Tag: Photos

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

Tomorrow’s Shadows, (a Haiku)

A big thank you to David Repath and Timothy Price for jointly inspiring to write this Haiku, https://offcenternoteven.com/2022/03/05/ukrainian-daze/ and for Timothy’s stunning music/video



Tomorrow’s Shadows


Shadows of today

Precede tomorrow’s darkest clouds

Silhouettes of doom







Ivor Steven (c) March 2022

The Gates of Hell Over Stolen Ground




Do you feel the weight?

Of radio-active clouds

Hanging over stolen ground

Do you hear the birds singing?

Gone!

Is that peaceful sound


Do you hear warning sirens howl?

Resonating like old war songs

When bombs are guided into sacred ground

Fires from hell destroying beds and towns

Gone!

As ashen children wander over burnt ground


Home is a communal air-raid shelter

Where families fearfully huddle together underground

Above!

The torn loyalties of alien soldiers

Tread lightly and warily upon broken ground






Ivor Steven (c) March 2022

Bloody Tears, Bloody History



Can you hear the ghosts of Sunday?

“Sunday, Bloody Sunday”


From your distant country’s

On the edge of peace and tranquility

Within your rural trees of serenity


Beyond invisible borders of rivalry

Between oblivious inequality

From the old schoolyard bully

Overseeing an avoidable atrocity


Again another “Sunday, Bloody Sunday”

How can they forget history so quickly?



Tullawalla #27, Is There More?

Hello dear readers and followers … I’m happy to announce that I have managed to produce my “Twenty Seventh Tullawalla” … For new readers that don’t know about these booklets, they are basically the reason why I write poetry. I produce these ‘home-printed’ booklets for the sole purpose of raising funds for my favourite charity organisation, the MS Society, in Australia via the MS Charity Shop here in Geelong. And actually all money’s I receive for any of my poetry .via, submissions, I donate to the MS Society…. I’m proud to announce, that the sale of my “Tullawalla Booklets”, have now gone pass $1500.00, … to all the lovely readers, who have donated, to help achieve such a wonderful amount, a big heartfelt thank you, from “us” and the MS Society … …..Incredibly, there is now a total of “1156 poems”, Yep over “A Thousand Poems” in my collection/series of “27” Tullawalla Booklets. After 2 months, this booklet is finally completed, and ready for sale now !! As always, they are available for purchase, either as a hard copy ‘Booklet’, or a PDF format….. All proceeds go to the MS Charity Shop, here in Geelong West….. Please contact me here through my website page and I can chat about arrangements from there…. Oh, the booklet is called “Tullawalla, Is There More?”… And here is the link to my website >> https://ivors20.wordpress.com




Is There More?


Beyond my front door

Will there be more?


When the lights go out

I quietly sit and stare

To see what is out there


Is there more?

Than starlit stairs

And when will I?

Begin the climb






Ivor Steven (c) February 2022

Love is Not Declined 

 

My internal battle is never ending  

Neither won nor lost 

My opponent is my ghost 


I forgive with the morning dew 

And my regrets are few 


There is two breaths in every moment  

The first one kisses our heart 

The second breath caresses our soul


 

True love is hard to find  

And impossible to define 

When found, be exceedingly kind 

Love can spellbind your mind 

But blindly, love is not declined 






Ivor Steven (c) February 2022

Any Afternoon


Mid afternoon

Here in my empty room

Between unruffled sheets

With the curtains drawn


I remember our matinee’s

Of laughter and soft sighs

You would tickle my feet

As I caressed your naked thighs


Tomorrow afternoon

There in my lonely room

Between unruffled sheets

The curtain falls at my feet







Ivor Steven (c) February 2022

Ex Comes Before Why 


Do you get caught staring? 

At an unknown person 

Who returns your stare 

With an angry glare 


Sorry! 

I was daydreaming 

Inside an empty vortex 

You were not in there 

Nor next


 

My vacant gaze 

Was mindlessly waiting 

For my sparkling mirage 

To turn into Cinderella’s carriage 


Or am I? 

The next ex 

Before the why 






Ivor Steven (c) February 2022

A Buzzing Chime



It’s the devil in me

The curiosity of a buzzing bee

I just had to see

Your words of poetry


Writing is a conundrum

Your quill keeps attuning the drum

A humming note on every blue line

Do not worry if your rhythm is not in time

I only need to hear the chiming of your rhyme

To understand your journey’s resounding climb






Ivor Steven (c) February 2022