Because They Strayed

An interesting little story as well as a challenging exercise in metered-rhyme - We trotted up the staircase to the massive double doors…the ones I’d often wondered what they weighed. I gently pulled the right one open, took my grandson’s hand, then stepped inside - abandoning the shade. Like it had so many times before, as I walked in…much of what was troubling me would fade. “This is what they call a ‘church’,” I whispered to the child, who’d only just begun the second grade. “Every Sunday morning, son, for many, many years…this is where my mom and daddy made Me and all my sisters come, though all the while our cousins spent their time at home instead - and played. How I used to envy them...but now, as I look back, there’s not an hour in church that I would trade For all the hours of fun they had on Sundays, and for which - at times - a few have very dearly paid. All my life I’ve come to church to fortify my spirit, knowing - when I sang a hymn or prayed - I was getting stronger…while the ones who left the flock would learn it was themselves they had betrayed, Finding that their inner strength - to deal with loss and pain - outside the church – had drastically decayed.” Being so much older, he, of course, expected me to comfort him - remaining calm and staid - But as we reached the casket I began to softly weep, which left him, understandably, dismayed. Lifting him, to see his father lying in the coffin, in which his lifeless body had been laid, Fin’ly broke the only wall he had to cope with pain…which, up ‘til now, denial had delayed. “We begged your folks to bring you here,” I stammered through my tears, “and if they had…you wouldn’t be afraid. Your heart would suffer no less pain…but fewer tears would fall…if only - when we’d pleaded - they’d obeyed. Now they’re going to understand how tough it’s going to be for you to cope with death…because they strayed.” PS: I've now got 4 new Audio-CDs - @ 4 1/2 hours each = (62 diversely varied pieces). They’re listed on EBAY - under - “Mark Stellinga Poetry” - or available by simply contacting me at -- mark@writerofbooks.com -- should those of you who enjoy listening to poems as well as reading them - and particularly those of you that travel - care to be so entertained. (We use safe and simple - PayPal) There are a bunch of my pieces on YouTube as well --- Cheers, Mark