Category: Leonard Cohen

Cohen Noir: Celebrating the Music, Words & Legacy of Leonard Cohen

Cohen Noir: Celebrating the Music, Words & Legacy of Leonard Cohen

There’s a quiet thrill in the air today — Maree and I have just secured our tickets to Cohen Noir: Celebrating the Music, Words & Legacy of Leonard Cohen, live at the Melbourne Recital Centre on Saturday, 26th September.

It’s only four weeks away, but the mood is already settling in: that velvet‑dark Cohen atmosphere, the poetry, the ache, the humour, the songs that have followed us through decades. To step into a hall shaped for his voice — even through the hands of others — feels like a gift waiting patiently on the horizon.

A wonderful night ahead… and I’m looking forward to sharing the experience with you all.



And as we count down the four short weeks to Cohen Noir, I keep returning to the night we saw Leonard himself in Melbourne back in 2009 — a concert that still hums in the heart. To set the mood, here’s his wonderfully cheeky and soulful Tower of Song, live from London in 2008.




Ivor Steven ©  August 2026

Throwback Friday, Destination

Continuing the Leonard Cohen thread from yesterday, today’s Throwback Friday poem, Destination (June 2024), began as a “writing between the lines” exercise for our Dome Poets group here in Geelong. Using Cohen’s The Goal as my guide (shared below), I tried to shape a companion poem that sits quietly between each of his lines.





Destination, by Ivor Steven

The curtains are open
The front door is ajar
So, I can hear her sing
From her distant star

I do not own much
My soul is a gold mine
I haven’t lost my touch
My heart is kind

I share what I have
I have hope and love
Couldn’t stop the flood
Couldn’t hold her glove

I walk alone
I look content
Regrets are few
Despair ferments

I push on and on
I do not complain
I’m still alive
I’m numb to the pain

No one asks
No one knows
About finality
Under the snow

===========================

“The Goal”, by Leonard Cohen


I can’t leave my house
Or answer the phone
I’m going down again
But I’m not alone

Settling at last
Accounts of the soul
This for the trash
That paid in full

As for the fall, it
Began long ago
Can’t stop the rain
Can’t stop the snow

I sit in my chair
I look at the street
The neighbor returns
My smile of defeat

I move with the leaves
I shine with the chrome
I’m almost alive
I’m almost at home

No one to follow
And nothing to teach
Except that the goal
Falls short of the reach





And finally, before the night fades, the poem whose shadows and truths shaped my own lines — Leonard Cohen’s The Goal.


.


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 ©  August 2026

The Portrait That Found Me

“I wish I could say everything in one word. I hate all the things that can happen between the beginning of a sentence and the end.” … Leonard Cohen

Tonight, at the launch of naXOs — Geelong Writers’ new anthology of resonant, experimental poetry — I was invited to read my piece The Portrait That Found Me. Now that the book is in my hands, I’m delighted to share the poem here as it appears in the collection. It grew from a quiet, unexpected moment, the kind of encounter that shifts its own boundaries and finds you before you find it — a fitting addition to an anthology that celebrates fresh connections through image, language, and form.


Moments from tonight’s naXOs anthology launch — my reading of The Portrait That Found Me, shared among friends, voices, and a generous audience.



The poem as published in the naXOs anthology.




And to end the night, a final nod to the voice that steadied my steps — Leonard Cohen, Field Commander of the tender and true



Ivor Steven ©  August 2026

Throwback Friday, Eating Chocolates and Watching Wars

Chocolates are delightfully delicious … wars are deadly and destructive …
Above the valley, a white-feathered messenger rises — reminding us how fragile peace can be

Yesterday we visited the Moorabool Valley Chocolate Café for coffee and cake, and the moment brought this poem back to me — a piece I wrote in August 2018, when a simple liquor chocolate stirred memories, questions, and the ache of a world still at war.






Eating Chocolates And Watching Wars (Revised)

Hungrily, I’m eating a liquor chocolate —
a selfish heavenly delight,
arousing my old mind’s senses.

I wonder
what she would be thinking,
looking down from the stars
through her sensitive olive eyes —
her everlasting smile,
her gracious courage,
her generous heart,
her forgiving soul,
her love for me and you.

I wonder
what she would be thinking,
seeing these futile, bloody wars
through her compassionate olive eyes —
the dead and maimed,
the millions of shuffling homeless,
the distraught, broken families,
the crying children locked in sheds,
the desperate refugees with no beds.

I wonder
what she would be thinking
while she preciously
holds the last white dove,
observing these senseless wars
that never ever ends.





And for the song that holds the cracks and the light, here is Leonard Cohen’s Anthem — offered to a world where the last white dove may never fly free again.




.


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 ©  June 2026

Through the Widening Crack

“There’s a crack in everything, that’s how the light gets in” … Leonard Cohen


“The sky cracked open for a heartbeat, and the light played its own soft melody.”



Through the Widening Crack



Twilight’s canopy of clouds
eclipses the evening sky
with an embracing violet shroud.

However, the squinting sunlight
was silently trying to wave goodbye
through the widening crack
above the sun’s transient eye.

And there on nature’s colourful curtain,
I saw columns of light
ascend the nebulous mountain;
then I wondered
whether I was witnessing the world’s
grand celestial pipe organ
playing a lullaby to the purple night









Ivor Steven ©  April 2026

Ding Dong

Featured Image Above: Created by Copilot and me.


A bell without a gong. A dove without a sky. A poem for uneasy times, paired with Leonard Cohen’s “Anthem.”



Ding Dong


Wondering –
Who’s right and what’s wrong?
Pondering –
Who’s weak and what’s strong?
Unearthing
Another Viet Cong,
Hearing the same old song.

Listening –
The peace bell has no gong.
Foreboding –
Where has the holy dove gone?

Wishing,
Hoping –
Forever too long.








Ivor Steven  ©  January 2026

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

When I Began, “It Was Just a Little Dream”

I am not sure how to explain my inner feelings within my heart today. I know Dad and Mum would be proud of my achievements, and that my Dear Carole would be crying tears of “Liquid Joy” for me … I received the most wonderful news today … my books “Tullawalla and Perceptions” have been accepted by the Geelong Regional Library, and will soon be available on Library’s bookshelves. A big thank you to Kim, the Collection Support & Information Services Officer at the Geelong Library, for accepting my books.
When I began writing (scribbling) poetry 22 years ago, not long after my first stroke, Leonard Cohen’s music and poetic lyrics had a huge influence on the emotions behind my words, and probably his song I have attached below, “One of Us Cannot Be Wrong”, still evokes my heart every time I listen to the incredibly beautiful lyrics.




It’s Just A Little Dream (Tullawalla, page 113)


I’ve been waiting inside
For that never-never ride
Wishing for that little shrug
To turn into a dream-time hug

I’ve been waiting outside
Trying not to hide
Wishing for that little smile
To travel one more mile

I’ve been waiting all-day
Calling out, please stay
Wishing for that little heartbeat
To lay down at my feet

I’ve been waiting all-night
For that one-way flight
Wishing for that little dove
To glide down from above

I’ve been waiting, seems forever
Crying quietly, oh, whatever
Wishing for that little embrace
To sleep with me, face to face








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://www.amazon.com.au/Perceptions-Ivor-Steven/dp/1387487302/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1RD27PWFI9JPS&keywords=perceptions+by+ivor+steven&qid=1676894211&s=books&sprefix=Perceptions%2Cstripbooks%2C1174&sr=1-1

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) February 2023

Blue-stone Cellar (A Repost)

I’m having technical problems try to submit my article to Coffee House Writers this evening, and I am getting frustrated .. so I decided to “Leave The Table” for a while, and found this poem that I wrote after a enjoyable night out, in November 2018, and I’m reposting it here on my site tonight …

Blue-stone Cellar (A Repost)

Old wooden steps

Going down, worn and steep

Revealing a cellar, candle-lit

Walls of blue-stone blocks

With a stained cedar ceiling

Creating a friendly aura of closeness

Intimate and cosy

A perfect place for Mr Cohen’s spirit to be


Sweet Amie Brulee

Sings and plays his songs

And in between, graciously reads his poetry

Jovially chats to the audience

Relaxed and carefree

Her demure smile is spontaneous

Divulging stories about his works

With enthusiasm and passion

Infusing her own subtle wit and humour

A show of genuine warmth and charm

From his tower of song, Leonard would be pleased






Ivor Steven (c) June 2022

An Emerald Tapestry

  “Poetry is just the evidence of life. If your life is burning well, poetry is just the ash.” ― Leonard Cohen
Featured Image Above: taken from the lookout at the Moorabool Valley Chocolate Cafe, overling the emerald valley …

An Emerald Tapestry


I resumed living last decade

Narrowly surviving gravities finality

Now, I lean against my tower’s balustrade

That overlooks an emerald valley


Echoing from my castle’s balcony

I hear Leonard Cohen’s words about life’s pagentry

Outlining the spiritual tapestry

Of commonality, morality, and vitality





Ivor Steven (c) November 2021