Category: Go Dog Go Cafe

Throwback Friday, Time In A Turbulent Sea, by Ivor Steven

  >> https://godoggocafe.com/2023/01/20/throwback-friday-time-in-a-turbulent-sea-by-ivor-steven/

A poem I wrote in early February 2019, while recovering from my third stroke. I have slightly revised a few words, and altered the title – originally “Time and the Sea”



Time In A Turbulent Sea

My time, weeks, days, and hours have gone

My time, between one procedure and the next

Time to explore this healing castle

Time to write about realities and dreams

Time to chat to eager listeners

Time to observe the people living within

Time to think about the world’s problems

Time to visualise pictures of tomorrow

I am not a patient in his bed

I am free-standing and waiting instead

I am a walking and talking local poet

I am not allowed to vacate the site

They want me near, to study my plight

They want me here, to secure my bed

They need me near, to look into my mind

They need me here, so I am easy to find



https://youtube.com/watch?v=HQkGUzIiIc4%3Fversion%3D3%26rel%3D1%26showsearch%3D0%26showinfo%3D1%26iv_load_policy%3D1%26fs%3D1%26hl%3Den%26autohide%3D2%26wmode%3Dtransparent



Solstafir – Midaftann, Translated Lyrics

Mid-Evening

Now I have come home

After a journey on the deep seas.

The wave was so high,

The saltiness ate everything up.

I drowned in a black hole,

I pulled at the hand of death.

So high, it was so high,

And the moon lighted a path, yes the moon high in the sky,

And the moon lighted a path, yes the moon lighted a path.

So high, so high, wave of the sins, wave of the sins.






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:

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) January 2023

Throwback Friday, There’s a Penguin In My Courtyard, by Ivor Steven

 / IVOR20 / >> http://godoggocafe.com/2023/01/13/throwback-friday-theres-a-penguin-in-my-courtyard-by-ivor-steven/

Today I was prompted to revise my poem from June 2020, because I had just received a lovely hand-designed “Penguin Christmas Card” from my Philadelphia cousin.






There’s a Penguin In My Courtyard (Revised)


my courtyards a frozen pond

cold enough for a penguin

shards of ice lay upon the ground

and a crisp sharpness cuts the sound

of frost covered songbirds unsilenced

as fernery fronds curl in glaciated defiance

in the corner hangs a frigid spider’s web

above the crystlised succulent flower bed

and in a white sky the sun’s ambient saffron disc

again predicts that golden dawns do exist



https://youtube.com/watch?v=BrOLziHI2Sk%3Fversion%3D3%26rel%3D1%26showsearch%3D0%26showinfo%3D1%26iv_load_policy%3D1%26fs%3D1%26hl%3Den%26autohide%3D2%26wmode%3Dtransparent







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:

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) January 2023

Throwback Friday, Co-Existing, by Ivor Steven

I posted this article on the Go Dog Go Cafe site earlier today, and please visit there fabulous site by clicking on here >> https://wordpress.com/view/godoggocafe.com

A poem I wrote back in April 2019, just before I wss about to fly to the other side of the world, New York and Philadelphia.


Co-Existing

On a starry Autumn night

Lying under the cosmic sky

I see a universe beyond

The galaxy’s milky way

With unnumbered orbiting planets

Astronomer’s clearly hearing their sound

Radars that echo, there’s no shadow of doubt

Out there somewhere

In the vastness of space

Another similar earth, co-exists

Do those purple aliens

Wait and wonder

Look to the cosmos and ponder

When will those humanoids arrive

Invading their picturesque, violet atmosphere

Ravaging innocent foreign lands and lives

Bowing to the human war cry

Assimilate or die


https://youtube.com/watch?v=iNalya_4VkQ%3Fversion%3D3%26rel%3D1%26showsearch%3D0%26showinfo%3D1%26iv_load_policy%3D1%26fs%3D1%26hl%3Den%26autohide%3D2%26wmode%3Dtransparent




“Melancholy Man” The Moody Blues

I’m a melancholy man, that’s what I am,
All the world surrounds me, and my feet are on the ground.
I’m a very lonely man, doing what I can,
All the world astounds me and I think I understand
That we’re going to keep growing, wait and see.When all the stars are falling down
Into the sea and on the ground,
And angry voices carry on the wind,
A beam of light will fill your head
And you’ll remember what’s been said
By all the good men this world’s ever known.
Another man is what you’ll see,
Who looks like you and looks like me,
And yet somehow he will not feel the same,
His life caught up in misery, he doesn’t think like you and me,
‘Cause he can’t see what you and I can see







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:

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 – ivorr20@gmail.com

Ivor Steven (c) January 2023

Throwback Friday, Odds and Ends – The Ancient Tree, by Ivor Steven

I posted this article on the Go Dog Go Cafe site earlier today, and please visit there fabulous site by clicking on here >> https://wordpress.com/view/godoggocafe.com

There’s plenty of curiosity in these “odds and ends” pieces of poetry that I have compiled in my files, and this one I put together in January 2019. They were “verse comments” that I had made to some of my WordPress readers, about their posts at the time. I’ve not written one these for a while, and I’ve enough of my comments stored in my NoteBook file to fill “War And Peace!!” Thank you to all of my dear readers who comment on my writings, I am forever grateful, and you all continue to inspire me to write these short poetry pieces about your marvelous articles and poems.



Odds and Ends, The Ancient Tree

Time

Oh, time and time again

we wish for time to slow down

preserve our time in the sun and rain

and under stars, where lover’s caresses are crowned

Tree

The ancient tree of life shades our peace

Please continue to be our living centrepiece

Why

“Don’t Ask Me Why”

Because I don’t know why,

There’s a red and blue sky

How,

Do bats fly

Pigs eat in a sty

And politicians lie

Dark

We all have a dark side

Like the moon’s other side

There to be explored

Or left behind on the blackboard

Vultures

Alive or half dead, we’re the prey of vultures

Poised like loaded guns in a holster

Waiting to strike the poor and innocent

And even the unwilling ignorant

https://youtube.com/watch?v=ojpmDlNiFtI%3Fversion%3D3%26rel%3D1%26showsearch%3D0%26showinfo%3D1%26iv_load_policy%3D1%26fs%3D1%26hl%3Den%26autohide%3D2%26wmode%3Dtransparent







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:

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) December 2022

Throwback Friday, An Emerald Tapestry, by Ivor Steven

My article from “Go Dog Go Cafe” that I posted this morning >> godoggocafe.com/2022/12/22/throwback-friday-an-emerald-tapestry-by-ivor-steven/

  “Poetry is just the evidence of life. If your life is burning well, poetry is just the ash.” ― Leonard Cohen
Featured Image Above: taken near Lal Lal, not far from Ballarat.

An Emerald Tapestry

I resumed living last decade

Narrowly surviving gravities finality

Now, I lean against my tower’s balustrade

That overlooks an emerald valley

Echoing from my castle’s balcony

I hear Leonard Cohen’s words about life’s pagentry

Outlining the spiritual tapestry

Of commonality, morality, and vitality


https://youtube.com/watch?v=9UzvVOy0Dq8%3Fversion%3D3%26rel%3D1%26showsearch%3D0%26showinfo%3D1%26iv_load_policy%3D1%26fs%3D1%26hl%3Den%26autohide%3D2%26wmode%3Dtransparent





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:

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) December 2022

Throwback Friday, Hidden Irritations, by Ivor Steven

A short poem I wrote in October 2019, which I posted this morning on “Go Dog Go Cafe” >> http://godoggocafe.com/2022/12/02/throwback-friday-hidden-irritations-by-ivor-steven/


Hidden Irritations (Revised)



Splinters under the skin

Little wounds so thin

Do inwardly sting

And the crying children sing

From under a comforting wing

“Mom, please remove this thing”







Tullawalla is Available From;

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

Ivor Steven: email, ivorrs20@gmail.com

Amazon: search via, ‘Tullawalla by Ivor Steven’



Ivor Steven (c) December 2022

Throwback Friday, White Pony, by Ivor Steven

The article I posted on “Go Dog Go Cafe” today >>
https://godoggocafe.com/2022/11/25/throwback-friday-white-pony-by-ivor-steven/

I’m very fond of this poem from October 2019, which appears in both of my books, “Tullawalla” (page 149), and “Perceptions” (page 1).
Featured Photo Above: taken by Derrick Knight >> https://derrickjknight.com/2019/10/13/the-halloween-template/




White Pony. (Tullawalla, page 149, and Perceptions, page 1)




If I were to be reincarnated

I am sure I would be a tall white pony

A flashy show jumping horse

Who knows his arduous course

Hurdling coloured bars

And clearing hard brush fences

A swimmer I have always been

So the perilous water hazard

Would be a simple breeze

A shadow passed over with ease

As my reflection in the pond

Magically vanished under my rider’s wand

Turning sharply on the pitch

Nearing the finishing stretch

I see more obstacles ahead

The doubles and triples, I dread

Without fear, forward I bound

Up over and gliding down

My red-haired rider, she’s blushing and proud

Hearing loud applause, we bow to the crowd


https://youtube.com/watch?v=cfKYImFP_Pw%3Fversion%3D3%26rel%3D1%26showsearch%3D0%26showinfo%3D1%26iv_load_policy%3D1%26fs%3D1%26hl%3Den%26autohide%3D2%26wmode%3Dtransparent




Tullawalla is Available From;

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

Ivor Steven: email, ivorrs20@gmail.com

Amazon: search via, ‘Tullawalla by Ivor Steven’


Perceptions: will be available soon, pre-order via …

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

Ivor Steven: email, ivorrs20@gmail.com




Ivor Steven (c) November 2022

Throwback Friday, Itmims (Ivor’s Time Machine In Micro Space), by Ivor Steven

The article I posted on “Go Dog Go Cafe” today >> https://godoggocafe.com/2022/11/18/throwback-friday-itmims-ivors-time-machine-in-micro-space-by-ivor-steven/

“Itmims” is a poem I wrote in December 2018, when I was hospital, in an ‘Isolation Room’, and Itmims space craft was my imaginative means of escaping confinement.



Itmims (Tullawalla, page 60)




Welcome aboard my bubble ship, Itmims

Come fly with me into the unknown

We shall traverse time and space

Across the borders of level seven

Beyond the boundaries of intelligence

We’ll discover the story of Tullawalla

Capture the heart of a beautiful red-head

Learn about her journey of grace and bravery

Understand the depth of your soul

Show others what happens to the heart

Find your star, your colour, your lost art

Walk deserts in space, swim the Milky-way

Breathe the air I breathe, see what I see

Feel her soft red hair, on your cheek

Step inside my Itmims, sharing love on the high seas


https://youtube.com/watch?v=9_M3uw29U1U%3Fversion%3D3%26rel%3D1%26showsearch%3D0%26showinfo%3D1%26iv_load_policy%3D1%26fs%3D1%26hl%3Den%26autohide%3D2%26wmode%3Dtransparent



Tullawalla is Available From;
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com.au/Tullawalla-Meeting-Place-Memories-Rhymes/dp/0645377023/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1SX7VLARQ6RDK&keywords=tullawalla+by+ivor+steven&qid=1668595900&qu=eyJxc2MiOiIwLjMzIiwicXNhIjoiMC4wMCIsInFzcCI6IjAuMDAifQ%3D%3D&s=books&sprefix=Tullawalla%2Cstripbooks%2C286&sr=1-1

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

Ivor Steven: email, ivorrs20@gmail.com

Throwback Friday, Ripples of Inconsiderateness, by Ivor Steven

I have copied and pasted my article from “Go Dog Go Cafe’s” Throwback Friday segment … I’m afraid my computer has the ‘go-slow hic-ups’ tonight …

Here I am presenting a poem I wote in November 2019, which is in my book Tullawala, on page 23.

Ripples of Inconsiderateness (Tullawalla, page23)

Today, an arctic wind blow’s

I have winter socks on my toes

Spring’s forgotten to fill our garden barrow

Cold rains are still falling on the meadows

And on the ranges, there is new snow

Here, the ripples on the bay steeply grow

Shoreline sands are stinging airborne ammo

Our midday sun, did fail to show

Like a ship’s stowaway hiding in the cargo

He’ll be found warming himself in Moscow

It’s time to unload our winter crossbow

Give summer a turn to be the star of the show


https://youtube.com/watch?v=lfzL1yLh9no%3Fversion%3D3%26rel%3D1%26showsearch%3D0%26showinfo%3D1%26iv_load_policy%3D1%26fs%3D1%26hl%3Den%26autohide%3D2%26wmode%3Dtransparent




Ivor Steven (c) November 2022

We Lost the Sea (a Haiku, Tullawalla, page 117)

This article is copied from my post on “Go Dog Go Cafe’s Throwback Friday” earlier today.
>> https://godoggocafe.com/2022/10/21/throwback-friday-we-lost-the-sea-by-ivor-steven/

The Haiku, ‘We Lost the Sea’ is one of 12 Haiku that appear in my book Tullawalla, and this Haiku was written in May 2019.

We Lost the Sea (a Haiku, Tullawalla, page 117)


 

Bridges of dreams crossed

The ocean and river spanned

Waters of love found




https://youtube.com/watch?v=P0v9vd4JEeo%3Fversion%3D3%26rel%3D1%26showsearch%3D0%26showinfo%3D1%26iv_load_policy%3D1%26fs%3D1%26hl%3Den%26autohide%3D2%26wmode%3Dtransparent




Ivor Steven (c) May 2019

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. View all posts by ivor20