Tag: Photos

We Do Not Need Darker Skies




Wandering over shadowless ground

Did you notice too?

The clouds loomed darker this morning

And their bleakness was edging closer

Have they lost their way too?



Did you notice?

The birds sounded sadder this morning

They were not singing their awakening tunes

Actually! Where have all the birds gone

Have they fled from home too?






Ivor Steven (c) March 2022

Cosmic Eyes Are Watching

Look above the ugly pylons

Away from that slimy Russian python

Beyond those strangling power lines

There is a luminous cosmic sign

Piercing our dark thunderous skies

Wearing an ancient peacetime disguise

In a temple full of untainted eyes

Anticipating the worlds next golden sunrise






Ivor Steven (c) March 2022

Putin … Would You


I would surrender my poetic soul to you 

If that could hand you compassion? 

To help you stop your war


I would offer my shattered heart to you 

If you are needing a piece of heart?  

To help you stop your war


I would remove my crying eyes 

and stay blind to you 

If your ego is looking for guidance? 

To help you stop your war


President Putin
 
Have you a shred of decency? 

Left inside your arrogant mind


Would you? 

Desert your grandchildren 

And Evict them to be

Homeless and frightened






Ivor Steven (c) March 2022

The Children’s Empty Streets



Do they hear humanity’s fears?

Will that day come?

When all the big ears

Will listen as one


How many rivers of tears must we cry?

Before all our deepest wells run dry

How many innocent children must fall?

Before all the big ears hear their helpless calls


That wounded haunting drawl

The ghostly scrapping sound of homeless feet

Mournfully shuffling along their bombarded streets






Ivor Steven (c) March 2022

Water-logged Boots

My poem ‘Water-logged Boots, was published at FREE VERSE REVOLUTION, in November 2019, and thank you to the editor Kristiana for her kind consideration of my piece…
And today on Weekly Prompts the Weekend Challenge is: Boots . Please go over and visit their fabulous site by clicking >> Here . Appropriately in response to their prompt, I have reposted this poem from 3 years ago.

Water-logged Boots




Yes, I am small in this overburdened world

But I flutter freely when unfurled

I could be a family picture collage

Or a tiny squirrel amongst the foliage

On his journey of ups and downs

Collecting and storing his acorns

The trick is to enjoy the ups

While the floodgates are shut

Sometimes I did nearly drown

Other times I floated upside down

During the many seasonal rains

I wondered if I would ever swim again

So then I pretended to write a biblical book

Ignorantly thinking no-one would ever look

Afterwards, I thought I could walk on water

Then my boots became water-logged

And if you need to walk a mile in my shoes

You will have to learn how to swim and sing the blues






Ivor Steven (c) March 2022

Vultures Tell No Lies, is in the March Issue of Positive Words Magazine

I am pleased and proud to announce that my poem, “Vultures Tell No Lies” is published in the Positive Words Magazine, March Issue, and thank you to the Editor, Sandra, for selecting my poem… For further information about this fabulous Australian magazine, visit their site via this link > https://positivewordsmagazine.wordpress.com/
Attached below, I have scanned the poems directly from my copy of the Magazine







Ivor Steven (c) March 2022

Innocent Millipedes




Please Mr Shootin’ Putin

Do not roll your tanks of destruction

Over the innocent Mr & Mrs Millipede

Millipedes were the earliest animals to breathe air

And make the move from water to land

They date back 428 million years

Now people of the world cannot hold back their tears


Did you know Mr Shootin’ Putin

That Millipedes are fairly timid critters

Docile decomposers that live in the leaf litter

Of forests all over the world!

They aren’t flashy or fast

And they follow the motto

“Slow and steady wins the race”

Millipedes are peaceful

They don’t bite

They can’t sting

And they don’t have pincers to fight back




Please Mr Shootin’ Putin

Do not roll your tanks of destruction

Over the innocence of creation






Ivor Steven (c) March 2022

Red Lilies Under Broken Ground, is up at Coffee House Writers magazine

Hello dear readers and followers, as you may know, I now write for “Coffee House Writers” magazine on a fortnightly basis, and my poem “Red Lilies Under Broken Ground”, is in this weeks edition of Coffee House Writers Magazine. … please click on the link below to read my poem, at Coffee House Writers >>
https://coffeehousewriters.com/red-lilies-under-broken-ground/






Ivor Steven (c) March 2022

The Disappearance of Decency


Introduction

Naked I stand before Him
Stripped of common decency
Debased, I kneel crying
Sad words fall like rain
Tanks are still rolling
Over the Ukraine
My Tanka’s are scrolling
Down their bloody drains



Tanka #1. Sad Sky

False words smudge old clouds
Gray clouds hang under sad sky
The sad sky decries
“Children are our butterflies
And please stop the warring lies”


Tanka #2. Broken Biscuits

Life is imperfect 
Like broken war-time biscuits 
Re-connection waits 
Reconciliation stops 
Life’s sweet shortbread’s unopened 


Tanka #3. Abandoned

May the stormy winds
Calmly abate in Europe
And bring peace quickly
Do not forget the children
We cannot abandon them


Epilogue

Cover me
Give me beauty
Inspire me
Calm me
Save me
From that deadly bee
Above the Black Sea








Ivor Steven (c) March 2022