Category: Music

Under The Snow

A special poem I wrote, after I’d taken my Lady to hospital for the last time, on the day of her 65th birthday, eleven years ago. Hello Carole, and I wonder if you still wonder that I wonder, about wandering on your celestial star…….

Under The Snow.

We emanate to a birthday.

We deflate to a final day.

Birthdays, they all come, they all go.

Birthdays, in the sunshine, under the snow.

Birthdays, slow to mature, quickly an aeon.

Birthdays, before we are born, after we are gone.

Birthdays, hanging on by a breath.

Birthdays, nailed to a cross ’til death.

What’s it all mean to be alive and cry.

What’s it all mean to live and to die.








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) May 4th 2023


Here I Am, Eleven Years On 

Today, May 3rd, is the eleventh Anniversary of Carole’s passing




Here I Am, Eleven Years On 


here I am shuffling on 

the same old yellow brick road 

that I wandered on eleven years ago 


here I am running from 

the same old dark storm 

that I escaped from eleven years ago 


here I am blushing under  

the same old halfmoon 

that I sheltered under eleven years ago 


here I am dreaming about 

the same old red head 

that I dreamed about eleven years ago 








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) May 3rd 2023

It’s Time To Leave Tasmania


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 Philadelphia guys

It’s time for final hugs and kisses

Sad farewells and best wishes

It’s time for my usual emotional tears

That have been stored away for years





Ivor Steven (c) May

Reflections & Revelations, The Short Of It, Volume 2

Forty-seven poets and writers with astute observations about living, emotions, and our world were featured online in The Short of It publication in 2022. The best of their thoughts fill the pages of this compilation. They will leave you with rich impressions, some providing mysteries to ponder but also many which speak deep truths. Each piece by the poets and writers presented in this collection shows us, with depth and succinctness, what was on their minds. Every one of their poems, as the title of this book suggests, brings to the surface their “reflections and revelations.”
A big thank you to Susi Bocks for editing and producing this outstanding Anthology, and I am proud to have been selected as one of many in a talented list of writers.
“The paperback version is available on Amazon.com NOW!! To get your copy, please CLICK THIS LINK! “




Here are my “Short” poetic entries in Anthology:


Facades

Wearing your best vest 
Is not necessarily a truthful test 
A facade for a restless chest

Again

Summer’s golden plains 
And stormy rains 
Erase winter stains

After Twilight

Starry, starry nights 
Shine on, shine on bright 
Please stay, please stay within sight 

Earthquake

I feel the earth quake
Fracturing tears off my soul
Tremors from my heart

Hail

Hailstones, hard as nails
Falling frozen razor blades
Storm’s icy sharp balls





Ivor Steven (c) April 2023

Today at Sunrise (a Tanka)


Please Note: All photos in my article today were taken by my cousin Maureen, and she kindly allowed me to reproduce them here on my poetry website.



Today at Sunrise (a Tanka)



Dawn on Anzac Day

My cousins are in Torquay

United they stand

Remembering their fathers

Peace they cry, “Lest We Forget”









Ivor Steven (c) 25th April 2023

The Universe of Love and Light (a Tanka)

The Crescent Moon and Venus 6.10pm, April 23rd




The Universe of Love and Light (a Tanka)




The Moon and Venus

Crystalize the twilight sky

Together they dance

She, in the crescent moon’s arms

Love unites the universe







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) April 2023

Afterglow

Put another log on the fire, while I travel to Tasmania with the two Philadelphia girls and three other Aussie cousins … Thursday 27th April – Monday 1st May


Afterglow 
  

 
 
After a frenetic time 

I feel like a burnt-out hollow log 

My charred core is clinging 

Onto nature’s dampened fringes 

Of Autumn leaves and fallen branches 

Where flora stealthily regenerates


 

Steadily, my diminished cavern 

Is growing wider 

And my ambient lantern 

Is glowing brighter 








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) April 2023

Surprise Surprise!

I posted the below “Faeries and Books” article way back in December 2019.


Faeries and Books


Cousin Maureen, Christine(from Go Dog Go Cafe’s website), cousin Terri





Faeries And Books

Australia is a far away land

Only reached by ship or plane

Today, I saw the Ben Franklin Bridge at my door

Distant fairies were knocking, a message for Ivor

From my Philadelphia cousins, Maureen and Terry

They went to a Pop-Up Shop, a writers library

To meet Christine, our chief of  ‘Go Dog Go Cafe’

Who signed a book for me, and a joint photo for my display

Cherished Thanksgiving gifts, to make my heart beat

Now I’m looking forward to my cousin delivering the treats






“On Sunday, at the start of their stay, my cousins (The Good Faeries) Maureen and Terri, presented me with the signed copy of “Smitten” that they had purchased for me way back in November 2019 … I had totally forgotten about the Antology and their gift was truly a very pleasant SURPRISE!”





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) April 2023

Throwback Friday, Time Travelers, original version – December 2017

For my readers, followers, friends and all those who doubt my connection to our unidentified Aliens, my “Mothership” landed for a visit today, to check-up on how I was handling the planet earth’s present dilemmas, and I’m afraid I had to report that the situation here is stagnant and quite grim. 




Time Travelers (Revised) 


Zap, a herculean lightning bolt precedes an astrological power surge

Traversing the cobalt skies, like gigantic electric eels

Vividly scoring chords, to hang our biblical words on

Like musical notes on lines of lost dreams and regrets


Soundwaves echoing, poles apart, going north, south, east, and west

Conducting iridescent aurora lights over our purple sunset

Vibrating quasars pulsating from deep inside outer space

Focusing on the huge magnetic Receiving Dish, signaling “An Arrival”


Recording a celestial traveler, singing with an angel’s voice

Resonating sweetly, like Handel’s, Messiah Hallelujah Chorus

Translated into the universal language of symphonic sound

Digitally simulcast and televised to the world’s population


A Super-Sonic Cosmic message to be heard loud and clear

“We have returned to your degraded planet earth

to again, bestow upon you, Peace and Goodwill

like we have done before, Eons of Millenniums ago”








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) April 2023

Hosting My Philadelphia Cousins, Part 2

Wednesday :
We visited the historic Paper Mill tourist area in Fyansford, and then the adjacent scenic Barwon River Valley and Buckley Falls

L-R. In the foreground, the viaduct channel that powered the Paper Mill — Maureen in front of a Bluestone storage shed — A pair of Tawny Frogmouth Owls

L-R. The girls and Frankie — A signpost deplaying some local aboriginal township names — Frankie and the girls

The Weir on the Barwon River above Buckley Falls, which fed water into the old Paper Mill viaduct — Frankie and Maureen

Wednesday, Late Afternoon:
I took Terri home for a much need rest and Maureen and I continued on our way to Corio Quay and Rippleside Beach.

At Corio Quay, the ‘Spirit Of Tasmania’ , the Bass Strait ferry from Geelong to Tasmania

Rippleside Beach, which is at the end of Geelong’s unique “Bollard Trail Walk” around Corio Bay.
https://www.geelongaustralia.com.au/bollards/article/item/8d250a1f01e3425.aspx

The promenade section of the trail that bridges a inlet … looking back to the waterfront area in front of the City of Geelong.

Below: a short video of our view across the Bay toward the City.


Wednesday, Laterer: At the Moorabool Valley Chocolate Cafe before we went home to arouse cousin Terri

Me and my ‘cheesecake’ — The model train/railway in front of the kitchen area.

At the end of the Cafe’s carpark there is a lookout over the Moorabool Valley

Thursday:
In the morning the girls had to pack ready for the next “cousin interchange”, cousin Dennise from Torquay at 2.30pm, and then we went down to the charming Pakington St.

The girls did some shopping and we returned to the ‘Box Office Cafe’ for Lunch.

The gorgeous West Park — the girls in my courtyard waiting to be picked up — goodbye to my dear cousins Maureen and Terri, for now, until next Thursday(27th) a group of us (6 cousins) are flying over to Tasmania for a 5-day tour.








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) April 2023