Throwback Friday, It Was Time To Leave

Cousin Lynn and Robin with Mungo and Kelly

Cousin Maureen and doggies Z-Z and Co-Co

Cousin Penny, and then Dave, Penny, and Ivor

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Here I am on a Jet Plane, somewhere over the Pacific Ocean. Therefore today’s Throwback Friday poem is a very appropriate finale piece, to coincide with my amazing adventures in Canada over the past 21 days.

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It Was Time To Leave (Revised)

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It’s time to tidy up my mess
Clean up the room and get dressed
It’s time to pack my suitcase
Fill the travel bag and vacate this place
It’s time to put on my famous rocker shoes
And walk away from this dream come true
It’s time to say heartfelt goodbyes
To these wonderful Canadian guys
It’s time for final hugs and kisses
Sad farewells and best wishes
It’s time for my usual emotional tears
Separate myself from these every day cheers
It’s time to flyaway from a land of berries and fairies
Leave this magical world of faraway families
It’s time to say a million thank you’s
For making my stay a Really Real great do
It’s time for me to travel back home
With glorious memories of this magical Astrodome

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Ivor Steven (c) September 2025

Shangri La, Volume 21, Beyond the Midday Moon

FREE PDF COPY >>> Links Below

Hello, dear readers and followers. As you may know, I stopped producing my “Tullawalla Booklets” at #31 because that was the house number of our family’s Tullawalla Homestead.
Yet the booklet format is a superb way for me to catalogue the vast number of poems I produce, and as the saying goes, “I Am Turning Another Page”. Here I have begun a new series of poem booklets, called “Shangri La”, the name of my little Villa, and it is my piece of “earthly paradise, a retreat from the pressures of modern civilization”.
I now have “2407” poems gathered across these booklets
(On my bookshelf, sits “The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson, with 1775 poems — when I first began writing, I never imagined I would one day surpass that number.)

“Like all my booklets, this one is here to be read at your leisure — no rush, no expectation, just an open page waiting when you are.”

Click >> Here – for the link to your FREE: PDF Copy of “Shangri La, Volume 21, Beyond the Midday Moon.”

OR … Shangri La, Volume 21, Beyond the Midday Moon.pdf




Beyond the Midday Moon


The midday moon
is less than 10° above the horizon —
low enough
for my weary wings
to fly over.

The morning clouds are dispersing,
and up here, above the moon,
my shadows are free
to echo my dreams.

Between the sky and the moon,
I gaze into their shared light —
sometimes life is out of sight,
other times everything is alright,
either way, they welcome
my unspoken words,
whether day or night.





A song that drifts in the same strange daylight as the poem — a quiet companion to the light above us.


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Until Eyes Hear Sound

Amazon >> Amazon.com : Until Eyes Hear Sound

Lulu Books >>  Until Eyes Hear Sound (lulu.com)



Perceptions:

Amazon >>  Perceptions : Steven, Ivor, Knight, Derrick: Amazon.com.au: Books
Lulu Books >>  Perceptions (lulu.com)



Tullawalla:

Amazon >> Tullawalla A Meeting Place Where My Empty Hands are Full of Memories and Rhymes : Steven, Ivor: Amazon.com.au: Books


OR: >> You may email me directly for a signed copy at
ivorrs20@gmail.com … and I can send you a PayPal account,
for the Book, plus Postage.


Ivor Steven ©  July 2026

The Full Moon and the Corellas (a Tanka)

Please note: All the images are mine and then sharpened and enhanced by Copilot.

Under the full moon’s watch, the Corellas turn the late afternoon sky into a jubilant parade.





The Full Moon and the Corellas (a Tanka)


I hear them squawking
As they fly through my blue sky
Those white Corellas
May look very elegant
But they sound like elephants




As a small tribute to Glen Hansard, whose music has long travelled beside me — a voice that rose and broke like birds in the late‑afternoon sky — here is his unforgettable performance of Bird of Sorrow.




Ivor Steven ©  August 2026

The Icings on the Cake, or a Sweet Full Moon

When the full moon rises, Frankie and I can’t help but chase its glow. What begins as a playful lift‑off soon becomes a delicious journey through clouds that taste like desserts and skies that shimmer with childhood magic.


“Itmims”
Ivor’s Time Machine In Micro Space





The Icings on the Cake, or a Sweet Full Moon



I’ve time enough to finish my mushy mango.
The full moon is about to put on a show.
Both Frankie and my spacecraft, Itmims,
are howling and revving to go.

I pour the leftover banana juice
into the awaiting craft’s fuel compartment,
then untether the impatient machine,
and Frankie and I quickly jump aboard.
Up, up and away we go,
high above the mist and creamy snow.

We fly toward the cherry pie clouds
and twilight’s strawberry jelly sky,
where, to our consummate delight,
we spy the full moon’s white Knight
glowing brighter than grandma’s
world-famous passionfruit pavlova






Ivor Steven ©  August 2026

Throwback Friday, Life’s Blooms (a Haiku)

In keeping with my Haiku theme this week, I’m reaching back to July 2019 — a reflective moment from my extraordinary trip to America to visit my cousins in Philadelphia.


Flower from Longwood Gardens, and Frankie with his friend, Missy



Life’s Blooms (a Haiku)

Summer in full bloom
Beds of petals for our hearts
Life’s fragrant adieu




And if Xavier Rudd’s music has ever found a home in your day, this ten‑minute piece will feel right at ease beside the haiku — a gentle companion to its drifting, fragrant mood.



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Until Eyes Hear Sound

Amazon >> Amazon.com : Until Eyes Hear Sound

Lulu Books >>  Until Eyes Hear Sound (lulu.com)



Perceptions:

Amazon >>  Perceptions : Steven, Ivor, Knight, Derrick: Amazon.com.au: Books
Lulu Books >>  Perceptions (lulu.com)



Tullawalla:

Amazon >> Tullawalla A Meeting Place Where My Empty Hands are Full of Memories and Rhymes : Steven, Ivor: Amazon.com.au: Books


OR: >> You may email me directly for a signed copy at
ivorrs20@gmail.com … and I can send you a PayPal account,
for the Book, plus Postage.


Ivor Steven ©  July 2026

Everlasting (a Tanka)

Some days arrive quietly and leave a lasting tremor in the heart. Today was one of them. This finale 75th birthday wasn’t just a celebration of another year — it became a gathering of the people who have walked beside me through the most profound chapters of my life.

This group of friends is woven into every part of Carole’s story. They were there when she and I first met, full of hope and laughter. They were there when MS entered our lives forty‑four years ago, offering care, strength, and the kind of support that can only come from people who love without hesitation. Through three decades of Carole’s battle, they stood with us — not as visitors, but as family.

And even after Carole passed fourteen years ago, the thread didn’t break. Every three or four months, we gather to honour her astonishing life — her compassion, her grace, and that infectious smile that could soften any room. Today, on my birthday, that ritual became something deeper. It felt like a circle closing gently around memory, friendship, and the enduring presence of a woman who shaped us all.


The Crew, and my birthday Barbeque Apron present; a handcrafted gift by Dot … “Macbeth shall never vanquished be until Great Birnam wood to high Dunsinane hill Shall come against him.”



Everlasting (a Tanka)


This circle of friends,
like a silver wedding ring,
bright and long-lasting,
lovingly loyal and strong —
yet time does not weary them.




A tune for the long road we’ve walked together — still singing, still smiling. A journey that continues to be brightened by loyal friends.




Ivor Steven ©  July 2026

Dark Grains of Sand

Twilight has a way of softening the edges of the day. In that fading light, time feels loose in the hands, slipping grain by grain. Dark Grains of Sand follows that quiet fall into evening.





Dark Grains of Sand


As the sun sinks
beyond the land,
the horizon’s sky swirls
like tanned quicksand.

As the night begins to melt
into tawny strands,
twilight unfurls across
the wandering bard’s grandstand.

As the grains of time
drift through his hands
the encroaching darkness
remains unmanned and unplanned.





Bob Dylan’s “Every Grain of Sand” drifts through the same twilight hush — a perfect echo for this piece.





Ivor Steven ©  July 2026

The Moon’s Daytime Matinee

There are moments in the afternoon when the sky invites us to sense more than we see — when a pale moon lingers above our familiar fixtures and asks us to listen with our eyes.
Perhaps, One Day, we’ll pause long enough to notice our daytime luminary’s quiet offerings.


Over at Weekly Prompts, it’s time for the “One Day Prompt.” To visit their fabulous site, please click on >> Here




The Moon’s Daytime Matinee


Mid-afternoon,
and the half moon
is lingering
in the middle of the sky,
glowing like a luminary’s lantern.

There for everyone
to listen with their tired eyes
and peruse the moon’s
visionary daytime matinee.

Perhaps,
at the same moment,
the audience will absorb
the extra light waves
from the ancient orb’s
timeless wisdom.






And as the afternoon drifts on, the moon leaves its quiet note behind, a reminder that even in daylight, wonder still finds a way to shine.




Ivor Steven ©  July 2026

Unwinding (a Senryu)

In the soft drift between yesterday’s echo and tomorrow’s hush, I found myself pausing — watching a magpie unwind in the morning light, and hearing a song carry the same quiet truth. Some moments ask nothing of us but to breathe, to notice, to be held gently in the turning of time





Unwinding (a Senryu)


Living for today
Remembering yesterday
Minding tomorrow





And in this song’s wind‑worn footsteps, my little senryu finds its own way forward.





Ivor Steven ©  July 2026