The dawn is a gray silent sea
And as a cold fog invades me
I see a green paddock
Without a horizon
Vanishing into oblivion
I see a ghostly power-source
Hang without opposition
Vanishing into oblivion
I see a ghastly concrete Czar
Without compassion
Disappearing into oblivion
Ivor Steven © May 2022
Daylight welcomes me
A sharp breeze awakens me
Eyes cry from the cold
Ivor Steven (c) May 2022
Over at Weekly Prompts, the monthly Colour Challenge for May is: Mellow Yellow. Please go and visit their fabulous site by clicking >> Here . Below is my “Tanka” response to their ‘Colour Prompt’ ..
Sunflower Seeds (a Tanka)
Blue skies were mellow
Fields were peaceful and yellow
Sunflowers grew free
Then foreign tanks squashed their seeds
On tomorrow’s scarred harrows
Ivor Steven (c) May 2022
Hello dear readers and followers, as you may know, I now write for “Coffee House Writers” magazine on a fortnightly basis, and my poem “Life is a Bowl of Fudge”, 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/life-is-a-bowl-of-fudge/
Ivor Steven (c) May 3rd 2022
Autumn has been dry and warm
And the earth remains cracked
Providing cosy homes for the field critters
The brown crickets are thriving
And hopping along shared tracks
Innocently dancing there
Beyond the murdering arms of war
Mushrooms are sprouting on the verges
Stoically poised on stumpy stems
Under sheltering white caps
Nature’s nutritional ground fruit
Innocently standing there
Beyond the murdering arms of war
Ivor Steven (c) April 2022
Walking in the rain
Wearing water-logged boots
I am dodging millipedes
And hopping over puddles
With the footpath crickets
I see a universe above the sky
As the liquid clouds
Drop their weight
Upon my empty hands
Filling them with verses
Of memories and rhymes
Ivor Steven (c) April 2022
My Pacific cruise was coming to an end in April 2018 and this was the last poem that I wrote during my cruise, as I recalled photographing the “Eleven Sunrises” of the cruise.
Eleven Shades of Ocean Sunrises
the ocean’s sunrise
my daily prize
evoked my gaze
like a glitzy floor-dance
Mother natures
star performer
her razzle and dazzle
upon morning sea drizzle
reflections of colour
her horizon of vigour
purity defined
a royal skyline
endless over time
eleven days she was mine
Originally posted by Ivor Steven (c) April 2018
“As a poet, sometimes we confuse ourselves, Trying to create ashes, instead of fire ” – Loenard Cohen
I wrote this poem for “Go Dog Go Cafe’s , Make It Happen Thursday”, please go over and visit our fabulous site by clicking >> Here http://godoggocafe.com/2022/03/24/make-it-happen-thursday-8/
Sharpen Those Pencils
I like to write with a HB lead pencil
I enjoy the earthy feel of wood in my fingers
And the soft touch of carbon upon paper
During sharpening time, my mind ponders
About the origins of those timber shavings
And the history behind the carbon slithers
These tiny trival objects all evoke thoughts
Then the thoughts instigate words in my mind
And simply like that, my writing process begins
I never retire without my note-pad nearby
And a lead pencil as my trusty writing scribe
Sometimes heavy, other times light
A necessary sword to fight off a dark night
Ivor Steven (c) March 2022
Wandering over shadowless ground
Did you notice too?
The clouds loomed darker this morning
And their bleakness was edging closer
Have they lost their way too?
Did you notice?
The birds sounded sadder this morning
They were not singing their awakening tunes
Actually! Where have all the birds gone
Have they fled from home too?
Ivor Steven (c) March 2022
Please Mr Shootin’ Putin
Do not roll your tanks of destruction
Over the innocent Mr & Mrs Millipede
Millipedes were the earliest animals to breathe air
And make the move from water to land
They date back 428 million years
Now people of the world cannot hold back their tears
Did you know Mr Shootin’ Putin
That Millipedes are fairly timid critters
Docile decomposers that live in the leaf litter
Of forests all over the world!
They aren’t flashy or fast
And they follow the motto
“Slow and steady wins the race”
Millipedes are peaceful
They don’t bite
They can’t sting
And they don’t have pincers to fight back
Please Mr Shootin’ Putin
Do not roll your tanks of destruction
Over the innocence of creation
Ivor Steven (c) March 2022
