Drifting Bassinets
On my knees, by the sea
Looking beyond our sentinel trees
I hear their whistling palms
Forlornly echoing abandoned alarms
Through their leaves’ silhouettes
I see a becalmed ocean of wavelets
Caressing a boat full of suffragettes
Fleeing the dusty sky of Mariupol sunsets
Clutching their war-torn bassinets
Ivor Steven (c) July 2025
Today’s poem was my inspired poetic response to David’s “Sijo”, ‘Of all things, or: Bridge to nowhere’. >> https://skepticskaddish.com/2025/03/28/of-all-things-or-bridge-to-nowhere/
Over at Weekly Prompts, since it’s the last weekend of the month, “One Day” is again the monthly Prompt! To visit their fabulous site, please click on >> Here
One Day, or: Bless My Soul
Beneath our feet, there lies a common mound
Between our ears, the winds of time hear no sound
Below our eyes, the promised land cannot be found
Within our hearts, we share the lost and drowned
Beyond our souls, the world’s burial grounds
Belong to the hounds, who run the battlegrounds
Ivor Steven © March 2025
Today’s Throwback Friday poem was written in March 2022, and appears in my third book, “Until Eyes Hear Sound”, Chapter 1, Little Creatures and Birds, page 6
Innocent Millipedes
Please Mr Shootin’ Putin
Do not roll your tanks of destruction
Over the innocent Mr & Mrs Millipede
Millipedes were the earliest animals to breathe air
And make the move from water to land
They date back 428 million years
Now people of the world cannot hold back their tears
Did you know Mr Shootin’ Putin
That Millipedes are fairly timid critters
Docile decomposers that live in the leaf litter
Of forests all over the world!
They aren’t flashy or fast
And they follow the motto
“Slow and steady wins the race”
Millipedes are peaceful
They don’t bite
They can’t sting
And they don’t have pincers to fight back
Please Mr Shootin’ Putin
Do not roll your tanks of destruction
Over the innocence of creation
.
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 (c) March 2025
Walking in the Hard Rain
“Welcome,” said Nature with a grin
The second day of Autumn
Was wet with a cold westerly wind
And the hard pouring rain
Felt like icy needles and pins
However, without commands or demands
Here I live, in this far away land
Where a coward’s hammer and nails can not pierce my hand
Or deter my protests from a flooded grandstand
I hear only helter skelter from the expellers
As I think about the children
Sheltering in their damp cellars
Hiding from Putin’s hard rain
A deluge of bombs and bullets
Callously sent to kill and maim
.
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 (c) March 2025
Handcuffs and Fisticuffs
Climbing out of the darkness
The peaceful moom cautiously emerges
And involuntarily reflects our truthfulness
Are we self-consciously honest enough?
To read his self-evident messages
Are we able to undo our self-imposed handcuffs?
And cease our self-righteous fisticuffs
.
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 (c) January 2025
Who’s Following Who?
Who are the moonrakers?
Who are the matchstick makers?
Who are the dictators?
Who are the takers?
Who is flying south?
Who is flying off at the mouth?
Who is to release the East?
From the unpoliced wild beast
Where are the high priests?
Are we being fleeced?
Piece by piece
How can peace ever be unleashed?
While heartless bastards feast
On our poor bakers’ yeast
.
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 (c) January 2025
Again, Another Year Out Of Tune
Two thousand and twenty-four
Dramatic drones pierced closed doors
As wars were recoated and reloaded
Inflated and dangerously bloated
Earth’s clouded atmosphere is corroded
Our lives are shrouded and overcrowded
Politics and countries are not immune
And the World continues to spin out of tune
Here in Aussie land, normality twirls in dizziness
As we wait for next year’s unfinished business
Ivor Steven (c) December 31st 2024
Today’s philosophical Throwback Friday poem was written in April 2022 and is published in my book “Until Eyes Hear Sound”
Day One
Before Day One
I wished upon a star
That the milk-bar
Was not too far away
My life’s bread was crumbling
My weathered hands were fumbling
Witnessing the Last Supper was humbling
Day One
There, beyond the darkness
Out in the universe
From a million light-years away
Under an alien’s microscopic frame
We would all look the same
After Day One
I wished for the dust to settle
Then waited for rusted gunmetal
To mature into household kettles
Whistling hallelujah to new sunflower petals
Ivor Steven (c) December 2024
Hello, dear readers and followers. I’m going away for a 10-day holiday and a break tomorrow, but I’ve ‘Scheduled’ several poems on my WP site while Frankie and I are up at Ballarat. (so my WP blogging will be very minimal)
A Sunflower Reminder (a Tanka)
My sunflower blooms
Three short days before Christmas
But three long winters
Have passed over the meadows
Without peace in the Ukraine
Ivor Steven (c) December 2024
Over at Weekly Prompts, the Weekend Challenge is the word: Damaged
Please visit their fabulous site by clicking on >> Here
Damage Control
“What is the matter
What does it matter
What, is not matter” … Ivor
Do not worry about the damage
Caused by malicious matter outside
We are all mere morsels
Within Nature’s Brewing pot
Bubbling and gurgling away together
Atop of the earth’s volcanic well
“We cannot be consoled
Nor can we be controlled
By the Corporate bankroll” … Ivor
All Books. Now Available At:
Creative Geelong MAY’D Shop,
Shop 15/Centrepoint Arcade
132 Little Malop St, Geelong
TRADING HOURS
Thursday-Saturday
11am-3pm
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 (c) November 2024
Ivor.Plumber/Poet 