“How wonderful the colour yellow is. It stands for the sun!” – Vincent Van Gogh.
This weekend is the Monthly Colour Challenge for August, and the ‘Weekly Prompt’ team have chosen; Sunshine Yellow. Please go and visit their fabulous site by clicking > Here Below; is my response to the prompt, with attached photos and a Haiku
Yellow Light, a Haiku
Today the sky smiled
Above golden setting sun
And the moon did shine
Ivor Steven (c) August 2020
The Weekend Challenge on Weekly Prompts is, Scenic. Please go over and visit their fabulous site by clicking >> Here … Below is my photographic article in response to the prompt…
My Scenic Saturday
After writing my daily poem in the morning, I then pottered around in my courtyard garden, however my fingers were becoming frozen from the frosty dawn, and I decided to delay the potting, until after going out for my usual Saturday coffee and cafe visit, to the scenically rural Box Office Cafe. The above photos are from my lunchtime visit today. The winter sun was starting to warm me up, and on viewing my photos, you’ll understand, (maybe), why I frequent this quaint and rustic establishment….
It was definitely a lot warmer when I arrived home. Last week a friend of mine made me two wall hanging racks out old wooden pallets. I hung them up during the week, and today was my day to fill the two pallets with plants… The below photos, were taken after I finished the potting and planting…. and I’m very pleased with the gorgeous ”scenic” outlook of my small but vibrant courtyard…
Ivor Steven (c) June 2020
I posted this poem yesterday evening, I’m republishing today, without the ‘Links/Pingbacks’… and I’m adding another old ‘Bee Gees’ song “Words”, which seems to be appropriate for my poem here, which basically, is only ‘words’ from my pondering thoughts.
Our World, Air For Us All
What grows up
Eternally falls to ground
What’s absorbed in
Eventually seeps out
Did you hear the sound?
The world is round
But is the universe a square?
As we struggle to breathe in our share
Did you hear there’s enough air for us all?
So why cry before we’ve learnt how to crawl?
Ivor Steven (c) June 2020
On “Weekly Prompts” their weekend challenge is: Story. Please go and visit their fabulous site by clicking >>HERE…. And below I’m continuing my “Story” about my trip to Philadelphia in May last year, via a collection of my poems and haiku’s …
Wet Flowers of May
Philadelphia rain
Like a rattling freight train
Wet fat drops
That didn’t stop
Watering flowers on mother’s day
Sharing the liquid joy of May
Haiku: Family History
Boxes of photos
Memory lane in my hands
Decades of stories
The Golden Pot
I’ve travelled to the end
Of yesterday’s rainbow
I found the golden pot was full
Full of warm hearts
The pot of hearts was overflowing
With ladles full of kindness
And their kindness was a cascading
River of magical rainbows
Haiku: We Lost The Sea
Bridges of dreams crossed
The ocean and river spanned
Waters of love found
Ivor Steven (c) May 2019
This Saturday, the weekend challenge on Weekly Prompts is: Walkabout. Please go over and visit their fabulous site by clicking >> HERE. And below is my response their prompt.
The Forest Of Doubt
Tonight, after dusk
I’ll be in the dark forest of Doubt
On a mystical walkabout
To find those elusive faeries
With their wings of mysterious star-dust
And I shall fill my empty pockets
Ready for Mothers Day tomorrow
Whereupon I’ll spread the magical sparkles
One handful on my mother’s headstone
The second one on my wife’s grave site
And as the same as other years gone by
For us, the faeries willing share their night
Ivor Steven (c) May 2020
In this week’s Wednesday challenge “Weekly Prompts” have chosen a very important word for the time we are living in : VULNERABILITY. Please go and visit “Weekly Prompts” site by clicking >>HERE. Yes we are definitely living in vulnerable times of isolation and distancing. My poem below is about staying connected via our websites. And Hanna Kah’s website platform, is a good example of putting your talents out there, for everyone to enjoy… Here’s the link to their site > https://www.culture-y.com/ , and for an added bonus, if you click onto their site, and click ‘Home’, and then click on the video on their Header Page, you’ll get a video show of Hanna Kah’s live performance, from in her lounge-room studio…. please enjoy the show….
We’re All Here, As One
Mid afternoon
Time for a cuppa and cake
In the safety
Of my writing haven
Sheltering under the verandah
Listening to Hanna Kay’s music
Via a direct connection to Germany
Playing songs from her lounge-room
All the way to my courtyard
I’m all alone here
However, I’m sharing all of my words
To all of you readers
From all around the world
We’re all at a distance apart
But we’re all here, as one
Ivor Steven (c) April 2020
This weekend the challenge from “Weekly Prompts” is: Up and Down. Please go over and visit their fabulous site by clicking >>Here . My response below is a poem about, the ‘downs and ups’ of our worlds situation at the moment….
An Old Book Shuts, a New Door Opens
Today I question myself
What do I see?
Upon my worlds’ lower shelf
There! An open wider drawer
Containing a treasure chest
A vast crater of potential
An orb with a mystical two piece door
The doors’ bottom half’s pale blue
Like yesterday’s fading blue moon
A book of old testaments
The doors’ top half’s bright yellow
A gateway of gilded gold
The book of tomorrow’s future
The new prophecy of days under the sun
Ivor Steven (c)
This week’s Wednesday Challenge on the “Weekly Prompts” site is the word BOUNDARIES. Please go over and visit their fabulous site by clicking >>HERE . Below is my poem about the biggest social boundary every put in place on this planet !!
Sage Bush At Guard Tower Twelve
I’ve been on the run for weeks
Heading towards the Great Wall
From atop this steep hill
My nose tells me, I’m close
And I smell that distinctive sage aroma
Knowing, the sage bush is nearby
Below the gateway to guard tower twelve
My old bones shake and shiver
The Mongolians are closing quickly
Spears and arrows aquiver
Fear grips me, and I crawl low
Fingers grasping this granite boundary
Block after block, of the giant blockade
Frightened, I’m too scared to fall
Onto those deadly steel blades
And cold rugged rocks below
I clamber higher, step after step
Finally there above, I see my wish
The flowering sage bush
Mauve blooms bowing in the breeze
My chest sighs and heaves
I clear my lungs, and scream
Soon I’ll be free, as I see
Near the sage bush at guard tower twelve
The Emperor’s warriors, my reprieve
Saved, I fill the Royal message bag with sage leaves
Ivor Steven (c) April 2020.
This weekend “The Weekly Prompt” challenge is slightly different from the norm; They have chosen a question, and the question is ‘What is it?‘ Please go and check out their fabulous site by clicking >>HERE…. Above, in the Feature Image, is my photo of “What is it?” , and below is my poem about the object in the photo ??
What? Escalation Again
Is this the germ?
That mysterious virus
Or maybe the cure
Our miracle antibiotic
Why profoundly round?
A slippery pill of renown
Why be so colourful?
The answers a rainbow, upside down
Red’s for blood
Yellow’s our solar sun
Blue for the ocean that surrounds
What about the black crosses?
Sorry, the gravestones
Representing the losses
An insightful imagination
Of a sixteen year-old
During the cold-war escalation
His world then, was young and bold
Ivor Steven (c) March 2020
Over on Weekly Prompts, this weekend’s challenge is: Leap. Please go and visit their fabulous site by clicking >>HERE
Yesterday (Saturday), I went to Geelong’s annual Pako Festa event, a gathering, celebrating the colourful multicultural societies that live in harmony within Geelong’s community. These people who have come from all around the world, have taken a giant leap of faith to resettle their lives here in Geelong. There were over 25 different nationalities represent in the glorious parade, and I’ll let my photos below do all the talking today….. I hope there’s not too many photos, but as you can imagine the parade took well over an hour to go pass me !!
Ivor Steven (c) March 2020
Ivor.Plumber/Poet 