After the cold winter blizzard
There appeared the Snow-lord wizard
Upon a frozen moment in time
Atop icy alpine trees standing in line
Guarding the pure white mountains of rhyme
Home to the forest fairy’s sacred shrine
Their crystal palace above cloud nine
Where divine echos of prayers are in decline
Ivor Steven (c) June 2020
My crying eyes are smoke filled rivers
And I’ve a blackened heart that’s bruised
From pushing the dark sky away
My knees are aching cushions full of burnt splinters
And I’ve blackened hands that are trembling
From holding the dark sky at bay
My feet are crumbling foundations in an ashen world
And I’ve a blackened soul that’s injured
From embracing the dark sky everyday
Ivor Steven (c) June 2020.
On Weekly Prompts, the Wednesday challenge is: FOR THE BIRDS. Please go over and visit their fabulous site by clicking >> HERE. The below Haiku, is my response to the prompt.
Silently She Cries
In the sky somewhere
There’s the old peace dove crying
In silence, she’ll die
Ivor Steven (c) June 2020.
Out of the blue ocean, into the black sea
We still appear wet behind our ears
And still burning bridges made out of ancient trees
Repeating the same old questions, while wearing our masks of tears
What about looking at nature’s dragonflies and bees?
How do they live in harmony without the fears?
We are the carriers of this corrupt disease
Ignoring our racist problems for too many years
Ivor Steven (c) June 2020
Below, the lyrics to “Nina Cried Power” by Hozier, please read and sing along…..
“Nina Cried Power”
(feat. Mavis Staples)
It’s not the song, it is the singing
It’s the heaven of a human spirit ringing
It is the bringing of the line
It is the bearing of the rhyme
It’s not the waking, it’s the rising
[Hozier & Mavis Staples:]
And I could cry power (Power), power (Power)
Power, Lord
Nina cried power
Billie cried power
Mavis cried power
And I could cry (Power) power, (Power) power
Hey, power
Curtis cried power
Patti cried power
Nina cried power
[Hozier:]
It’s not the wall, but what’s behind it
Oh, the fear of fellow man, it’s mere assignment
And everything that we’re denied
By keeping the divide
It’s not the waking, it’s the rising
[Hozier & Mavis Staples:]
And I could cry power (Power), power (Power)
Oh, power
Nina cried power
Lennon cried power
James Brown cried power
And I could cry (Power) power, (Power) power
Hey, power
B.B. cried power
Joni cried power
Nina cried power
[Mavis Staples:]
And I could cry power
Power has been cried by those stronger than me
Straight into the face that tells you
To rattle your chains if you love being free
[Hozier & Mavis Staples:]
But I could cry power (Power)
‘Cause power is my love when my love reaches to me
James Brown cried power
Seeger cried power
Marvin cried power
Yeah ah, power
James cried power
Lennon cried power
Patti cried power
Billie, power
Dylan, power
Woody, power
Nina cried power
Here I’ve written a Haiku Trio, a poem consisting of three haiku stanzas
*Please note, the above photos, are scanned images, from the book in my personal library, called “Close To Nature”, by John Landy
Under Pressure
Bitter is the clown
A broken pepper stays down
Anger’s every town
Flames leap all around
Burning bridges to the ground
Hatred is the sound
High above the clouds
Songs echo under pressure
Screaming for new air
Ivor Steven (c) June 2020.
My stomachs rumbling
Upset and tumbling
I’ve been swallowing lumps of dark chocolate
And guzzling black coffee from stained goblets
The grey smokey clouds of yesterday
Have stuck around like muddy brown clay
Has this captain midnight moved into stay?
Will charcoal pencils write about peace today?
Ivor Steven (c) June 2020
.
My smokey eyes have been faltering
Sad necessary tears have me wavering
Looking down the knife-edges
Balancing on red cliff-edges
.
How will the fog of darkness be lifted?
From angry souls that have drifted
Mirror, mirror, who’s the saddest
Mirror, mirror, where is forgiveness
.
The heart-breakers came around
Killing a black-rose on the ground
Deep down we all feel hollow
And none can see the peace-smoke halo
.
.
Ivor Steven (c) June 2020
Is there a song?
Between who is sad, and who is wrong
Beyond this prolonged swan song
How long, is too long?
Along these throngs of torch songs
Headstrong, and head-on
We know their theme song
We are all in the wrong
Oh. We, are the wrong
Listen to the birdsong
Listen to her lifelong song
Listen to nature humming along
Ivor Steven (c) May 2020.
“We, The Drowned”, Lyrics by Lisa Hannigan
We know not the fire in which we burn
But we sing and we sing
And the flames grow higher.
We read not the pages which we turn
But we sing, and we sing, and we sing, and we sing
We, the wrong,
We the sewn up and long gone,
Were before and all along
Like this
We, the drowned
The lost and found out,
We are all finished again.
Opening a Can of Flammable Worms. A ‘Gogyohka’
Anger ignites smoldering flames
A white-man’s racist hatred to blame
The volatile reaction follows
Requiring a King’s pacifying halo
Not a cane, you stupid man
Gogyohka, (pronounced go-gee-yoh–kuh), was created by Enta Kusakabe in Japan. It is a “five-line poem” or “song” with no no fixed syllable pattern. It can be written on any subject and use of ordinary, simple language is encouraged.
Ivor Steven (c) May 2020
Death is not our fault
Lets blame others for our shame
Scapegoats are great bait
.
Please Note: The featured image above, is called ‘Four Birds’, by an Australian artist, Patsy Anguburra Lulpunda, at the Aboriginal Art Gallery
.
Ivor Steven (c) May 2020.
Ivor.Plumber/Poet 