Below the grayness
Naked emotions stumble
Between the shadows
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/
OR: email me directly for a signed copy – ivorrs20@gmail.com
Ivor Steven (c) July 2023
Featured Image Above: Taken by Derrick Knight >> https://derrickjknight.com/2022/12/14/tingling-toes/
An Empty Bootie
The chilly winter’s day
Turned hard and bitter
“be a good little chap Dave
could you be brave
and venture back to the frozen lake
your baby sister Ava
has lost a bootie
and the weather is too cold
for her to go without“
Dave shrugs his shoulders
And trudges off
“Oh Ava, I wonder
What’s taking Dave so long”
Suddenly two hysterical children
Came running towards them
“Help!”
“we just a boy
fall through the ice
on the frozen lake
we look into the hole
but all we saw
was a babies bootie
“He was Gone!”
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/
OR: email me directly for a signed copy – ivorrs20@gmail.com
Ivor Steven (c) December 2022
Featured Image Above; ‘Waiting for Rainfall – Winton Wetlands, a painting by Geelong Artist/Poet, Jo Curtain, and the image was this weeks Geelong Writers Inc. Ekphrastic Photo Prompt, that subsequently inspired my ‘morbid’ poem below
I Am Going to Die
I am a fish out of water
Writhing and flopping
In this polluted puddle
Splosh!
Another toxic garbage bag
Squelches by
How did I ever survive
Here, in the wetland’s stagnant cesspools
Now, my rotting sun-burnt scales
Are covered in flies
Swarming!
The flies are sticking to my eyes
Maggots are clogging my gills
I cannot breathe
I hear Mother calling
“There is no need to cry
It’s your time to die”
Splosh!
The hovering vultures
Have begun swooping
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/
OR: email me directly for a signed copy – ivorrs20@gmail.com
Ivor Steven (c) December 2022
False words smudge old clouds
Grayness hangs under tired sky
The sad sky decries
“Children are our butterflies
And please stop the warring lies”
Ivor Steven (c) October 2022
I went to a friend’s funeral yesterday afternoon, he was Seventy-one too, and a few weeks ago I went to see him in hospital after he had suffered a bad stroke … He was home alone, and they found him on the floor 3 days after he had the stroke … We went to school together 55 years ago … Last night I was sad and alone with my furry friend Frankie … Today is my 71st birthday, and I am emotionally appreciating life, after suffering 3 strokes of my own in recent times …
Attacked below is a new song by Loner Deer, ‘Leather Hat’ and his lyrics, seem to capture the feelings of my mood and thoughts today.
Loner Deer. ‘Leather Hat’, Lyrics
Today, no one came in my team
But I don’t wanna be the one
Who got no friends, no buddies in the house
But it’s not a big deal ’cause I never be alone
Under my Leather Hat, under my leather hat
This morning I want to play, but Momma said “no”
I have to clean my room but I just wanna be outside
Hang out with my friends, but I don’t have many plans
So, I’m just waiting in my bed and looking on the wall
At my leather hat, at my leather hat
Give me trust and give me wings, I guess some people want it
But I ain’t looking for the fame, I don’t forget where I come from
When Grandpa drives me through the fields
He tells me what I have to think about
That no one tells me what to do
I’m rich, I’m strong, I’m feeling good
Under my leather hat, under my leather hat
Give me trust and give me wings, I guess some people want it
But I ain’t looking for the fame, I don’t forget where I come from
Today, no one came in my team
But I don’t wanna be the one
Who got no friends, no buddies in the house
But it’s not a big deal ’cause I never be alone
Under my Leather Hat, under my leather hat
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
______________________________________
______________________________________
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
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…
View original post 51 more words
Ten years ago today, it was the “Time” that I made a “heart stopping decision”
Did Your Heart Stop Too?
Did you cry too?
When the doctors told you
She was not going to recover
Did they ask you too?
About what you already knew
It was time
To flick the switch
And dim her light
Did your heart stop too?
Knowing
You had emptied her shoes
Did you sleep there too?
During those infinite days of blue
Softly holding her hand
And not letting go
Did you weep too?
Blankly alone
In her full room
Waiting
For her last silent breath
Ivor Steven (c) April 27th 2022
life is indeed both beautiful
and painful
we experience caring repairs
and shattering tears
free to roam
then stood upon
a loving home
or an empty tomb
cold and lonesome
a rotting piece of honeycomb
shriveling in a nursing-home
Ivor Steven (c) March 2022
In the misty rain
Remembering heavy clouds
Loaded full of tears
Ivor Steven (c) March 2022
Ivor.Plumber/Poet 