Category: Music

My Jazzy Bougainvillea (a Tanka)

Over at Moonwashed Musings, Eugi’s Weekly Prompt is: Flamboyant >> you can visit her fabulous site via this link >> https://amanpan.blog/2023/11/14/moonwashed-weekly-prompt-flamboyant/

Also, at Gerry & Sue’s Weekly Prompts, the Wednesday Challenge is; Energy … and you can visit their wonderful site by clicking on >> Here

I think my poem “My Jazzy Bougainvillea” is eligible for both ‘Prompts’





My Jazzy Bougainvillea (a Tanka)




Jazzy, you are so

Curvaceously Flamboyant

Exposing your blooms

To anyone who walks by

Boldly seducing their eyes








Ivor Steven (c) November 2023

Within Us Or Without Us 

“What man does not understand, he fears; and what he fears, he tends to destroy.” ~ William Butler Yeats






Within Us Or Without Us 


 
 
Every river  

Has a steppingstone  

Every mountain   

Is there to be climbed  

Every island  

Is waiting to be explored 


Under the world’s oceans  

The fish swim together  

Out in the universe  

The stars will shine forever 

Within us  

Or without us 







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) November 2023

One Butterfly (a Rhyming Haiku)

“The world is full of magic things, patiently waiting for our senses to grow sharper.” – W.B. Yeats




One Butterfly (a Rhyming Haiku)


One white butterfly

Quietly fluttered nearby

Breathless! I said Hi






“Song Of Wandering Aengus” A poem by W B Yeats

I went out to the hazel wood
Because a fire was in my head
And cut and peeled a hazel wand
And hooked a berry to a thread.

And when white moths were on the wing
And moth-like stars were flickering out
I dropped the berry in a stream
And caught a little silver trout.

When I had laid it on the ground
I went to blow the fire a-flame
But something rustled on the floor
And some one called me by my name.

It had become a glimmering girl
With apple blossom in her hair
Who called me by my name and ran
And faded through the brightening air.

Though I am old with wandering
Through hollow lands and hilly lands
I will find out where she has gone
And kiss her lips and take her hands.

And walk among long dappled grass
And pluck till time and times are done
The silver apples of the moon
The golden apples of the sun
The silver apples of the moon
The golden apples of the sun.

The Flame Flickers

“I wish I could say everything in one word. I hate all the things that can happen between the beginning of a sentence and the end.“

Leonard Cohen



The Flame Flickers


 
 
Sunday afternoon  

And I am in bed  

Resting and daydreaming  

Again, tiredness is my companion  


Outside, I hear the wind  

Rushing through the sky  

Inside, I hear ambient music  

Soothing the throb behind my eyes  


I have been handed a bike  

To pedal up the hill 

When seated on the saddle  

My feet are yet 

To touch the ground


  

I have been assigned   

A pure-bred horse to ride  

When seated on the saddle 

My feet are yet

To reach the stirrups  


I have been given  

A different path to follow  

When the dust finally settles  

The restored footprints 

Will belong to me 







Ivor Steven (c) November 2023

Silver Boots and Black Ties

Featured Image: Wikimedia File:Blow-flies.jpg

Over at Weekly Prompts, the Weekend Challenge word is: Traveller … please visit their wonderful site by clicking on >> Here
Today my poem is about those annoying companion travellers.

Silver Boots and Black Ties 


 
 
I am being followed 

Ever since I left the front door 

I can see them 

From the corner of my eye  

I am hearing them  

Teasingly buzzing nearby  

I feel their presence 

Like a neighbourhood rabbi 

Steely spies from Shanghai  

Clustering behind my back 

Like tough guys from Versailles  

Wearing silver boots and black ties 


Annoyed and frustrated  

I suddenly swung around 

Randomly flailing my arms

And yelling with angry abandon  

“Buzz off” I let fly  

To those pesky blowflies 






Ivor Steven (c) November 2023

Throwback Friday, Life Is A Bittersweet Marathon (Revised)

This week’s Throwback Friday was written in December 2020, and as is my way, I have made some changes …




Life is a Bittersweet Marathon (Revised)


life is an arduous marathon

a conundrum until the finishing line

we live in the moment

yesterday has gone

and we are not in charge of tomorrow

today is a new gift to be opened

time knowingly evolves into ripples and wrinkles

openly wavering with our shuffles and muffles




life is a bittersweet marathon

moving forward without bitterness

savouring the sweetness of completing the race

I am leaving today behind

gratefully I am wiser and a day older

and fortunately, my heart beats healthily



Featured Image: A photo of a painting hanging in the waiting room at the heart specialist rooms







Ivor Steven (c) November 2023

Phenomenal Anomaly

Featured Image Above: by Enrique from Pixabay

Over at Moonwashed Musings, Eugi’s Weekly Prompt is: Phenomenons … and for Weekly Prompts the Wednesday Challenge is: Coincidence …
To visit Sue & Gerry’s fabulous site, please click on >> Here
My poem “Phenomenal Anomaly” coincides with both of the “Prompts”


Phenomenal Anomaly


Every new day’s

A spectacle

This morning

The spring sunshine

Extols

My every phenomenal stride


Every living moment’s

A miracle

This afternoon

I am going to follow the sun

To my friend’s funeral

And extol

His every phenomenal stride







Ivor Steven (c) November 2023

This Fence (2001)

“This Fence” is a poem I posted on my Site when I first began blogging in June/July 2017, however I originally wrote the piece back in 2001, when I was recovering from my first stroke in Sept’ 2000 … My words from 22 years ago seem be applicable today, as I start my recovery program from this week’s diabetes diagnosis…


This Fence


I am quickly nearing this fence.

An obstacle of a lifetime I see.

And from my side of this fence,

The hurdle is too high for me.

And on the other side of this fence,

There seems nowhere to land or flee.


I have arrived at this fence,

Above the pickets, just grey sky.

And on my side of this fence,

The grass is brown and dry.

On the other side of this fence,

The grass is green, but still I cry.

How am I to clear this fence,

There seems nowhere to go or get by.


This fence, all built of stones,

Breaks my spirit, and all my bones.




Ivor Steven (c) November 2023

Willpower? (a Tanka)

Dear readers, especially those who frequent my site, you may have notice during the last several months, I have often mention in my poems, that I am very tired … today, after numerous blood tests and what nots, I have been officially diagnosed with “Diabetes”

Late evening, the sun sets, early morning, the sun rises again …



Willpower? (a Tanka)




“Why am I so tired?

What’s the diagnosis Doc?

You’ve diabetes!

That is not good Doc, now what?

Don’t fret, you’ve the will to cope”








Ivor Steven (c) November 2023