The Weekly Prompts, Wednesday Challenge is: OUTDOOR FUN. Please go over and visit their fabulous by clicking >> Here . and the below Tanka, is my response to their prompt ..
Nature’s Theatre (a Tanka)
The late winter sun
Peaks through a curtain of cloud
That flat silver screen
Becomes nature’s theatre
Where true rainbow films are fun
Ivor Steven (c) July 2022
Ten years ago my poem ‘This Lost Shadow‘ was accepted and published in the Literary Anthology, “Melpomene” . The poem was the first piece of mine to appear in a Published Book, and I was exceptionally proud to have my name in the authors list, along side the famous poets, Charles Baudelaire, Edgar Allan Poe, Emily Dickinson, William Blake, and Paul Verlaine … Below, I have scanned my poem ‘This Lost Shadow’ directly from my copy of the book.
Featured Photo Above: Taken by Derrick Knight > derrickjknight – Ramblings
Gwendolyn Taunton (Editor)
Melpomene is a collection of poetry, prose and short fiction named after the Greek Muse of Tragedy. The central theme of the anthology is the beauty found in sorrow and the darker sides of human nature, drawing on literary traditions such as the ‘Damned Poets’, the Decadent Movement, Symbolism/Surrealism and the Fin de si cle. Melpomene is broken into four sections: Liber Veneficium (Book of Magic), Liber Maeroris (Book of Sorrow), Liber Fatum (Book of Fate), and Liber Mortuorum (Book of Death). Each section contains both new and classic literature dealing with these themes. Authors in this volume include Charles Baudelaire, Paul Verlaine, William Blake, Edgar Allan Poe, Emily Dickinson, Gwendolyn Taunton, Azsacra Zarathustra, Math Jones, Bernardo Sena, J. Karl Bogartte, C. B. Liddell, James WF Roberts, Christopher Pankhurst, H. A. Cledones, Tamas Nagyatadi Horvath, L. Alexander Carle, Bill Noble, Marg Howlet, Ivor Steven and Gene Banyard. Containing works both old and new, Melpomene offers a prime selection of works on the melancholic side of existence, the transformational beauty of the esoteric, occult secrets hidden in verse, sorrow, doom and the inevitable grasp of death. Melpomene will haunt the reader with a dark and unearthly beauty that is both forbidden and forlorn…
Ivor Steven (c) July 2022
Hello dear readers and followers, I now write for “Coffee House Writers” magazine on a fortnightly basis, and my poem“Today, Beside the Sea”, is in this weeks edition of Coffee House Writers Magazine. … please click on the link below to read my poem, at Coffee House Writers >>
https://coffeehousewriters.com/today-beside-the-sea/
Ivor Steven (c) July 2022
Next Sunday at my monthly “Poetry Dome” meeting we are required to write a ‘Villanelle’ , and below is my attempt at the ‘Format’ … which I have adapted from an old favourite poem of mine, “Everlasting Smile”, you’ll find my original poem attached below the Villanelle …
Her Everlasting Smile (a Villanelle)
I wonder, was it all worthwhile
My chest, heavy as never before
Remembering, her everlasting smile
I look back, on her unfortunate life-style
Being unable to walk and talk anymore
I wonder, was it all worthwhile
I relive, her personal exile
My throat, swollen and sore
Remembering, her everlasting smile
I hesitate, retracing every mile
My tears, splash on the floor
I wonder, was it all worthwhile
I cringe, behind my happy profile
My heart, has forgotten how to roar
Remembering, her everlasting smile
I sleep alone, awaiting the next trial
My tongue, tired, needs to say more
I wonder, was it all worthwhile
Remembering, her everlasting smile
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Everlasting Smile
My eyes, narrowly cracked.
My cheeks, slightly etched.
I rest here, retracing every mile.
Remembering, your everlasting smile.
My lips, already dry.
My tongue, trying to say goodbye.
I wonder, was it all worthwhile.
Remembering, your loneliest smile.
My throat, lumpy and sore.
My chest, heavy as never before.
I look back, recalling your life-style.
Remembering, your younger smile.
My lungs, empty and tight.
My legs, weak and light.
I relive, your personal exile.
Remembering, your generous smile.
My head, spinning from fright.
My heart, deep and out of sight.
I sleep alone, crying like a child.
Remembering, your everlasting smile.
Ivor Steven (c) July 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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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.
This weekend, at Weekly Prompts the challenge word is: Focus. Please go and visit their fabulous site by clicking on >> Here … and below is my response to their prompt; Focus …
Fiery Pearls and an Ambient Eye
“Since I don’t believe in anything
I can pretend about everything” … (anonymous)
The stars are the universe’s fiery pearls
And when smoke falls into my eyes
Her fading ashes singe my heart
The silver moon is my world’s ambient eye
And when my mind falls out of focus
His silvery beams enlighten my soul
Ivor Steven (c) July 2022
I found this old poem in a dusty foolscap folder under a pile of “stuff” I was tidying up … maybe from 15 years …
Today’s poem is one that I have not published on my web/blog site, and I am not sure when I first wrote the original words. Up until now, this a piece that has been filed away in a foolscap folder.
A Voice in the Mist
The moon’s my patriarch
My dream, glowing in the dark
She’s a vision, no feel, no mound
Only a voice, without sound
A distant shining, so forlorn
My heartache until dawn
She’s a pillow, no caress, no kiss
Only a voice, from beyond the mist
Ivor Steven (c) July 2022
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…
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Over at Weekly Prompts, the Wednesday Challenge is: GARDEN ART. You may visit their fabulous site by clicking on the Link >> Here .. and the poem below is my response to their Prompt
Jack’s Back
I woke at dawn
And there was Jack
Laying on my lawn
Good morning, Mr. Frost
I am at a loss
With the ground so white
And the air’s bitter bite
Why are called Jack?
The Jack’s I know from the outback
Are all warmhearted folks
And happy-go-lucky blokes
Not cold-blooded guys
Baptized by frozen skies
Are you a naughty and chilly skite?
Or a noble defender of the night
Jack! Today at first light
You gave my warm toes an icy fright
Ivor Steven (c) July 2022
Today’s been and gone
Can the future be brave too?
Beyond the next dawn
Ivor Steven (c) July 4th 2022
Misty rain streaks down my cheeks
And gentle droplets play life’s symphony on my roof
Reminding my soul that I exist, so meek
Humbled by the sound of nature’s heartbeat
I shall continue to follow her melodious proof
The dark clouds part during my day
And the lifting fog pours me a rainbow beam
Reminding my soul, why I love, and why I stay
Honoured by the strength of nature’s heartbeat
I shall continue to follow my dream
Ivor Steven (c) July 2022
Ivor.Plumber/Poet 