The Ekphrastic poetry workshop I attended on Wednesday was an inspiring event, and here I have written a tanka about a clay figurine as depicted in my Featured Image above.
Worldly Smirk (a Tanka)
I do not know you
But your glassy eyes know me
Why that worldly smirk
I have a million questions
Do you have all the answers
Ivor Steven (c) May 2022
Over at Weekly Prompts, the monthly Colour Challenge for May is: Mellow Yellow. Please go and visit their fabulous site by clicking >> Here . Below is my “Tanka” response to their ‘Colour Prompt’ ..
Sunflower Seeds (a Tanka)
Blue skies were mellow
Fields were peaceful and yellow
Sunflowers grew free
Then foreign tanks squashed their seeds
On tomorrow’s scarred harrows
Ivor Steven (c) May 2022
Running Out Of Time (a Tanka)
Time is eternal
We live and die over time
Unfinished business
Is left hanging on the line
No more time, our only crime
Ivor Steven (c) April 2022
I am one human
Why are you so inhumane?
Can you see the light?
Shine over humanity
You! One ion-less atom
Ivor Steven (c) April 2022
The harsh baltic winds
Whistle through frozen borders
Destroying old trees
And crushing dead Ukraine leaves
Then depart as Russian thieves
Ivor Steven (c) March 2022
Introduction
Naked I stand before Him
Stripped of common decency
Debased, I kneel crying
Sad words fall like rain
Tanks are still rolling
Over the Ukraine
My Tanka’s are scrolling
Down their bloody drains
Tanka #1. Sad Sky
False words smudge old clouds
Gray clouds hang under sad sky
The sad sky decries
“Children are our butterflies
And please stop the warring lies”
Tanka #2. Broken Biscuits
Life is imperfect
Like broken war-time biscuits
Re-connection waits
Reconciliation stops
Life’s sweet shortbread’s unopened
Tanka #3. Abandoned
May the stormy winds
Calmly abate in Europe
And bring peace quickly
Do not forget the children
We cannot abandon them
Epilogue
Cover me
Give me beauty
Inspire me
Calm me
Save me
From that deadly bee
Above the Black Sea
Ivor Steven (c) March 2022
Feature Image Above: Longstitch Craftwork by Carole Steven.
Dreaming in a Dream (a Tanka)
You were in my dream
I was dreaming in a dream
Sailing a calm sea
Floating on a warm current
Adrift in your universe
Ivor Steven (c) February 2022
Featured Image Above: Of the Kananaskis Mountains, Alberta, Canada (West of Calgary), taken by my uncle, Dick Meyer (Dec.), from August 1997 …
From The North
Winter will not die
Nor relinquish his title
Without a cold blast
Howling over frozen bones
Of ancestors who have passed
Ivor Steven (c) January 2022
Featured Image Above; and the two images below, are photos from Derrick Knight’s recent post “Pool Patterns”, and you may visit his article by clicking on this link
>> https://derrickjknight.com/2021/12/16/pool-patterns/
Pool Patterns
Future Skies
An old graceful world
Shimmers upon mirrored pond
Timeless images
Nature’s blameless history
Awaits future smogless skies
Ivor Steven (c) December 2021
Hello dear readers and followers, as you may know, I now write for “Coffee House Writers” magazine on a fortnightly basis, and my Tanka “In The Blink Of An Eye”, is in this weeks edition of Coffee House Writers Magazine. … please click on the link below and visit my poem/Tanka, at Coffee House Writers …
>> https://coffeehousewriters.com/the-blink-of-an-eye/
A special thank you to Ingril of > https://experimentsinfiction.com/ , for recommending I watch the movie “The Diving Bell And The Butterfly”, and my Tanka below is a brief summary of my thoughts about the movie …
Coffee House Writers
In The Blink Of An Eye (a Tanka)
Once again, Ivor brings alive inspiration of the heart and mind.
Written byIvor Steven
Est. reading time1 minute
In The Blink Of An Eye
Tears on my pillow
Butterflies on the ceiling
I see silent bells
Where memories never drown
And imagination thrives
Ivor Steven (c) November 2021
Ivor.Plumber/Poet 