Throwback Friday, Odds and Ends – The Ancient Tree, by Ivor Steven

I posted this article on the Go Dog Go Cafe site earlier today, and please visit there fabulous site by clicking on here >> https://wordpress.com/view/godoggocafe.com

There’s plenty of curiosity in these “odds and ends” pieces of poetry that I have compiled in my files, and this one I put together in January 2019. They were “verse comments” that I had made to some of my WordPress readers, about their posts at the time. I’ve not written one these for a while, and I’ve enough of my comments stored in my NoteBook file to fill “War And Peace!!” Thank you to all of my dear readers who comment on my writings, I am forever grateful, and you all continue to inspire me to write these short poetry pieces about your marvelous articles and poems.



Odds and Ends, The Ancient Tree

Time

Oh, time and time again

we wish for time to slow down

preserve our time in the sun and rain

and under stars, where lover’s caresses are crowned

Tree

The ancient tree of life shades our peace

Please continue to be our living centrepiece

Why

“Don’t Ask Me Why”

Because I don’t know why,

There’s a red and blue sky

How,

Do bats fly

Pigs eat in a sty

And politicians lie

Dark

We all have a dark side

Like the moon’s other side

There to be explored

Or left behind on the blackboard

Vultures

Alive or half dead, we’re the prey of vultures

Poised like loaded guns in a holster

Waiting to strike the poor and innocent

And even the unwilling ignorant

Tullawalla is Available From

Jaymah Press:https://www.jaymahpress.com.au/

Ivor Steven: email, ivorrs20@gmail.com

Amazon: search via, ‘Tullawalla by Ivor Steven’


AND
Perceptions is Now Available via:

Jaymah Press: https://www.jaymahpress.com.au/

Lulu Books: https://www.lulu.com/shop/ivor-steven-and-derrick-knight/perceptions/hardcover/product-2pwqe4.html?q=Perceptions+by+Ivor+Steven&page=1&pageSize=4

OR: email me directly for a signed copy – ivorrs20@gmail.com

Ivor Steven (c) December 2022

Clear Blue Jar

A poem I originally wrote back in January 2018



Clear Blue Jar

Laying here looking above

Staring toward the sky

Wondering why

Why is our sky blue?

How do we perceive hues? 

And why say “feeling blue”

When it’s not true 

The blue I see

Is no one’s fool 

So why fool with me 

Seeing every new face 

Has your forever smile 

Yours on every dial 

Like yesterday’s last mile 

Doing your time in style 

Smiling faces, new and old alike 

Beaming, even from afar

Smiling at my new life

My life in a clear blue jar

 

Featured Image:  Taken of the clear blue sky, using a Samsung Galaxy S5.

Tullawalla is Available From

Jaymah Press:https://www.jaymahpress.com.au/

Ivor Steven: email, ivorrs20@gmail.com

Amazon: search via, ‘Tullawalla by Ivor Steven’


AND
Perceptions is Now Available via:

Jaymah Press: https://www.jaymahpress.com.au/

Lulu Books: https://www.lulu.com/shop/ivor-steven-and-derrick-knight/perceptions/hardcover/product-2pwqe4.html?q=Perceptions+by+Ivor+Steven&page=1&pageSize=4

OR: email me directly for a signed copy – ivorrs20@gmail.com

Ivor Steven (c). December 2022

Imperfectness (a Tanka)

My imperfections

Are perfectly camouflaged

Underneath the trees

Where moon shadows protect me

From the world’s imperfectness

Tullawalla is Available From

Jaymah Press:https://www.jaymahpress.com.au/

Ivor Steven: email, ivorrs20@gmail.com

Amazon: search via, ‘Tullawalla by Ivor Steven’


AND
Perceptions is Now Available via:

Jaymah Press: https://www.jaymahpress.com.au/

Lulu Books: https://www.lulu.com/shop/ivor-steven-and-derrick-knight/perceptions/hardcover/product-2pwqe4.html?q=Perceptions+by+Ivor+Steven&page=1&pageSize=4

OR: email me directly for a signed copy – ivorrs20@gmail.com

Ivor Steven (c). December 2022

I’m Home

A poem I wrote in February 2019


I’m Home

I’m not quite on song
Home’s where I belong
Humming ballad songs
I’m going out, right or wrong

I’ve made up my mind
Even though life’s unkind
We only live once
And this is my dance

Dreams are living on
Life shouldn’t be postponed
Realities push and thrive
My future is still alive

She’ll gently take my hand
And show me the distant lands

Tullawalla is Available From

Jaymah Press:https://www.jaymahpress.com.au/

Ivor Steven: email, ivorrs20@gmail.com

Amazon: search via, ‘Tullawalla by Ivor Steven’


AND
Perceptions is Now Available via:

Jaymah Press: https://www.jaymahpress.com.au/

Lulu Books: https://www.lulu.com/shop/ivor-steven-and-derrick-knight/perceptions/hardcover/product-2pwqe4.html?q=Perceptions+by+Ivor+Steven&page=1&pageSize=4

OR: email me directly for a signed copy – ivorrs20@gmail.com

Ivor Steven (c)  December 2022

Ballroom Dancer

All Featured Images: we’re taken at the MacArthur Park Wetlands Reserve, Miners Rest.

Ballroom Dancer

We had a dream

Life was a dance floor

She was the Ballroom dancer

And took the lead

In step, I followed

Along her path to the park

We played on the old swing

She flew higher and higher

I watched her smile and laugh

We had unfinished plans

When abruptly harsh rain

Flooded her dance floor

She slipped out of my arms

I could not catch her

Flowing gown

Nor stop the rocky raindrops

From falling down

Our waltz was over

Save the last dance for me

Tullawalla is Available From

Jaymah Press:https://www.jaymahpress.com.au/

Ivor Steven: email, ivorrs20@gmail.com

Amazon: search via, ‘Tullawalla by Ivor Steven’


AND
Perceptions is Now Available via:

Jaymah Press: https://www.jaymahpress.com.au/

Lulu Books: https://www.lulu.com/shop/ivor-steven-and-derrick-knight/perceptions/hardcover/product-2pwqe4.html?q=Perceptions+by+Ivor+Steven&page=1&pageSize=4

OR: email me directly for a signed copy – ivorrs20@gmail.com

Ivor Steven (c). December 2022

A Fading Moonlight

A Fading Moonlight

I saw the dark clouds of time

Overwhelm the disruptive volcanos

I heard an ancient sundial’s chime

Overshadow her celestial nights

I felt my silent pages of rhyme

Vapourize under a fading moonlight

Tullawalla is Available From:

Jaymah Press:https://www.jaymahpress.com.au/

Ivor Steven: email, ivorrs20@gmail.com

Amazon: search via, ‘Tullawalla by Ivor Steven’


AND
Perceptions is Now Available via:

Jaymah Press: https://www.jaymahpress.com.au/

Lulu Books: https://www.lulu.com/shop/ivor-steven-and-derrick-knight/perceptions/hardcover/product-2pwqe4.html?q=Perceptions+by+Ivor+Steven&page=1&pageSize=4

OR: email me directly for a signed copy – ivorrs20@gmail.com



Ivor Steven (c) December 2022

Nature, Give, and Receive (My Christmas Message)

A poem I wrote this time last year, and my hopeful Christmas message is repeated …

Featured Images: Taken at the Ballarat Botanical Gardens



Nurture, Give, and Receive




It’s a material world 

That leaves us in a whirl

What we really need 

Is a planet without greed 

That needs our minds to proceed

By growing and nurturing her seeds

Then our journey becomes that of the giver

Rather than being nature’s grieving receiver

Tullawalla is Available From

Jaymah Press:https://www.jaymahpress.com.au/

Ivor Steven: email, ivorrs20@gmail.com

Amazon: search via, ‘Tullawalla by Ivor Steven’


AND
Perceptions is Now Available via:

Jaymah Press: https://www.jaymahpress.com.au/

Lulu Books: https://www.lulu.com/shop/ivor-steven-and-derrick-knight/perceptions/hardcover/product-2pwqe4.html?q=Perceptions+by+Ivor+Steven&page=1&pageSize=4

OR: email me directly for a signed copy – ivorrs20@gmail.com



Ivor Steven (c) December 2022

Throwback Friday, An Emerald Tapestry, by Ivor Steven

My article from “Go Dog Go Cafe” that I posted this morning >> godoggocafe.com/2022/12/22/throwback-friday-an-emerald-tapestry-by-ivor-steven/

  “Poetry is just the evidence of life. If your life is burning well, poetry is just the ash.” ― Leonard Cohen
Featured Image Above: taken near Lal Lal, not far from Ballarat.

An Emerald Tapestry

I resumed living last decade

Narrowly surviving gravities finality

Now, I lean against my tower’s balustrade

That overlooks an emerald valley

Echoing from my castle’s balcony

I hear Leonard Cohen’s words about life’s pagentry

Outlining the spiritual tapestry

Of commonality, morality, and vitality

Tullawalla is Available From:

Jaymah Press:https://www.jaymahpress.com.au/

Ivor Steven: email, ivorrs20@gmail.com

Amazon: search via, ‘Tullawalla by Ivor Steven’


AND
Perceptions is Now Available via:

Jaymah Press: https://www.jaymahpress.com.au/

Lulu Books: https://www.lulu.com/shop/ivor-steven-and-derrick-knight/perceptions/hardcover/product-2pwqe4.html?q=Perceptions+by+Ivor+Steven&page=1&pageSize=4

OR: email me directly for a signed copy – ivorrs20@gmail.com



Ivor Steven (c) December 2022

Long Night Moon

The Midweek Challenge on Weekly Prompts is: Curiosities. Please visit their fabulous site by clicking on >> Here and I think my poem below is curious piece about the Winter Solstice

Featured Images Above & Below: were taken by Derrick Knight, who kindly allows me use his photos in conjunction with my poems >> https://derrickjknight.wordpress.com/2022/12/21/rising-ground-mist/

Long Night Moon
 
 
 
Dawn’s winter sunlight 

Filters through the gloom 

And softly kisses everything 

The loitering ground mist rises 

Above the cold night’s 

Bed of overlaying ferns 

As the season’s solstice 

Stealthily tiptoes away 

From the long night moon *



* The Long Night Moon gets its name because the full moon in December occurs near the solstice, which has the longest night of the year.

 

Tullawalla is Available From

Jaymah Press:https://www.jaymahpress.com.au/

Ivor Steven: email, ivorrs20@gmail.com

Amazon: search via, ‘Tullawalla by Ivor Steven’


AND
Perceptions is Now Available via:

Jaymah Press: https://www.jaymahpress.com.au/

Lulu Books: https://www.lulu.com/shop/ivor-steven-and-derrick-knight/perceptions/hardcover/product-2pwqe4.html?q=Perceptions+by+Ivor+Steven&page=1&pageSize=4

OR: email me directly for a signed copy – ivorrs20@gmail.com



Ivor Steven (c) December 2022

Today, Time Does Not Matter (a Haiku)

All featured Images: were taken on my Sanyo iPhone today …

Today, Time Does Not Matter (a Haiku) 

 
 
A walk back in time 

Along cobblestone pathways 

And rustic cafes 

Tullawalla is Available From

Jaymah Press:https://www.jaymahpress.com.au/

Ivor Steven: email, ivorrs20@gmail.com

Amazon: search via, ‘Tullawalla by Ivor Steven’


AND
Perceptions is Now Available via:

Jaymah Press: https://www.jaymahpress.com.au/

Lulu Books: https://www.lulu.com/shop/ivor-steven-and-derrick-knight/perceptions/hardcover/product-2pwqe4.html?q=Perceptions+by+Ivor+Steven&page=1&pageSize=4

OR: email me directly for a signed copy – ivorrs20@gmail.com



Ivor Steven (c) December 2022