

This Endless Storm, (a Tanka)
Beyond the storm clouds
What lays ahead for mankind?
Behind His torn shroud
I see only the dark side
Of bombing children blindly
Ivor Steven (c) July 2022


This Endless Storm, (a Tanka)
Beyond the storm clouds
What lays ahead for mankind?
Behind His torn shroud
I see only the dark side
Of bombing children blindly
Ivor Steven (c) July 2022
Like the Ukraine war itself, being disconnected from any peace process .. I deliberately constructed my poem without any conjunctions
Sad Old Sky (a Senryu)
Hard rain strikes again
Awakening old tired eyes
Sad sky falls to ground
Ivor Steven (c) July 2022
The winter sun sets
Over my oldest day
I tick off another year
My sister reminds me
“Twenty years to go
to equal Dad’s Ninety-one”
“Is that achievable?”
I ask myself
“No harm in trying”
I tell myself
Carole’s Dad also reached Ninety-One
This is my marathon’s goal
“To walk around the moon
on my way to touching the stars”
Ivor Steven (c) July 20th 2022
I went to a friend’s funeral yesterday afternoon, he was Seventy-one too, and a few weeks ago I went to see him in hospital after he had suffered a bad stroke … He was home alone, and they found him on the floor 3 days after he had the stroke … We went to school together 55 years ago … Last night I was sad and alone with my furry friend Frankie … Today is my 71st birthday, and I am emotionally appreciating life, after suffering 3 strokes of my own in recent times …
Attacked below is a new song by Loner Deer, ‘Leather Hat’ and his lyrics, seem to capture the feelings of my mood and thoughts today.
Loner Deer. ‘Leather Hat’, Lyrics
Today, no one came in my team
But I don’t wanna be the one
Who got no friends, no buddies in the house
But it’s not a big deal ’cause I never be alone
Under my Leather Hat, under my leather hat
This morning I want to play, but Momma said “no”
I have to clean my room but I just wanna be outside
Hang out with my friends, but I don’t have many plans
So, I’m just waiting in my bed and looking on the wall
At my leather hat, at my leather hat
Give me trust and give me wings, I guess some people want it
But I ain’t looking for the fame, I don’t forget where I come from
When Grandpa drives me through the fields
He tells me what I have to think about
That no one tells me what to do
I’m rich, I’m strong, I’m feeling good
Under my leather hat, under my leather hat
Give me trust and give me wings, I guess some people want it
But I ain’t looking for the fame, I don’t forget where I come from
Today, no one came in my team
But I don’t wanna be the one
Who got no friends, no buddies in the house
But it’s not a big deal ’cause I never be alone
Under my Leather Hat, under my leather hat
Ivor Steven (c) July 2022
Hello dear readers and followers, I am pleased to announce that I have managed to produce my “Twenty Nineth Tullawalla” Booklet … For new readers that don’t know about these booklets, they are basically the reason why I write poetry. I produce these ‘home-printed’ booklets for the sole purpose of raising funds for my favourite charity organisation, the MS Society, in Australia via the MS Charity Shop here in Geelong. And actually all money’s I receive for any of my poetry .via, submissions, I donate to the MS Society…. I’m proud to announce, that the sale of my “Tullawalla Booklets”, have now gone pass $1500.00, … to all the lovely readers, who have donated, to help achieve such a wonderful amount, a big heartfelt thank you, from “us” and the MS Society … …..Incredibly, there is now a total of “1255 poems”, Yep, well over “A Thousand Poems” in my collection/series of “29” Tullawalla Booklets. After 3 months, this booklet is finally completed, and ready for sale now !! As always, they are available for purchase, either as a hard copy ‘Booklet’, or a PDF format….. All proceeds go to the MS Charity Shop, here in Geelong West….. Please contact me here through my website page and I can chat to you about arrangements from there…. Oh, the booklet is called “Tullawalla, Today, Beside the Sea”… And here is the link to my website >> https://ivors20.wordpress.com

Today, Beside the Sea
After I left the fish tank
I lived on a nearby riverbank
Close to the connected sea
I would look beyond the ocean
Out to the dark blue horizon
As far as the eye could see
That was the ocean
That was our river
And now her river has been set free
An ebb tide that flows through me
Today beside the sea
I wait here
For tomorrow’s horizon
To set me free
Ivor Steven (c) July 2022
The wind blows strong though Xavier Rudd’s tenth album. It’s a recurring image that speaks of wide-open space and the awesome natural elements that shape it: a force far greater than us, but ours to harness if we take the time to learn, reflect and respect its ways.
“It hit me last year when I started to write Stoney Creek,” the Australian roots journeyman says of the album’s first, exhilarating single: a rolling acoustic balm of a song that finds refuge in the simple blessings of rest, companionship and belonging in a world gone crazy.
“We were on a trip north to the Cape and the wind was blowing too hard to take the tinnie out to the island… As I contemplated everything in my life and what was happening in the world there was literally a strong southeaster blowing, all the time. It felt like a wind of change, literally, in so many ways.”
The wide-open space he’d found himself in — the great COVID silence — was both beyond his control and curiously in-sync. The break accelerated a return to the solo mode of creation that first led the barefoot multi-instrumentalist on his phenomenal journey.
“Very excited to get out on the road and share this new record and live show that I’ve been working on. Australia first and then back out in the big wide world, the world needs music and I’m ready to share.”
This Article/Promotion: By “The Geelong Arts Center”
Ivor Steven (c) July 2022
With thank thanks to Colleen Brown and her inspiring article >>
https://bikecolleenbrown.wordpress.com/2022/07/11/ah-the-night/
Night Falls (a Haiku)
Daytime eyes do tire
Upon the land, night did fall
On the dreams of all
Ivor Steven © July 2022
Hello dear readers and followers, I now write for “Coffee House Writers” magazine on a fortnightly basis, and my poem“Today, Beside the Sea”, is in this weeks edition of Coffee House Writers Magazine. … please click on the link below to read my poem, at Coffee House Writers >>
https://coffeehousewriters.com/today-beside-the-sea/
Ivor Steven (c) July 2022
Today’s been and gone
Can the future be brave too?
Beyond the next dawn
Ivor Steven (c) July 4th 2022
Misty rain streaks down my cheeks
And gentle droplets play life’s symphony on my roof
Reminding my soul that I exist, so meek
Humbled by the sound of nature’s heartbeat
I shall continue to follow her melodious proof
The dark clouds part during my day
And the lifting fog pours me a rainbow beam
Reminding my soul, why I love, and why I stay
Honoured by the strength of nature’s heartbeat
I shall continue to follow my dream
Ivor Steven (c) July 2022