A Lightning bolt struck
My branches were almost dead
Steadfast, here I stood
Allowing roots to regroup
And rebuild my forest roof
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/
OR: email me directly for a signed copy – ivorrs20@gmail.com
Ivor Steven (c) May 2023
Winter Slaps Autumn In the Eye (a Tanka)
Time shortens in stride
Autumn leaves pepper the ground
Winter slaps the sky
Midday sun closes her eyes
Naked trees wisely survive
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/
OR: email me directly for a signed copy – ivorrs20@gmail.com
Ivor Steven (c) May 2023
Please Note: All above images (Except the one of Frankie), were by taken by Derrick Knight, and he kindly allows me to reproduce his wonderful photos here on my poetry website. If you wish, you may visit his fabulous Site via this link > https://derrickjknight.com/2023/05/17/baby-species/
Lullaby (a Senryu)
Sleep little ones, sleep
Our chaotic world will wait
Until eyes hear sound
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/
OR: email me directly for a signed copy – ivorrs20@gmail.com
Ivor Steven (c) May 2023
A big thank you to the Editor: Barbara Leonhard, for accepting and publishing my poem “Anything is Everything” at MasticadoresUsa.
… … … …
To view my entire poem at MasticadoresUsa, please click on this link >> https://masticadoresusa.wordpress.com/2023/05/19/anything-is-everything-by-ivor-steven/
Featured Image: by Jaesub Kim on Pixabay
Ivor Steven (c) May 2023
Today my ‘Throwback Friday’ poem, is from June 2019, and again, as is my way, I have slightly revised the original piece.
“I went to my favourite lunch-spot today, the Moorabool Valley Chocolate Cafe. I have not walked that far (the weather has been dismal), since I’ve been home from my trip to Philadelphia. Surprisingly I handled the long walk reasonably well. Then I sat down for a coffee and a piece of tasty blue-berry cheese cake. The winter sun was gorgeous, out on the outdoor balcony, and I happily observed a pair of Weebill birds, as I continued to write this poem(Below).
Black Snow Thaws In The Winter Sun (Revised)
I’ve no more secret words of sorrow
Only old lines I’ve borrowed
I found them in a poet’s dusty booklet
The pages were tattered, like grandma’s cookbook
Hidden in the family’s sacred cabinet
Faded words that now appear outdated
Years of love and dreams relegated
Stored away, but prudently not wasted
My road ahead is now cleared of black snow
The night is not always dark, you know?
Ivor Steven (c) May 2023
Tonight, here in Geelong, I went to see Damien Rice in concert. His performance was sensational in front of a rapturous full house …
Damien Rice: His encore song tonight, “The Blower’s Daughter”
Ivor Steven (c) 18th May 2023
Today’s post is a poem (Originally titled “Between the Lines”) that I revised/rehashed this morning … I might be wrong, but will I ever be right …
“And I have carried on this war. Though no one wins an endless fight. I have claimed that God has guided me. And killed to prove I’m right.” Lyrics From Damien Rice’s song, “What if I’m wrong”
Between Lines, Who Holds the Power
Do you see, a man walking on water?
Did you see, his feet were bleeding?
Do you read, the missing scriptures?
Did you read, your own family tree?
Do you hear, speechless angels singing?
Did you hear, the songbirds crying?
Do you feel, the erased wars calling?
Did you feel, the hard rains falling?
Do you know, the ones who are lying?
Did you know, the refugees are dying?
“What If I’m Wrong”, Lyrics, by Damien Rice
I could wrestle with tomorrow
Until tomorrow’s in the past
Because I have torn apart what’s beautiful
To prove that nothing lasts I have stayed locked behind these doors
To show there’s no way out
I got lost within the space between
The question and the doubt
I have built a wall between
What I believed and what is true
I have sacrificed the love I had
For power over you
I have convicted those who disagree
And walked over the weak
I have placed a gun within the mouth
Of those who dared to speak
And on an ordinary day
In an ordinary way
I have crushed the minds of children
With extraordinary shame
And I have carried on this war
Though no one wins an endless fight
I have claimed that God has guided me
And killed to prove I’m right
What if I’m wrong
What if I’m wrong
What if I’m wrong
What if I’m wrong
Is this soul worth saving at all?
Cause if I lose my wings then surely I must fall
And the gods prayed to the gods they made
We could wrestle with tomorrow
until tomorrow’s in the past
We could tear apart what’s beautiful
To prove that nothing lasts
We could stay locked behind the doors
To show there’s no way out
We could get lost within the space between
The question and the doubt
But what if we’re wrong?
Ivor Steven (c) May 2023
Tunnel webs dissolve
When the darkness finds freedom
Beyond sleepless nights
Ivor Steven (c) May 2023
And I Wonder
I stand before a living, breathing tree
And I wonder about our existence
Beyond the shade of the ingenuous tree
I see dreamy clouds flow by
And behind the baptizing clouds
A cerulean sky bedazzles my eye
Above our world’s limited air-supply
The incorruptible Sun habitually shepherds us
Throughout the planet’s perennial seasons
And I wonder about our Sun’s existence
Among outer space’s boundless galaxies
Beyond the immeasurable 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/
OR: email me directly for a signed copy – ivorrs20@gmail.com
Ivor Steven (c) May 2023
I was a rock
A cold granite prison block
From a land of hard knocks
I was a rock
A breaker of heavy locks
And tight knots
I am a rock
A mortal warlock
The universe is my clock
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/
OR: email me directly for a signed copy – ivorrs20@gmail.com
Ivor Steven (c) May 2023
Ivor.Plumber/Poet 