WEAVINGS FOR FEBRUARY
Donna Swanson

Dear Friends,
Please forgive the absence of this newsletter for the past few months. We have been too involved with our son’s fight against cancer to give priority to anything else. That battle is almost at an end now. He is still home, in hospice care, and we spend as much time with Mac and his wife as possible. This newsletter will contain only a bit of news and the poetry that would not be held back.
Matthew Miller, owner of the Authors Den, has asked to represent my book of poetry as my personal agent. With Gloria Gaither’s introduction, it should have a chance of finding a publisher. All other writing business has been put on hold and I will decide what to do with Carnivore later.
The first poem, A Look Of Eagles, was written several months ago, then Blessing, and finally, It Would Have Been Enough. They represent the up and down feelings we’ve been going through during this ordeal and may speak to others who may be or may later be involved in the loss of a loved one.
Thank you all for your prayers and support. God bless you all.

...........A LOOK OF EAGLES
.........Donna Swanson c.2002
Those who walk on the edge of eternity
bear the look of eagles.
Gazing on the truths we have not yet
been forced to see.

Those who walk on the edge of eternity
are captured by a larger vision;
And if their attention seems out of focus,
in our darkened mirrors,
it is only because the veil is lifting.

We are unmasked by them,
and our hearts are stripped of masquerade.
Our hands are hungry with the need
to hold and touch,
even as they withdraw into silent determination.

The edge of eternity must be a lonely place
for who can know the battles fought,
the victories won in bitter silence.

Or the hard won faith that can never be shared
with those who walk beside
yet apart.
Those who walk on the edge of eternity
bear the look of eagles.


..................Blessing
...........by Donna Swanson Ó2002

May you sleep in the company of angels,
cradled on wings of grace.
May your dreams be filled with the music of Heaven,
may you wake in a hallowed place.

May you love as you are loved,
and pray as one who has the ear of God.
May your faith blossom on a vine
planted in the Lord’s vineyard
as the wine of His nearness fills you with joy.

Let there be streams in the desert
and highways for your journey.
Let praise fill your night
and crown your day with gladness.

And when the shadows come.
And when the shadows come
may your heart hold hope enough
and faith enough to look up
and see the face of God,
smiling.

.............IT WOULD HAVE BEEN ENOUGH
................Donna Swanson 2002

“And then when death,
gives way to vic’try,
I’ll see the lights of glory
and I’ll know He lives!”
.................-Gaithers

That would have been enough, Lord,
knowing you would be there when we die.
That would have been enough.

To know that angels would carry us
into your presence.
To know you have rooms prepared for us
in the mansions of Heaven.
That would have been enough!

So, why did you spend so much time down here
healing people?
Why did you make the deaf hear,
the lame dance,
the blind see?

And then, when you’d done it, why did you say,
“These things I do, you will do
and greater things you will do…”?
Why did you talk about faith as tiny as a mustard seed –
that infinitesimal spot of black dust
representing our tiny spark of faith?

Is my faith too small?
Is it smaller than a mustard seed?
Is it my sincerity that is lacking?

Why did you go about healing,
and tell us we could do the same?
Why did you tell us to pray in your name?
To ask, and keep asking?
To seek, and keep seeking?
To knock, and keep knocking?
Are we asking an absent God?
Are we seeking a missing Messiah?
Are we knocking on the door to an empty house?

Why does your favor seem so capricious?
Why do some live
and some die?
It cannot be the quality of life.
Evil ones elude death;
The innocent die;
The good man is taken before his time.

The Psalmists sing of praise and disappointment.
Job asks the same questions.
But the questions need never have been asked
if you had not healed,
if you had not been so compassionate,
if you had not pitied them.

Why did you not say,
“Here, let me hold you while you suffer.”
“Rest in me as you die
and listen to my song of Heaven.”

That would have been enough.
God in Heaven, that would have been enough!