Tag: Life & Nature

Hungry Crows, 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 “Hungry Crows” (a Pantoum) 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/hungry-crows/

Hungry Crows (a Pontoum); is my metaphorical interpretation of the ‘infamous’ White House meeting between President Zelensky and President Trump

A Pantoum, Poetry Format

Stanza 1:
4 lines, ABAB rhyme scheme

Stanza 2:
Line 5 (repeat of line 2 in stanza 1)
Line 6 (new line)
Line 7   (repeat of line 4 in stanza 1)
Line 8 (new line)

Stanza 3:
Last Stanza (This is the format for the last stanza regardless of how many preceding stanzas exist):
Line 9   (line 2 of the previous stanza)
Line 10 (line 3 of the first stanza)
Line 11 (line 4 of the previous stanza)
Line 12 (line 1 of the first stanza)






“My Back Pages” Lyrics by Bob Dylan

Crimson flames tied through my ears
Rollin’ high and mighty traps
Pounced with fire on flaming roads
Using ideas as my maps
“We’ll meet on edges, soon,” said I
Proud ‘neath heated brow
Ah, but I was so much older then
I’m younger than that now.

Half-wracked prejudice leaped forth
“Rip down all hate,” I screamed
Lies that life is black and white
Spoke from my skull, I dreamed
Romantic facts of musketeers
Foundationed deep, somehow
Ah, but I was so much older then
I’m younger than that now.

Girls’ faces formed the forward path
From phony jealousy
To memorizing politics
Of ancient history
Flung down by corpse evangelists
Unthought of, though, somehow
Ah, but I was so much older then
I’m younger than that now.

A self-ordained professor’s tongue
Too serious to fool
Spouted out that liberty
Is just equality in school
“Equality,” I spoke their word
As if a wedding vow
Ah, but I was so much older then
I’m younger than that now.

In a soldier’s stance, I aimed my hand
At the mongrel dogs who teach
Fearing not I’d become my enemy
In the instant that I preach
My existence led by confusion boats
Mutiny from stern to bow
Ah, but I was so much older then
I’m younger than that now.

Yes, my guard stood hard when abstract threats
Too noble to neglect
Deceived me into thinking
I had something to protect
Good and bad, I define these terms
Quite clear, no doubt, somehow
Ah, but I was so much older then
I’m younger than that now.



Ivor Steven (c) March 2025

Flying Among the Clouds

Over at Weekly Prompts, the Wednesday Challenge is the word Stodgy. You can visit their fabulous site by clicking on >> Here
My poem “Flying Among the Clouds” is definitely not Stodgy.





Flying Among the Clouds



I’m flying high
Cruising among the clouds
Fly with me
And the rest of my flock
Up here
There’s no need for a clock

Time gives no commands
Cruising among the clouds
Silently overseeing the crowd

Time always flies
At the same standard pace
There, in that space
Between daytime’s silvery moon
And twilight’s glittery sun






.


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

Flying Toward the Sun





Flying Toward the Sun

we all know
that the sun will shine
and that the birds will fly

we all know
why the full moon glows
and why the trees grow

but we do not know
who makes our world cry
or who chooses our time to die







.


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


I Was Kissed on the Eyes





I Was Kissed on the Eyes



There I stood
A captivated spectator
At the epicentre
Of Nature’s twilight zone

To the north
Low in the late afternoon sky
The pacific platinum moon
Kindly kissed my eyes

And to the west
Sliding into the nylon horizon
The glitzy golden sunset
Also, kindly kissed my eyes







.


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

Six Shades of Red

“Home grown tomatoes, home grown tomatoes
What would life be like without homegrown tomatoes
Only two things that money can’t buy
That’s true love and home grown tomatoes.” ~ John Denver





Six Shades of Red

My small sweet bite tomatoes
Progressively ripen through six stages

  • Green – the little fruit is completely green
  • Breakers – a slightly tarnished yellow
  • Turning – between orangy yellow and pink
  • Pink – like a teenager … still some growing up to do
  • Light Red – almost dressed and ready to go out
  • Red – bright cherry red and delightfully delicious








.


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

Throwback Friday, Our Random Kingdom

Today’s Throwback poem does not appear on my website, but I saw it by chance in my Tullawalla Booklet, No. 24, I Softly Walk, from July 2021. So now “Our Random Kingdom” is officially on my website.






Our Random Kingdom



Sometimes we put pieces away 
Because our emotions altered the next day 
But the thoughts are there to stay 
And arise again to be an honest display  

The whispering wind is an elusive creature
Mother nature’s operatic music teacher
Our random sculptor’s hands of life 
Shaping our fate with her palate knife 

That damn old clock never stops
Not even for a pause
To chat with Santa Claus
Even Father Time’s sundial shadow
Enternally works every tomorrow
But let me say, there will come a day
When love will be here to stay 







.


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

My Mind is Flying, 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 “My Mind is Flying” 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/my-mind-is-flying/








.


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

Another Hot Summer’s Day (a Madrigal)


The madrigal (developed by Geoffrey Chaucer), and thank you to David of Skeptics Kaddish, for introducing me to this interesting poetry format
>> https://skepticskaddish.com/2025/02/21/the-threshold-or-the-soul/

Here are the rules:

Usually written in iambic pentameter.
Comprised of three stanzas: a tercet, quatrain, and sestet.
All three of the lines in the opening tercet are refrains.
The poem follows this rhyme pattern:

Line 1: A
Line 2: B1
Line 3: B2

Line 4: a
Line 5: b
Line 6: A
Line 7: B1

Line 8: a
Line 9: b
Line 10: b
Line 11: A
Line 12: B1
Line 13: B2





Another Hot Summer’s Day (a Madrigal)

Another hot summer’s day of clear blue skies
The sun says “I’m allowed to turn up the heat”
And the moon is just looking for a cool seat

For his normal silvery midday disguise
And feeling sorry for the world’s sunburnt feet
Another hot summer’s day of clear blue skies
The sun says “I’m allowed to turn up the heat”

Today is just another day for the flies
Where they thrive on digesting everything sweet
And infesting the uncovered sunbaked meat
Another hot summer’s day of clear blue skies
The sun says “I’m allowed to turn up the heat”
And the moon is just looking for a cool seat






.


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

Sails and Wings






Sails and Wings

The local yachts
are out sailing on the calm bay
The coastal birds
are flying above the cool seaspray

I sense it is nature’s way
of reminding me about my dream
To clip on my wings and fly far away
Toward the northern hemisphere
and visit my cousins on Vancouver Island






.


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