| BREGMAN | FAVRE-BULLE | KARIM | LIPSKA | McGINNIS | MOYSOULIER | SEENE | SWADLEY |
| BREGMAN | FAVRE-BULLE | KARIM | LIPSKA | McGINNIS | MOYSOULIER | SEENE | SWADLEY |
Erica Swadley
03 Jul 1998
All rights reserved.
Tiny Mite
For me you are a paradox,
older brother, never met,
faded pictures in a box,
a tender guarded secret
in drawers of memory
of pain too great to share.
Our mother stopped her tears
and covered up her care,
so that I never knew you
or loved your tiny face
or talked to you at bedtime.
At last, now I've found you,
shining fruit of family tree.
You heal our hearts by coming,
first in time to leave,
you return to bless us.
At fifty eight, I grieve
the voice never heard,
your wisdom, your touch
never felt, the empty place,
and parents concern, overmuch -
for every tumble, every breath,
fear that hampered my young years,
was measured by your early death.
Welcome into the circle
of love that we all share.
Do you know how I've missed you?
I embrace you now in prayer.
Your little sister, Erica
Shall our hearts meet
on a bridge of the river
Watching crumpled leaves pass under
Watching trampled lives passed over
by marching feet? a surface shiver
In the water flowing fast beneath
In the quiver of the river
shaking as a leaf
In the tremble of a lover
when his hand passed beneath
when her sigh passed beneath
Or was it just a leaf
on the surface of the river?
Erica Swadley
