I handed Her My Card

I Handed Her My Card

 

I had lunch at the office

That is, the Box Office Cafe

My favourite local eatery

I enjoyed a tasty Vietnamese salad

Then I took some photos on my camera-phone

Trying to capture the venues’ rustic atmosphere

Leafy plants in pots and hanging baskets

And there’s abstract paintings on display

Along side artworks painted directly onto the walls

All enhancing the Cafe’s peaceful aura

 

In front of the wine collection’s shelves

There’s a large table of magazines

Where my ‘Tullawalla Booklets’ lay for patrons to read

And as is my way, I started up a conversation

And there was a young lady at the adjacent table

Her name was Katie, and coincidently

She knew about the ‘Lowercase’ poetry group

I told her when and where, they were to next meet

Then she intimated she might attend the recital night

With a friendly smile, I handed her my poetry card

 

PS: Surprise, surprise, here I am back a the Box Office Cafe for breakfast, on Saturday morning, of the Australia Day, long weekend. I don’t often go out for breakfast, but the weather is perfect, and I’ve earned myself a treat this week. Below a couple of pic’s of my fabulous breakfast.

 

Ivor Steven (c) Jan 2020

Here Comes The Rain

 

 

Here Comes The Rain

 

The dawn’s dark rain-clouds

Of hovering graceful greys

Are cascading their silver linings

And the falling rain sparkles

Lighting up the morning sky

Resonating nature’s sounds

Heaven’s musical crescendo

The sweetest of all musical notes

A drumming of heavy raindrops

Dancing on the ground

And as the awakening rains

Come tumbling down

The torrents of regenerating waters

Are now crying rivers through burning trees

 

 

Ivor Steven (c)  Jan 2020

Waiting (Revised)

Hello readers and followers, this is poem I posted 3 weeks ago, but today I’ve revised some words and the format. I read this poem to my poetry group on Sunday, and after the usual discussion the group suggested some subtle changes, to give my piece an even more powerful punch….. and after swapping things around a little, this is my revised poem…. with sincere thanks to members of my wonderful poetry group…..below I’ve attached a photo of the original poem….

Waiting

 

The earth is waiting

Sick of humans stalling

And their time wasting

They know it’s time

 

Waiting for their promised cheers

Waiting for less destructive years

Will they give her resolutions

Of better times ahead

Will they finally read

Thor’s neon signs

Will they notice

A smoke covered sun

Will they be able to breathe the air

As a united one

 

The earth cannot watch

Nor wait

While humans

Fill their own greedy plates

 

Why are they celebrating?

Like blind fools, that are always pretending

As if nothing is going wrong

They can hear the whales crying songs

They can see the polar caps are melting

They can taste the venom of government’s lying

img517 (2)

In the following video/song, if you could metaphorically place earth and human’s between the lyrics, you might understand why I chose this song by Damien Rice..

 

 

Ivor Steven (c)  Jan 2020

The Analogue Academy

Hello readers, today I’m presenting my first Haibun. The Haibun is a prosimetric literary form originating in Japan, combining prose and haiku. The range of haibun is broad and frequently includes autobiography, diary, essay, prose poem, short story and travel journal.

Yesterday I travelled by bus into the city centre, to visit the unique Analogue Academy, an art gallery, a creative arts school, including a coffee shop/bar, and a drop-off depot for photographers to have their films developed. Definitely a friendly venue for creative  people to meet, and enjoy the atmosphere of the rustic and comfortable surroundings. And of course Ivor had his usual coffee, cake and a few beers. The specific purpose of my outing was to view an exhibition of paintings by local artist, Jacklyn Foster, who is a fellow member of Geelong’s ‘Lowercase Poetry Group’. I found her display, “Replying To Spam Emails” to be imaginative and colourful, and I was very satisfied with myself that I had made the effort to attend the Analogue Academy.

 

Gallery

 

Uniquely homely

Creativity set free

Here’s Tullawalla**

 

** Tullawalla, and an aboriginal word meaning, ‘a place to sit and meet’

Below: A fabulous painting by Jacklyn Foster

Below: Jacklyn Foster’s paintings in the display area at Analogue Academy

 

Below: Photos of the Cafe area

 

 

Ivor Steven (c)  Jan 2020

Promote Yourself Monday, January 20, 2020

Please come join me and multitudes of other writers here on Go Dog Go Cafe’s, “Promote Yourself Monday”

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Promote yourself Mon

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.

If you post a link, be sure to read some of the other great writing people have linked to.

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Poppy-Kettle

This weekend the Word/Photo Challenge is ‘Unusual‘. And today I went down to the beautiful Geelong waterfront for a picnic lunch and a walk around the picturesque foreshore, and afterwards, sitting at the Valhalla Bar, sipping on a beer or two, I wrote this attached poem, about the ‘unusual’ Poppy-Kettle display  Please go and visit the “Weekly Prompt” by clicking >> HERE

Poppy-Kettle

 

My lost week has fallen into Sunday

And I’m going out to enjoy the clear sunshine

The Geelong skyline is finally smoke free

Our Corio Bay is unusually dead-calm

The water is like a glassy blue mirror

As I stroll along grassy banks of the foreshore

I rest myself upon a big quartz rock

Under the shade of a palm tree

 

A perfect locale to have my picnic lunch

Sitting next to an intriguing Poppy-Kettle display

Miniature bronze statues for everyone to see

A children’s mystical piece of fantasy land

Nearby there’s also a fairy tale’s giant green dragon

Dragons are a mythical favourite of mine

The area has an aura of a child’s magical kingdom

And my dreamy imagination grasps me to be almost there

 

 

 

 

 

Ivor Steven (c)  Jan 2020

Unsteady Quill

Below an overcast sky

A crack appears in my cloud of guilt

This widening chasm darkened

Distorting the edges of distant memories

 

A dear friend, passed away, last week

I didn’t get to say goodbye

His funeral, was private

And I need to send a condolence card

 

For these seven days of my life

The card has stayed on my table

I’m trying to write to his bereaved wife

But my hand’s unsteady and not able

 

I’m yet to put pen to card

I’m yet to allow myself to cry hard

I’m yet to push myself to go an extra yard

Now, I must get my head out of these clouds

Lift my quill, for a mate, who was brave and proud

 

Ivor Steven (c)  Jan 2020

 

 

Sun Showers

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

 

Eerie Sky, Teasing Rain

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