This book consists of 67 poems which includes "Old Babe", "El Matador, etc Two of his poems: '4 Seasons' and 'I Came Upon A Mountain' are both nominated for the 2005 Muses Prize - Best Poem of the Year 2004. Read headlines at Muses Review at "www.musesreview.org".
To My Connie (Poem #47)
by Mark Stellinga
Never a thought in my heart could surrender
such ecstasy, save, you alone.
None could surpass nor compare to my "only",
the one true companion I've known.
Telling you now that my heart with affection
swells to the brim with my love.
Speaks to the strongest and deepest devotion,
all for the one I dream of.
No, there is nothing as pure and as real,
as precious, as dear, and as true
As the love I am feeling, the love I am giving,
the love I am sharing with you......
If you want to buy his poetry book, you may contact Mark Stellinga by email at: [email protected]
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by Mark Stellinga
1.
While sailing through a cloudy sky,
with a blank and thoughtless glance,
I just caught sight of a real old house,
so brief, and quite by chance!
2.
I'd seen enough to know that it was large,
and very grand,
A place that I would love to see,
I couldn't wait to land.
3.
I hailed a cab and told the guy,
[you should have seen his face]
"Hey, just before we landed,
I saw this awesome place,
4.
I sure would love to find it,
I know it can't be far!"
He smiled and said,
"I think you're better off to rent a car!.
5.
She is a thing of beauty,
though she looks a little tough.
You saw a 'painted lady',
it's a diamond in the rough.
6.
They say she's been abandoned,
Like HER, there are no more,"
I leaned into the window,
as I closed his taxi door,
7.
He told me how to get there,
then he bid me, "Best of luck,"
I thanked him for the info,
and I made him take a buck.
8.
My conference was tomorrow,
so the time to go was now.
I had the means to get there,
and now that I knew how,
9
I felt that I just had to go,
my mind was racing fast.
My destiny was just about
to tie me to the past.
10.
Lurking deep within the trees,
I might have driven by,
But tiny twinklings slipped into
the corner of my eye,
11.
As like a guiding star, she beckoned,
so I wouldn't pass,
And thus was I attracted,
by her sparkling beveled glass.
12.
At last the woods were broken
by a massive iron gate.
It stood ajar, I parked the car,
and headed toward my fate.
13.
I walked through nearly 90 feet of old but
healthy trees
before, at last, I stepped into a world one
rarely sees!
14.
There she stood,
surrounded by great walls of oak and pine.
and right away I knew somehow,
I had to make her mine.
15.
Before the porch I scanned the beveled glass
and paneled door.
Behind her stained glass windows
I imagined so much more.
16.
Yes, this was what, for many years
my heart had truly yearned,
And so I checked the knob, and, yes,
to my delight, it turned.
I just was not prepared for what I saw
within those walls.
Paintings clad with gilded frames still lined the
stately halls!
18.
Deep within the foyer stood a pair of figural
lights
Perched on matching newel posts,
the stair-case rose four flights.
19.
With transomed archways hovering over
sprawling parquet floors,
Through richly carved and smoothly sliding
massive pocket doors,
20.
I slipped into the parlor.
What a sofa!.... What a chair!
The scent of candle, freshly doused,
Still seemed to fill the air!
21.
And there, beneath her stained glass jewels,
to make the room complete,
A velvet covered cushion filled her stunning
"window seat"!
22.
I found the kitchen, old wood stove,
a four-door oak ice box.
In every room were poised her fancy carved,
though silent, clocks!
23.
Coffered ceilings, marble hearths,
and all the hardware, brass!
The gilded chandeliers were huge,
some kerosene,
some gas!
24.
The papered walls were elegant,
the tapestries were bold,
The casing round the windows brightly trimmed
with antique gold!
25.
The ceilings had to be twelve feet,
with murals still so clear.
The velvet drapes, still lustrous, Hmmm, could
someone still be here?
26.
The organ wasn't dusty,
and my mind could hear it play.
Despite the tale the cabbie told,
it seemed like, yet today
27.
There WAS somebody living here,
and that would make me sick.
When suddenly, I heard a noise that sounded
like a "tick"!
28.
And then I heard another "tick"
and then a little "tock"!
Could, dear God, there somehow be,
an actual RUNNING clock?
29.
I'd assumed the smell of candles
freshly doused was in my mind,
and prayed the ticking must have been
just "creaking" of some kind,
30.
But when the organs' pedals started pumping
by themselves,
and I was serenaded,
while the candles on the shelves
31.
and all the lamps and chandeliers began
to light and burn,
whatever's on the upper floors
I know I'll never learn!
32.
I left my "dream house" rather fast,
I didn't close the door.
I won't be back to visit,
and will dream of one no more!
33
I'm even thinking, when I fly,
what used to seem a "treat",
today has no appeal,
and you can have that "window seat"!
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