Throwback Friday, The Oven Sky, by Ivor Steven

Copied from my article on “Go Dog Go Cafe” today >> https://godoggocafe.com/2023/02/17/throwback-friday-the-oven-sky-by-ivor-steven/

It’s a hot 103’F here in Geelong this afternoon, so appropriately my Throwback Friday poem “The Oven Sky”, from February 2019, is my repost for today.

The Oven Sky




The summer flowers have faded and gone

Wilting leaves, look like the devils blight

My Calendar declares Autumn is almost here

But it’s still summer in the city

Remaining hot and dusty, here on my plot

All the dogs are panting, searching for a cool block

Singed birds have refused to fly in the oven sky

Today’s furnace, is the night’s unwanted heater

Dry rot is crumbling, under the burning sun

Fat rain drops have forgotten their landing spots

And the drought smiles at us with disdain

As we gasp and forlornly wait for a cool change









Tullawalla is Available From

Jaymah Press:https://www.jaymahpress.com.au/

Ivor Steven: email, ivorrs20@gmail.com

Amazon: search via, ‘Tullawalla by Ivor Steven’


AND
Perceptions is Now Available via:

Jaymah Press: https://www.jaymahpress.com.au/

Lulu Books: https://www.lulu.com/shop/ivor-steven-and-derrick-knight/perceptions/hardcover/product-2pwqe4.html?q=Perceptions+by+Ivor+Steven&page=1&pageSize=4

OR: email me directly for a signed copy – ivorrs20@gmail.com

Ivor Steven (c) February 2019

I’m a Walrus (a Tanka)



I am not insane

I have lost myself in pain

I know I’ts not time

I have the will to survive

I’m a walrus goo goo g’joob







Tullawalla is Available From

Jaymah Press:https://www.jaymahpress.com.au/

Ivor Steven: email, ivorrs20@gmail.com

Amazon: search via, ‘Tullawalla by Ivor Steven’


AND
Perceptions is Now Available via:

Jaymah Press: https://www.jaymahpress.com.au/

Lulu Books: https://www.lulu.com/shop/ivor-steven-and-derrick-knight/perceptions/hardcover/product-2pwqe4.html?q=Perceptions+by+Ivor+Steven&page=1&pageSize=4

OR: email me directly for a signed copy – ivorrs20@gmail.com


Ivor Steven (c) February 2023

A Fractured Birdbath

My back pain has been reasonably under control for 6 months, mainly due to my daily exercise routine and the two weekly visits to the Community Rehab Centre, but disappointingly I am again suffering from extreme back pain … I know I need to rest up for a few days and also keep my exercise program going, and hopefully I will be sufficiently good enough to be back to my wobbly best soon … so my time at the computer desk will be restricted and I will only do what is comfortable for me …

Featured Image Above: a photo my sister sent me this afternoon of her garden’s birdbath …


A Fractured Birdbath




I have been staggering

Sometimes stumbling

Beneath the hard rain

but I see no soft puddles

on my cobblestone path


My empty matchbox raft

Is snagged in my tubs gurgling drain

And out in the yard’s fractured birdbath

only charred snow flakes

and a dry feather-sponge remain

to soothe my back pain






Tullawalla is Available From

Jaymah Press:https://www.jaymahpress.com.au/

Ivor Steven: email, ivorrs20@gmail.com

Amazon: search via, ‘Tullawalla by Ivor Steven’


AND
Perceptions is Now Available via:

Jaymah Press: https://www.jaymahpress.com.au/

Lulu Books: https://www.lulu.com/shop/ivor-steven-and-derrick-knight/perceptions/hardcover/product-2pwqe4.html?q=Perceptions+by+Ivor+Steven&page=1&pageSize=4

OR: email me directly for a signed copy – ivorrs20@gmail.com


Ivor Steven (c) February 2023

Shadows Fall (a Musette) 




Don’t stop

Do not look back

Leaves drop




Shadows

Do not create

Meadows




Walk tall

Don’t look beyond

Nightfall







Tullawalla is Available From

Jaymah Press:https://www.jaymahpress.com.au/

Ivor Steven: email, ivorrs20@gmail.com

Amazon: search via, ‘Tullawalla by Ivor Steven’


AND
Perceptions is Now Available via:

Jaymah Press: https://www.jaymahpress.com.au/

Lulu Books: https://www.lulu.com/shop/ivor-steven-and-derrick-knight/perceptions/hardcover/product-2pwqe4.html?q=Perceptions+by+Ivor+Steven&page=1&pageSize=4

OR: email me directly for a signed copy – ivorrs20@gmail.com

Ivor Steven (c) February 2023

Waterfall

Today we went to Geelong’s picturesque “Buckleys Falls River Reserve” for our morning walkies and I took several photos using my iPhone and wrote the Haiku, attached below, while relaxing and enjoying the beautiful scenery all around us.

The river bank walk towards the waterfall

The Barwon river below the cascade

The gentle cascade at Buckleys Falls, and the Historic Paper Mill in the background

The Barwon River Reserve Picnic area, where I wrote the poem, and Frankie enjoying his bushwalk outing.

For a comprehensive article about the Buckleys Falls River Reserve, you may like to open this > https://waterfallseasons.com/waterfalls-in-victoria-buckley-falls-geelong.htm




Waterfall (a Haiku)




Within urban sprawl

There is a gentle cascade

Scenic Buckleys Falls



Music/Video Below: Please enjoy this beautifully scenic performance by Sigur Rós, Live In Ásbyrgi, of Hoppípolla & Með blóðnasir …




Tullawalla is Available From

Jaymah Press:https://www.jaymahpress.com.au/

Ivor Steven: email, ivorrs20@gmail.com

Amazon: search via, ‘Tullawalla by Ivor Steven’


AND
Perceptions is Now Available via:

Jaymah Press: https://www.jaymahpress.com.au/

Lulu Books: https://www.lulu.com/shop/ivor-steven-and-derrick-knight/perceptions/hardcover/product-2pwqe4.html?q=Perceptions+by+Ivor+Steven&page=1&pageSize=4

OR: email me directly for a signed copy – ivorrs20@gmail.com


Ivor Steven (c) February 2023

Magpies and Butterflies





Magpies and Butterflies 


Our sad solar eye 

Is hiding behind a misty sky

Why do you cry? 


The golden age did not die 

Nor are we waving goodbye 

Despite the state of our pigsty 

Verbal bullshit deeper than knee-high 


One day soon, we will try 

To become nature’s ally 

Turn ourselves into the good guys 

With clip-on clean green bowties 

Then, save our magpies and butterflies 








Tullawalla is Available From

Jaymah Press:https://www.jaymahpress.com.au/

Ivor Steven: email, ivorrs20@gmail.com

Amazon: search via, ‘Tullawalla by Ivor Steven’


AND
Perceptions is Now Available via:

Jaymah Press: https://www.jaymahpress.com.au/

Lulu Books: https://www.lulu.com/shop/ivor-steven-and-derrick-knight/perceptions/hardcover/product-2pwqe4.html?q=Perceptions+by+Ivor+Steven&page=1&pageSize=4

OR: email me directly for a signed copy – ivorrs20@gmail.com

Ivor Steven (c) February 2023

Birds in Flight

The Weekend Challenge from Weekly Prompts is the word: OLD. Please go over and visit their fabulous site by clicking on >> Here

This morning I luckily managed to take several bird in flight photos using my “Old” Apple iPhone. Of course, I had to enhance and enlarge them, but fortunately, a few of the photos came out ok, and subsequently, with excited enthusiasm I wrote this poem “Birds in Flight”.


Birds in Flight


Our spirit birds sleep all night

Then emanate at first light

To resume their dedicated flights


Our watchtower sentinels of Mother Earth

Who sacredly ascend at first light

Forever in flight, since nature’s worldly birth









Tullawalla is Available From

Jaymah Press:https://www.jaymahpress.com.au/

Ivor Steven: email, ivorrs20@gmail.com

Amazon: search via, ‘Tullawalla by Ivor Steven’


AND
Perceptions is Now Available via:

Jaymah Press: https://www.jaymahpress.com.au/

Lulu Books: https://www.lulu.com/shop/ivor-steven-and-derrick-knight/perceptions/hardcover/product-2pwqe4.html?q=Perceptions+by+Ivor+Steven&page=1&pageSize=4

OR: email me directly for a signed copy – ivorrs20@gmail.com


Ivor Steven (c) February 2023

Throwback Friday, Birds on Wires (July 2010), by Ivor Steven

At “Go Do Go Cafe” earlier today …
>> https://godoggocafe.com/2023/02/10/throwback-friday-birds-on-wires-july-2010-by-ivor-steven/

Last month I posted a poem on my website which was also Titled “Birds on Wirds”, however my Throwback poem from July 2010 is completely different, and in keeping with my poetic theme about birds lately I thought It would be appropriate to repost my first “Birds on Wires” poem here today …



Birds on Wires (July 2010)



Here on the edge of lower earth

Beyond the urban concrete girth

Withering trees are trying to grow

Reaching for that mystical power flow

Hungering for energy from contaminated ground

Not the airwaves of false sonic sound

Man-made arrows cluttering  the sky

Unnatural webs soaring high

Bird dodging spires

Hanging on cold steel wires

Carriers of these modern times

The pulse of humanities crimes




Tullawalla is Available From

Jaymah Press:https://www.jaymahpress.com.au/

Ivor Steven: email, ivorrs20@gmail.com

Amazon: search via, ‘Tullawalla by Ivor Steven’


AND
Perceptions is Now Available via:

Jaymah Press: https://www.jaymahpress.com.au/

Lulu Books: https://www.lulu.com/shop/ivor-steven-and-derrick-knight/perceptions/hardcover/product-2pwqe4.html?q=Perceptions+by+Ivor+Steven&page=1&pageSize=4

OR: email me directly for a signed copy – ivorrs20@gmail.com

Ivor Steven (c) July 2020

Birds Walking





Birds Walking




Who would need wings

If the ground was safe all year long

A level field for the world’s bird songs



No gas-filled trenches

No bombs dropping from the sky

No fallen angels waving goodbye






Tullawalla is Available From

Jaymah Press:https://www.jaymahpress.com.au/

Ivor Steven: email, ivorrs20@gmail.com

Amazon: search via, ‘Tullawalla by Ivor Steven’


AND
Perceptions is Now Available via:

Jaymah Press: https://www.jaymahpress.com.au/

Lulu Books: https://www.lulu.com/shop/ivor-steven-and-derrick-knight/perceptions/hardcover/product-2pwqe4.html?q=Perceptions+by+Ivor+Steven&page=1&pageSize=4

OR: email me directly for a signed copy – ivorrs20@gmail.com


Ivor Steven (c) February 2023

Dancing in the Rain (an Epigram) is Published in the January Issue of “Positive Words Magazine”

Over on Weekly Prompts, the Wednesday Challenge is the word: ENOUGH. Please visit their fabulous site by clicking on >> Here

Below, the Epigram “Dancing in the Rain” that I wrote in September 2022, has been selected for publication in the Australian Magazine “Positive Words”, thank you to the editor Sandra for considering my piece >>https://positivewordsmagazine.wordpress.com/
The poem is my first ever “Epigram” and to be published in this wonderful magazine is more than ENOUGH reward for my debut Epigram …









Tullawalla is Available From

Jaymah Press:https://www.jaymahpress.com.au/

Ivor Steven: email, ivorrs20@gmail.com

Amazon: search via, ‘Tullawalla by Ivor Steven’


AND
Perceptions is Now Available via:

Jaymah Press: https://www.jaymahpress.com.au/

Lulu Books: https://www.lulu.com/shop/ivor-steven-and-derrick-knight/perceptions/hardcover/product-2pwqe4.html?q=Perceptions+by+Ivor+Steven&page=1&pageSize=4

OR: email me directly for a signed copy – ivorrs20@gmail.com

Ivor Steven (c) February 2023