Tag: Weekly Prompts

Help or Hindrance

“As a poet, sometimes we confuse ourselves, Trying to create ashes, instead of fire ” – Leonard Cohen

Over at Weekly Prompts the November Colour Challenge is: Flame … Please click on >> Here to visit their fabulous site.
My poem below, is about whether or not anyone reads or takes any notice of the “flame” within a poet’s words.

“I set out one night
When the tide was low
There were signs in the sky
But I did not know
I’d be caught in the grip
Of the undertow” – Leonard Cohen, from his poem ‘Undertow’, taken out his book “The Flame”



Help or Hindrance


There the penguin squats

So slick and smug

Point blank

He questions me

“What are you doing?

Where are you going?

What are you trying to achieve?”

Why are you crying?


“I’m timeworn and unsure”

I blandly reply to Freddie

The fidgety fairy penguin

And despairingly, I gaze

Back at Freddie

Through my teary eyes


As I continue to wonder

Are my imaginary words

A help or hindrance








“Until Eyes Hear Sound” will be available in December

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:

Amazon: https://amzn.asia/d/4yFHWrT

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) November 2023

I Am Tree

Over at Weekly Prompts, the Weekend Challenge is the word: Why. You may visit their fabulous site by clicking on >> Here
Featured Image Above: A photo taken by Derrick Knight, >> https://derrickjknight.com/2023/10/27/autumn-has-arrived/ and again he has kindly given me permission to reproduce his intriguing photo, here on my poetry site … and I am always asking myself, Why?


I Am Tree 

 
 
I am the one 

Leaning against the sands of time  

I am the one 

Binding the earth together  

I am the one 

Delivering clean air to all  


I am the only one! 


Do not slaughter me 

Like another one of 

Mankind’s maniacal genocides  


Please regenerate me  

Before all of my ashes 

Are swept out to sea 







Ivor Steven (c) October 2023

A Fluffy White Stairway

Over at Weekly Prompts “today is the 1st October”, and the October Colour Challenge is Just Black! … Please visit their fabulous site by clicking on >> Here … and below is my response to the ‘Prompt’


A Fluffy White Stairway


Gazing above

At the faint fluffy clouds

I see a narrow stairway

Ascending into the sky


I wonder

What happens

At the top of the stairs

Beyond the open doorway

Will the outlook

Be dazzling white

Or a panorama

Of just black








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:

Amazon: https://amzn.asia/d/4yFHWrT

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) September 2023

Broken Ground

Over at Weekly Prompts, the Wednesday Challenge is: Broken Please visit their fabulous site by clicking on >> Here … My appropriate Broken poem is attached below




Broken Ground




I stand here

and look to the east

my tolerant eyes

see an unbroken white moon

in a clear sapphire sky


behind me

from the west

I feel the unbroken golden sun

warm my ancient shoulders


here I am

standing on

middle ground


below me

I hear my broken earth

groan through the cracks

caused by the broken

and unshackled chains of war







Ivor Steven (c) Sept 2023

More Duck Muck (a Tanka)

Over at Weekly Prompts, the Weekend Challenge word is: Energy. Please visit their fabulous site by clicking on >> Here … things are still yucky here on my computer and to post a poem is proving to be quite a challenge and very “Energy” sapping for me …


More Duck Muck (a Tanka)


a plucky golden

sunset, stuns my yucky eyes

stuck inside the screen

of my computer’s duck muck

“Captain Starbuck’s coming soon”







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:

Amazon: https://amzn.asia/d/4yFHWrT

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) September 2023

The Faeries Minder (a Tanka)

On my “nearby” walking track this morning I happened to spy some “nearby” Dragonflies. …
Over at Weekly Prompts, the Weekend Challenge is; Nearby … Please visit their fabulous site by clicking on >> Here .





The Faeries Minder (a Tanka)




Noble dragonfly

The faerie realm’s minder

Of exuberance

Good luck and prosperity

Beneath his wings of wisdom







Ivor Steven (c) Sept 2023

Throwback Friday, Lullaby (a Senryu)

Today I am presenting another poem that will be appearing in my new book “Until Eyes Hear Sound”. I wrote ‘Lullaby’ in May 2023, and the Senryu will be the opening piece in the ‘Senryu’ section of Chapter 10. Short Poems: Haiku, Senryu, Tanka, and Others.

And coincidently, over at Weekly Prompts, the Midweek Challenge is the word Napping, please visit their fabulous site by clicking on >> Here …

Please Note: All above images (Except the one of Frankie), were by taken by Derrick Knight, and he kindly allows me to reproduce his wonderful photos here on my poetry website. If you wish, you may visit his fabulous Site via this link > https://derrickjknight.com/2023/05/17/baby-species/




Lullaby (a Senryu)



Sleep little ones, sleep

Our Chaotic world will wait

Until eyes hear sound








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:

Amazon: https://amzn.asia/d/4yFHWrT

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) September 2023

Burning the Fears

Over at Weekly Prompts, the word: Backwards is the Weekend Challenge. Please visit their fabulous site by clicking on >> Here. – Below, I followed Sue’s suggestion and went “Backwards” through my files and found this intriguing piece from September 2017
Featured Image: Artwork, by Kerri Costello, Graphic Design Artist, my amazing niece/second cousin, who lives in Philadelphia, and I think this was the first design that she created for my poetry website.


Burning the Fears


I’m frightened, and too scared to show my face

And knowingly, I’m arriving late

The ghouls are spying from the hill

And lower fools are poisoning her will

Underneath her, a wicker complete

Above, she’s suspended from a stake

The bonfires started, against the rules

And the crowds rejoicing, as the fire drools

Waiting agog, for her garments to ignite

The flames are crackling below her tonight

And the mob’s listening for her ungodly screams

But there’s not a whimper! Within she beams

And secretly, I see her black cat’s drowning tears

Are extinguishing all her burning fears






Ivor Steven (c) August 2023

The Weather’s Like a Boomerang

Over at “Weekly Prompts”, the Weekend Challenge is the word: Bucolic, please visit their fabulous site by clicking on >> Here … Below is my ‘Rural Weather’ response to the Prompt


The Weather’s Like a Boomerang


Saturday afternoon

We are stuck in the lounge room

Talking to the idiot-box

Outside there’s a winter monsoon

And the rain-god’s drops

Are as big as tablespoons

Full of crushed ice-blocks


Our day of play has gone

Tweedily tweet! The cuckoo sang

“Time to yawn

until tomorrow’s dawn

while waiting for tonight’s moon

to throw the next boomerang”








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:

Amazon: https://amzn.asia/d/4yFHWrT

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) August 2023

The Hands of Time

The Weekend Challenge on Weekly Prompts is the word: Property. You can visit their fabulous site by clicking on >> Here … My poem below, is about the elusive “Properties” of Time


The Hands of Time


Time and time again

I do not have enough time

I cannot catch time

I cannot see time

And sometimes

I have even lost time


No matter the time

I have no time

To write a rhyme

Clean sheets wait for new lines

Empty pages are in mime

I cannot remember the time

When my heart’s rhythm

Last ticked in time

With the spare time

Inside my mind








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:

Amazon: https://amzn.asia/d/4yFHWrT

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 2023