Throwback Friday, A Fairy Tale Misread, by Ivor Steven

Not all fairy tales have a happy ending …

Go Dog Go Café

I wrote this reflective poem in October 2018

A Fairy-tale Misread

I’m slowly climbing out of bed

Feeling like an empty wood-shed

There’s a fire within, unfed

Yesterday’s ashes smoulder inside my head

Remembering the day we were wed

The perfect couple they said

A fairy-tale, crystal, silver and golden thread

Our life was a rainbow, yellow, blue and red

Now I only dream of you instead

There you lay, among your ancestors beds

And I’m sorry, our fairy-tale was misread

Ivor Steven (c) October 2018

G’day, and welcome to my blog site. My name is Ivor Steven, I live in Geelong, Australia. I’m an ex-industrial chemist, and a retired plumber, and a former Carer of my wife(Carole), for 30 years, who suffered from severe MS. I Write poetry about those personal thoughts, throughout and beyond my life as a Carer. I’ve been blogging for over 4 years, and writing…

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Old Ground

Featured Image Above: by Derrick Knight, and a sincere thank you to Derrick for allowing me to use his fabulous photos here on my poetry site.
>> https://derrickjknight.com/2022/07/27/stagnant-pea-soup/



Old Ground



Along the cracked track I walk

Always in the same direction

But today I was discombobulated




I did not know the difference

Between east or west

Or whether I was moving up or down




But then

I felt the world

Rumble under my feet




There in every blade of grass

I could hear

The earth’s heartbeat




A soft sobbing sound

Of the lost children

Resting under ground







Ivor Steven (c) July 2022

Metamorphosis, is up at Coffee House Writers Magazine

Hello dear readers and followers, I now write for “Coffee House Writers” magazine on a fortnightly basis, and my poem“Metamorphosis”, is in this week’s edition of Coffee House Writers Magazine. … please click on the link below and visit my poem, at Coffee House Writers >> 
https://coffeehousewriters.com/metamorphosis/

Thank you to Derrick Knight for sending me his butterfly photo to accompany my caterpillar photo >> https://derrickjknight.com/


Metamorphosis 


I am lying on the damp path 

A stranger stops and leans over me  

“Are you ok mate?” he asks 

“I’m fine thank you” 

“I’m down here having a chat with Mr. Caterpillar 

“Oh!” gives me a quizzical look and moves on 


Then Mr. Caterpillar said 

“Thanks for joining me here at dirt level” 

I reply.  

“The moist grass feels silky against my cheek 

and I think we humans forget to honour the earth,  

and don’t appreciate the planet we have under our feet” 


“You are right about that 

even in my life as a caterpillar 

before I transfer into a butterfly 

I see the tainted sky turning darker 

the valley river is murkier 

and I feel the ground under my feet 

is anxiously trembling even more” 


“I wonder what the world will look like 

when I’m a butterfly in the sky 

I have only three weeks of adventure before I die 

however, during my short lifespan 

you humans 

will persist with willful destruction 

and shamefully increase the number of orphans

under your feet” 






Ivor Steven (c) July 2022

The White Azalea Peace Garden





The White Azalea Peace Garden


I stare at the garden plaque

There on the ground

In front of the white Azalea bushes


I sit on the park bench and wonder

Here under a clear blue sky

Why? Does the sun shine on our world


I was born in nineteen fifty one

Here under a broken moon

During the second year of the Korean War


I stand and walk away

Where must I go?

To view the whole of the moon



Promote Yourself Monday: July 25, 2022

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…..by clicking on the link at the bottom of this article >>
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Go Dog Go Café

Welcome toPromote Yourself Monday. All Go Dog Go Cafe community members are invited to postonelink 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.

If you post a link, be sure to read some of the other great writing people have linked to.

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Throwback Friday, Within Us, by Ivor Steven

Love lives within us

Go Dog Go Café

My files indicate that the oldest entry for this poem was in April 2018, but I have a feeling the original might have been written a few years earlier.

Within Us

The oceans wave us goodbye

Sand and sea, one beach

Like the surf’s white crest

Love is within our lonely breasts

The lands push us apart

Alps and plains, one realm

Like a river’s rocky cascade

Love is a turbulent escapade

The sky opens us up

Dawn and dusk, one sun

Like the moons daytime eclipse

Love is a hidden apocalypse

The universe covers us complete

Stars and planets, one creation

Like the distant Milky Way

Love is within us to stay

Ivor Steven (c) April 2018

G’day, and welcome to my blog site. My name is Ivor Steven, I live in Geelong, Australia. I’m an ex-industrial chemist, and a retired plumber, and a former Carer of my wife(Carole)…

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Who’s Rowing My Boat in the Dark?

I’m reposting this poem of mine from August 2020, for two reasons. 1. The poem gives me a chance to present one of my favourite songs by Leonard Cohen. 2. I like this poem, because the piece is open for the reader to interpret my thoughts images in whatever way their feel is right for them.

Who’s Rowing My Boat in the Dark?


Am I in hibernation?

Or am I lacking inclination?

Am I awake and living?

Or just lying here dreaming?

Why do I dream so much?

Visions feel alive to touch

Half-awake, I scribble these notes

Half asleep, am I falsely afloat?

On my mystical Noah’s Ark

Have I the right to ask?

Who’s rowing my boat in the dark?

Is it Her, my brave Joan of Ark?