Great News

Dear readers, some of you might know that I’ve been busy lately, submitting my poems for various publications. Today I received great news from the Geelong Writers Anthology publication for 2018.

Anthology Submissions

Hi Ivor!

I wanted to email and thank you for submitting to our anthologies and congratulate you! I am pleased to let you know that we will be publishing your submissions Waterways, A Friend,and Singing a Song for You in our upcoming Poetry Anthology, and Beyond the Trapdoor and Down Along the River Bed in our upcoming General Anthology. We will be in touch shortly to let you know details about the launch.

Thanks so much for your hard work!

Best,

Justine

Anthology Editor

This is a fabulous result for me, I submitted a total of six poems between the two anthologies and I’ve had five selected. I couldn’t be happier, and I’m sure we need to celebrate with some appropriate music from Leonard Cohen.

https://youtu.be/ACVAg76Y5P0

Ivor Steven 2018

Auspiciously

“Weekly Prompt” . The word prompt for this week: Serendipity

I’m a poet of little renown

Writing continuously for eighteen years

Scribbling word after word

Penning thousands upon thousands of lines

Forming hundreds and hundreds of poems

My stories of memories and rhymes

Soulful words of mine

By perchance

I’m reviewing my poems today

Reading every poem, every word

Auspiciously

Discovering there’s a word

A word I’ve never used

I’m mystified and perplexed

I’ve never been charmed

With the gift of the written word

Fortuity has rolled on by me

I’m wondering why

Why I’ve never used the word

Serendipity

Chatting To ChatterMaster

I’ve been good friends with Colleen of, Click >> ChatterMaster, since the first week I started blogging 14 months ago. I love her glorious attitude for life and people. I diligently read all of her posts (nearly) and I often write comments to her in the form of little poems, and many of them have been featured here in my “Tit Bits” series of poems. However today I’m presenting little/micro poems I’ve posted on Colleen’s site, during the past few weeks.

Fall

After a bad fall

We need good strength

To fully recover

I Believe

I believe in helping

I believe it’s our call

I believe no matter how small

I believe in standing tall

Where To

I’m good at reading maps

Not a good driver

I’m good a finding the dots

Not good at erasing the crosses

I’m good at figuring things out

If you’re struggling about

I’ll help you out

Extra Time

If we had an extra hour in our day

It still wouldn’t be enough time

To fit all the good times in

We just have to enjoy our good times

While we still have time

Holding Today

I like holding today

She’s bubbly and full of life

I look forward to meeting tomorrow

She’s a lustrous light

I loved yesterday

Like there was no tomorrow

I dream of the next kiss

Holding onto today is bliss

Breakfast Tea, Lemon And Ginger

Today’s dawn is crisp and foggy

A gentle chilly breeze tingles my skin’s awakening

The cold air’s magically refreshing

As I sit here under my verandah

Protected from the cool settling dew droplets

Wetting every piece of exposed ground

Moisturising my garden’s fernery

Greenery leaves glossy and glowing

I sense my cheeks are warmly blushing

Feeling filtered rays of morning sunshine

Welcoming me to another enriching new-day

Against the Next War, The Next Hell

Against the Next War

Hello dear Readers, I’m presenting this important poem written by, Sarah, of Fresh Hell Poetry, for you all to read. An absolutely outstanding piece of poetry, definitely one of the best anti-war poems I’ve ever read.

Fresh Hell Poetry August 20, 2018

In response to CafePhilos’s call to make peace viral. A noble effort, and worth a try. Please give his post a read.

“Trying to do a slam-style poem. I really hope the audio turned out OK on this. Apologies if it’s too quiet, I’m still figuring out how to make videos.” – Fresh Hell

Don’t Feed Them

If I imagine them
Taking my brother away to war

I shatter.

I don’t want to lose anyone.
Especially not to something as stupid
As war.

Maybe you like the idea of war
Because you’ve confused real life with action movies.
Maybe you hate another group of people for what they have done.
I can’t convince you to forgive another’s atrocities
That is something you must grow into on your own.
But I can beg you this:

When dogs of war bark
Don’t feed them.
You will be told it is the honorable thing
To die for your country.
You will be told you have enemies abroad
Monsters in human flesh.
But the monsters are in your back yard
Baying for blood.
Don’t
feed
them.
You will be told
That if you love your family
You will abandon it
And submit yourself to the state.
Give up your mind, body, and soul
To be consumed.
Don’t feed them.
You will be called weak
You will be called subversive
You will be stamped
Kicked
Drowned
Thrown into jail
Dumped in the gutter.
Still,
don’t feed them.
They will scream about the chaos
Unleashed in the world
They will plead for your aid
They will put weeping women before you
They will show you the bodies of children
They will appeal to your humanity.
But if you join them
You become the monster.
You will rape the women
You will bomb the children
You will force them all into the machines.
Don’t feed them.
They offer you money
Insurance for your families
Early retirement.
Ask your wife how she feels
When you go abroad.
She may smile then, proud and supportive,
But when she gets the letter,
Insurance will be a cold comfort
A reminder
That her loved one was eaten alive.
Don’t feed them.
The politicians get fatter.
The generals get fatter.
Our fearless leaders
Have little to lose.
What is noble
About sacrificing yourself for these people?
Are they so wise, so just?
They have enough.
Don’t feed them.

Written by Sarah, of Fresh Hell.

A Poem About Me

Share your poem with me! Written By Gina, of Singledust

“Last week in my feature at the Go Dog Go Cafe I put out a call to write a poem to introduce yourself. the idea was formed from a spoken word poetry meet I attended.

If it inspires you to write one, Pingback to here or my Come Sit With Me post and I will feature it this week at the Cafe!

No word limit but….you know what I mean!

I would really like to read who you are in your own words!

Here’s my poem, about me, Ivor.

About Me, And My Links <<< Click Here For Gina’s Post.

How to write a poem about me

The boy who lives by the sea

As a youngster, I was not a loud speaker

Just shy and quiet, a daytime dreamer

With visions of yesteryear well-preserved

Good times, on the beach and in the surf

I loved Vegemite, honey and ice-cream

And my life became just a little dream

Looking at the mirror of a calm bay

I see sun-burnt freckles and dark hair, that turned grey

Struggling, life was disappearing after my Stroke

Emotionally I was crying out, who’s left to row the boat

Needing strength, my stars echoed, “I Do Thee Shine”

Now I’m left with these words of mine

Recalling all of the days in my time

Leaving my empty hands full, of memories and rhymes

Eating Chocolates And Watching Wars

Let us join the movement, Against The Next War, and have your say. Please reblog or write your own story, and join Paul Sunstone, in the campaign for Peace. << click here. I’m re-posting today, and attaching this important song “Spirit Bird”, by Xavier Rudd, and his lyrics are a pure statement from the heart, please read along with the music, and cry with me, for our spirits and our land.

“Leaving us

Stunned

Hollow ashamed”

My poem:

Eating Chocolates And Watching Wars

Hungrily I’m eating a liquor chocolate

A selfish heavenly delight

Arousing my old minds 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 never end

Eating Chocolates And Watching Wars

Let us join the movement, Against The Next War, and have your say. Please reblog or write your own story, and join Paul Sunstone, in the campaign for Peace. << click here. I’m reposting today, with this song “Spirit Bird”, by Xavier Rudd, and his lyrics are a pure statement from the heart, please read along with music, and cry with me, for our spirits and our land.

“Leaving us

Stunned

Hollow ashamed”

Hungrily I’m eating a liquor chocolate

A selfish heavenly delight

Arousing my old minds 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 never end

Have A Say, Against The Next War

Let us join the movement, Against The Next War, and have a say. Please reblog or write your own story, and join Paul Sunstone, in the campaign for Peace.

A Mushroom Anthem

Why is there always a dark side,

When the moon shines so bright.

Who’s taking us on this blindfold ride,

While our reasoning is out of sight.

Why is there always a silver lining,

When the clouds are hovering so low.

Who’s making the lower world glowing,

While our malignant demons grow and grow.

Why do we call them magic mushrooms,

When all they bring is gloom and doom.

Who’s controlling this aging Mother,

While our pleading hands are hustled undercover.

Let There Be Peace In Our Time.

Sleepless.

Weekly Prompts

Your second chance to be creative. This Weeks Word Prompt: Review

I’ve been mailing off my submissions to magazines and anthologies lately, and I had to Review my comprehensive collection of poems, and go through the process of personally selecting some of my poems for the submissions. And then I have the waiting, waiting to find out if I’ve been successful or NOT !!. I’m not sure how to present the rest of this article, I suppose the form of listing my works to each Magazine/Anthology might show how much time and effort goes into these submission, and why I sometimes shun away from doing submissions, and I also find the whole process personally daunting and taxing on my emotions, putting myself out there is hurdle of confidence that I find hard to jump.

Here’s A list of my Submissions for the month.

Vita Brevis Magazine

https://ivors20.wordpress.com/2018/03/25/beyond-the-trapdoor/

https://ivors20.wordpress.com/2018/05/02/what-is-one-of-the-worst-emotional-storms-youve-weathered-in-your-life/

https://ivors20.wordpress.com/2018/04/11/circumference/

https://ivors20.wordpress.com/2018/02/01/crystal-clear-shallows/

https://ivors20.wordpress.com/2017/10/19/a-midday-sun/

The Drabble.

https://ivors20.wordpress.com/2018/06/06/a-friend-2/

Geelong Writers Anthology 2018

https://ivors20.wordpress.com/2018/05/16/down-along-the-river-bed/

and “Beyond The Trap Door”

Geelong Poetry Anthology 2018

https://ivors20.wordpress.com/2018/01/15/singing-a-song-for-you/

https://ivors20.wordpress.com/2017/11/28/waterways-reposted-and-re-edited/

“Crystal Clear Shallows”

“A Friend”

Write About (A Combine Book Published by 2 Writers Groups, Belmont Page and Write About) These 10 poems will be published in the book.

https://ivors20.wordpress.com/2018/06/03/tall-ships-an-encore/

https://ivors20.wordpress.com/2018/07/05/times-awry/

https://ivors20.wordpress.com/2018/08/08/my-blue-statice-blooms-today/

https://ivors20.wordpress.com/2018/06/16/vaults-and-bookcases-2/

https://ivors20.wordpress.com/2018/07/06/a-single-weeping-tree-a-villanelle/

https://ivors20.wordpress.com/2017/08/31/burning-the-fears/

https://ivors20.wordpress.com/2018/03/10/rabbit-stew-and-broken-plates/

https://ivors20.wordpress.com/2017/08/23/if-only-walls-could-talk/

https://ivors20.wordpress.com/2018/05/02/what-is-one-of-the-worst-emotional-storms-youve-weathered-in-your-life/

“Circumference”

Thank you for your patience, and of course all my submission are presented via Word Online documents. On review, I think I’ll be giving my submission frenzy a rest !! Let us not be silent.

https://ivors20.wordpress.com/2018/08/16/against-the-next-war/