pass away,
But My words will never pass away. Matt.24:35

The Hard Parts

Some days we have to get through the hard parts
To get to the other side
Even when it feels like it breaks our hearts
And we can’t count the tears we have cried
We know that the things worth keeping
Are also worth fighting for
So we struggle through our weeping
To reach the other shore

Life is not some silly, fleeting game
Or a fragile house of cards
There’s no use in dealing blame
When everything is hearts
So let’s lay all the tricks on the table
I don’t feel like playing anymore
And I don’t think we’re able
To keep on keeping score

A house divided against itself
Will never be able to stand
It is as weak and unstable
As a double-minded man
Together some day we’ll look back to see
With a soft and contented smile
That these miles which seem like an eternity
Were really just a little while

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Janet Martin

A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways. James 1:8

When Somebody Loves You

It’s a cold, rainy morning
That has come way too soon
There’s a big giant road-block
On my dreams to the moon
Bank account's empty
The bills are all due
But it’s not so bad
When somebody loves you

Got no ambition
That won’t take a buck
I’m living proof
That there’s no thing as luck
If wishes were horses
Then I could ride too
But it’s not so bad
When somebody loves you

At one in the morning
When the whole world’s asleep
I can start counting
A new kind of sheep
They come in the faces
Of sweet love so true
Filling in the dark spaces
When somebody loves you

When somebody loves you
The hills not so high
And I can keep reaching
For stars in the sky
It’s a cold, rainy morning
But I like the rain too
That’s just how it is
When somebody loves you

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Janet Martin

Let 'em Go

Burnin’ rubber in the parking lot
Driving way too fast
Givin’ all you got
On your way to
You have no idea where
But freedom is a long highway
With the radio on
A pocket full of change
A girl on your arm
And the wind blowin’ through your hair
So you’re good and gone
Livin’ big on being young


‘cause you don’t really have a care
The gas tanks full
And you have got
your mothers prayers
And every dream is possible
Your seventeen
And wiser than you’ve ever been
Sittin’ cool
You’re nobody’s fool
And you’ve got the smell of
Spring in the air
The kiss of the sun
In her golden hair……

So I say let’ em go, sure, what’s the hurry
They still don’t know
That all too soon the arm of worry
Wraps them in a somber robe
Just around the bend
It waits, a timeless friend
Let ‘em go,before long they’ll realize
The sun is setting in their eyes
And they were driving way too fast
To get to where their freedom’s past
Where silver trades the locks of gold
Drivin’way too fast to…. gettin’ old

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Janet Martin

When I was out on my run tonight
they went roaring by and I said to myself....
"let 'em go..." :)

You Will

If life has not dealt cards of woe
To curse your weary mile
If you have never met the foe
Which robs you of your smile
If you have never borne defeat
In winds of tidings ill
Or yearned for fairer pastures sweet
You will

If you’ve never worn the sorrow
Of a deep and hidden hurt
Or watched dreams of tomorrow
Crumble sadly in the dirt
If you have yet to feel the slash
Of cold betrayals chill
And carry in your heart its gash
You will

If you’ve never knelt beside life past
With no tears left to weep
Or fought the shadow doubts have cast
When you could not sleep
If you have never climbed alone
A long and lonesome hill
To find the summit is a stone
You will

If you have not relinquished
A loved one that you clasp
Or seen life’s breath extinguished
As they perish in your grasp
If you have never spilled your grief
When nights are deep and still
To find there is no quick relief
You will

If you have never bowed your head
To recognize your loss
Without the freedom of blood shed
Upon a cruel cross
If you have never touched the hand
That bore the cruel nail
Or kissed the feet which help you stand
You will

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Janet Martin

Good Time

Grab the shovel it’s snowing again
Who left the key turned on in the van?
Get it boosted, empty light comes on
Lord, have mercy on a country mom

Open the fridge for the last bit of milk
Somebody drank what isn’t spilled
Supper plans change, left-overs are gone
Lord, have mercy on this country mom

Pick up the phone, I know it’s late
Hon, when are you home, we need a date
Trip on a toy, Lord guard my tongue
And please have mercy on this country mom

It’s Saturday night, mom’s starting to smile
In a way she hasn’t in a very long while
Listen up children, I know you’ll be fine
But your dad and I need a little ‘good time’

Dishwashing hands and floor-scrubbing knees
Tired ‘mommy brain’ move over please
God, I love all these blessings of mine
But once in a while we all need a ‘good time’

Tip-toe in at twelve o’clock
Way too late for old folk like us
I kind of missed these kids of mine
But honey, we sure did have a good time

Check the fridge, plan tomorrow’s lunch
After church we’re a hungry bunch
Thank God above for these blessings of mine
House full of love, and a good, good time

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Janet Martin

....but a cheerful heart has a continual feast. Prov.15:15

Excuse Me, Kind Sir

Excuse me kind sir, but would you mind
If I sat next to you for a little while
The day is warm and the weather is kind
And I couldn’t help but notice your smile
Is it something I did or something I said?
Did I amuse you in some secret way?
The old man slowly shook his head
As he brushed a sudden tear away

When I saw you there, he softly replied
I just couldn’t help but recall
The days when my darling was still at my side
The very best days of all….
Oh, she was my laughter on a grey afternoon
She was the sun in my sky
She was my partner as we danced ‘neath the moon
In a midnight lullaby

She was my right hand, my left hand too
She was my east and my west
She was the one that I could turn to
When life was a cruel test
She was my rose in December’s garden
My warmth in the driving snow
So, my dear girl, I beg your pardon
But I simply thought you aught to know….

If you have a lover, go, tell him you love him
Tomorrow may be too late
You too can be the sunshine above him
His rose on the garden-gate
For soon, too soon we dance our last number
And the melody fades away…
Excuse me kind sir, but I need to be leaving
There’s something that I need to say

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Janet Martin

ok, maybe there is a bit of a 'theme' of late...
'tell them, don't just think it!!!'
Sometimes i think that I think i tell my loved
ones how I feel when reality is...i just think it!!!

Every Year

A smile, a song, a touch, a tear and here and there a sigh
And so it goes, another year so quickly passes by
A right, a wrong, and in between a moment in the sun
It seems another year is gone before it has begun

A life, a death, a brand new friend to help you on life’s way
A new beginning or the end…how do you view this day?
A chapter closed, a brand new sonnet waiting to be penned
The old, the new, a dance or two and this year too shall end

Love born, love lost, love tried or taken, oh what will it be?
Who will touch the flawless pages here in front of me?
A prayer, a plea, a whispered hope, upon this threshold here
A God who holds within his hand each and every year

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Janet Martin

No Trial Run

I’ve often sighed as I’ve wryly stated
I wish there was a trial run
For the word alone is under-rated
And misunderstood for one
Yet, everyone else seems to have all the answers
I wish I had their point of view
‘Cause when it comes to this thing called ‘parenting’
I could sure use a lesson or two

Then just as I think I have it figured out
--the solution to a certain ‘fix’
God smiles and adds an entirely new
Personality to the mix
So now it is just like starting over
But we try to make it fun
Yet, at the end of the day I often say
Oh, for a trial run

One day I gazed into the face of my child
As he sat through an explanation
Of the who, the what, the where and why
I’ve come up with my sound reason
He looked a little perplexed and bewildered
And I smiled as I saw that he did
I said, my dear one, I guess there’s no trial run
Either, for being a kid

On a more somber note I realized
We only get one crack
At this thing called Life, its joy and strife
Gaining the wisdom we lack
Then we’ll all bow down before God’s throne
To hear how we have done
So let’s be aware and live each day with care
For Life has no trial run

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Janet Martin


Therefore....let us run with patience
the race that is set before us. Heb. 12:1

Thank-you Song

What a privilege, what a blessing
That we all could gather here
Listening to the poems and singing
Fills each weary heart with cheer
Friends and neighbors, teachers, children
Gathered here to celebrate
God of earth and God of heaven
He is good and He is great

He sent Jesus to a manger
To be born so long ago
But He needs not be a stranger
For this Jesus loves us so
As we listen(ed) to your program
We wish to say a big thank-you
To the teacher and the children
For the hard work that you do

So to Jesus up in Heaven
May we have a thankful heart
For the talents He has given
So we all can do our part
Never seeking selfish glory
Never seeking man’s vain praise
But to tell the greatest Story
And to serve Him all our days

Thank-you teachers, thank-you students
Thank-you helpful moms and dads
May God help us to be prudent
Serving Him with hearts so glad
May He bless each one who’s present
Be our light when Light is dim
May we thank Him for each blessing
As we seek to follow Him

-Janet Martin-
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My sister wondered if I could
write words to the tune of a familiar hymn,
so the parents could sing a thank-you song
to the students after the school Christmas concert.
This poem can be sung to the tune of
'Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing'.

Retraction

We cannot replace a mile that is run
Nor can we erase a deed that is done
We cannot withdraw a lesson taught
Nor are we able to unthink a thought

So we need to be careful in each step we walk
We need to be prayerful in each word we talk
It’s a hard-knock life, yes this is true
But we can ask God to help us through

We cannot go back to change memories
To retrace its track is like catching a breeze
We cannot uncry a tear that is shed
Or ever re-capture a moment fled

So let’s be aware of the moment we’re in
Fill it with loving prayer and then
Though we can’t retrace it when it is done
We won’t long to erase it when it is gone

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-Janet Martin-

Test me O Lord and try me.
Examine my heart and my mind;
for Your love is ever before me,
And I walk continually in
Your truth. Ps. 27:2-3