Autumn Leaves and Bees Knees
Deep among the forest’s magical trees
Where the rowdy snails do as they please
There is a secret garden for frolicking fairies
Their cabbage patch is made from layers
Of interwoven autumn leaves and bee’s knees
Spread upon leftover leprechaun sleeves
Here, the sprites flit in on the breeze
With an occasional wheeze and sneeze
Sometimes the bold winter freeze
Gives them an overfriendly squeeze
And you’ll hear the fairies squeal in Sinhalese
Ivor Steven (c) June 2025
It’s another hot day here in Geelong, and after our early morning walk, we have been inside avoiding the heat haze. I’ve been writing, and Frankie has been snoozing. The heat haze seems to have sent my computer into a discombobulated maze!
There’s No Exit (a Tanka)
In a daze, I gaze
At my screen full of X-Rays
My mind is ablaze
Analyzing the next phrase
There’s no exit to this maze!
.
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) March 2025
Beware! Alien Eyes
(a Haiku)
Inside the storm clouds
Yellow alien eyes looked down
On our wounded ground
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 direct for a signed copy at
ivorrs20@gmail.com
Ivor Steven (c) May 2024
Matilda shows me how to push start the flight …
Matilda takes me through the process of gliding into the sky … he made it look easy!!
“Our” full moon photos from tonight, 8.30 pm (just after sunset), 9.30 pm, 10.30 pm, and midnight.
Over at Weekly Prompts, the Weekend Challenge is: Expect … you may visit their wonderful site by clicking on >> Here. …
In my poem below, Matilda and I are “expecting” to see the full moon tonight.
Flying High in the Full Moon Sky
During our walkies, this morning
I enjoyed a friendly chat
With Matilda the Magpie
“Good morning, Matilda
as you know, later today
the full moon is going to be on show
and I was wondering
could I come and fly with you?
for a clear aerial view”
“You are more than welcome Ivor
however, when was the last time you went flying?”
“Five years ago, my friend
when I flew to Philadelphia”
“Oh, you will be a bit rusty
and now you are a 72-year-old
so best we have a practice run”
“Good idea, Matilda
I suppose it is like riding a bike
my wings will automatically remember
how to give me a push start
and then my gliding skills will return”
I am pleased to say
The training session went well
Matilda and I
Will be flying high
Side by side
In tonight’s full moon sky
Ivor Steven (c) February 2024
A Star Called Home
I am high flying
On the back of Phillip
My mystical fairy Penguin
I am the co-pilot
As we zoom over the halfway marker
That line in the sand
Now, there is no turning back
We are a dynamic duo
Wholeheartedly committed
To fulfill our dreams
Ungainly we may be
As we skim above the deepest sea
Toward the blue horizon
Chasing the cosmic sky
Looking for a star called home
I am reposting this poem in response to Moonwashed’s Weekly Prompted; Becalmed
>> https://amanpan.blog/2023/12/19/moonwashed-weekly-prompt-becalmed/
Becalmed Without an Alibi
Time to unshackle my inflatable raft
And reignite my charred draft
I left floating down the river
When I was the disabled driver
Of my Itmims space craft
Sadly, the fuel tank is running on empty
And the secondhand battery is almost dry
I need to recharge my world beyond page twenty
And being becalmed is not an imaginative alibi
Itmims; Ivor’s Time Machine In Micro Space
Ivor Steven (c) December 2023
The Faeries Christmas Tree (a Tanka)
Deep in the damp woods
Behind dewy leaves, I spied
Faeries dancing
And frolicking around their
Community’s Christmas tree
Vale: Shane MacGowan
Ivor Steven (c) December 2023
Over at Weekly Prompts, the Weekend Challenge is the word; Finale You may visit their wonderful site by clicking on >> Here.
His Musical Finale
Richard the intrepid snail
Went searching for the Holy Grail
He was told by the garden toad
His goal was on a long frosty road
Winding down toward the South Pole
Coolly, the snail began his arctic stroll
Determined to find the sacred anomaly
Before the music played at his grand finale
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) November 2023
Today’s Throwback Friday poem is a rewrite of a piece original called “Living On a Knife Edge”(Feb 2019). This poem was one of two, that I submitted to be published in March 2020 , but the other poem was accepted ahead of this piece, and here today I have again revised the 2020 poem.
Living On a Wooden Bridge (Revised)
Fire, fire, there’s raging fires
I need help to stamp out the flames
Burning down this old timber bridge
A traveler’s last causeway to the edge
Carrying today’s harsh realities
Spanning a lifetime of dreams and fantasies
Rain, rain, there’s a Noah’s flood
I need help to stop the cascading suds
Fill the sandbags with riverbed mud
Plug the leakages with woolly rugs
Ring out qualms and doubts
And accept the charity handouts
Warning, warning, there’s a heatwave
I need help to see through the shimmering haze
And peer into nature’s fiery atmosphere tonight
Where millions of her fireflies are alight
Forcing eyes to hear the sound of flashing delights
Gathering above the bridge to be the world’s new sunlight
“The Hosting Of The Shee” a poem by William B Yeats, sung by the Waterboys
The host is riding from Knocknarea
And over the grave of Clooth-na-Bare
Caoilte tossing his burning hair
And Niamh calling: ‘Away, come away’
‘Away, come away, away, away’.
The winds awaken, the leaves whirl round
Our cheeks are pale, our hair is unbound
Our breasts are heaving, our eyes are agleam
Empty your heart of its mortal dream.
The host is riding from Knocknarea
And over the grave of Clooth-na-Bare
Caoilte tossing his burning hair
And Niamh calling: ‘Away, come away’
‘Away, come away, away, away’.
Our armsa-wave, our lips are apart
And if anything gaze on our rushing band
We come between him and the hope of his heart
We come between him and the deed of his hand.
The host is riding from Knocknarea
And over the grave of Clooth-na-Bare
Caoilte tossing his burning hair
And Niamh calling: ‘Away, come away’
‘Away, come away, away, away, away, away…’.
Ivor Steven (c) November 2023
Please Note: All attached Photos presented in this article were taken by Derrick Knight, and he has kindly allowed me reproduce them here on my poetry site. You may visit his wonderful article, and site by clicking on this link >> https://derrickjknight.com/2023/10/02/moons-for-denzil/
Moon Dew
The moon slithered
into my bedroom
through a crack beside
her nostalgic heirloom
and lowered himself
onto my breastplate
stared into my eyes
and told me straight
“There is no need for tears
I am here to ease your fears
before I leave
I will give you
a loving spoonful
of magical moon dew
my universal cure
for the morning blues”
“Thank you, Mr. Moon”
as I joyfully sipped
from his silver spoon
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) October 2023
Ivor.Plumber/Poet 