Hello, you taste so sweet
These angelic drops of rain
Landing on my freckled cheeks
Refreshing my dry skin
Instead of yesterday’s
Annoying and staining spots
Full of dirt and smoke
Stinging my teary eyes
Finally today, a cooling breeze
Clearing our hazy sky
And here comes the sun
Minus her dusty halo of grey
Ivor Steven (c) Jan 2020
The midweek word/photo challenge is; Family Albums. My article and poem isn’t really about a family album, but these are the photos I took today, depicting the eeriness of our smokey and rainy sky…. Please go and visit the Weekly Prompts site by clicking>> HERE
Above Feature Image: I’m standing in light rain, at the end of my lane, but the sky is still a smokey haze, which is very eerie…..
Left. The smokey sky and sun at end of my lane. Right. The thunderstorm this afternoon
Left. A smokey beach in the morning Right. Looking straight at the sun on the beach
Eerie Sky, Teasing Rain
The eeriness is hard to explain
Our sky is smokey again
But here I stand in the rain
At the end of my dusty lane
Smelling the stench of our fiery haze
Now mixed with the aroma of wet maize
I’m stunned, and unearthly amazed
And Thor’s neon lights add to my daze
This summer storm is yet to fully expound
Tiny drops are struggling to cover the ground
The day’s hot, but our sun cannot be found
And this afternoon’s darkness leaves me spellbound
Footnote: As I’m about to post this article, we are having some heavy rain and there is more forecast for next Monday…. At last the sky is crying over the fires of South-Eastern Australia, hopefully enough to give our firefighters some much needed respite… Yeah.
Ivor Steven (c) Jan 2020
#1 Bestselling New Poetry Anthology, Pain & Renewal features a collection of incredible voices — from Pulitzer & Pushcart prize winners to brand new poets, it’s filled with moving poetry about the highs and lows of the human experience. From love and loss to death and redemption — and beyond.”There are as many forms of pain as there are paths to renewal, and I can think of no better way to explore this than through collected stories of people from around the world. In the same way the broader themes of a good book are not conveyed in one line but through many small and dispersed instances, the broader truths of pain and renewal bare their patterns when the struggles and victories of the individual are placed alongside those of the many. Read from cover to cover, I believe many of these patterns can be found in this anthology.” – Brian Geiger (Editor)
You can get the digital version here, if you want to read it on your computer, phone, tablet, or Kindle device.
And you can get the print version here, if you’re the bookish type.
Ivor Steven (c) Jan 2020
Faery Footprints
A Multiple Author Anthology by Fae Corps Publishing
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Poetry published in the anthology “Faery Footprints” by the Fae Corps Publishing
I’m very proud to see five of my poems, being published in the pages of the anthology curated by Patricia Harris and Cindy Pilcher of the Fae Corps Publishing Press.
Faery Footprints is an anthology of indie artists, poets, and authors meant to show off the talent inherent in the Indie Community.
For readers who would like purchase a copy, please click on link below …
– www.books2read.com/faeryfootprints
Below, as per usual with my posts, I have an attached video/music for your enjoyment, however today this video is very special , and I would sincerely like to thank, Stephanie Stickel, for allowing me use this wonderful video, of her drawing, with the music of Thomas Peter-Horas(Sarah), and played by Chen on piano .
Feature Image above: The photo I received today; my niece Kerri, and my grand-niece Kylie(My Philadelphia faeries), there smiles make me smile xx
Below Images: The smokey haze outside my front door today, 500 yards away at the end of my lane.
Smoke, And Happy Tears Today
Again, I’ve smokey tears in my eyes
But today they’re not, from those terrible fires
I’ve just received a photo, via magical digital wires
From the girl of my promised forever bond
And who lives on my soul’s golden pond
She’s knowingly smiling, at my heart’s open streams
Graciously enjoying all of life’s hard regimes
And handling her body’s constant extremes
Never does she falter, from her declared theme
“Don’t Let the World Bring You Down”
She’ll always be my jewel of renown
A ray of inspiring hope, in that distant sky
My dearest really real faery, flying so high
Ivor Steven (c) Jan 2020
Please come join me and multitudes of other writers here on Go Dog Go Cafe’s, “Promote Yourself Monday”
Welcome to Promote Yourself Monday. All Go Dog Go Cafe community members are invited to post one link to one specific piece of their writing (600 words or less please!) they have published on their blog, Facebook page, or Instagram feed into the comments section below.
Cry me a fair-tale
A fable that’s true
If I place steel pails
Under your sails
Could you please
Rain on our arid ship
Fill all the buckets
And douse the fires
Cry me a storm
And fill our fragile souls
With watery glee
Cry me a river
And fill our hearts
With liquid joy
Ivor Steven (c) Jan 2020
This weekend the Word/Photo Challenge is: ‘The Street.’ And above is a photo of an Australian bush “Street”, and of course we are hoping that the raging bushfires will stop soon… The featured photo above, is copy from the 2020 Geelong Calendar, taken by Judith Wood, of a street in the country town of Anakie.. To visit the fabulous site of Word/photo Challenge, please click >> Here
This is a poem I wrote three years, from a time when I was suffering from one of my neuralgia attacks…Then, I thought it was nearly the end….. but in the end it couldn’t happen….. there was too much love surrounding me…..
Follow By Two
One Day Follows
The abyss is bigger, not less.
On these days of darkness.
The owls are singing sad tunes.
On these days of bad moons.
The brain is harpooned again
On these days of constant pain.
The sunshine has gone, I confess.
On these days of over stress.
The mind has little attitude.
On these days of sleepy solitude.
An Answer Follows
You’ve all walked into my heart.
And you’ve ran into my past.
You’ve all flooded into my soul.
And you’ve soared into my dreams.
I crave for that….. one day soon.
Tomorrow, or another day too.
That all your hearts.
Will be bathing themselves,
In the soothing oils
Of your glorious Souls.
I’d like to thank my dear friends Mel and Jane, for being the inspiration behind the words of “An Answer Follows”.
Ivor Steven.
Last night I attended the lowercase’s monthly poetry recital event. The theme was “On The Bus”, and here’s a link to the poem I read out >>https://ivors20.wordpress.com/2019/02/22/sorry-we-caught-the-wrong-bus/ . After the show, as is usual for me, I ventured across the road, to Pistol Pete’s Blues bar, for my dose of live music. And wow, what a fabulous band happened to be performing. From Germany, “Hanne Kah”, and I’ve attached two songs of their’s below. As you might know, Ivor likes to have a chat, and Hanne and her band were a very friendly crew, and were happy to have some photos taken with me….. Oh, what a treat for me, and of course I gave them my poetry card, and bought a CD and T-shirt…… Then I stumbled home, and drafted this poem, which I finished this morning…… It’s probably a bit jumbled, but I say to myself…so-be-it….
Torn Dust In My Lungs
Late in the afternoon, the moon is rising
Not the normal moon, silver and shining
But a colour of yellow mustard custard icing
Through the evenings smokey maze, dimly glowing
These foolish fires, have been merciless
They’ve torn apart our virgin land
Dusty embers in the sky, leftover evidence
Torn from what was once beautiful and pristine
Hanne Kah’s CD “Y”, and you’ll find them at this Link >> https://www.facebook.com/hannekahband/
Appropriately I’m playing this song of Hanne Kah’s, “Dust In My Lungs”
Ivor Steven (c) Jan 2020
We continue to live, under this smokey haze
As the brave firefighters, continue to fight day after day
I’m in a stunned daze, leaning here on my table
Knowing there’s thousands of burnt homes and stables
Feeling for the animals, perished and disabled
Crying for our native fauna, of fame and fable
From the ashes, our world will revive
Beyond the rain-clouds, busy bees will rebuild our hives
Green saplings will replace the trees blackened towers
And underground seeds will grow into our earth’s new flowers
Ivor Steven (c) Jan 2020
Ivor.Plumber/Poet 