Vultures Tell No Lies, is in the March Issue of Positive Words Magazine

I am pleased and proud to announce that my poem, “Vultures Tell No Lies” is published in the Positive Words Magazine, March Issue, and thank you to the Editor, Sandra, for selecting my poem… For further information about this fabulous Australian magazine, visit their site via this link > https://positivewordsmagazine.wordpress.com/
Attached below, I have scanned the poems directly from my copy of the Magazine







Ivor Steven (c) March 2022

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






Ivor Steven (c) March 2022

Red Lilies Under Broken Ground, is up at Coffee House Writers magazine

Hello dear readers and followers, as you may know, I now write for “Coffee House Writers” magazine on a fortnightly basis, and my poem “Red Lilies Under Broken Ground”, is in this weeks edition of Coffee House Writers Magazine. … please click on the link below to read my poem, at Coffee House Writers >>
https://coffeehousewriters.com/red-lilies-under-broken-ground/






Ivor Steven (c) March 2022

The Disappearance of Decency


Introduction

Naked I stand before Him
Stripped of common decency
Debased, I kneel crying
Sad words fall like rain
Tanks are still rolling
Over the Ukraine
My Tanka’s are scrolling
Down their bloody drains



Tanka #1. Sad Sky

False words smudge old clouds
Gray clouds hang under sad sky
The sad sky decries
“Children are our butterflies
And please stop the warring lies”


Tanka #2. Broken Biscuits


Life is imperfect 
Like broken war-time biscuits 
Re-connection waits 
Reconciliation stops 
Life’s sweet shortbread’s unopened 


Tanka #3. Abandoned

May the stormy winds
Calmly abate in Europe
And bring peace quickly
Do not forget the children
We cannot abandon them


Epilogue

Cover me
Give me beauty
Inspire me
Calm me
Save me
From that deadly bee
Above the Black Sea








Ivor Steven (c) March 2022

Promote Yourself Mondays, March 7, 2022

Dear readers and followers, here’s a great opportunity for your writings to be read by other writers, and also to find and meet other writers. You are very welcome to participate, come along and visit our writer friendly site…..by clicking on the link at the bottom of this article >>
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braveandrecklessblog's avatarGo Dog Go Café

Welcome toPromote Yourself Monday. All Go Dog Go Cafe community members are invited to postonelink to one specific piece of their writing (600 words or less please!) they have published on their blog, Facebook page, or Instagram feed into the comments section below.

If you post a link, be sure to read some of the other great writing people have linked to.

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The Gates of Hell Over Stolen Ground




Do you feel the weight?

Of radio-active clouds

Hanging over stolen ground

Do you hear the birds singing?

Gone!

Is that peaceful sound


Do you hear warning sirens howl?

Resonating like old war songs

When bombs are guided into sacred ground

Fires from hell destroying beds and towns

Gone!

As ashen children wander over burnt ground


Home is a communal air-raid shelter

Where families fearfully huddle together underground

Above!

The torn loyalties of alien soldiers

Tread lightly and warily upon broken ground






Ivor Steven (c) March 2022

Ivor Steven

A collection of my Haiku and short pieces will up at “The Short of It” new Anthology, which is to be published soon … A sincere thank you to the editor, Susi, for considering my poems

Susi Bocks's avatarI Write Her

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 was an Industrial Chemist, then a Plumber, now retired, and has been writing poetry for 19 years. His book Tullawalla was recently published in America. He has had numerous poems published in anthologies and online magazines. He is an active member of the Geelong Writers Inc. (Australia), he is a team member/barista with the online magazine Go Dog Go Cafe (America), and a writer with the Coffee House Writers magazine (America). You…

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Throwback Friday, Secrets of Mine, by Ivor Steven

Over on Go Dog Go Cafe, my Throwback Friday poem is, ‘Secrets of Mine’

ivor20's avatarGo Dog Go Café

Today I am presenting a nostalgically insightful poem that I wrote in May 2018

Secrets of Mine

When I was ten and brave

I climbed our tree, a giant Peppercorn

Nearly midnight, and clambered stark naked

Maybe it was a full moon

When I was fourteen and timid

I quickly kissed the girl next door

Under a midday sun, bashfully red-faced

Maybe it was springtime

When I was seventeen, my voice had broken

I met a gorgeous schoolgirl

I’d walk her home, hand in hand, and in love

I shyly asked her to marry me

She was wiser than me, and said no

I was young and naïve

When I was twenty-six and carefree

I married the girl of my dreams

We needed shelter and a home

I went to the local bank for a loan

I lied to the manager and declared assets falsely

We moved into our house…

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On The Banks of Lake Connewarre




I am not here to wait

For the world to finally rotate

Time for me is getting late

I am here to watch the grand parade

Eventually pass by my front gate


One day soon

After the next purple moon

Illuminates our children’s fearful tears

I will see those grandiose leaders

Calmly sit down together

On the peaceful banks

Of Lake Connewarre*


Connewarre; an Aboriginal word meaning ‘black swan’







Ivor Steven (c) February 2022

A World Of Puppets (a Tanka)

Featured Image Above: by Derrick Knight, who kindly allows me to reproduce his photos here on my poetry website …

A World Of Puppets (a Tanka)




Are we the puppets?

Punch and Judy’s without strings

Who’s contolling things?

As Putin’s a dummy too

Ask the children in Russia






Ivor Steven (c) February 2022