Category: Poems

Freedom is for the Birds

My poem today is created from comments that I posted to other poets sites. in response to their creative poems. The fellow writers in Stanza order are …
1. Sadje >> https://lifeafter50forwomen.com/2023/08/04/when-eyes-confuse-the-mind-a-pantoum/
2. Grace >> https://graceofthesun.com/unchained-2/
3 & 4. Bart >> https://bartbarkerpoet.com/2023/08/14/dive/


Freedom is for the Birds




What to believe 

What our eyes see 

Or what our mind needs




In freedom, our hearts glide with pride 

In chains, our souls cower and hide



 
Is freedom only for the Birds?

Humans, I am lost for words 

Their main appetite is greed 

Without planting any seeds 



Is Freedom still possible?

Or a mission impossible









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) August 2023

Above the Flames (Revised)

A poem I originally wrote in November 2019 during the devastating bushfires that were engulfing Australia … due to recent tragic events, I am presenting a revised version today …



Above the Flames (Revised)



Mother nature has decided

Humans!

You’ve been given eons of time

Humans!

You’ve held the torch, but failed to see the light


Our Mother

Is rekindling her furnace

She’s back-burning her own forests

Projecting black smoke signals

Obvious messages, to feel, hear and see


Yes Father

Where there is smoke, there is fire

She’s furious, and our planet’s ablaze


Sisters and Brothers

Feel her scorching heat

Blistering your swollen feet

Hear her crackling explosions

Piercing your deafened eardrums

See her soaring flames

Blinding your greedy eyes


Humans!

There’s no point, looking up to the sky

Seeking your saviour in heaven

You are not in charge

Abandon your selfish barrage


Our Mother

Controls your clouds and rain

It’s time to show her Kindness, and end your pain







Ivor Steven (c) August 2023

The Weather’s Like a Boomerang

Over at “Weekly Prompts”, the Weekend Challenge is the word: Bucolic, please visit their fabulous site by clicking on >> Here … Below is my ‘Rural Weather’ response to the Prompt


The Weather’s Like a Boomerang


Saturday afternoon

We are stuck in the lounge room

Talking to the idiot-box

Outside there’s a winter monsoon

And the rain-god’s drops

Are as big as tablespoons

Full of crushed ice-blocks


Our day of play has gone

Tweedily tweet! The cuckoo sang

“Time to yawn

until tomorrow’s dawn

while waiting for tonight’s moon

to throw the next boomerang”








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) August 2023

Throwback Friday, Faerie Pantomime

Today I am presenting another poem that will be appearing in my new book “Until Eyes Hear Sound”. I wrote ‘Faerie Pantomime’ in October 2020, and the poem will be the opening piece in the Faeries Section, of Chapter 9. Humour, Fantasy, Faeries, and Weird. 



Faerie Pantomime


Mid-morning and here comes the sun

The Wala* goddess smiles at everyone

Enriching the bloody goodness in our veins

And saturating our skin when the sky rains



Is your blood the same colour as mine?

Does your skin drip-dry under the same sunshine?

Are your dreams moonbeam snippets of time?

Do you imagine the world to be a faerie’s pantomime?

And we the audience, laugh at their mystical rhymes

Together dancing and ringing the city’s peace chimes




*Wala: Aboriginal mythical sun goddess.







Ivor Steven (c) August 2023

The Resurrection of Shadows

Hello dear readers and followers, I am now writing for “Coffee House Writers” magazine on a fortnightly basis, and my poem “The Resurrection of Shadows”, is in this week’s edition of Coffee House Writers Magazine. … please click on the link below and visit my poem, at Coffee House Writers Magazine. >> https://coffeehousewriters.com/the-resurrection-of-shadows/





The Resurrection of Shadows


You! It’s time to take cover

Beware! Shadows have changed colour

And are reaching across the ground

Crying to the world, “It’s time to turn around”


Shadows have learned to crawl and walk

In the daylight, they brawl and talk

Shadows are tired of being ignored

And eager to leap off the billboards

Shadows will ascend to fight the evil warlords

And liberate the embattled horde







Ivor Steven (c) August 2023

Golden Wattle Tree





Golden Wattle Tree




your iridescent flower

distinguishes itself

like a lighthouse

in the forest

a beacon

for the bees

a home

for the hummingbirds


your rich yellow blossom

intensifies

in the morning sun

you are a neon light

of the highway

a golden statue

nature’s own

torch of liberty









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) August 2023

Shangri La, Volume 3. Below the Trees and Bushes

FREE PDF COPY >>> Links Below

Hello, dear readers and followers, as you might know I stopped producing my “Tullawalla Booklets” at # 31, because that was the house number of our family’s Tullawalla Homestead.
But the booklet formats are a superb way for me to catalogue the vast number of poems that I produce and as the saying goes “I Am Turning Another Page”. Here I have begun a new series of poem booklets, and they are called “Shangri La” which is the name of my little Villa, and is my piece of “earthly paradise, a retreat from the pressures of modern civilization”.
Incredibily, I now have a total of “1502” Poems filed in these booklet formats!!
Click on >> Here for the link to your FREE: PDF Copy of “Shangri La, Volume 3. Below the Trees and Bushes“.


Below the Trees and Bushes




How far, is too far?

Too far away from home

Too far away from love


Love does not grow on trees

Love grows inside trees

Love flows down

Down inside the tree roots


The tree roots of our homes

The tree roots that wrap around our hearts

The tree roots that capture our souls










Ivor Steven (c) August 2023

Throwback Friday, Wonderment Rings True

Today I am presenting another poem that will be appearing in my new book “Until Eyes Hear Sound”. I wrote ‘Wonderment Rings True’ in September 2020, and the poem will be the opening piece in the Fantasy Section, of Chapter 9. Humour, Fantasy, Faeries, and Weird. 



Wonderment Rings True


My imagination’s beaming

Alive and dreaming

Even when I’m sleeping

Tired eyes are peeping

Searching for the milky-way

Flying there, on my open sleigh

And sailing the air-waves

High above broadway



Steering my spacecraft, Itmims**

While reading The Brothers Grimm

And playing a tune on my old violin

The theme from ‘Lord of the Rings’



I’m a visionary sky Pilot

With a handful of violets

Travelling beyond a silvery moon

To float upon our blue lagoon




**Itmims … “Ivor’s Time Machine In Micro Space”








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) August 2023

A Blue Wonder

Featured Image Above: I received the photo from my niece, Jasmine, who lives interstate in Sydney. The photo is of an old painting of my wife’s (Carole) that I have not seen for 25 years … and a hearty thank you to dear Jazzy for locating and reframing Carole’s wonderful painting.


A Blue Wonder


“Blue hills or blue waves” 

I originally asked her 

“Whatever your eyes hear”  

She eloquently replied 


 

Yesterday, I received a keepsake photo 

Of an old painting of Hers, called “Blue” 

Today, the ocean’s deep blue 

Is where my veiled emotions lie 

Tomorrow, the alp’s serene blue 

Will covertly visit my soul 







Ivor Steven (c) August 2023