I’ve a lady visiting, on my bed
Relaxed and snoring, all spread
Friendly, and in her own way beautiful
Cuddly and always an armful
I’m grateful to have her here
Beside me, I adore her soft ears
Lovingly listening to my heartbeat
As she lays there on my feet
Undemanding, a gracious sleeping beauty
Attending to her daily needs, is my happy duty
Ivor Steven (c) July 2019
In reply to CalmKate’s, Friday Foto Fun Prompt; Uprooted << Click to view Kate’s site…..
By The Waters Edge, (Tullawalla)
Above: The home I lived in, growing up. Above Right: My bachelor’s pad, a first floor apartment
Above: Our home, Carole & I, shared for the next 37 years of togetherness. until her passing
Above: Were I rented for 3 years, with a lady called Sue. Above Right: The next year I boarded here.
Above: The old Tullawalla & the new Tullawalla, Mum & Dad’s, holiday house, and then their retirement home. Me and my brother (Danny) lived there for 6 months, at the end of 2016. And then at start of 2017, I moved my present home.
Above: My home today, the front view, and the back courtyard and verandah
By The Waters Edge, (Tullawalla)
I’m in an isolation cabin
Like a waiting mosquito larva
Ready to burst
Surrounded by sand and sea
And a river mouth
Tidal and free
And I share my daily bread
A piece for you, for her, for them
Thoughts of you
I dream of now, and then
I see your flowered coffin
I’m tangled in a cocoon
Like an angry dragon-fly
Begging to break free
Surrounded by water-grass and weed
Tea-tree and Dunes, far as the eye can see
And a garden bed
Grown from seed
And I share my weekly menu
A piece for you, for her, for them
Thoughts of you
I stare down upon a fallen brave
I see your flowered cave
Ivor Steven (c) 2018
Imagining distant horizons and red sunsets
Visualising vast oceans and blue skies
Dreaming words of hello’s and goodbye’s
Writing down emotions, that I see beyond these scenes
Why do I write ?
Could it be an ego thing
Who do I write for ?
Anyone that is listening
Does she hear me too ?
I’d like to speculate so
What do I write ?
Ideas that seep from my heart
But, what do I write about ?
The subjects that matter
What matters to me ?
To love the living soul of our planet
Honour the love we give
Adore the love we receive
Ivor Steven (c) July 2019
I Do Thee Shine
When I was little and young.
“Your heart will always shine” Said Mum.
When I grew up, a know-all teenager.
Head strong, and an all-night rager.
“Your love of life will shine through” Said Dad.
Later on I married, so happy and glad.
Suddenly, one spring, MS touched her bad.
The shining dulled and time turned sad.
Dad said, “Your heart shone through”.
And Mum said, “Her Star will always shine on you”.
My Star, my Dad and Mum, you are my spine.
For you, I do thee shine.
Ivor Steven (c) 2018
Leonard Cohen… Lyrics
“To A Teacher”
[Dedicated to A. M. Klein (1909-1972)]
Hurt once and for all into silence.
A long pain ending without a song to prove it.
Who could stand beside you so close to Eden,
When you glinted in every eye the held-high
razor, shivering every ram and son?
And now the silent loony bin, where
The shadows live in the rafters like
Day-weary bats,
Until the turning mind, a radar signal,
lures them to exaggerate
Mountain-size on the white stone wall
Your tiny limp.
How can I leave you in such a house?
Are there no more saints and wizards
to praise their ways with pupils,
No more evil to stun with the slap
of a wet red tongue?
Did you confuse the Messiah in a mirror
and rest because he had finally come?
Let me cry Help beside you, Teacher.
I have entered under this dark roof
As fearlessly as an honoured son
Enters his father’s house.
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
His family, siblings of ten
Then a loving father of four
The king of our den
Always the gentle man at our door
You were our best friend
Now our star forever more
Ivor Steven (c) July 2019
Inside the clouds
Comes the secret of the rain
Outside, the sky
Reflects the ocean’s colouring veins
Within the sun
Burst, undying corona rays
Overhead, the moon
Casts shadows night and day
Underneath, there’s the earth
Orbiting, in charge of seasonal change
Nearby, there’s Venus and Mars
Planets without smog and cars
Above, there’s the stars
The universe’s infinite mountain range
Featured Image: Pinterest.
Ivor Steven (c) June 2019
