Cassa Bassa. “It’s sad but reflecting a side of truth.
Ivor’s reply. “Despite humanity’s scientific advancements, their humanitarian skills are nonexistent”
Ask a Blade of Grass
Yesterday I looked up
At a grandfather clock
And saw the hands of time
Today I look above
At the gloomy clouds
And see beams of light
Appear through cracks in the sky
Tomorrow I will look down
At our war-torn ground
And ask a blade of grass
Why? Peace cannot be found
In our time
Ivor Steven (c) October 2022
Hello dear readers and followers, this poem today is the first piece I have written for 3 weeks, after being unable to attempt any computer work because of my debilitating back pain. I’m afraid my back is still very sore, and this article has been put together via short sittings at my desk over the last 3 days. I think Derrick’s photos captured my imagination and stirred my tired mind to write something creative.
All Photographs, by Derrick Knight, and thank you once again for allowing me to reproduce your fabulous images here on my poetry site …
>> https://derrickjknight.com/2022/08/18/no-one-told-the-ponies/
And this is now our 39th poem/photograph collaboration, and a “Glossy Coffee-table” type book “Perceptions” is on the way, hopefully, available before Christmas.
No-one told the ponies
Congregating Every Day
There they patiently stand
Congregating every day
Outside the community shop
And the village letterbox
Most of them are posting
Food parcels to their equine relatives
Hungry and abandoned in the Ukraine
Others wait forlornly
For any news of encouragement
About the health and whereabouts
From their frightened families
Inside war-torn Ukraine
There they patiently stand
Congregating every day
Ivor Steven © August 2022
Not really a humourous Limerick, this one is quite melancholy, reflecting my back pain over these last few weeks …
Ukraine is in Pain (a Limerick)
There was an old poet in pain
Who had been struck down by hard rain
He felt thorns in his back
Like a missile attack
Misguided shrapnel from Ukraine
Ivor Steven (c) August 2022
There beside the path
A robust green stalk appears
Renewal is here
Nature’s reclaiming her crown
A sunflower tall and proud
Ivor Steven (c) August 2022
This Endless Storm, (a Tanka)
Beyond the storm clouds
What lays ahead for mankind?
Behind His torn shroud
I see only the dark side
Of bombing children blindly
Ivor Steven (c) July 2022
Like the Ukraine war itself, being disconnected from any peace process .. I deliberately constructed my poem without any conjunctions
Sad Old Sky (a Senryu)
Hard rain strikes again
Awakening old tired eyes
Sad sky falls to ground
Ivor Steven (c) July 2022
Give me shelter
From this daily war-zone
Throw me a blanket
Anything!
To protect my wilting petals
I am cold and lonely
I am tired and hungry
I am scared
Do not let me wither away
Help me
My brothers
The sunflowers
Are war torn too
Do not leave us
Please save us
Give me shelter
From this hard rain
Throw me your shadows
Anything!
To remove the thorns in my side
I am the last living rose
Do not forget me
Throw me an anchor
Anything!
To reground my ancient roots
Before I am blown away
Ivor Steven (c) June 2022
The Featured Image above was taken by Derrick Knight, and when I viewed his heartwarming photo of the foal peacefully sleeping on the grass, my mind was immediately inspired to write words, and after numerous attempts to create something worthy of Derrick’s beautiful photo, I eventually produced this poem “There Will Be An Answer” … and my poem is to be read by pretending that you are the “foal’s” thoughts … You may visit Derrick’s article by clicking on this Link >>
https://derrickjknight.com/2022/06/20/shadows-and-reflections/
There Will Be An Answer
All the world is green
Within my midday dream
Please, do not disturb me
Let me sleep, let me be
Let it be, let it be
I do not comprehend
Your unnatural trends
Of killing your neighbours
After kicking in their sacred doors
Do not listen to me
Hear the breeze among the trees
There, under nature’s ancient marquee
She wisely decrees
Live in harmony like the bees
Co-existence is free
Let it be, let it be
Ivor Steven (c) June 2022
Am I silly or bold
To be out walking in the cold
Am I silly or bold
To not listen to what I am told
Am I silly or bold
To keep writing about Putin’s foolish goal
Am I silly or bold
To believe humanity will remove its blindfold
Ivor Steven (c) June 2022
Welcome to wintry Geelong
One day, shimmering sunshine
The next, cold as the South Pole
But there he sits
At the front door
Waiting for his morning walk
Ok Frankie “Let’s brave it”
The wind is frigid
The misty rain is hard
And my eyes are crying
Icy droplets in the snow
But I am not complaining
As I think about the children
Sheltering in their damp cellars
Hiding from Putin’s hard rain
A deluge of bombs and bullets
Callously sent to kill and maim
** Please enjoy the Waterboys song below, “Mad as the Mist and Snow”, the words are directly taken from the W B Yeats poem of the same and musically adapted by Mike Scott
“Mad As The Mist And Snow”
Bolt and bar the shutter for the foul winds blow
Our minds are at their best this night and I seem to know
That everything outside us is mad as the mist and snow
That everything outside us is mad as the mist and snow.
Horace there by Homer stands, Plato stands below
And here is Tully’s open page, how many years ago
Were you and I, lads, mad as the mist and snow?
Were you and I, lads, mad as the mist and snow?
You ask what makes me sigh, what makes me shudder so
I shudder and I sigh to think that even Cicero
And many minded Homer were mad as the mist and snow
That Cicero and Homer were mad as the mist and snow
That Cicero and Homer were mad as the mist and snow
…
Ivor Steven © June 2022
Ivor.Plumber/Poet 