Month: June 2016
Perpetuity
Perpetuity: I Am Yours Forever and You Are Mine
by Virginia Carraway Stark
One day I found a picture of you
And my heart was hurt anew
Because my love, how I loved you
You were mine, my Perpetu
But even more I belonged to you
Someone like my Perpetu
Can never leave my heart too
So much of me was invested in you
Every day you were with me was always new
A part of my soul was claimed when yours was due
I always new the day would come
When I would think of you and numb
The pain and tears that will not be dumb
Some things in life aren’t here to stay
But having a dog taken away
Even by old age, the pain eats us day by day
Rest for now, my Perpetu
One day I know, I will see you
I will hold you in my arms anew
What is gone now is not lost except for a few
When it’s time to wake up know that I’m here
And that I’ve never once forgotten you.
– mixed media on paper, Copyright 2009 Virginia Carraway Stark.
You can watch Virginia Carraway Stark read her poem here:
Seemlie Keybearer’s Ode
The Seemlie are a race of recalcitrant, watchful underworld beings that reside chiefly in forests and wild places, but have known to make themselves at home in the urban underpinnings of cities and towns as well. Here is a poem written by Virginia Carraway Stark from a denizen of this quiet, magical world:
Hello, Hello
by Virginia Carraway Stark
Hello, yes I see you
Even though I know you don’t see me
Careful where you tread
With your big feet you can make me dead
I wouldn’t like that and I might decide
That I don’t like you
Here in my woods
Squishing the mushrooms under
You are like a a monster to me
Do you know what a problem you are?
I don’t think you know much
And I have important business to do
In the dark shadows
Where you bring your hammering and
Your buzzing machines for us
In the Unseillie Court of the Fair Folk
It is business as usual and you are here
In our realm, maybe I’ll send
Gnats and mosquitos after you
I have a little thing, a special treasure
That I must guard every moment by my heart
And here you are making a mess
Burning things not safe to burn
Running around and yammering
And hello, hello, yes I see you
I know you don’t see me
If you did it would be harder
For you to be such a prick to me
But since you can’t bother to open your eyes
I have a few things in mind, more than one surprise
I don’t think you’ll like them and when I’m done
You’ll be the one to leave the forest at a run
Go ahead, bring your gun,
You don’t see me,
Hello, Hello, Yes, I see you
And if you make me fret anymore
(I do have a habit of worrying so)
Then I’ll just take it out on all you poos
– mixed media on paper, Copyright 2016 Virginia Carraway Stark
You can watch Virginia Carraway Stark read her poem here:
Here’s some information on the different realms of Faerie (but not about the Seemlie, because they are too shy at this point to make Wiki articles):
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuatha_D%C3%A9_Danann
http://www.worldoffroud.com/books/laby.php
The Green Man
Green Man I See
By Virginia Carraway Stark
Green Man I see you peeping
In the woods while it was dark and
On the mossy carpet I was weeping
I see you watching from the burls
And your hair moving in the moss and twigs
Through the dappled air your presence is seeping
Green Man I feel you watching
When I come into the forest shadows
As I was a-climbing, fishing, catching
I saw your eyes appraising me and thinking
In your mind that moves like leaves and does
Each time we see each other I feel us meshing
Your eyes are full of sorrows for the things that are no more
Once your realm was every mountain and vallley
Where springtime came and greenbuds bloom
Now the world has shrunkens small and there is no room at all
But still you are never shrinking
Green Man is the size that Green Man is and there will never
Be another like you
Green Man I feel you feelings
I feel it too, the coolness of the air
The entry into the cathedral of your temple
And I can hear your heartbeat beating
I walk on feet that feel like flying as sunbeams
Bathed in green like shafts come stabbing
In your holy place I feel you, I feel me healing
Green Man I see you reaching
With the spring turned to summer
The Universe itself has you in His keeping
You feel no fear, you have no trepidations
Those are human was of talking
What is will be, at bud, blossom or harvest’s reaping.
– mixed media on paper, copyright 2014 Virginia Carraway Stark
You can watch Virginia Carraway Stark read her poem here:
Here is some information about The Green Man, the famed mysterious god of Northern Europe:
Deep Notos: The South Wind
Deep Notos: The South Wind
by Virginia Carraway Stark
Here we go again,
My eerily prescient friend
Stirring up our passions and chasing
The horses and wild things
Who must run when they feel your crop
We all respond to the heat of your loins
Whipping flames into a fury
Chasing both across the fields and forest
Notos, Deep Notos,
We are lost in you now
We have forgotten the bite of winter
In the blast of your passionate kiss
How well you raise our passions
How you stir our hearts
You make our blood pump with fervor
That no other wind will know
I don’t care what they say
Your deep kisses bite harder
Than even Boreas’ ice cold lips
There is no warm hearth to escape you
Are you having fun?
Turning the ground into parched cakes
Turning all that was green to brown
Ready for your flames
Notos, I long for you
My Southern Lover
All winter long while Boreas taps at my windows
And howls at my gates
But once you’re here your passion
Overwhelms me, I am weak in front of you
You freckle me and wilt me like a crocus after spring
– mixed media on wood, Copyright 2009 Virginia Carraway Stark
You can watch Virginia Carraway Stark read her poem here:
Here is some information about Notos, the God of the South Wind:
http://www.theoi.com/Titan/AnemosNotos.html
Kisses from Boreas
Kisses from Boreas
by Virginia Carraway Stark
After some twenty of them
had been disposed of
during the waning moon
with costumes and masks and
enchantments
he now wished he had not sacrificed
his sons
laughing
they would never throw themselves
down weeping
to die of grief
we have to rise
just as vegetation dies only to
reappear in the springtime
what’s wrong with the way I kiss?
Asked the winter wind
everything
I replied even as I thanked Boreas
in the deep of my heart
for the sweet relief from the smoke
and the flames
then it was
during the waxing moon
when costumes are removed
masks unmasked
enchantment revealed
and winter is come
– art pencil on paper, 8×10, Copyright 2008 Virginia Carraway Stark
Poerm previously published in “In Flight” magazine.
You can watch Virginia Carraway Stark read her poem here:
Here’s some information on the mythic Boreas, God of the North Wind:
Madder Family Portrait
Madder Family Portrait ca. 1888
This piece, along with others from artists throughout Canada’s northern territories, is part of the Art Walk in Dawson Creek, B.C. this year. Pieces from StarkLight Press can be seen at Faking Sanity Bookshop in downtown Dawson Creek throughout the summer.
The Madder family is one of Victorian London’s premiere families, with a textile empire father Geoffrey Madder forged from the riches of the Indian colony. His three girls were some of the most sought-after matches in the Empire. When Geoffrey disappeared in the wilds of Asia, those three girls were left to their own devices- only their closest neighbor and friend, Horus Haut de Nuit, came to their aid and tried his best to keep them from the circling society vultures. Horus left his inventions and trekked to India to divine the fate of his dear friend Geoffrey, and returned with a massive, beautiful tiger… with Geoffrey Madder’s eyes.
Unable to find a means to rectify the accursed transformation that Geoffrey had undergone, Horus instead developed a showy collar for his friend, so that Geoffrey could accompany his youngest daugher, Rosie, to all of the business meetings, society functions and other neccesitous events required to keep up the Madder fortunes.
Although lauded throughout London for the creation of Rosie’s amazing clockwork tiger, Horus was not satisfied until he had created an actual clockwork man. Link, the brass and steel artificial man, not only had his own sentience, but could be used in place of steam and gas powered devices. Would Horus’ latest invention be allowed to remain a free creation, or would the interests that had shaped the steam-powered Victorian age do anything to stop Link and his father from changing their world?
You can read the first installment of The Madder Family Chronicles in Holly and Ivy, A StarkLight Steampunk Christmas Anthology.
Find a link to the print book and e-book here:
http://www.starklightpress.com/starklight-bookstore/
You can hear Alfie Elkins reading a passage from the story upon which this painting was based here:
For more information about steampunk as a genre and a cultural movement, check out these links:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steampunk
http://steampunkworkshop.com/
Blizzard of Sieggy
Blizzard of Sieggy
“This picture came about due to the uncanny similarity between hard rocker Ozzy Osbourne and beloved springer spaniel, Siegfried. His homey behaviours evoked J.R.R. Tolkien’s recalcitrant hobbit, Bilbo Baggins, and the rest pretty much painted itself”
– Anthony Stark.
This original work can be viewed as part of the Dawson Creek Art Walk, where local businesses display fine art in their establishments. You can find Blizzard of Sieggy at Dawson Creek’s premiere bookstore, Faking Sanity.
You can find links here to J.R.R. Tolkien’s classic tale, The Hobbit, as well as The Lord of the Rings.
The Hobbit print book:
The Lord of the Rings trilogy:
Here’s a link to The Tolkien Society, the world’s premier Tolkien preservation society:
http://www.tolkiensociety.org/
On the Ozzy side of things, here’s a pic of the great original album art:
Here is a link to Ozzy Osbourne’s album, Blizzard of Ozz, available on Amazon.
And, just for the purists out there, here’s a link to Led Zeppelin’s Ramble On, which perfectly embodies the wanderlust that Middle Earth can evoke:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3HemKGDavw
The Great Space Race
The Great Space Race
Howard Donovan rolls his eyes in exasperation at the offensive antics of the Pismarian pirate racers as the starting lineup for The 187th Annual Galactic Grand Prix waits. This year’s Grand Prix takes place in the Gamma Quadrant, a dangerous and primitive part of the Milky Way. Pirates and shady characters have found their way into this year’s race as a result, bringing stolen technology like the Winged Particle Surfer to try to increase their winning edge. The Galaxy’s most versatile personal flight craft, the Donovan Jump Jet, will have its work cut out for it in this motley collection of space ships of intergalactic design. Howard will have to be on the look out for cheats and sabotage of all kinds as he tries to negotiate one of the most challenging space race courses in the GAGA.
The account of this thrilling space sport is told in the science fiction anthology, Tales from Space 2. Available this July from StarkLight Press, Tales from Space 2 features this story as well as tales about the wroiling mass of consumers, workers, stars and soldiers that make up the GAF Mainframe science fiction universe.
You can find the first volume of Tales from Space here, in print:
Look for the Tales from Space e-book on Scribd here:
Look for GAF Mainframe books An Incident in El Noor, The Arkellan Treaty and Space Stranded, coming later this summer from StarkLight Press.
Here is an excerpt of Virginia Carraway Stark reading an excerpt from The Great Space Race:
Carnival Fun
Carnival Fun
Virna Grant accompanies her brother Dom to a derelict carnival on Long Island in an attempt to escape the confines of her gilded cage. In the process, Virna unleashes a great wave of supernatural power and ability that threatens to engulf her and destroy the comfortable life she has made.
The Carnival Fun series is a modern, supernatural thriller-horror collection of books that describe the workings of the Grand Machinery that orders the universe… and that which lies outside it. Each book features the story of another iconic individual who rises from their human beginnings to encompass a great power and hideously intense responsibility.
Look for Virna Grant’s story to be released this summer by StarkLight Press… and you can find her sister Julia’s tale of madness, international espionage and illumination here:
Here is Virginia Carraway Stark reading an excerpt from her work, Carnival Fun: Red Queen Takes Red Rook:
This fascinating, enthralling series was originally a live action play performed in Vancouver and Seattle to rave reviews in 2013. Two short live action movies were made based on Virna Grant’s adventures from the book, and are available here:
You can find Carnival Fun’s Facebook page here, where you can get updates on the latest Carnival Fun news and merchandise:
https://www.facebook.com/worldofcarnivalfun/
Pick up your copy of Virna’s story starting July 15, 2016, at the StarkLight Press Bookstore:
Or plunge into Virna’s sister, Julia’s encounter with the Grand Machinery that surrounds Carnival Fun:
Look for more great art about the Carnival Fun series at
http://www.facebook.com/starklight-art/