In the wake of the recent devastating storms in the Philippines, nature’s fragility echoes through broken branches and scattered leaves. This Tanka reflects on the quiet aftermath—where hope lingers, and the question of restoration remains tenderly unanswered.
Neurotic Wind (a Tanka)
I hope – and wonder –
after the neurotic wind
shyly stops blowing:
who’ll repair the broken trees,
and rescue the orphaned leaves?
Ivor Steven © October 2025
“Like the wattlebird, I dare to break the shell— to sing loud in the wind, to rise with the light.”
Ivor Steven (c) October 2025
In the quiet defiance of blackbirds slicing through the wind, I found a mirror to our own fractured grace. This poem, paired with The Beatles’ “Blackbird,” reflects on the quiet unity of nature and the turbulent state of mankind.
A Wayward Wind
The black birds’ little wings
cut neatly into the wind,
sharper than a bee’s sting –
and resiliently, they grin,
despite nature’s wayward whirlwind.
The little birds’ stay combined,
unlike the lands’ irrational mankind,
who become violent and unrefined
when they are in an unkind bind.
Ivor Steven © October 2025
Yesterday, I attended my Belmont Page Writers group meeting, where we all take turns reciting our pieces of poetry or prose. Well, when it was Adrian’s turn, he produced his guitar and sang us a delightful song. My music/video of his lovely rendition is attached below (Whoops, I missed the first verse, so the video begins at the ‘Chorus’)
Adrian’s Song
“A Song of Dusk” (Lyrics by Adrian Brooks © )
Dusk dims the day
As she looks across the water
And watches his ship sail away
And disappear from sight
Now, time is all that’s left for her
To hang on hopes and promises
That echo through the ocean of her light
‘Chorus’
Rise the moon and set the sun
A star for every sigh of love
Ask how deep the waters run
And the wind for songs healing
Muse of the dusk
The tale commands its telling
For nothing counts for certainty
In matters of the heart
So who can say they’re meant to be
Two lovers bound for unity
When all the fates keep driving them apart
Rise the moon and set the sun
A star for every sigh of love
Ask how deep the waters run
And the wind for songs healing
And in their grief do they believe
Some hidden wheels are turning
Shaping all the happenings of future days
That there’s a world they can’t perceive
Where lovers’ fires keep burning
Till someday their paths will cross again
Rise the moon and set the sun
A star for every sigh of love
And this farewell’s their final one
As the wind cries its pity
Land’s lights are gone
And roll the waves unending
He begs the night sky’s confidence
But nothing will it betray
And though with all his heart he yearns
To turn the tide of destiny
Still, the waters carry him away
Ivor Steven © October 2025
Featured Image: Pixabay. Aurora Borealis
Yesterday, while we were walking along the banks of the Barwon River, we passed under the historic Queens Park Bridge, so today’s Throwback Friday poem is quite appropriate; originally written in September 2021.
Lights Above Bridges (Revise)
Bridges span our invisible years
And carry our forgotten tears
Crossing over old hidden fears
Bridges are burnt over time
Years turn to ashes in an instant
And time is our only constant
Beyond the longest bridges
Under the ocean’s bluest seas
And above nature’s greenest hues
Love’s pulsating Aurora nights renew
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Until Eyes Hear Sound
Lulu Books >> Until Eyes Hear Sound (lulu.com)
Perceptions:
Amazon >> Perceptions : Steven, Ivor, Knight, Derrick: Amazon.com.au: Books
Lulu Books >> Perceptions (lulu.com)
Tullawalla:
Amazon >> Tullawalla A Meeting Place Where My Empty Hands are Full of Memories and Rhymes : Steven, Ivor: Amazon.com.au: Books
OR: >> You may email me directly for a signed copy at
ivorrs20@gmail.com
Ivor Steven © October 2025
Frankie enjoyed his walkies along the banks of the Barwon River yesterday.
Ivor Steven (c) October 2025
Acrux rises over the opal sea—its light, my inheritance.
In the hush of night, beneath the Southern Cross, I find myself wondering how far starlight travels—and why it feels so familiar. This poem is a reflection on cosmic legacy, distance, and the quiet claim we make on eternity.
Celestial Birthright
Tonight,
there above the horizon’s
dark blue oceans,
deep in the black opal sky,
I see the bright Acrux Star.
Then I wonder: how far away
is a million light-years from today?
And why is the star’s infinite light
eternally my birthright.
Music/Video: The final 3 minutes of “Sea of Stars” – 10-hour, ambient space music
Ivor Steven © October 2025
Chattering to the Birds
Wandering down the winding road,
Chattering to the friendly birds–
Fluttering quietly nearby,
Waiting patiently for their replies.
Wondering, do they understand why
flying freely in the sky transcends
crawling around on contaminated ground.
Lindsey Stirling’s “Song of the Caged Bird” is more than just a haunting violin piece; it’s a visual and emotional journey inspired by Maya Angelou’s I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. Stirling imagined a bird gazing longingly from its cage, yearning to soar like the others. Though it cannot escape, it finds joy in sharing its song, lighting up the world around it.
Stirling writes: “Oftentimes, we can’t control our circumstances. However, it’s up to us to determine how we will respond to them. We all have a voice to find and a gift to share.”
Ivor Steven © October 2025
Hello, dear readers and followers. I write for Coffee House Writers magazine (USA) fortnightly, and my poem “Before, Between, and Beyond” is in this week’s edition. The full title in my ‘Office Documents’ is “Before, Between, and Beyond (or, Under a Cloud, to Beyond Cloud Nine),” but that was too long for the Magazine.
To read the poem, please click the link below to visit my Coffee House Writers Magazine article.
>> https://coffeehousewriters.com/before-between-and-beyond/
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Until Eyes Hear Sound
Lulu Books >> Until Eyes Hear Sound (lulu.com)
Perceptions:
Amazon >> Perceptions : Steven, Ivor, Knight, Derrick: Amazon.com.au: Books
Lulu Books >> Perceptions (lulu.com)
Tullawalla:
Amazon >> Tullawalla A Meeting Place Where My Empty Hands are Full of Memories and Rhymes : Steven, Ivor: Amazon.com.au: Books
OR: >> You may email me directly for a signed copy at
ivorrs20@gmail.com
Ivor Steven © October 2025
Daylight Saving steals an hour, but where does it go? This poem wonders aloud, with a wink and a sigh, as time slips overboard. Paired with Tame Impala’s hypnotic rhythm, it’s a meditation on the absurdity of lost time.
“Man Overboard!”
Time vanished overboard,
and was last seen going forward.
Who will rescue the lost hour?
Who has the righteous power,
inside the clock’s stoic tower?
Somehow it doesn’t matter
that no one heard the clatter.
Time has no protective hands.
Time is not a rubber band,
nor a loose grain of sand.
I do not understand
how time’s forgotten hour was banned
and stored away in never-never-land.
Ivor Steven © October 2025
Ivor.Plumber/Poet 