Author: ivor20

G'day, and welcome to my blog site. My name is Ivor Steven, I live in Geelong, Australia. I'm an ex-industrial chemist, and a retired plumber, and a former Carer of my wife(Carole), for 30 years, who suffered from severe MS. I Write poetry about those personal thoughts, throughout and beyond my life as a Carer. I've been blogging for over 2 years, and writing poems for 19 years. Of course a lot of my poems are about my favourite subject Carole, but since I've been blogging my writings have become quite varied, humourous, mystical, observational, and even a few monster/horror poems.

Birds! (a Tanka)

A flock of Corella’s

Graceful Doves

Grey Fantails, very swift and agile (challenging to photograph)





Birds! (a Tanka)

I stand here and sigh
As all the birds fly past me
Chirping happily
I stand here and wonder why
Freedom is only for them








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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



Ivor Steven © April 2025

All My Leaves Are Brown





All My Leaves Are Brown



Here I sway on barren ground
my leaves have turned brown
and are sullenly looking down,
my branches are going brittle
withering away little by little

I have heard passersby say
“That tree is dying and
should be taken away”

Then I think to myself
“Maybe they’ll make me into a bookshelf
for the Library at the Tree Hospital”






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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



Ivor Steven © April 2025

Tranquility: An Anthology of Haiku. Edited by, Gabiela Marie Milton

I am excited to announce that five of my Haiku poems have been selected for the upcoming Literary Revelations Publication, Tranquility: An Anthology of Haiku (coming in the second part of April). Thank you to the editor, Gabriela, for her kind consideration.



ON THE BACK OF THE COVER

Following the overwhelming success of “Petals of Haiku,” which captured hearts and souls and became an Amazon bestseller, Literary Revelations Publishing House brings you “Tranquility: An Anthology of Haiku.” This new anthology will enchant readers with its delicate imagery and transitory moments, which inscribe themselves in eternity. Featuring nearly 260 talented authors, each bringing their talent and unique perspectives, Tranquility invites you to immerse yourself in a world where night flowers bloom and whispers linger in the spring air. Poets are prophets linked to nature. Haiku is their language.  

THOUGHTS ON HAIKU

In haiku, seriousness and fun coexist beautifully, reminding us that it is okay to embrace both sides of our daily experiences. Consider how haiku can reflect on life’s weighty themes sometimes with a lighthearted twist. The god of haiku knows that laughter is just as profound as solemnity.

In philosophy, solemnity can feel heavy—like wearing an overstuffed winter coat on a sunny day. But then comes laughter, lightening the load and reminding us that life is not all deep dives; sometimes, it’s about splashing in puddles most graciously and beautifully.






Ivor Steven (c) April 2025

A Cayenne Sunset




A Cayenne Sunset

From in between the evening tide clouds
The sun proudly unveils a spectacle for the crowd

The fluorescent setting sun converges
With the horizon’s shimmering verges
Just before the cayenne sun submerges

And just then
I imagined the sun to be a yellow submarine
Entering the Earth’s sacred Sistine






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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


Ivor Steven © April 2025

Throwback Friday, Beyond Dark, There is Light (Revised)

Today’s Throwback Friday poem is from July 2021.



Beyond Dark, There is Light (Revised)




Looking back
What do you see?
Tall mountains and a dark sky that surround me

Looking back
What do you see?
Bottomless wells and a deep river inside me

Looking back
What do you see?
Melted snowflakes and icy tears that drown me

Looking back
What do you see?
Treasured memories and a brave soul that revives me






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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


Ivor Steven © April 2025



Statuettes and Silhouettes

A Silhouette Quote: “The faceless silhouettes seemed to look at each other, as if wishing they could resolve the situation between themselves, without having to trouble their owners.”
― Hernan Diaz, Trust






Statuettes and Silhouettes


Without Indulging in the planet’s regrets
Or wearing any showy epaulets
Our golden sun peacefully sets

Meanwhile
From the shady balconies of the ruler’s minarets

When will our world’s shadowy statuettes
Leave the safety of their bassinets
And unite our twilight’s
Xenophobic silhouettes?






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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


Ivor Steven © April 2025

The Sun Loves Everything (a Haiku)

Photo credit; Rob Mulally @ Unsplash

Today, my Haiku is in response to Sadje’s WDYS # 282. To visit her fabulous site please click on >> Here

Below are my ‘Sunny Bird Images’ from yesterday







The Sun Loves Everything (a Haiku)


From above the doves
The sun kisses everything
In the name of love






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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

Ivor Steven © April 2025

Oh, My Waning Moon, is in this week’s Coffee House Writers Magazine edition.

Hello, dear readers and followers. I write for Coffee House Writers magazine (USA) fortnightly, and my poem “Oh, My Waning Moon” is in this week’s edition. …
To read my poem, please click on the link below to visit the article, at Coffee House Writers Magazine.
>> https://coffeehousewriters.com/oh-my-waning-moon/






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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

Ivor Steven © April 2025

Shangri La, Volume 13. Below My Crown

FREE PDF COPY >>> Links Below

Hello, dear readers and followers. As you might know, I stopped producing my “Tullawalla Booklets” at # 31 because that was the house number of our family’s Tullawalla Homestead.
But the booklet formats are 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” which is the name of my little Villa, and is my piece of “earthly paradise, a retreat from the pressures of modern civilization”.
I now have “1950” Poems filed in these booklet formats!!
(on my bookshelf I have “The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson, which contains 1775 poems … when I first started writing poems, I never envisaged that I would produce so many poems)

Click on >> Here, for the link to your FREE: PDF Copy of “Shangri La, Volume 13, Below My Crown”

OR … Shangri La, Vol 13, Below My Crown.pdf



Below My Crown

Deep into the Twilight Zone
At that moment above the horizon
When the sun is sliding down
Underneath his eiderdown

Nature dons her noble crown
And declares to everyone in town
“There’s no need to be a sad clown
or wear a worried frown.
Take your time to have a look around,
the world is not falling down”





Ivor Steven © March 31st 2025