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.

A Wizard’s Wand

Hands of steel

Fingers, sinews of silver

Tentacles long and strong

Like a wizard’s wand

Probing and prodding

Pushing down and across

Pressure on, then release

Finding that ouch zone

 

Climbing the spinal ladder

Disc’s four, three, two

Chin on the chest

Opening the neck gaps further

The gifted silver rod pokes hard

Pressing on the point

A sharp pain hits

Behind the left eye

 

The knifing ache eases off

There’s acknowledgement

That was the spot

Then a few neck twists

Strengthening stretches

A session finished

Feeling improvement

Return again, in a few days

 

Ivor Steven (c)

 

Faeries And Books

Faeries And Books

 

Australia is a far away land

Only reached by ship or plane

Today, I saw the Ben Franklin Bridge at my door

Distant fairies were knocking, a message for Ivor

From my Philadelphia cousins, Maureen and Terry

They went to a Pop-Up Shop, a writers library

To meet Christine, our chief of  ‘Go Dog Go Cafe’

Who signed a book for me, and a joint photo for my display

Cherished Thanksgiving gifts, to make my heart beat

Now I’m looking forward to my cousin delivering the treats

 

Ivor Steven (c)  Dec 2019

Thanks For Giving

Thanks for being there

Receiving my poems through the air

Thanks for reading my humble words

Understanding my journey with ‘our’ bluebird

 

Sometimes I am an introvert

But inwardly I am a flirt

 

Thanks for your comments, all so kind

Soothing my self-conscious mind

Thanks for appreciating the songs

Tunes from my soul, I’ll be playing lifelong

Thanks for the hugs and kisses

Caressing my heart with rivers of bliss

 

Ivor Steven (c)  Nov 2019

 

That Drumming Sound

When you hit the ground

After your head has been bounced around

You will again hear that drumming sound

Rhythmical, thump, thump, pound

And your waterlogged boots are lower bound

 

Do they send you off, when you’re on the mound

Do they think you’re faking it, like a clown

One day they will notice, you cry and frown

And throw you a lifeboat, before you drown

But, those waterlogged boots are holding you down

 

Ivor Steven (c)  Nov 2019

Blinded by The Bight

Blinded By The Bight

 

With my eyes shut tight

I felt a blue shark bite

Angrily into my neck

How did he arrive on this deck

Floundering, covered in watery oil

His sad crimson eyes on the boil

The society’s outcast, washed ashore

A native ejection, from offshore bores

Hanging there, in our Great Australian Bight

And jointly, we’re sharing similar pains tonight

Both, corporate debris, lost and out of sight

He has dry landed, I am a broken kite

 

“Puppets”,  lyrics by Leonard Cohen

German puppets burned the Jews
Jewish puppets did not choose
Puppet vultures eat the dead
Puppet corpses they are fed
Puppet winds and puppet waves
Puppet sailors in their graves
Puppet flower, puppet stem
Puppet time dismantles them
Puppet me and puppet you
Puppet German
Puppet Jew

Puppet Presidents command
Puppet troops to burn the land
Puppet fire, puppet flames
Feed on all the puppet names
Puppet lovers in their bliss
Turn away from all of this
Puppet reader shakes his head
Takes his puppet wife to bed
Puppet me and puppet you
Puppet German, puppet Jew

Puppet Presidents command
Puppet troops to burn the land
Puppet fire, puppet flames
Feed on all the puppet names
Puppet night comes down to play
The after act to puppet day

 

Ivor Steven (c)  Nov 2019

Tonight, I Hear A Light

Tonight, I Hear A Light

 

From his tower of song

The teacher heralds his story

Thought provoking and foreboding

His words, are wise and profound

Almost a lullaby to your inner child

Or shaking your soul, almost to death

Recognising the ancient past

Honouring a vaccinated future

In a world that has been torn

His personal eulogy, is solemn but not forlorn

My heart will keep living the romance

Thank you for the dance

 

 “It’s Torn”  Lyrics, by Leonard Cohen

I see you in windows that open so wide
There’s nothing beyond them and no one inside
You kick off your sandals and shake out your hair
The salt on your shoulders like sparks in the air
There’s silt on your ankles and sand on your feet
The river too shallow, the ocean too deep
You smile at your suffering, the sweetest reprieve
Why did you leave us, why did you leave

You kick off your sandals and shake out your hair
It’s torn where you’re dancing, it’s torn everywhere
It’s torn on the right and it’s torn on the left
It’s torn in the centre which few can accept

It’s torn where there’s beauty, it’s torn where there’s death
It’s torn where there’s mercy but torn somewhat less
It’s torn in the highest from kingdom to crown
The messages fly but the network is down
Bruised at the shoulder and cut at the wrist
The sea rushes home to its thimble of mist
The opposites falter, the spirals reverse
And Eve must re-enter the sleep of her birth
And up through the system the worlds are withdrawn
From every dominion the mind stood upon
And now that it’s over and now that it’s done
The name has no number, not even the one

Come gather the pieces all scattered and lost
The lie in what’s holy, the light in what’s not
The story’s been written the letter’s been sealed
You gave me a lily but now it’s a field

You kick off your sandals and shake out your hair
It’s torn where you’re dancing, it’s torn everywhere

 

Ivor Steven (c)  Nov 2019

 

 

 

Promote Yourself Monday, November 25, 2019

G’day dear readers, welcome to Go Dog Go Cafe’s, Promote Yourself Monday. Please, you’re most welcome to come over and post your article here, a friendly site for writers, and a place to meet writers….

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Promote yourself Mon

Welcome to Promote Yourself Monday.  All Go Dog Go Cafe community members are invited to post one link 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.

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It Was Time To Leave

This weekend the photo challenge on Weekly Prompts is: Clock the Time. I’ve chosen an older poem, so I only have to copy and paste. Be sure to visit the fabulous Weekly Prompts site by clicking >>HERE

It Was Time To Leave

 

It’s time to tidy up my mess

Clean up the room and get dressed

It’s time to pack my suitcase

Fill the travel bag and vacate this place

It’s time to put on my famous rocker shoes

And walk away from this dream so true

It’s time to say heartfelt goodbyes

To these wonderful Philadelphia guys

It’s time for final hugs and kisses

Sad farewells and best wishes

It’s time for my usual emotional tears

Separate myself from these every day cheers

It’s time to flyaway from a land of Dragons and fairies

Leave this magical world of faraway families

It’s time to say a million thank you’s

For making my stay a Really Real great do

It’s time for me to travel back home

With glorious memories of this mystical thunder dome

 

Ivor Steven (c)  Nov 2019

A Courtyard Of Dreams

Hello readers, I’m able to do a bit of copy and pasting, without straining or tiring myself out.. enjoy…

A Courtyard Of Dreams

 

Children can be childish, resistant and defiant

Adults can be childish, arrogant and ignorant

 

I’ll keep my old heels on the ground

While I’m able to see the difference

Between blue, green and brown

 

With love, there comes hidden trials of hurt

With denial of love, there’s only dust and dirt

 

A heart’s love, is true tenderness

Do not wait for tomorrow

There will not always be, that life’s sweetness

One day your soul, will know true sorrow

 

 

Moving On, by Leonard Cohen:  Lyrics

“Moving On”

 “I loved your face I loved your hair
Your t-shirts and your evening-wear
As for the world the job the war
I ditched them all to love you more

And now you’re gone, now you’re gone
As if there ever was a you
Who broke the heart and made it new?
Who’s moving on, who’s kiddin’ who?

I loved your moods I love the way
They threaten every single day
Your beauty ruled me though I knew
Twas more hormonal that the view

Now you’re gone, now you’re gone
As if there ever was a you
Queen of lilac, queen of blue
Who’s moving on, who’s kiddin’ who?

I loved your face I loved your hair
Your t-shirts and your evening-wear
As for the world the job the war
I ditched them all to love you more

And now you’re gone, now you’re gone
As if there ever was a you
Who held me dyin’ pulled me through
Who’s moving on, who’s kiddin’ who?

Who’s moving on, who’s kiddin’ who?”

 

Ivor Steven (c)  Nov 2019