.

Hard To Tell

With attributes that only those who know him understand,
A countenance deceptive, and a being hard to gauge,
Within what seems indifference, in the still and quiet man
May lurk a warrior’s courage—and the wisdom of a sage.

.

.

Lightning Bugs

Wafting through the quiet night like embers fit with wings,
The twinkling quilt of tiny sparks exposed a field of hay.
They looked like little lantern-guided boats, adrift at sea,
That hid behind the waves, then reappeared as if at play.

.

.

A Seaside Sunset

Drifting down through crimson clouds in scarlet skies she sinks,
Stirring through an azure blue her lavenders and pinks,

This blazing orange spheroid paints an iridescent sky,
A true celestial beauty melding heaven with the eye—

Her fiery flames ignite the very soul of all who see,
Till—lost beyond relentless swells—she seems beneath the sea.

.

.

Mark Stellinga is a poet and antiques dealer residing in Iowa. He has often won the annual adult-division poetry contests sponsored by the University of Iowa Writer’s Workshop, has had many pieces posted in several magazines and sites over the past 60 years, including Poem-Hunter.com, PoetrySoup.com, and Able Muse.com—where he won the 1st place prize for both ‘best poem’ of the year and ‘best book of verse.’

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15 Responses

  1. Roy Eugene Peterson

    The first poem reminded me of my own dad and of the many farmers I knew in the Midwest when I lived in South Dakota. I second your sentiment. Of the many poems I have read with lightning bugs, this is one of the most creative descriptions. I especially like your scattered alliteration of the letter “s” in your third poem concluding with “she seems beneath the sea.” Such mental pictures are important to those of us to live inland.

    Reply
    • Mark Stellinga

      Glad they appealed, Roy, and thanks for the compliments. I married a ‘farm girl’ 52 years ago, and it was her Dad who inspired that piece.

      Reply
  2. Brian A. Yapko

    I very much enjoyed these captured fragments of character and of moments in time. The poetry is beautiful. Well done, Mark!

    Reply
    • Mark Stellinga

      You know me, Brian – I submitted 20 of these little “shorties” – (I’m prolific if nothing else contributor-wise). ABB used a few on YouTube a while back. I’m quite surprised a few others didn’t make the grade. ?? Glad you liked them – 🙂

      Reply
  3. Paul A. Freeman

    I enjoyed all three of your short poems, Mark. The first! Well, you can’t tell a book by its cover. The latter two are complex lyrical narratives that with little re-writing could grace classical novels.

    Thanks for the reads.

    Reply
    • Mark Stellinga

      Thanks for the very kind words, Paul – same as with my novels, when it comes to composing poetry, I’m 85% populist & 15% formalist. I was really hoping there would be room enough for at least a few more of the 20 “shorties” I submitted.

      Reply
  4. Cynthia Erlandson

    I really like your seven-meter lines. Your descriptions of the lightning bugs and the sunset “melding heaven with the eye” are beautiful.

    Reply
    • Mark Stellinga

      Thanks you so much, Cynthia. 90% of what I’ve composed over the past 62 years, without my noticing it at first, has been comprised of 7-meter, 14-meter, 24-meter, or 28-meter lines. The word flow, to me, is critical to my more easily ‘connecting’ with the listeners I occasionally read to – so they often assert. Several of my finest pieces are quite lengthy and, in using these profiles, my audience-responses, without exception, verify that both these 7-beat schemes, along with using as few esoteric terms as possible, are greatly appreciated aspects of my work. I often entertain at nursing homes and both assisted and independent living facilities where this tactic gets me a lot of: “Can I get you to sign my copy”s. Thanks again for your kind compliments –

      Reply
  5. Cheryl Corey

    Your poem about lightning bugs brought back memories of how, when I was young, we kids would watch them light up on a summer night. It was so much fun to catch one and see it light up inside your hand! It’s a shame that kids today miss out on the simple joys of childhood.

    Reply
    • Mark Stellinga

      Been there done that, Cheryl, several times as a child. Sounds like we both ought to whip up something that touts the sweeter side of childrenism. Getting a butterfly to land on your hand or arm or- whatever – is a real kick as well. Thanks for commenting –

      Reply
  6. Margaret Coats

    Mark, this is fine employment of fourteeners, to use an early term that counted syllables. I like best the colorful sunset one. The sun is often masculine in poetry, but at sunset may seem to be a departing ship, traditionally feminine–which accords with the luscious hues. Especially good is “meld,” a compound of “melt” and “weld” to suggest an inescapable heating effect on the eye joined to heaven in observing sunset.

    Reply
    • Mark Stellinga

      Thanks for your kind commentary, Margaret. My wife, Connie & I have taken many sunset and cloud-bank photos, on land and by the sea, over the years when traveling. Never gets old. Fourteeners, twentyfoursers, and even twentyeighters are my forte. They’re perfect for my many LOOOONG ballads. Stay safe –

      Reply
    • Mark Stellinga

      Several years ago, on a ‘wonderful-memory’ evening, C. B., I walked my young nephew (7) to the edge of his farm-home’s treeline, right here in Iowa – to share with him the setting of a particularly large, fiery orange sun. The earth was spinning just fast enough to let him watch it very slowly disappear on the horizon. He, of course, was awestruck for the vision, and me, of course, for his reaction. To this very day he thinks I’m a genius. 🙂 Take care –

      Reply

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