Erville Allen

Saint Helens, Oregon

Erville was born in India where her parents were missionaries. She married a doctor and worked with him as a registered nurse in Nigeria, Kenya and later in the United States. Erville has two sons and two grand daughters. The poem "Nine Bells" was written after Erville learned to pilot her husband's ship thirty years ago. But the last lines of the poem jumped out at her, finally untangled, only last year. Erville has had some stories published. But although she wrote one poem at the age of eleven, poetry has not been her speciality.

Memories

Across the dim expanse of blue
Came rushing memories of you.
The more I thought
The fonder grew
Those memories of you.

Alone on high an evening star,
Alone my heart with you afar.
O come to me.
My heart's the star.
Our love should we thus mar.

Awake

Awake, awake, to this bright shining day.
The sparrows are testing the breezes.
The scent of the blossoming olives from Russia
Lies heavy like oranges juicy and sweet.

I love it, I love it.
Joy mixes with sorrow.
The bushes and grasses now green in the spring
Dry and brown will become on the morrow.

A Wish for the Dawn (Age 11)

It is dawn,
and the first sunbeams
Have lighted up the sky.

The day has begun
With a glorious sun.
The hurry and bustle have just begun.

Now let this day
Be the best we've had yet.
And when the sun sets,

We will all go to rest unashamed,
With peace
Of body and heart.