Paradise Beach
on and on we must go
we the mighty who dare
to venture above and beyond
our drab old vaudeville show
join the journey of discovery
out there in search of the Milky Way
swim on our universe’s distant shores
where there’s sure to be a stellar star
completely made of compassion
held together by oceans full of love
our beach, a united paradise
one nation, within our reach
Ivor Steven (c) July 2020
Suddenly I’m awake, it’s only 1.30 am, what’s happened !! There’s car horns and cheering, like a New Year Eve’s party, why is there such a rowdy noise going on !! Yeah…. now I remember… happy 4th of July to all of my American family and friend’s… ENJOY……
The Other Side Of Red White And Blue
Poem by Ivor Steven, adapted to prose by Claudia Collins
It was the fourth of July. The party seems to be finished. I’m wondering how long I dozed off for. Most of my friends have gone; a few bodies left, lying on the floor. ‘Best I have a piss before I go. Now where’s that bathroom?’
‘Whoops, there’s a girl in here, dressed all in blue, and she’s on the floor, slouched in the corner, not moving. Her skin is a whiter shade of pale, red lip-stick all askew.’
Then I see myself in the mirror. My white shirt is moist and filthy; agape, splattered deep, dark red. ‘Oh no. It’s human blood!’ I turn the crumpled girl over. Her pretty blue dress, covered in blood too. ‘What’s happened? I can’t remember. Only blurry images of red, white, and blue.’ My mind goes numb, and my legs start running, out of there, in a hurry.
Thump! I trip over. I thought, ‘that bloke is asleep.’ I didn’t notice at first … his red shirt is also oozing out blood. ‘Holy hell, he’s dead too!’
I’m stumbling through the front door. Grappling, panicking, now where where do I flee? ‘Think! Yes, a nearby church has an early dawn service, a sanctuary for my burning fears.’
And bumbling into the church I go, settling upon the nearest pew. I’m white as a ghost and I turn to see who’s beside me. An eerily stunning red-haired girl, wearing a dress of red, white, and blue.
Memory flashes back, ‘It’s Her … from the party.’ She’s staring at me now, with vivid red and white eyes. I see fangs protruding over her blue lips. Dribbling fresh blood, she hisses at me and gurgles, “Did I miss one?”
The Filia Sanguine suddenly grabs my arm. And her dark-blue fingernails dig deep. I’m seized, I’m gone, I know. There’s no safe haven here.
‘Where do you go to my lovely?’
I’m screaming tears of red, white, and blue.
Ivor Steven (c) July 2019
“Behind every word
There’s a thought
Between every thought
There’s an emotion
Underneath the emotion
There’s a heartbeat
Below the heartbeat
There’s a soul
Within the soul
There lives love”
Ivor Steven (c) July 2020.
My Guiding Light
Five years have gone bye
But who counts stars in the sky
Or the passing blue moons
Waving shadows upon blue lagoons
A waterfall’s pool of liquid joy
Shimmering memories, of when I was a boy
I shiver from yesteryear’s leftover rains
And there’ll always be a deep river in my veins
Dad, you were a brother and best mate too
And your ever-loving spirit guides me through
Ivor Steven (c) July 2020.
Hello dear readers and followers. Over the last 3 days I’ve been preparing and typing madly, to produce my Eighteenth Tullawalla Poetry Booklet….. Because of my recent health issues, the setting out and formulating of the booklet has been quite a task for me….. And I apologise for my absence from your blog sites… my ability to do more than one thing at a time, is now very limited….Anyhow, for new readers that don’t know about these booklets, they are basically the reason why I write poetry. I produce the booklets for the sole purpose of raising funds for my favourite charity organisation, the MS Society, in Australia via the MS Charity Shop here in Geelong. And actually all money’s I receive for any of my poetry .via, submissions, I donate to the MS Society…. I’m proud to announce, that the sale of my “Tullawalla Booklets”, have now gone pass $1300.00, … to all the lovely readers, who have donated, to help achieve such a wonderful amount, a big heartfelt thank you, from “us” and the MS Society … …..Amazingly, there is now a total of “736 poems”, in my collection/series of 18 Tullawalla Booklets. This booklet is finally completed, and ready for sale now !! As always, they are available for purchase, either as a hard copy or a PDF format….. All proceeds go to the MS Charity Shop, here in Geelong West….. Please contact me here through my website page and I can chat about arrangements from there…. Oh, the booklet is called “Tullawalla: “I, Can Breathe”… …. And here is the link to my website >> https://ivors20.wordpress.com
Ivor Steven (c) July 2020.
Blue Yonder (A Dual Haiku)
Travellers back pack
The journey man’s companion
Australian true blue
On and on we go
We the mighty do venture
Above and beyond
Ivor Steven (c) June 2020.
My poem “A Chalice of Champagne”, is up ‘Red Wolf Journal’ and thank you to the editor, Irene, for publishing my poem in their wonderful magazine, and I’m thrilled with their kind consideration of my “Journeying” piece….
A Chalice of Champagne
by Ivor Steven
Once upon a time
In the days of rhyme
When learning to climb
I saw my neon sign
Slowly die by design
An angel’s teardrop fell
Ringing the church bell
And filling my empty well
From the tower of song, I wanted to yell
But life doesn’t let you dwell
During the monsoon rains
I trekked over flooded plains
Avoiding delta swamps of pain
Scaling the same old mountain again
Searching for that chalice of champagne
Ivor Steven was formerly an Industrial Chemist, then a Plumber, and has been writing poetry for 19 years. He has had numerous poems published in on-line magazines. He is an active member of the Geelong Writers Inc.(Australia), and is a team member/barista with the on-line magazine Go Dog Go Cafe (America).
Today I was struggling for a title and the wording of my 2nd line, but after a chat with a friend of mine, a well known poet, who’s, “Living on the equator and longing for snow”. and she inadvertently inspired me, to come up with the title, and complete my second line….
There’s a Penguin In My Courtyard
my courtyards a frozen pond
cold enough for a penguin
shrouds of ice lay upon the ground
and a crisp sharpness cuts the sound
of the birds unthawed songs of silence
as fernery fronds curl in glaciated defiance
and in the corner there’s a frostbitten spider’s web
while frigidly rigid is the succulent flower bed
above there’s the sun’s ambient saffron disc
the dawn’s prediction that golden days do exist
Ivor Steven (c) June 2020
Dear readers and followers, here’s a great opportunity for your writings to be read by other writers, and also to find and meet other writers. You are very welcome to participate, come along and visit our writer friendly site…..
Welcome to Promote Yourself Monday. All Go Dog Go Cafe community members are invited to post one link to one specific piece of their writing (600 words or less please!) they have published on their blog, Facebook page, or Instagram feed into the comments section below.
Winter Diamonds. A Haiku
Soft winter sunshine
The sky’s raining blue diamonds
Warms my fragile heart
Ivor Steven (c) June 2020
