Yellow Meadows (a Tu-aiku)

‘Tu-aiku’ is my name for a Dual Haiku





Yellow Meadows (a Tu-aiku)

The summer meadows
Are a sun-bleached yellow
Under the iron sky

Twilight’s Midas touch
Lavished golden beams upon
Everything in sight






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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 (c) February 2025

Throwback Friday, Time on the Moon with Tea and Lime


Today’s Throwback Friday poem is from October 2020. As is my way, I have made some poetic edits.



Time on the Moon with Tea and Lime (Revised)



between now and then
I see the full moon again
sip on tea and lime
and dream of a bygone time

where are you, old friend
hiding your face until the end
and I hear a distant tick-tock
buried under weathered rock

when it’s all said and done
my words fall one by one
inking blues, line after line
and I do not care the time

and sand flows drop by drop
from the timeless clock
adorning her silent cocoon
on the far side of the moon





The Kinks “Full Moon”, Lyrics

Haven’t you noticed a kind of madness in my eyes?
It’s only me, dear, in my midnight disguise
Pay no attention if I crawl across the room
It’s just another full moon

Don’t be afraid of me when I’m walking in my sleep
Don’t get alarmed, dear, when I start to crawl and creep
Try not to listen when I mumble like a loon
It’s just another full moon
It’s just another full moon

You see before you a truly broken man
‘Cause when it gets to midnight, I don’t know who I am
Full moon’s a-callin’, and it’s put a curse on me
And it will never set me free

The full moon’s still up there
Like a great white balloon
The owls are a-callin’
And they’re singin’ my tune
The night keeps a-crawlin’
I wish the day would come soon
To get away from another full moon
Here comes another full moon

If your hands start shakin’
When night starts to fall
If you’re scared of the moonlight
And the shadows on the wall
If the face in the mirror
Isn’t you at all
It’s just another full moon
It’s just another full moon






Ivor Steven (c) February 2025

Flying South, or North


Over at Weekly Prompts, the Wednesday Challenge is the word Gawking. To visit their fabulous site please click on >> Here





Flying South or North

I am supposed to be flying south
For a holiday down by the river mouth

But somehow, I found myself heading west
In Search of the next diving contest

If I succeed there, I will fly up north
For the Champions Trophy
At the renowned, Firth of Forth

Win, Lose, or draw, I’ll return to the east
Where I will rest my weary wings
While I’m gawking at the home-baked family feast






.


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 (c) February 2025

Is This The Time?, is in this week’s Coffee House Writers Magazine edition.

Hello, dear readers and followers. I write for Coffee House Writers magazine (USA) fortnightly, and my poem “Is This The Time” is in this week’s edition. …
To Read my poem, please click on the link below to visit the articleat Coffee House Writers Magazine.
>> https://coffeehousewriters.com/is-this-the-time/






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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 (c) February 2025

Behind the Mourning Clouds





Behind the Mourning Clouds


From behind the mourning clouds
The ancient moon peers down

Wearing a judge’s yellow crown
The moon knowingly frowns
Upon the maddening crowd

Congregating on opposite bluffs
Of the ever-widening Gulf
Between diamond cuffs and shoeshine buffs

The moon then proudly dons
The unworn sacred shroud
And judiciously ordains
“This is your final countdown”






Ivor Steven (c) February 2025

Illuminated (a Tanka)


On Thursday evening I attended the Lowercase Poetry Open Mic night, and after the event was finished I went down the road to check out the Creative Geelong “Third Space Gallery”, which I had not seen before at night. Wow, as the saying goes, “It was lit up like a Christmas tree” …





Illuminated (a Tanka)

The neon spotlights
illuminated my words
and the art display
in the “Third Space Gallery”
like a hit show on Broadway





Ivor Steven (c) February 2025

Imaginary Bookcases and Bootlaces


Over at Weekly Prompts, The Weekend Challenge is the word Absence. Please visit their fabulous site by clicking on >> HERE



Imaginary Bookcases and Bootlaces

In the absence
Of any commonsense
I’m here talking in mime
About my memories and rhymes
From behind my imaginary bookcase
And wearing a quirky poet’s face

This is my ordained place
Where I bravely embrace
The unpredictable pace
In this dysfunctional race

Then I cautiously retrace
My creations’ underground faces
From the days of waterlogged bootlaces







.


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 (c) February 2025

My Valentine’s Days Are Cold

Please Note that the featured image/artwork above was designed by Kerri Costello (my Philadelphia niece) for another poem of mine back in 2018.





My Valentine’s Days Are Cold

Her heart of gold
wilted in the Autumn cold

My heart pumps yesterday’s rust
and bathes in her icicles of dust

My veins are hollow crevasses
inside summer glaciers chasms

Where icebergs groan and memories float
on a distant fjord’s frozen longboat







.


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 (c) February 2025

Throwback Friday, Twilight’s Bookends

Today’s Throwback Friday poem is from June 2023 and was published in The Geelong Writers Anthology, Anomaly Street (Poetry With A Difference), Volume 2, no. 1- June 2023, a twice-yearly collection of poetry that creates jolts for flatlined minds. Thank you to the editor, Jo Curtain, for selecting my poem.





Twilight’s Bookends (Revised)

Cloud wisps creep 
across a sun-streaked sky

The curtain soundlessly drops
on dappled twilight

There, behind flickering drapes 
the starry starry night awaits







.


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 (c) February 2025