To Find a Higher Gear





To Find a Higher Gear


Disabled and discarded
Demoted to the outback paddock

My dimpled shell is flaky and sun-burnt
and masks a cracked and dormant engine block

Vanquished wheels are deflated and threadbare
and my rusty axles are twisted and brittle

Hardly strong enough
to carry my dilapidated body

The new year is nearly here
Am I worth restoring?
Am I able to find a higher gear?






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) January 2025

Again, Another Year Out Of Tune





Again, Another Year Out Of Tune



Two thousand and twenty-four
Dramatic drones pierced closed doors

As wars were recoated and reloaded
Inflated and dangerously bloated

Earth’s clouded atmosphere is corroded
Our lives are shrouded and overcrowded

Politics and countries are not immune
And the World continues to spin out of tune

Here in Aussie land, normality twirls in dizziness
As we wait for next year’s unfinished business







Ivor Steven (c) December 31st 2024

Looking Into the Mirror (a Tanka)


My Tanka, “5” of Five
FROM: Into The Light, Sunflower Tanka, Anthology
The “Sunflower Tanka,” is an Anthology of Tanka, Tanka Prose, and Experimental Tanka, superbly compiled by Robbie Cheadle and Colleen M. Chesebro, Contributing Editors.
>> https://robbiesinspiration.wordpress.com/
>> https://colleenchesebro.org/

Amazon.com LINK

Amazon.UK.com LINK

Amazon.Australia. Amazon.com.au : Sunflower Tanka: An Anthology of Tanka, Tanka Prose, & Experimental Tanka

Looking Into the Mirror (a Tanka)

Inside the mirror
And peering out to his face
I see a blankness
Forgiveness is pretentious
As his eyes reject my light






Ivor Steven (c) December 2024

Waiting For the Light (a Tanka)


My Tanka, “4” of Five
FROM: Into The Light, Sunflower Tanka, Anthology
The “Sunflower Tanka,” is an Anthology of Tanka, Tanka Prose, and Experimental Tanka, superbly compiled by Robbie Cheadle and Colleen M. Chesebro, Contributing Editors.
>> https://robbiesinspiration.wordpress.com/
>> https://colleenchesebro.org/

Amazon.com LINK

Amazon.UK.com LINK

Amazon.Australia. Amazon.com.au : Sunflower Tanka: An Anthology of Tanka, Tanka Prose, & Experimental Tanka




Waiting For the Light (a Tanka)


Here in the darkness
Counting the white grains of sand
Dying in my hand
Haunted by that hollow sound
Of light crawling in the night






Ivor Steven (c) December 2024

Wandering In My Universe, 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 “Wandering In My Universe” is in this week’s edition. …
To Read my poem, please click on the link below to visit the article, at Coffee House Writers Magazine.
>> https://coffeehousewriters.com/wandering-in-my-universe/






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) December 2024

Until I Walk Out of Sight (a Tanka) 

My Tanka, “3” of Five
FROM: Into The Light, Sunflower Tanka, Anthology
The “Sunflower Tanka,” is an Anthology of Tanka, Tanka Prose, and Experimental Tanka, superbly compiled by Robbie Cheadle and Colleen M. Chesebro, Contributing Editors.
>> https://robbiesinspiration.wordpress.com/
>> https://colleenchesebro.org/

Amazon.com LINK

Amazon.UK.com LINK

Amazon.Australia. Amazon.com.au : Sunflower Tanka: An Anthology of Tanka, Tanka Prose, & Experimental Tanka




Until I Walk Out of Sight (a Tanka)

From beyond the night
Where the dark side is my light
Blackthorns are my crown
That I wear above my frown
Until I walk out of sight






Ivor Steven (c) December 2024

Throwback Friday, Day One

Today’s philosophical Throwback Friday poem was written in April 2022 and is published in my book “Until Eyes Hear Sound”



Day One

Before Day One

I wished upon a star
That the milk-bar
Was not too far away
My life’s bread was crumbling
My weathered hands were fumbling
Witnessing the Last Supper was humbling

Day One

There, beyond the darkness
Out in the universe
From a million light-years away
Under an alien’s microscopic frame
We would all look the same

After Day One

I wished for the dust to settle
Then waited for rusted gunmetal
To mature into household kettles
Whistling hallelujah to new sunflower petals







Ivor Steven (c) December 2024

Into the Moonlight (a Tanka)


My Tanka, “2” of Five
FROM: Into The Light, Sunflower Tanka, Anthology
The “Sunflower Tanka,” is an Anthology of Tanka, Tanka Prose, and Experimental Tanka, superbly compiled by Robbie Cheadle and Colleen M. Chesebro, Contributing Editors.
>> https://robbiesinspiration.wordpress.com/
>> https://colleenchesebro.org/

Amazon.com LINK

Amazon.UK.com LINK

Amazon.Australia. Amazon.com.au : Sunflower Tanka: An Anthology of Tanka, Tanka Prose, & Experimental Tanka



Into the Moonlight (a Tanka)



Under the moonlight
On this starry starry night
I see moon shadows
Dancing upon the treetops
And bats doing the foxtrot







Ivor Steven (c) December 2024

Under a White Light (a Tanka)

My Tanka, “1” of Five
FROM: Into The Light, Sunflower Tanka, Anthology
The “Sunflower Tanka,” is an Anthology of Tanka, Tanka Prose, and Experimental Tanka, superbly compiled by Robbie Cheadle and Colleen M. Chesebro, Contributing Editors.
>> https://robbiesinspiration.wordpress.com/
>> https://colleenchesebro.org/

Amazon.com LINK

Amazon.UK.com LINK

Amazon.Australia. Amazon.com.au : Sunflower Tanka: An Anthology of Tanka, Tanka Prose, & Experimental Tanka




Under a White Light (a Tanka)

Within the forest
There’s a glen where children play
Under a white light
Where mystical faeries
Flit around, happy and free







Ivor Steven (c) December 2024