Solace

If this should be the last time

I could pick an Easter bloom,

Or walk in mossy wayside lanes,

At least I shall enjoy this day,

And when light and sunshine wanes,

I'll place the Easter lily

In a Window of my room.


There's always a last time, my dear,

When one can pick an Easter bloom,

A last time to walk in fields and lane;

But if one can see the beauty

In a walk through moss-grown bowers,

There'd be peace and sweet contentment

In the last day in one's room.

By; MEV

My Good-bye

This much to you I’ll say- the darlings of my heart-

That though I’ll be away, we’ll not be far apart;

For though I’ll leave you for a time, or if I stay,

Mother love like mine can never go away.

Believe my love is standing by your side,

Whether good or ill may in your life abide.

Believe I’m near, and think the best you may,

For darling girls, my love can never go away.

Mother (MEV), June 2, 1935

Written to daughters Wilma and Ardice, left behind in Michigan when she went to California with her husband and three other daughters; Alta, Avis, and Clova, and granddaughter Mary Helen (my Mother), Avis’ daughter

From My Hospital Window

I can see a blue patch of sky
And the tops of green trees
The gray roof of a house
With a nest under the eaves.

I can see a green vine
Trailing the window screen,
A worm crawling upon it
Which turns from brown to green.

Across, in the distance,
I see a chimney red,
Today, ‘twas an airplane,
I saw from my bed.

At night, there are the stars
O’er head, shining bright,
And a young golden moon
To give us light.

These are the sights that I see,
But the sounds give me fright,
‘Tis of life, coming and going,
All through the long night.

M.E.V. 1929

At Dusk

Blue dusk has come,
Creeping o’er the hills in a hint of night.
My lips are dumb
To express my fear of fading light

Yet, all is well,
And a tranquil longing comes with the dark
I’ve yet to tell
Of the things I feel, the sights I see, but hark!

I hear sweet bells,
Tinkling softly to cheer me along the dark way,
And their music quells
All my fears; I know I’ll safely arrive at the dawn of day.

M.E.V.

The Song

The song that I sing
Was a song that I knew,
I sang it again
And I thought then of you.

Of the sweet love we had
On that night long ago,
And I saw your dear face
In the song’s after-glow.

Then I heard again
And the chorus was true,
For the love I had then
Now came back anew.

It is sweeter by far
Than the song that we knew,
For I found you again
And the song has come true

Maud Bowers Van Order
Alta Eileen Oliver (Daughter)
May 12, 1946

The Promise of Dawn

The dawn was breaking in the east,
The world was coming back to life,
To pain and sorrow, rest and strife;
The noise of night things all had ceased.

The dawn, all rosy, full of joy,
From over the hills and far away,
Was coming with its gift of warmth;
Our souls sang out a tender lay.

Were it not for the promise of dawn,
We might stay chilled from the night,
But we know its blessed coming
Its promise of life and light.

MEV

Star of the Dawn

Early dawn came, joyous and white,
Her small feet dancing, feathery-light.
With pencils and brushes and oils colored bright,
She etched this way and that through the oncoming light,
A faint shadow here, a blue shading there,
Gay dawn with jewels all over her hair.
She painted an aura one place in the sky,
Where a star shone brightly to guide passers-by,
She lingered happily in a good mood,
Dreading to leave the star she had wooed,
And on such a sweet, indescribable morn,
While the star still shone on, our Savior was born.

M.E.V.
1934