Tag: Anti-war

Throwback Friday, A Banner Of Sunflowers

I planted sunflower seeds in my courtyard garden this afternoon, which prompted me to post today’s Throwback Friday poem, “A Banner of Sunflowers”. The poem originally stems from a Geelong Writers Ekphrastic poetry workshop, in May 2022, and this was my poetic response to Shirley Drayton’s creative piece of textile artwork “Golden Sunflowers”.
Please Note: the poem also appears in my book “Until Eyes Hear Sound”, in Chapter 6, War! Without Peace? on page 86.



A Banner Of Sunflowers

look!
up there
above the War’s
darkest clouds
there is a blue banner
embroidered with sunflowers
swaying
through a hole
in the eastern sky

bearing a message
of ‘Hello’
or is it ‘Goodbye’?
a sweeping reminder
from our Ancestors
“we feel your suffering and pain
from the merciless hard rain
blood-filled rivers and cratered plains
smoke-filled skylines and cracked windowpanes”

“however, we also know
beyond the broken horizon
the sunflower plants of hope
will germinate again
and future seeds for peace
will regenerate a new campaign“












All Books. Now Available At:

Creative Geelong MAY’D Shop,
Shop 15/Centrepoint Arcade
132 Little Malop St, Geelong
TRADING HOURS
Thursday-Saturday
11am-3pm


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) October 2024

“Make a Wish”





“Make a Wish”

Shine, hail, or snow
The moon glows and grows
Into the wizard’s noble silver disc


“It’s Time, to make wish”
Before the magical foil
Shrinks and recoils
Behind the earth’s orbital shadow
Now bestowed with a sooty air flow
From all the Wars surplus ammo











All Books. Now Available At:

Creative Geelong MAY’D Shop,
Shop 15/Centrepoint Arcade
132 Little Malop St, Geelong
TRADING HOURS
Thursday-Saturday
11am-3pm


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) September 2024

And I Wonder Why

Over at Weekly Prompts, the Wednesday Challenge is: Perspective … to visit their fabulous site, please click on >> Here … And my poem below is a metaphorical perspective between “nature’s serenity and our wild wars”





And I Wonder Why


On a windless winter morn

I am walking beside the wave-less bay

Watching the white wispy clouds

Wandering above the whispering trees


And I am wondering why

Our worried and weeping world

Wantonly wastes time

On unworthy and wearisome wars





“Esmerelda”, a wonderfully dramatic song by Ben Howard






All Books. Now Available At:

Creative Geelong MAY’D Shop,
Shop 15/Centrepoint Arcade
132 Little Malop St, Geelong
TRADING HOURS
Thursday-Saturday
11am-3pm


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) June 2024

In the Full Moon’s Afterglow




In the Full Moon’s Afterglow

My world’s worn-out words flow
From the torn sunflower meadows
To the silent streets of Moscow
Written on the hills of Dnipro in blue-line lingo
Beyond the reach of the full moon’s afterglow
And painted in lyrical tempo with hypnotic gusto

Am I to be another muted scarecrow
Mutilated by the war-lords errant crossbows







Until Eyes Hear Sound: is NOW Available From,


Lulu Books: https://www.lulu.com/shop/ivor-steven/until-eyes-hear-sound/paperback/product-jeev886.html?page=1&pageSize=4

Jaymah Press: https://www.jaymahpress.com.au/product-page/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/

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) May 2024

Wrap the World in Rainbows (a Tanka)

Over at Weekly Prompts, the Weekend Colour Challenge is: Orange – you may visit their fabulous site by clicking on >> Here.
Orange is the colour of energy and happiness, and I dream of solving the world’s problems by wrapping the “Earth In Rainbows”



Wrap the World in Rainbows (a Tanka)




Below the rainbow’s

Protective arch, nature’s birds

Know their nests are safe

Away from humanity’s

Hard rains and murderous wars







Until Eyes Hear Sound: is NOW Available From,



Lulu Books: https://www.lulu.com/shop/ivor-steven/until-eyes-hear-sound/paperback/product-jeev886.html?page=1&pageSize=4

Jaymah Press: https://www.jaymahpress.com.au/product-page/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/

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) May 2024

Throwback Friday, Day One (Lest We Forget)

“Day One” a poem I wrote in April 2022 for ‘Anzac Day’ … Lest We Forget …



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





This graphic Music/Video by the Pogues “needs no more words”




Ivor Steven (c) April (Anzac Day) 2024

Are All the Doors Closed?






Are All the Doors Closed?


Scores of uncultured doors

Closed pores of the old stores

Hiding drawers of past accords

The forgotten ardours of wise mentors


Now, just condescending decors to the new wars

Like cantankerous dinosaurs with itchy bedsores







Until Eyes Hear Sound
Not available on Lulu or Amazon yet … but you may purchase it from me, via this web page or my email >> ivorrs20@gmail.com

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) March 2024

How Far Must I Fly?

Over at Weekly Prompts, the Weekend Challenge is the word: Timeworn. You may visit their fabulous site by clicking on >> Here
My poem is about the “Timeworn” cry for PEACE …



How Far Must I Fly?




The earth is a worn and bloodied mound

Time for me to leave this tormented ground

Before the new world destroys every living tree

And the arising desert dunes drown me


I will soar beyond the Golden Fleece

Avoiding the manmade black cables and wires

That carries those unheeded calls for peace

Silent messages that forever swoon above alien skies


How wide and how high must I fly?

Until the sounds of war

Empty from my crying eyes








Until Eyes Hear Sound
Not available on Lulu or Amazon yet … but you may purchase it from me, via this web page or my email >> ivorrs20@gmail.com


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) March 2024

Midas-Touched Lands (a Tanka)

Over at Weekly Prompts, the Wednesday Challenge is the word: Scary. You can visit their fabulous site by clicking on >> Here. Below my poem is a “Scary” metaphorical anti-war Tanka.





Midas-Touched Lands (a Tanka)


Sunset’s golden eye

Cries saffron spice seeds worldwide

Hard drops of yellow

Spreading beyond Eastern skies

Clouding those Midas-touched lands









Ivor Steven (c) February 2024