Category: Photos

The Sky Is Blue: Haiku Collection

I’m not a prolific writer of Haiku’s. Actually flicking through my poem file’s, out of the hundreds upon hundreds of poems, I have only written “50” Haiku’s. There is no reason as to why so few, because I do enjoy the concise format of the Haiku, they flow well for me, and I think most of them come out ok….. Well here I go, Ivor’s complete collection of  Haiku’s……….

Sky Blue

I’m covered in blue

The morning sky clears my eyes

Sea-air fills my lungs

 

Blue 

Today’s deep sky blue
Warming my chest and soul too
Curing cough and flu

 

True, it’s a dog’s life
Who would kill a lonely cat
Peace to you and you

 

Leaf

Spring’s about to start

Your winter withered my heart

Birds sing until dark

 

Zither

Chinese courtyard sounds

Guzheng music gently strums

Beijing alley hums

 

Today

I walk past today

Remembering yesterday

Gone is tomorrow

 

Today my earth blooms

Yesterday is forgotten

Tomorrow I weep

 

Coastal

A strong coastal wind

Blowing sand across bare dunes

Vegetation going

 

Red Crown

Red the morning sky

Day lily my courtyard Queen

Garden summer crown

 

The Sun

The fiery sun burns

Bitumen melts underfoot

Tomatoes glow red

 

The Forest

Tunnel grows wider

Walking out of the forest

The light glows brighter

 

Family

A hive awaits me

My Philadelphia tree

Branches will rejoice

 

I Climb

Step by step I climb

Steadily walking my path

Time is flying fast

 

A Window Voice

I cannot hear the bird

Singing in the window tree

Birds are the free voice

 

A Flower Gone

In a sea of lights

She, an unpicked bloom, wilted

Young and fresh, now gone

 

Reflect

Cloud level seven

A step closer to heaven

My time to reflect

Green

Green’s my spring colour

Sparkle on my angel’s wings

Green makes my heart sing

 

Tribal

I’m a proud member

A player in the world team

Now I’ve left the tribe

 

January

Cloudless happy days

Sunlight kisses everything

Feeling warm within

 

Wall of Thorns

My bed of roses

Is scaling a wall of thorns

Perpetually

 

After The Wine

Beyond the wine bar

Radiant sunset begins

Tired eyes failed to see

 

My Cafe

A coffee and cake

Moorarbool Valley Cafe

Rustic country scene

 

Dead and Alive

Dead

Old cypress tree dies

Driest Autumn recorded

A sign of the times

Alive

My green fernery

Watered garden signature

She lovingly thrives

 

Recital

The voiceless man spoke

An old poet recited

His words clear and strong

Bon Voyage

A Bon voyage lunch

Barwon Edge Boathouse Cafe

Siblings celebrate

Our River

A true love runs deep

Our river flowed over rocks

Stones soften to sand

Family History 
Boxes of photos
Memory lane in my hands
Decades of stories

Field of Dreams

Life is sweet and smooth
Eating strawberries and cream
Full of tasty dreams

Winter Rain

Chilling winter rains

Heavy fat drops of coldness

Spread by icy winds

We Lost The Sea 

Bridges of dreams crossed

The ocean and river spanned

Waters of love found

Treats

Eating cream doughnuts

And peanut butter with jam

Hots dogs in mustard

Trees, We Apologise To Thee

Ancient trees of life

Anoint colour to the sky

Cast shadows aground

 

I, hugging a tree

I, apologise to thee

I, seek mindful peace

Hail And Sun

Hail slaps the pavement

Bitumen puddles shimmer

Winter sun bursts through

Layers

Green leafy layers

Sheltering out of the cold

Winter fernery

The Flower Show

A hall full of blooms

The scene, a sea of colour

Flowering perfume

Veneer Bruises

All surfaces bruise

Not all bruises can be seen

Pain permeates all

Cold Rain

Time’s, I played in rain

Today I worked in the cold

Wet and shivering

Autumn’s fat rain drops

Have lost their warmth and softness

Winter’s hard as ice

Life’s Blooms

Summer in full bloom

Beds of petals for our hearts

Life’s fragrant adieu

Time At Work

One week of hard work

Feeling aged beyond my time

Aching body’s cross

Shadows

Her lone silhouette

Forever etched in the stars

Shadows of my heart

Timeless

The size of our soul
Inside the beat of our heart
That is what matters

Wake Up

Today birds didn’t sing

Tonight, the moon is silent

Tomorrow needs love

Welcome To My Web

Spiders web of love

Glossy skeletons ignored

Entrapment awaits

A Glow

The sky isn’t all grey

Behind dark clouds there’s a glow

Where light grows brighter

My Word Vault 

All my soulful words

Lay within your open vaults

Where my dreams began

I Was Given A Red Rose  

Dreams of a red rose

Sleep-in Saturday morning

The world waits for more

Daylight

Morning blues ebb through

The window of last year’s stains

Light opens the door

As The Crow Fly’s

From grey tree branches

In sunlit sky, black crow sings

To all passing bye

Refugee

Let vistas of light
Enrapture the lives of those
Who have been captured

Feet and Excuses

 

Feet

Truly nature’s treat

Standing amongst forest trees

Earth’s caressing feet

 

Excuses

Life isn’t excuses

The word does not have uses

Let our trees feet dance

Fierce Fires

Forests are ablaze

Raging fires destroying homes

Native fauna, flee

Tree Care

Trees will grow again

Mother nature, cares that way

It’s time, we must too

Tanka

Moon Tree

No! Don’t go up there

The old tree house is haunted

Full moon night, glares

Children’s Halloween costumes

Knock! Knock! Scary pranks, for treats

 

 

 

Ivor Steven (c) Dec 2019

I’m Flat, Feeling Very Medium

Hello dear readers, as you may know, I’ve been struggling with continual (non-stop) headaches for 6 weeks, and it’s time for me to take a break from blogging. I’ll probably keep posting a few poems, when I can, but I’m finding the present situation almost unbearable… Hopefully my absence from commenting on all your wonderful articles, will be only for a few weeks.

I’m Flat, Feeling Very Medium

Mid afternoon and I’m late

Time to go out, for a coffee break

I’m escaping my sheltering haven

Avoiding that all too familiar hospital cavern

 

I order my drink, and I receive a paper trail

But I’m feeling my headaches, are still on trial

As the coffee mirrors my state of being

“Steven. 1 x Flat White Medium”

 

Here I am eating a lamington sponge cake

Listening to a melancholy Tom Waits

And I’m thinking, when will these bad-ass days

Ever be surpassed by more dignified displays

Ivor Steven (c) Dec 2019

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

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