One Motherland

Hello dear readers, this is my follow-up poem, on the back of my pictorial article about our Geelong’s “Pako Festa” on Saturday >>https://ivors20.wordpress.com/2020/03/02/the-communities-leap-of-faith-pako-festa-geelong/    My poem here was inspire by this glorious multicultural event, which was both awe-inspiring and at times emotionally teary for me….. Hopefully my words explain my thoughts as the parade passed by me….. And as usual I’ve attached a song, but this is not any song….. it’s a piece I’ve had on my playlist for a while….. a very emotional song by ‘Natalie Merchant’, … please listen if you have time, and you’ll understand how my poem is strongly connected to her song ‘Motherland’…… By coincidence, I remembered “Natalie Merchant’s” song when I began searching YouTube for a suitable piece of music to go with my poem……and for your further enjoyment, I’ve also attached her superb lyrics below…….

 

One Motherland

 

I’m standing here watching

 

a parade of nations

passing in front of me

people from far away lands

walking hand in hand

in harmony

one big family

beyond their first moorings

recalling their ocean crossings

 

I’m standing here wondering

 

what drove them here

to leave their homeland

cross a line in the sand

and live in this distant world

on an ancient island

to live as one

under the same sun

cradled by one Motherland

 

I’m standing here crying

 

thinking about pointless wars

knowing children are dying

there’s too much hatred

life is so sacred

we are all related

living under One hand

all on one Motherland

we are merely a mite of dust

searching for love and trust

cradled by one Motherland

 

 

Motherland, lyrics by Natalie Merchant

Where in hell can you go
Far from the things that you know
Far from the sprawl of concrete
That keeps crawling its way
About 1,000 miles a day?

Take one last look behind
Commit this to memory and mind
Don’t miss this wasteland, this terrible place
When you leave
Keep your heart off your sleeve

Motherland cradle me
Close my eyes
Lullaby me to sleep
Keep me safe
Lie with me
Stay beside me
Don’t go, don’t you go

O, my five & dime queen
Tell me what have you seen?
The lust and the avarice
The bottomless, the cavernous greed
Is that what you see?

Motherland cradle me
Close my eyes
Lullaby me to sleep
Keep me safe
Lie with me
Stay beside me
Don’t go

It’s your happiness I want most of all
And for that I’d do anything at all, o mercy me!
If you want the best of it or the most of all
If there’s anything I can do at all

Now come on shot gun bride
What makes me envy your life?
Faceless, nameless, innocent, blameless and free,
What’s that like to be?

Motherland cradle me
Close my eyes
Lullaby me to sleep
Keep me safe
Lie with me
Stay beside me
Don’t go, don’t you go

 

 

Ivor Steven (c)  March 2020

Feeding Them Up On Bullets Instead

I wrote this poem last night, when I woke up at 1.30am. The featured image above, is looking up at the Geelong hills north of the town, they are called the “You Yangs”. I suppose my poem below is about, how our politicians, should look up , to see what’s coming down on their heads. This post is for the Weekly Prompt, Photo Challenge: Up  <<Click on, to view The Weekly Prompt site…..

Feeding Them Up On Bullets Instead

 

How hard must we hit the nail

On their heads

Before the white house wooden hearts

Finally count the living-dead

 

How hard does the rain have to fall

On their heads

Before the farmer’s empty buckets

Only fill via tears from the living-dead

 

How hard shall the sunshine burn

On their heads

Before the number of extinct birds

Light-up the dark gap between government heads

 

How hard do crumbling icebergs break

On their heads

Before both polar ice-caps melt

Flooding our storage silos and sheds

 

The answer my friends, rests

On their heads

Before all the starving arise from earthen beds

Crying out, stop feeding us up on bullets instead

 

Words, Between the Lines Of Age . Neil Young.  Lyrics

Someone and someone were down by the pond
Looking for something to plant in the lawn.
Out in the fields they were turning the soil
I’m sitting here hoping this water will boil
When I look through the windows and out on the road
They’re bringing me presents and saying hello.

Singing words, words between the lines of age.
Words, words between the lines of age.
If I was a junk-man selling you cars,
Washing your windows and shining your stars,
Thinking your mind was my own in a dream
What would you wonder and how would it seem?
Living in castles a bit at a time
The king started laughing and talking in rhyme.

Singing words, words between the lines of age.
Words, words between the lines of age.

Ivor Steven (c)  2019

Silent Sky

I am also posting this poem “Silent Sky,” on “Go Dog Go Café” via the fantastic idea of “Promote Yourself Monday”.. << Click here

My morning sky is silent

An empty clear blue vent

A vast quietness

Cloudless and soundless

The world has turned mute

We cannot hear

The whales crying

We no longer see

The birds flying

We now refuse to speak

Words of peace, they’re slowly dying

My morning sky has no sun

Spent gold, overused, and undone

A grey dullness

Viewless, a hollow darkness

The world has lost sight

We no longer see

Industrious bees

We cannot hear

The animals fear

We now deny the people’s voice

Words of peace, our children’s choice

Ivor Steven (c) 2019

Hear The Thunder

My tired voice is crying out, “there’s no time to wait !!”

Pleading, along with the world’s impatient majority

We need to hear the thunder, of peace bells ringing

Ringing to the crescendo of peace doves singing

 

The chimes are loud and clear

Loud enough for the universe to hear

Even through white marble walls

You’ll hear the thunder of the peace bell’s … call

 

We the people, from the planet’s four corners

Are united by our textiles woven together

We’ve attached our hands firmly to the bell pull

And tugging the pull cords, the thunder of the bells shall ring

 

We are gathering in every backyard

Every church hall

Every city street

Every farmers paddock

 

Every heavenly peace dove is escaping

You will see the doves flying high above

Even through the towers of tinted glass

You’ll see the peace doves … soar

 

Even through their white marble walls

They’ll hear the thunder of the peace bells … call

Even through their towers of tinted glass

They’ll hear the crescendo of the peace doves … call

 

Hear the thunder of peace bells ringing

Hear the crescendo of peace doves singing

 

Ivor Steven (c)  2019

Calmness On The Bay

There’s a serene tranquil calmness

Hovering over this panoramic bay

The cloudy sky’s silkily reflected

Upon it’s benign smooth waters

The shoreline’s fresh-air is gently cool

Creating a peaceful atmosphere of awe and wonder

Impressing local onlookers and tourist alike

Beholding a picturesque, enchanting balminess

Soothing to all those enraptured souls

Fortunate to view the waterfronts afternoon artistry

Blue Yonder: By David Francey, Lyrics

Here on the ground
It’s a long way down
To the land down under
And all I want to do
Is ride into the blue yonder
Id’ beep in the sky
And I’d be higher than high
And it’s no wonder
That all I want to do
Is ride into the blue yonder
Into the blue yonder
Into the blue yonder
All I want to do
Is ride into the blue yonder
I’d be up in the clouds
And I’d be laughing out loud
With the world to wander
And all I want to do
Is ride into the blue yonder
I’ll be into the blue
And I’ll be gone and through
And I’ll be out from under
And all I want to do
Is ride into the blue yonder
Into the blue yonder

Into the blue yonder

All I want to do

Is ride into the blue yonder

Ivor Steven (c) 2019

A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall On Polar Bears

The foreigners have quietly landed

Wood from our trees has all been sanded

We’re a country without doors

Surrounded by golden shores

The openings are cast and vast

And the alien’s time is here at last

I cannot stop them, nor can you

If it be their will

Then, let it be

Join them, do not flee

We’ll all be hand in hand

To become the promised land

So let us be great again

Do not worry about the hard-rain

Do not consider the broken light

Forget about the rainstorm tonight

Who cares about Polar Bear’s with no ice

Leaders say “Enjoy now, no matter the price”

Sorry, we cannot send the politicians a banquet of flowers

All flowers are in crystal vases, within the moguls ivory towers

 

 

Ivor Steven (c)  2019