Eugi’s poem
impulsive nature
lauds summer in floral dress
intoxicating
Moonwashed Musings Weekly Prompt >> Let one or more words in my poem be your inspiration.>> http://amanpan.com/2025/06/03/moonwashed-weekly-prompt-june-3-2025/
Intoxicating
Moonlight candles do not cry
And nature never tells a lie
Amber sunsets deny
There is no final goodbye
The pink twilight sky
Knowingly decries
“Tomorrow does not die”
With every breath, I sigh
The universe is my high
Ivor Steven (c) June 2025
FREE PDF COPY >>> Links Below
Hello, dear readers and followers. As you might know, I stopped producing my “Tullawalla Booklets” at # 31 because that was the house number of our family’s Tullawalla Homestead.
However, the booklet format is a superb way for me to catalogue the vast number of poems I produce, and as the saying goes, “I Am Turning Another Page”. Here I have begun a new series of poem booklets, called “Shangri La”, the name of my little Villa, and it is my piece of “earthly paradise, a retreat from the pressures of modern civilization”.
I now have “2004” Poems filed in these booklet formats!!
(On my bookshelf, I have “The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson, which contains 1775 poems … when I first started writing poems, I never envisaged that I would produce so many poems)
Click on >> Here, for the link to your FREE: PDF Copy of “Shangri La, Volume 14, Purple Tomato Tree”
OR … Shangri La, Vol 14, Purple Tomato Tree.pdf
Purple Tomato Trees
I have hallucinations of Vikings sailing in the cold
Plundering forgotten hearts and pilfering gold
I am dreaming of the old farmer’s wife
Milking cows and baking all her life
I have feelings for the king, in his isolated castle
Looking forlornly upon his drawbridge, a foodless trestle
I am wandering through an empty paddock
Kicking dew off the grass, searching for a lover’s locket
I have plans for the planet’s desolate future
Growing purple tomato trees until they are mature
I remember her bravery, her everlasting smile
Fading gradually, in her own gracious style
I have ceased stumbling under her distant sky
Now claiming peace among today’s butterflies
Ivor Steven (c) June 2025
In response to Sadje’s, WDYS # 291
>> https://lifeafter50forwomen.com/2025/06/02/what-do-you-see-291-2june-2025/
I chose her second image, “a shot of a full moon, and in front of the moon, you can see a plane traveling!“
No Anchor, No Breaks, No Parachute!
“Hit the ground running,” they say
Well, I hit Monday
Without a ripcord
On my parachute
It mysteriously disappeared
Out of touch, out of sight
I think I left my ‘safety chute’
At the Market on Saturday
I’m only half finished
My new project,
Shangri La, Volume 14
“We desperately need
a coffee break”, I said to Frankie
So, down to the ‘Cafe’ we went!
This old poet had to relax
And slow down the adrenaline flow
“What goes up, must come down.”
Hopefully, when I crush tonight,
The landing will be a smooth one
Ivor Steven (c) June 2025
Today’s poem is from a poetic response that I post about ‘Violet’s’ emotive poem >> https://violetslentz.home.blog/2025/05/27/pink-slip-2/
And over at Weekly Prompts, it’s the last weekend of the month and time for their One Day Prompt! To visit their fabulous site, please click on > Here
A Technical Knockout
When you’re down and out
feeling like a dry river-bed trout
flipping around after an endless drought
And you’re in the vacant corner of another losing bout
There’ll be one day, without doubt
you’ll have nothing left to shout about
Please, I beg, one last Guinness stout
before I get kicked in the spout
by Trump’s next lockout roundabout
After the ruthless rout,
when I blacked out
I was told by a local layabout
“there was no doubt,
the decision was a Technical Knockout”
Ivor Steven (c) June 2025
Feature Image: Please note that my copy of the Geelong Writers Inc. Anthology 2024 was signed by the editor, Judy Rankin, and Judy is also the publisher/editor of my 3 books, Tullawalla, Perceptions, and Until Eyes Hear Sound.
A New Anthology (a Tanka)
Through rain, hail, or shine
I am the messenger bird
I’ve important news
About the Anthology
Don’t let the wires clip my wings
And here is my poem from the Geelong Writers Inc. Anthology
Ivor Steven (c) May 2025
Autumn’s Dry White Clouds
There is a cold, lonely wind blowing
Through the whispering tree tops
And here below the heavy blue sky
I am leaning like a knave bowing
Meanwhile
I see Autumn’s dry white clouds
Quietly drift away without waving goodbye
Mystified, I am wondering why
This season has been so dry
.
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 © May 2025
Cloudless Skies (a Haiku)
The cloudless sunset
Reinforced our dilemma
The drought shall press on
Ivor Steven (c) May 2025
Flying Away
A swift little fantail, or flashy wattlebird
A trusty magpie, or even a hardy crow
I’m not overly fussy or bossy
Actually, Air New Zealand
Was my preferred choice
Four hours to Auckland
Thirteen hours to Vancouver
Then a short trip to the Island’s
Victoria Airport
My hometown, Geelong
Is in the State of Victoria (Australia)
And here I am flying to Canada
Then, finishing up in Victoria
.
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 © May 2025
Over at Weekly Prompts, the Weekend Challenge is the word Silhouette. To visit their fabulous site, please click on >>HERE
I have not mentioned the word ‘Silhouette in my poem, but after sunset,
the sky is covered in colourfull ‘silhouettes’.
The Horizon’s Encore (a Tank)
Half an hour after
The sun’s disappearing act
The horizon’s lights
Refused to exit the stage
When Twilight called out for more
Ivor Steven (c) May 2025
A Crazy Phase
This morning I had a dream.
About flying north toward the sun
and travelling beyond the Rocky Mountains, trees
On my way there,
I dropped in to say hello to the moon
And I asked the moon.
“How do you cope when waning
to that crescent shape?”
The moon smiled and wryly replied
“Do not worry, my friend.
It’s a crazy phase I’m going through.”
Amble – The Boy Who Flew Away
Lyrics:
I’m standing staring at my feet
I can feel the eyes on me
Is that the boy who flew away
I wonder, is he free
I wonder, is he free
One will courage a handshake and smile
And say ‘oh boy, it’s been a while’
Cheeks will turn, my ears will burn
I’ll say ‘oh boy, it’s been a while’
Maybe flying was never my plan
To leave and return an older man
Have you ever thought
You pushed me away
I’m home now, with no place to stay
I’m home now, with no place to stay
Luke talks about lost and found
Maybe he meant found and lost
On Sunday eve, we’ll kill a calf
And deal with the family frost
And deal with the family frost
Luck will fall and ice will thaw
For the boy who drew the long straw
Bridges mend, and time is your friend
And home now will be Lán le Grá
And home now will be Lán le Grá
Maybe flying was never my plan
To leave and return and older man
Have you ever thought
You pushed me away
I’m home now, with no place to stay
I’m home now, with no place to stay
I’m standing staring at my feet
I can feel the eyes on me
I’m the boy who flew away
The boy who’s longer free
Ivor Steven (c) May 2025
Ivor.Plumber/Poet 