Author: ivor20

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 2 years, and writing poems for 19 years. Of course a lot of my poems are about my favourite subject Carole, but since I've been blogging my writings have become quite varied, humourous, mystical, observational, and even a few monster/horror poems.

Throwback Friday, A Forever Coat (Revised)

Hi dear readers, unfortunately, I have tested “Positive” with ‘Covid’ … and will be resting up for a few weeks


A Forever Coat (Revised) 


Her favourite coat still hangs in my wardrobe 

Every time I open the robe’s door 

I inherently see her family heirloom 

A gift that was handed down from her grandmother 

However, a gift she was not able to wear after her sickness began 

Not once, over the next thirty years of her failing frailty


 

Sadly the declining illness brought about her finality

And nostalgically I held onto her favourite coat  

I knew! We all knew. She was amazing

However, she is not going to mystically reappear

And the coat’s warmth will never again cover her gentle shoulders




Consciously I am not sure, why the coat remains 

I have tried to give the coat away 

To a deserving charity, and even a local actor’s group 

Fortuitously her coat has not been accepted 

Here in the wardrobe, the glorious fur coat stays 

Along with the other trinkets of her forever spirit 







Ivor Steven (c) May 2023

Defying the Odds

Featured Images: were taken at the local Kindergarten, where the school’s gardener lovingly maintains the beautiful garden, and she excitedly pointed out that, despite it being the start of winter, there were 2 sunflower plants ‘defying the odds’. and actually thriving and blooming … I smiled at her joyful enthusiasm, however inwardly I was silently weeping for those still suffereing in wartorn Ukraine.
So here today I am reposting “5” of my “Sunflower” poems relating to the “Ukrainian” war.

We Are the Carrier Pigeons


 
Are our Sunflowers wilting? 

Can they survive, prosper, and regrow? 

They will need more  

Genuine assistance 

Our promissory words 

And tuneless birdsongs 

Are not enough 

We cannot forget them 

We all need to speak up 

Let our world of voices be heard 

Draft a poem, a letter 

Of protest, today, tomorrow 

We are the carrier pigeons 

May our messages for peace 

Chime over the people of Russia 


Defiantly (a Haiku)

Sunflowers do bloom

Through the war of destruction

Bravely defiant


An Unseeded Renewal (a Tanka)



Sunflowers of peace

We have not forgotten you

The war has not stopped

Killing fields are still on fire

Young stems need help to survive


A Banner of Sunflowers

Bann
look!

up there

above the War’s

darkest clouds

there is a blue banner

embroided with sunflowers

swaying

through a hole

in the eastern sky

bearing a message

of ‘Hello’

or is it ‘Goodbye’?

a sweeping reminder

from our Ancestors

“we feel your suffering and pain

from the merciless hard rain

blood filled rivers and cratered plains

smoke filled skylines and cracked windowpanes”

“however, we also know

beyond the broken horizon

the sunflower seeds of hope

will germinate again

and future seeds for peace

will regenerate a new campaign“




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 2023

A Cold Winter Moon



There, above the quivering horizon

I see a winter moon’s shadow

Falling from a cold lonely sky


There, above the afternoon’s icy dome

I see a winter moon’s silver spoon

Consuming tomes of unread poems

Falling from a vacant pillow in my bedroom







Tullawalla is Available From

Jaymah Press:https://www.jaymahpress.com.au/

Ivor Steven: email, ivorrs20@gmail.com

Amazon: search via, ‘Tullawalla by Ivor Steven’


AND
Perceptions is Now Available via:

Amazon: https://amzn.asia/d/4yFHWrT

Jaymah Press: https://www.jaymahpress.com.au/

Lulu Books: https://www.lulu.com/shop/ivor-steven-and-derrick-knight/perceptions/hardcover/product-2pwqe4.html?q=Perceptions+by+Ivor+Steven&page=1&pageSize=4

OR: email me directly for a signed copy – ivorrs20@gmail.com  




Ivor Steven (c) May 2023

Deadwood (a Tanka)




A Lightning bolt struck

My branches were almost dead

Steadfast, here I stood

Allowing roots to regroup

And rebuild my forest roof








Tullawalla is Available From

Jaymah Press:https://www.jaymahpress.com.au/

Ivor Steven: email, ivorrs20@gmail.com

Amazon: search via, ‘Tullawalla by Ivor Steven’


AND
Perceptions is Now Available via:

Amazon: https://amzn.asia/d/4yFHWrT

Jaymah Press: https://www.jaymahpress.com.au/

Lulu Books: https://www.lulu.com/shop/ivor-steven-and-derrick-knight/perceptions/hardcover/product-2pwqe4.html?q=Perceptions+by+Ivor+Steven&page=1&pageSize=4

OR: email me directly for a signed copy – ivorrs20@gmail.com  




Ivor Steven (c) May 2023

Winter Slaps Autumn in the Eye (a Tanka)




Winter Slaps Autumn In the Eye (a Tanka)




Time shortens in stride

Autumn leaves pepper the ground

Winter slaps the sky

Midday sun closes her eyes

Naked trees wisely survive








Tullawalla is Available From

Jaymah Press:https://www.jaymahpress.com.au/

Ivor Steven: email, ivorrs20@gmail.com

Amazon: search via, ‘Tullawalla by Ivor Steven’


AND
Perceptions is Now Available via:

Amazon: https://amzn.asia/d/4yFHWrT

Jaymah Press: https://www.jaymahpress.com.au/

Lulu Books: https://www.lulu.com/shop/ivor-steven-and-derrick-knight/perceptions/hardcover/product-2pwqe4.html?q=Perceptions+by+Ivor+Steven&page=1&pageSize=4

OR: email me directly for a signed copy – ivorrs20@gmail.com  




Ivor Steven (c) May 2023

Lullaby, (a Senryu)

Please Note: All above images (Except the one of Frankie), were by taken by Derrick Knight, and he kindly allows me to reproduce his wonderful photos here on my poetry website. If you wish, you may visit his fabulous Site via this link > https://derrickjknight.com/2023/05/17/baby-species/



Lullaby (a Senryu)



Sleep little ones, sleep

Our chaotic world will wait

Until eyes hear sound 







Tullawalla is Available From

Jaymah Press:https://www.jaymahpress.com.au/

Ivor Steven: email, ivorrs20@gmail.com

Amazon: search via, ‘Tullawalla by Ivor Steven’


AND
Perceptions is Now Available via:

Amazon: https://amzn.asia/d/4yFHWrT

Jaymah Press: https://www.jaymahpress.com.au/

Lulu Books: https://www.lulu.com/shop/ivor-steven-and-derrick-knight/perceptions/hardcover/product-2pwqe4.html?q=Perceptions+by+Ivor+Steven&page=1&pageSize=4

OR: email me directly for a signed copy – ivorrs20@gmail.com  





Ivor Steven (c) May 2023

Anything is Everything, is up at MasticadoresUsa


A big thank you to the Editor: Barbara Leonhard, for accepting and publishing my poem “Anything is Everything” at MasticadoresUsa.

… … … …

To view my entire poem at MasticadoresUsa, please click on this link >> https://masticadoresusa.wordpress.com/2023/05/19/anything-is-everything-by-ivor-steven/

Featured Image: by Jaesub Kim on Pixabay






Ivor Steven (c) May 2023

Throwback Friday, Black Snow Thaws in the Winter Sun

Today my ‘Throwback Friday’ poem, is from June 2019, and again, as is my way, I have slightly revised the original piece.

“I went to my favourite lunch-spot today, the Moorabool Valley Chocolate Cafe. I have not walked that far (the weather has been dismal), since I’ve been home from my trip to Philadelphia. Surprisingly I handled the long walk reasonably well. Then I sat down for a coffee and a piece of tasty blue-berry cheese cake. The winter sun was gorgeous, out on the outdoor balcony, and I happily observed a pair of Weebill birds, as I continued to write this poem(Below).





Black Snow Thaws In The Winter Sun (Revised)


I’ve no more secret words of sorrow

Only old lines I’ve borrowed

I found them in a poet’s dusty booklet

The pages were tattered, like grandma’s cookbook

Hidden in the family’s sacred cabinet

Faded words that now appear outdated

Years of love and dreams relegated

Stored away, but prudently not wasted

My road ahead is now cleared of black snow

The night is not always dark, you know?






Ivor Steven (c) May 2023

Between Lines, Who Holds the Power

Today’s post is a poem (Originally titled “Between the Lines”) that I revised/rehashed this morning … I might be wrong, but will I ever be right …

“And I have carried on this war. Though no one wins an endless fight. I have claimed that God has guided me. And killed to prove I’m right.” Lyrics From Damien Rice’s song, “What if I’m wrong”




Between Lines, Who Holds the Power


Do you see, a man walking on water?

Did you see, his feet were bleeding?

Do you read, the missing scriptures?

Did you read, your own family tree?

Do you hear, speechless angels singing?

Did you hear, the songbirds crying?


Do you feel, the erased wars calling?

Did you feel, the hard rains falling?

Do you know, the ones who are lying?

Did you know, the refugees are dying?




“What If I’m Wrong”, Lyrics, by Damien Rice

I could wrestle with tomorrow
Until tomorrow’s in the past
Because I have torn apart what’s beautiful
To prove that nothing lasts I have stayed locked behind these doors
To show there’s no way out
I got lost within the space between
The question and the doubt
I have built a wall between

What I believed and what is true
I have sacrificed the love I had
For power over you

I have convicted those who disagree
And walked over the weak
I have placed a gun within the mouth
Of those who dared to speak

And on an ordinary day
In an ordinary way
I have crushed the minds of children
With extraordinary shame

And I have carried on this war
Though no one wins an endless fight
I have claimed that God has guided me
And killed to prove I’m right

What if I’m wrong
What if I’m wrong
What if I’m wrong
What if I’m wrong

Is this soul worth saving at all?
Cause if I lose my wings then surely I must fall
And the gods prayed to the gods they made

We could wrestle with tomorrow
until tomorrow’s in the past
We could tear apart what’s beautiful
To prove that nothing lasts

We could stay locked behind the doors
To show there’s no way out
We could get lost within the space between
The question and the doubt

But what if we’re wrong?





Ivor Steven (c) May 2023