Heartstrings and Happenings: Poems and Poetry of Betty Swensen Dodge

By Betty Dodge

Elizabeth Holroyd Shipley Swensen Dodge (Betty) was born, ninth of eleven children, in Sutherland, Utah on January 8, 1917. The mother of five children, her life as an active member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints included a full time mission and nearly two decades as an ordinance worker in the Jordan River Temple. She has been a widow for nearly 50 years. Her poems of insights and compassion reflect the heartstrings and happenings of a mother, widow, friend, and a women committed to the the teachings of Jesus Christ.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Publication Consultants
• Release date: Dec 1, 2006
• ISBN: 9781594331824

Book preview

PAINTING

THE LORD'S PLAY

When the Lord began His great play

And sent us weak mortals here,

He had a part for each one of us,

But we chose our own way to appear.

This play called for some to be mothers,

And fathers and leaders, and all,

We were only permitted to come here,

Till the Lord made His last curtain call.

This life is merely a tryout,

A chance for the part we're to get,

How well we depict the part chosen

Is a challenge to mortals here yet.

For suppose one had chosen a mother

To be, and to true act the part,

Then failed in her role in the tryout

Before the real play was to start.

She could not then expect to be entered

In heaven as those that had won,

Or portrayed their part up to the minute,

Before the real show had begun.

If it's true that our parents in Heaven

We chose when still spirits we were,

Then we must not spoil their performance

By acting in this worldly sphere.

I want to play my role on this earth,

That when the tryout is done,

I can go back to Heaven and loved ones,

With a part I have worthily won.

LISTENING

Oh why, I asked, do I kneel here quietly

And wait to feel Thy Spirit

Fall upon, or hover hover me.

I need His presence just to help me sleep,

I beg for comfort through the day

And courage still to carry on.

Why do I feel this emptiness and silence

And this quiet lonely void

Bereft of peace.

I've searched my soul and heart

And I am sure that I am clean

And all deserving of these things

For which I plead.

But even words now fail to come to help me ask,

Perhaps my Heavenly Father wants me just to wait

And silent be.

Perhaps it is not He who is not listening,

IT IS I.

Written while I was in a very uninteresting

class at the Mission Training Centre. I had

to have something to be doing so I wrote this.

May 1980

WHY

Silence falling, sun descending, darkness growing,

It was night.

Smiles waning, laughter ceasing, gloom descending,

All was done,

Prayers uttered, angels hovered, loved one leaving,

Life changed.

Forced movements, duty actions, children feedings,

Laundry too.

Vacant places, empty arms, lonely stillness, broken heart.

Never changing, ever after, only wishing, someone cared.

Only wanting understanding, needing love from

One's own kin.

Never happy, no more smiling, open heart,

They won't come in.

written in 1973

NO TOMORROWS

I don't want to know of tomorrow, dear God,

I hurt so inside today

I can't understand why my loved one so dear

You've taken from me far away.

It won't help to tell me tomorrow will come,

I have to somehow live today.

My reasoning is blurred and my senses are numb

But this loneliness won't go away.

Give me knowledge and wisdom and peace, dear God

Today give me strength to endure,

Make this emptiness pass, help this throbbing inside,

Just today and I'll not ask for more.

It's night now, and quiet and others have gone

And I felt that no more could I stand.

But inside came relief and quiet and peace,

And I knew that God gave me His hand!

Written in 1960

TOMORROW

I'll try not to dwell on today too long,

There's memories I'll keep tucked away.

I'll busy myself with service and love,

A smile I'll put on for today.

I'll work with my family,

Then plans I will hear.

I'll open life's door with a song,

I'll think of tomorrow, but not of today,

Today has been terribly long.

When memories creep in and force out a tear,

I've only to utter a prayer,

He'll answer if asked and I'll then feel his hand,

For He's promised He'll always be there.

So when night falls with quiet and stillness I dread.

It won't be the long nights that I trod.

I'll find comfort and peace and the answers I need,

For I'll