Category: Poems

Poppy-Kettle

This weekend the Word/Photo Challenge is ‘Unusual‘. And today I went down to the beautiful Geelong waterfront for a picnic lunch and a walk around the picturesque foreshore, and afterwards, sitting at the Valhalla Bar, sipping on a beer or two, I wrote this attached poem, about the ‘unusual’ Poppy-Kettle display  Please go and visit the “Weekly Prompt” by clicking >> HERE

Poppy-Kettle

 

My lost week has fallen into Sunday

And I’m going out to enjoy the clear sunshine

The Geelong skyline is finally smoke free

Our Corio Bay is unusually dead-calm

The water is like a glassy blue mirror

As I stroll along grassy banks of the foreshore

I rest myself upon a big quartz rock

Under the shade of a palm tree

 

A perfect locale to have my picnic lunch

Sitting next to an intriguing Poppy-Kettle display

Miniature bronze statues for everyone to see

A children’s mystical piece of fantasy land

Nearby there’s also a fairy tale’s giant green dragon

Dragons are a mythical favourite of mine

The area has an aura of a child’s magical kingdom

And my dreamy imagination grasps me to be almost there

 

 

 

 

 

Ivor Steven (c)  Jan 2020

Unsteady Quill

Below an overcast sky

A crack appears in my cloud of guilt

This widening chasm darkened

Distorting the edges of distant memories

 

A dear friend, passed away, last week

I didn’t get to say goodbye

His funeral, was private

And I need to send a condolence card

 

For these seven days of my life

The card has stayed on my table

I’m trying to write to his bereaved wife

But my hand’s unsteady and not able

 

I’m yet to put pen to card

I’m yet to allow myself to cry hard

I’m yet to push myself to go an extra yard

Now, I must get my head out of these clouds

Lift my quill, for a mate, who was brave and proud

 

Ivor Steven (c)  Jan 2020

 

 

Sun Showers

Hello, you taste so sweet

These angelic drops of rain

Landing on my freckled cheeks

Refreshing my dry skin

 

Instead of yesterday’s

Annoying and staining spots

Full of dirt and smoke

Stinging my teary eyes

 

Finally today, a cooling breeze

Clearing our hazy sky

And here comes the sun

Minus her dusty halo of grey

 

 

Ivor Steven (c)  Jan 2020

 

Eerie Sky, Teasing Rain

The midweek word/photo challenge is; Family Albums. My article and poem isn’t really about a family album, but these are the photos I took today, depicting the eeriness of our smokey and rainy sky…. Please go and visit the Weekly Prompts site by clicking>> HERE

Above Feature Image: I’m standing in light rain, at the end of my lane, but the sky is still a smokey haze, which is very eerie…..

Left. The smokey sky and sun at end of my lane. Right. The thunderstorm this afternoon

Left. A smokey beach in the morning        Right. Looking straight at the sun on the beach

 

Eerie Sky, Teasing Rain

 

The eeriness is hard to explain

Our sky is smokey again

But here I stand in the rain

At the end of my dusty lane

 

Smelling the stench of our fiery haze

Now mixed with the aroma of wet maize

I’m stunned, and unearthly amazed

And Thor’s neon lights add to my daze

 

This summer storm is yet to fully expound

Tiny drops are struggling to cover the ground

The day’s hot, but our sun cannot be found

And this afternoon’s darkness leaves me spellbound

 

Footnote: As I’m about to post this article, we are having some heavy rain and there is more forecast for next Monday…. At last the sky is crying over the fires of South-Eastern Australia, hopefully enough to give our firefighters some much needed respite… Yeah.

 

 

Ivor Steven (c)  Jan 2020

Pain and Renewal, A Poetry Anthology, Edited by Brian Geiger, of the Vita Brevis Magazine. An Article by Ivor Steven

To the Vita Brevis Poetry Magazine and Brian Geiger(Editor), I thank you for including my poem, and I am honoured to appear among so many accomplished writers.

Ranked #1 Best Selling New Poetry Anthology

#1 Bestselling New Poetry Anthology, Pain & Renewal features a collection of incredible voices — from Pulitzer & Pushcart prize winners to brand new poets, it’s filled with moving poetry about the highs and lows of the human experience. From love and loss to death and redemption — and beyond.”There are as many forms of pain as there are paths to renewal, and I can think of no better way to explore this than through collected stories of people from around the world. In the same way the broader themes of a good book are not conveyed in one line but through many small and dispersed instances, the broader truths of pain and renewal bare their patterns when the struggles and victories of the individual are placed alongside those of the many. Read from cover to cover, I believe many of these patterns can be found in this anthology.” – Brian Geiger (Editor)

You can get the digital version here, if you want to read it on your computer, phone, tablet, or Kindle device.

And you can get the print version here, if you’re the bookish type.

 

 

Ivor Steven (c)  Jan 2020

 

 

Smoke, And Happy Tears Today

Below, as per usual with my posts, I have an attached video/music for your enjoyment, however today this video is very special , and I would sincerely like to thank, Stephanie Stickel, for allowing me use this wonderful video, of her drawing, with the music of  Thomas Peter-Horas(Sarah), and played by Chen on piano .

Feature Image above: The photo I received today; my niece Kerri, and my grand-niece Kylie(My Philadelphia faeries), there smiles make me smile xx

Below Images: The smokey haze outside my front door today, 500 yards away at the end of my lane.

Smoke, And Happy Tears Today

 

Again, I’ve smokey tears in my eyes

But today they’re not, from those terrible fires

I’ve just received a photo, via magical digital wires

From the girl of my promised forever bond

And who lives on my soul’s golden pond

She’s knowingly smiling, at my heart’s open streams

Graciously enjoying all of life’s hard regimes

And handling her body’s constant extremes

Never does she falter, from her declared theme

“Don’t Let the World Bring You Down”

She’ll always be my jewel of renown

A ray of inspiring hope, in that distant sky

My dearest really real faery, flying so high

 

 

Ivor Steven (c)  Jan 2020