Flute (Ro)

Today’s piece was inspired after reading Robert Okaji’s wonderful poem “Ro”, please go and visit his fantastic poetry site by clicking on this link >> https://robertokaji.com/2022/11/11/ro-5/

Note: Ro designates the fingering required to produce a particular note on the shakuhachi, the traditional Japanese bamboo flute. In this case, closing all holes.

Feature Image Above: With the kind permission of Robert Okaji, the image was copied from his post “Ro”

Flute (Ro)

the melody lingers

beyond soft fingers

above the hollow

a note was borrowed

by the former mentor

you are not the lamenter

please return

to the aspiring sender

Ivor Steven (c) November 2022

Lost, Without a Compass (I’m lost for words)

Here is a poem I wrote 2 years ago after Trumps devisive and undemoncratic tactics during his USA election campaign … but “today” for a different invasion of “injustice” my poem seems to be appropriate again ….

“To deny people their human rights is to challenge their very humanity.”
Nelson Mandela

“If you want to improve your quality of life and the quality of life for all women, never stop questioning society or calling for change.”
Justina De Pierris

Lost, Without a Compass

Ivor Steven (c) June 2022

Imagination (revised)

We walked pass the ‘Imagination Garden Kindergarten & Childcare’ centre this morning, and I was reminded of this poem I wrote in August 2020, when the building was being constructed. All the photos in my post here today were taken this morning at the “Imagination” centre ..

Imagination (revised)



Boldly, the sign “Imagination” is written on the wall

The silent gift of creativety that is given to us all



Imagination looks beyond the distant horizon

To where a blue sky unites the oceans

Imagination looks above the gathering dark clouds

To where a golden sun dispels all doubts



Imagination looks inside the essence of nature

To where a nurtured animal instinct matures

Imagination looks outside the boundaries of mankind

To where a human mind can roam unconfined

And peacefully co-exist nonaligned

Ivor Steven (c) June 2022

An Old Book Shuts, a New Door Opens

Dear readers, have a pleasant Easter, and here is my Easter poem, from 2020, that I’ve slightly revised this morning…

An Old Book Shuts, a New Door Opens

Today I question myself

What do I see?

Upon my world’s lower shelf

There! An open wider drawer

Containing a treasure chest

A universe of potential

An orb with a mystical two piece door

The bottom half’s pale blue

Like yesterday’s fading blue moon

A book of old testaments

The above half’s bright yellow

A gateway of gilded gold

The book of tomorrow’s future

A new prophecy of days under the sun

Ivor Steven (c)  April 2020

Vultures Tell No Lies, is in the March Issue of Positive Words Magazine

I am pleased and proud to announce that my poem, “Vultures Tell No Lies” is published in the Positive Words Magazine, March Issue, and thank you to the Editor, Sandra, for selecting my poem… For further information about this fabulous Australian magazine, visit their site via this link > https://positivewordsmagazine.wordpress.com/
Attached below, I have scanned the poems directly from my copy of the Magazine

Ivor Steven (c) March 2022

A World Of Puppets (a Tanka)

Featured Image Above: by Derrick Knight, who kindly allows me to reproduce his photos here on my poetry website …

A World Of Puppets (a Tanka)




Are we the puppets?

Punch and Judy’s without strings

Who’s contolling things?

As Putin’s a dummy too

Ask the children in Russia

Ivor Steven (c) February 2022

Mankind’s Dirty Hands

My poem today is based on a poetic ‘comment’ that I wrote on the “Chatter Blog’s” site, after reading her interesting article. For those who follow Colleen’s site, would agree that all of her posts are thought provoking and interesting, and you may visit her article by clicking on this link >> https://bikecolleenbrown.wordpress.com/2021/12/29/hasnt-been-back/

Mankind’s Dirty Hands

I am an ancient oak tree

leaning against the prevailing breeze

the winds of time have shaped me

after blowing my disguise into the sea

now here I stand

a lifeless shadow

of leafless branches

within nature’s naked forest

waiting for mankind’s dirty hands

to stop the desert sands

from ravaging the last strands

of what remains hanging over our land

Ivor Steven (c) January 2022

Tell Me Why (a Haibun)

Feeling very privileged and happy today. Last night, as a invited guest, I attended the special pre-show celebratory gathering and performance of Tell Me Why – Archie Roach, concert.

ABOUT THE SHOW:

A new work sharing stories and songs from Archie Roach’s award-winning memoir and companion album, Tell Me Why is an intimate, moving and often confronting account of his resilience, strength of spirit as well as a great love story. It’s an extraordinary odyssey of love, heartbreak, family, community, survival and renewal, showcasing the healing power of music.

Not many have lived as many lives as Archie, from stolen child, teenage alcoholic, seeker, lover, father, musical and lyrical genius, to social advocate and First Nations leader – but it took almost a lifetime to find who he really was. He is Archie Roach.

In the “Tell Me Why” show, Archie Roach voiced joy, pain, and hope within the songs that he had found on his journey to becoming the legendary singer, songwriter and storyteller that he is today; and below is my Haiku that I wrote straight after the concert …


Why (a Haiku)


The stolen children

Tell me why did they do that?

Does the river know?




Below; I have attached two of Archie Roach’s music/videos, and you can find more of his powerful lyrics and music on YouTube ...

Ivor Steven (c) December 2021

Atlantis, is up at Spillwords Magazine

I am ecstatic to have my poem “Atlantis” published at Spillwords Magazine today, and I am very grateful to the editors at Spillwords for accepting my piece .. Pease go and visit my poem at Spillwords and if you wish, leave a ❤ for my article, by clicking on this link >> https://spillwords.com/atlantis/



Atlantis

Nature’s abundant history

Bounces forth in front of our eyes

The view is silently stunning

Nature’s assets keep running

Our hearts keep drumming

In tune with nature’s humming

Gently step into her ocean surf

For beneath the waves lays her sodden turf

The Atlantis carpet of ancestral bones

Remnants of ruined millennia covered in fallen moonstones

Nature’s guiding lodestones waiting to be atoned

Ivor Steven (c) December 2021

Stone Arches, High In The Sky

Image credit: Vrolans @ Pixabay

Written in response to Sadje‘s What Do You See #111 photo prompt

Stone Arches, High In The Sky

Sitting on this old cemetery bench

Judiciously carved from marble

I’m pondering like Rodin’s ‘Thinker’

Observing God’s arches high in the sky

Supported by tall Gothic columns

Laboriously sculptured stone

Dull shades of gray

Etched by heavy rain

Burnt under the drying sun

Shaped by the winds of time

Millennia cast in granite

History encrusted surfaces

Pillars of society, silently solidified

Witnesses of forgotten decades

Ancient pyramids overseeing cold graveyards

Decayed monuments to our lost souls

Immortality and finality achieved

Beyond the shadows of doubt

Their stoic presence

An eternal epitaph

Ivor Steven (c) December 2021