Poetry Corner

DESTINED  PATH  TO  ETERNITY

The door has re-opened
A switch has turned
To ancient shared knowledge
For which my soul has yearned.

To know truth is available
Sets this soul free
To knowledgeable progression
On it’s destined path
To Eternity

Elaine Sell Prefontaine
2006

– 

A  SILVER  MOMENT  IN  TIME

For an instant today
As I gazed out to sea
I saw time and space
Stretch timelessly
And endlessly
Before me.

I felt like a child
With nothing but time
On its hands
Seeing the future
Stretch endlessly
Before him.

The sun reflected
Diamonds of dreams
On pebbled waves,
And suddenly
Infinity was compressed
 Into a single silver moment.

I now remember
That glimpse of Heaven
And
Diamonds of dreams
On pebbled waves
And
Infinity being compressed
Into a silver moment.
 
Elaine Sell Prefontaine
 Lesquiti Island, Pacific Coast
August 22, 1985

– 

A  CABIN  IN  THE  WOODS

Beauty is here
Woods deep
With timbers that grow tall,
Like hereabout,
By the river and this home
That was so fashioned
From their rough hewn death
That their very scent
Still fills the air,
And
Their falling
Still echoes loudly
In the woods,
And our minds,
And
We poets dream
Of their past glories
And their hereunder lying.

The civilized accoutrements
 Of music
 Comfort
A light here
For this tree or that
Only accentuate
The well ordered planning
Of the man who built it
Within
The raw treed beauty
Of  these tall timbered  woods.

Though a mower might echo
The grasses death
It comes to a new life
In the refreshing breath
Of its ending
And finds me looking across
To the wet stone river walls
Shining in the last
Reflected rays of this day.

                                 Elaine Sell Prefontaine

A  PILGRIM  CAME  TO  CARLSBAD

A lone Pilgrim came to “Carlsbad By The Sea”
To have a little rest
And to that time my friends “Hear – hear”
She will happily attest.

A room she was given
The finest to be had
For the Innkeeper “Eileen”
Was “The Queen of Carlsbad”.

And upon the second night
At Carlsbad By The Sea
The Queen graciously said to the Pilgrim
“Please come dine with me”

And the establishment warmly welcomed
The Queen and her Guest
Set a seaside table with their finest
And served the local wineries very best.

And as the waves rolled in
A violinist stood by their table to play
A melody of such touching sentiment
That it is remembered to this day.

And the Queen so entertained the Pilgrim
Upon that fine repast
The Pilgrim paid tribute to the Queen by writing
A poem of those memories to last.

And upon the eventide of the third day  
A New Years Eve Party was had
For the guests at the Queen’s Palace
By the Sea in Carlsbad

And the Queen presented the Pilgrim with a Banner
To wear with her New Years Eve gown
To proclaim to everyone
That she was Miss 1988 of Calgary Town

And all of the guests made merry
Yey verily, in that the Queen had a hand
And they all proclaimed her the finest
Hostess in the land.

And at the instant the sun dipped over the Pacific
In that awaited green glow for the last time of the year
The guests raised their champagne glasses
And let out a resounding cheer!

And they toasted the Queen as they made merry
In the Palace by the Sea
And vowed loyalty to The Queen and The Kingdom
For all eternity.

Elaine Sell Prefontaine
 January 1, 1988
Carlsbad, California, Pacific Coast

  WORD  POWER

I met the writer
       Some time ago
And once again
His words
Have made me
        Blissfully aware
        Of mine
And their power.

Now I’ll fly again
For blue mountains beckon
And
        I am freed
        From this winter’s
        Scathed soul.

Elaine Sell Prefontaine

– 

SHUSWAP

Rain
Friday the thirteenth
And now
I’ll draw upon
Those memories
Of Shuswap Lake
With you.
Memories almost obscured
By today’s clouds.

Hot rocks underfoot,
Sunshine dazzling
The lake’s bathtub water,
Secluded barbeque beaches,
Solitude,
One lone canoer,
A few mountain streams
We found
And drank from.

I remember the first night
We took the boat out
And darkness chased us back.
Thump, thump, thump
We planed across the lake,
Warm air hitting our faces,
Caressing our bodies,
Towards a hazy paradise
We were just discovering.

I remember your elation
That first night out,
And mine,
And the next day
The sun shone on more beauty
And browned our bodies tan
To make us belong
To something
Our souls had never left.

The Spirits were up there those days
Sitting in the tall dark pines
Watching us,
Hiding in the wind
Touching us,
Controlling the lake
You challenged.

Oh, I long for it all,
And to one day return
To these indelible memories.

Elaine Sell Prefontaine

SHUSWAP

This poem “Shuswap” was featured in the Year 2002 Calendar which showcased in the beautiful Shuswap Lake Area of British Columbia.

“Scenic Shuswap 2002” – Calendar Designed and Printed by Canadian Photoscene Printing,  Salmon Arm, BC

MY  KITCHEN  ON  SATURDAY

One warm mid-day shaft of light
A sun’s pillow on the floor
One lovely lazy languid cat
My kitchen on Saturday

Elaine Sell Prefontaine
 1970

 A  CRYSTAL  MEMORY

And we shall drive
  Past our Summer’s Lake
Obscured with winter clouds.
 Still beautiful
Like a crystal memory
Frozen cloudy.
Even our bodies,
Then brown and bare,
Drive by in mourning clothes
Of blacks and browns
Towards a different kind
Of happiness.
I remember camping nights
Under stars
Back there by our lake
Now obscured with winter clouds
Like a crystal memory
Frozen cloudy.

Elaine Sell Prefontaine
 Winter, Shuswap Lake

OCTOBER  WINDS

I feel a chill
As I suddenly realize
The autumn wind
Is chasing summer away
Blowing the leaves
From their homes
And scattering their remains
Like the cremated dead
Over their final resting places
Till like a drop in the ocean
They are dispersed amongst  the whole of it.
And I shiver
As I visualize
That same cold wind
Whipping away
At the icy snow drifts
That will soon cover
Their unmarked graves.

Elaine Sell Prefontaine
 October 1975

I’LL  GO  DOWN  IN  COLOR

I am the dealer
But God
I feel a pawn
In your hands
Just now.
This rawness
Brings me closer
To You
And like
The dead leaves
Out there
I know
That though
I may go down
Sometime,
At the appointed hour
Surely,
I’ll go down
In color.

Elaine Sell Prefontaine
 October 1975

A  SECLUSION  OF  SOUND

Rapids
A seclusion of sound
New waters rushing
Again and again
To the surprise
Of their sudden
Harsh dispersement
Which just as suddenly
Rejoins the whole
Only to have the cycle
Repeated
To whatever end.

I could close my eyes
And be one with it
Save for the Sun Gods
Pounding
Heat into my flesh

So I sit
And contentedly so
Capturing the some of  this
On paper.

Elaine Sell Prefontaine
 May 3, 1976
 Bow River,  Banff – Lake Louise Highway

LINDA   M.

I remember how fragile
You seemed
When you left yesterday
Clutching my binder
Of prose
Under your arm
And how
I let you leave
Almost as suddenly
As your saying it
Lest we be
More outwardly saddened
By the lingering.

Elaine Sell Prefontaine
 June 1976

SO  FLY  LITTLE  BIRD

I remember the first time
You cried at my words
And how I wanted
To comfort
The woman child
You are
And protect you
From the pain I felt
At their writing.
But that seeing
Set you free
Little bird
From earthly things
That too long
Have kept you
From your own.

Elaine Sell Prefontaine
 June 1976

IT’S   TIME

It’s time to put my dreams away
But not all of them.
It’s time to make some plans
And follow them.
It’s time I make my world
The way I want it to be
In relation to the way I am
And the gifts God has given me.
It’s time I take a look at life
And my world and all that’s in it
But not look so hard
That I waste one second in it.
So the dreams I have from now on
I plan to make real
By putting into words
Those things I really feel.
Then they will no longer be dreams
And thoughts unfurled
They will be tangibility’s
Of one person’s world.

Elaine Sell Prefontaine
 Late 1980’s

 

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