Yes --- This Is Home

For my wife and I, coming home from an extended trip to our house filled with fine Victorian furniture, that we restored ourselves, is a wonderfully warm experience. They become like family after a while! One cool April evening when my wife and I got home From having been away a while to visit friends out west, I walked into the parlor of our old Victorian mansion, And tried to think of what it would be like to be - a guest. I looked around and smiled at all the fancy claw-foot pieces. I grinned to see the organ, and the pleated velvet chairs, The roll top desk and sideboard, and the deeply tufted sofa, The tables topped with marble - and the lamps - displayed in pairs. All the walls are lined with massive frames, incised and gilded. Drapes of silk surround the stained-glass windows, glowing soft. Their tiny colored twinklings dance across a parquet floor, And standing watch above it all…a stately music loft. This is the home of two old souls who drove a million miles And spent as much as they could raise to save a tired old house, Where squeaky floors and pocket doors are held in great esteem, And every now and then are seen our ghost and resident mouse! But even in the role that I’d assumed as, “just a guest,” I felt a warm sensation as my eyes would sweep the rooms. And as the lamps and chandelier I lit exposed the ceiling, With murals full-surrounding where the flick’ring fixture looms - There stood all our closest “friends” - who knew we’d missed them so. They knew we were not strangers, and…no matter where we roam, We’ll care for them…and love them…and we always will return… For this is where are hearts will always stay. Yes…this is home. 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) Cheers, Mark