A Walk, A Coffee, And Alone

Above: Moorabool Valley Cafe, homestead out front of the cafe, the shed that can be seen from the cafe verandah (main featured image), horse agistment paddocks surrounding the cafe.

A Walk, A Coffee, And Alone

Little Cyndi has gone home

Here I am, again alone

The house is strangely quiet

I feel coffee and cake is on the diet

Late afternoon, and I’ll go for a walk

To my favourite cafe, where the magpies squawk

A stroll in the winter sun

And remember, I am not the only one

Reflect on life’s good times

And rekindle, my memories and rhymes

Above: The walking path close to my house, and the sunset as I was approaching home.

Above: Cyndi, yes it’s going home time……

Ivor Steven (c) July 2019

The Song Plays Through the Night

I twist and roll over

A musical world spins inside my head

 

My somersault of dreams

Rotates under my bed-spread

 

Upside down

Rhythmical tiredness falls out of my seams

 

Words tumble around

Nameless titles and endless tunes abound

 

The bad moon’s turning

Singing the blues, over my empty town

 

I twist and roll over, again

I’m back where I started, I hear my angel humming, Hallelujah

 

Ivor Steven (c)  July 2019

Arctic Winds.

Today’s poem is one I wrote two years ago, and I was fortunate enough to have the piece published by, ‘Vita Brevis Poetry Magazine’, back in January 2018. A magazine for poets, and to all my readers/followers, I sincerely recommend that you visit/follow the Vita Brevis site,
https://vitabrevisliterature.com.

Artwork:  By Kerri Costello, Graphic Design Artist, my beautiful niece/second cousin, who lives in Philadelphia, she’s so very talented, and a very special person in my life, thank you Kerri.

 

Arctic Winds

 

I’m winter hibernating

Inside an Eskimo’s hut

Feeding only on fish oil

And frozen blue blood

My heart’s cold and dormant

Cowering under a dampened vestment

Wind-swept by a blizzard’s dust

Covered in icicles of my rust

My eyes are swollen rocks

Amidst polarised sockets

Terrorising all that’s passed

Like forgotten arctic icebergs

My veins are hollow crevasses

Inside a glaciers ice-flow

Sheering and groaning chasms

Like my memories deepest fjord

 

Ivor Steven (c)  July 2019

 

 

 

My Door’s Firmly Shut

Good morning dear readers, It’s a chilly Sunday here in Geelong, but it’s bad, my sister is coming down from Ballarat and we are going out for lunch. Cyndi will be staying inside, curled up next to the heater…..

 

My Door’s Firmly Shut

Early Sunday morning

At my desk

Writing in pencil

The inks frozen

No joke

Send the firewood

Light up my heart

With soulful words

Give my fingers a start

Knuckles are throbbing

An arthritic chill

My dog’s coughing

Poor little girl

She feels it too

Ah, not to worry

A sombre smile

A sun-ray

Shining through

Thawing my will

Freeing my quill 

 

 

Ivor Steven. (c)  July 2019

I’m Not Too Tired, Yet

Yesterday, I was dead tired

Today, I sternly asked

 

Why does life have to be such a task ?

Then I quietly answered myself

 

Life is like a bean-stalk

Isn’t it ?  My son

 

Whilst we are climbing high

Reaching for the sun

 

I cannot wait, for tomorrow’s snow

I’m not ready to go

 

I’m yet to repaint the sky

Again, I’ll have to learn how to fly

 

 

Ivor Steven (c)  July 2019

An Empty Shell

I’m a broken stick

Hit by a tonne of bricks

I’ve stroke fatigue

Tiredness out of my league

The psyche says go

My body says no

Yesterday everything was fine

Today nothing is mine

Only rest and sleep

Not even a sneaky peep

They say, what’s wrong

I say, who’s playing my song

They say, you look ok

I say, I cannot stay

Read us your poem

No ! I want to go home

Don’t spoil the show

I’m an empty shell, they do not know

 

** Please note: Feature Image above, copied with the permission by Niki Flow, this is her blog site.  https://under1000skies.org/

 

Ivor Steven (c)  July 2019

Eating Our Own Waste

Is It only me ?

that feels this way

my thoughts gushing out to sea

without knowing what to say

 

our world is being flushed

down the sewer drain

water-rat politicians eating leftover crusts

every-time our dying clouds rain

 

never ending, poisoning of the bays

strangling plastic bags

suffocating polystyrene trays

wrapped in bloody newspaper flags

 

animals killed by our waste

governments retain their ego for greed

T.V. and press reports, via copy and paste

while our planet’s going to seed

 

are we trying our best ?

for the creatures in need

stop, this shitting, on our own nest

how much more can the oceans bleed ?

 

Ivor Steven (c)  July 2019

 

White Clouds Over Forest Floor Snail Trails

 

Again I’m posting this poem on “Go Dog Go Cafe’s”, Promote Yourself Monday’s, and thank you to Linda, of “Charmed Chaos”, for the kind invitation… Please Click  >>>> Here    to visit their fabulous site.

 

 

White Clouds Over Forest Floor Snail Trails

 

I remember the days well

When I could hear the ringing of bluebells

And the horizon, was an aqua clear skyline

Splashed with drifting, pristine shrines

The fertile ranges, enriched by His grapevines

Growing on posts and wires, green living enzymes

Now everywhere, there’s poles, cables and yellow floodlights

Feeding hungry digital mealtimes, instead of stargazers under the moonlight

Oh, to again see clouds glide with full white sails

Moving slow enough to observe, a forest floor’s snail trails

Ivor Steven (c) July 2019

Sleeping Beauty

I’ve a lady visiting, on my bed

Relaxed and snoring, all spread

Friendly, and in her own way beautiful

Cuddly and always an armful

I’m grateful to have her here

Beside me, I adore her soft ears

Lovingly listening to my heartbeat

As she lays there on my feet

Undemanding, a gracious sleeping beauty

Attending to her daily needs, is my happy duty

 

Ivor Steven (c)  July 2019

By The Waters Edge, (Tullawalla)

In reply to CalmKate’s, Friday Foto Fun Prompt;  Uprooted    << Click to view Kate’s site…..

By The Waters Edge, (Tullawalla)

 

Above: The home I lived in, growing up.  Above Right: My bachelor’s pad, a first floor apartment

 

Above: Our home, Carole & I, shared for the next 37 years of togetherness. until her passing

 

Above: Were I rented for 3 years, with a lady called Sue.  Above Right: The next year I boarded here.

 

Above:  The old Tullawalla & the new Tullawalla, Mum & Dad’s, holiday house, and then their retirement home. Me and my brother (Danny) lived there for 6 months, at the end of 2016. And then at start of 2017, I moved my present home.

 

Above: My home today, the front view, and the back courtyard and verandah

By The Waters Edge, (Tullawalla)

 

I’m in an isolation cabin

Like a waiting mosquito larva

Ready to burst

Surrounded by sand and sea

And a river mouth

Tidal and free

And I share my daily bread

A piece for you, for her, for them

Thoughts of you

I dream of now, and then

I see your flowered coffin

 

I’m tangled in a cocoon

Like an angry dragon-fly

Begging to break free

Surrounded by water-grass and weed

Tea-tree and Dunes, far as the eye can see

And a garden bed

Grown from seed

And I share my weekly menu

A piece for you, for her, for them

Thoughts of you

I stare down upon a fallen brave

I see your flowered cave

 

 

Ivor Steven (c) 2018