

Hibernate? (a Tanka)
Legs are out of sync
The mind’s running on empty
Time to hibernate?
Eyes do not hear the sunrise
Ears cannot see the future

Ivor Steven (c) July 2024

The Authors’ Breakfast was a great success this morning. We had a room to ourselves at Novotel Geelong and a couple of hours to meet new people, mingle, and talk about all things books.



Out of the Blue!
This morning I attended
An authors’ breakfast
Then, out left field
You were there!
Spying on me!
Peeping through the balcony window
After the event
I was waiting at the bus stop
Then, out of nowhere
You were there!
Spying on me!
Peeping out of the leafy trees
When I returned home
I took Frankie for a walk
Then, out of the blue
You were there!
Spying on me!
Peeping from behind the whispy clouds

Ivor Steven (c) July 2024
Featured Image: Taken by Derrick Knight, who kindly allows me to reproduce his fabulous photos on my ‘Poetry Website’
>> https://derrickjknight.com/2024/07/06/save-by-the-bees/
“Bees”
Bustling busy bees
Brazenly brave
Benevolently beneficial
By behaviourally
Binding and bridging
Our beloved blossoms
They are the burlesque backbone
Behind every balmy breath
We blessedly breathe


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) July 2024
Two weeks to go until the ‘launch party’ for my new book “Until Eyes Hear Sound”, and today’s Throwback Friday poem is in Chapter 7, (Memories and Rhymes) page 95, of the Book, and I wrote the poem in January 2021.

Invisible Miracles
I am neither black nor white
I am not day nor night
I am neither sand nor sea
I am not a flower or a bee
I am not wrong or right
I am not heavy or light
I am Clear and free
I am a cool ocean breeze
I am a song we breathe
I am the air from our trees
I am a star above your grave
I am a shy sound wave
I can be brave
I am your invisible slave


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) July 2024



I’m Envious (a Rhyming Haiku)
He’s keen to take flight
Clear skies beyond our gunsights
Freedom’s his birthright


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) July 2024
On our morning walkies, it was very overcast, but for some strange reason it didn’t rain, just a few drops here and there, like “Rain-less Tears”



Rain-less Tears
across the barren
winter paddocks
beyond the horizon’s
leafless trees
the gloomy clouds
are slowly assembling
above the melancholic
funeral congregation
humbly huddling
shoulder to shoulder
quietly weeping
rain-less tears


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) July 2024
Hello dear readers and followers, I am a writer for “Coffee House Writers magazine” (USA), on a fortnightly basis, and my poem “Comic Typhoons and Tycoons”, is in this week’s edition of Coffee House Writers Magazine. …
To Read my poem, please click on the link below to visit the article, at Coffee House Writers Magazine.
>> https://coffeehousewriters.com/cosmic-typhoons-and-tycoons/


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) July 2024



Five Birds (a Tanka)
Birds on a light post
Witnessing the world below
Five jurors on hold
The verdict is forever
Blowing in the winds of time


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) July 2024
Over at Weekly Prompts, the Wednesday Challenge is: Resilience
To visit their fabulous site click on >> Here
Below is, the original introduction from my post in August 2020.
“Hello dear readers, I’ve been writing this poem over the last three days, and I was struggling to obtain any rhythm between thoughts and words, then I saw a wondrous photo on Derrick Knight’s blog/website this morning, (which is my ‘Featured Image’ above), and his picture of the glorious old oak tree, immediately channeled my thoughts, into that of strength and “resilience“, and from there, my Title was formed, and my words started to become a more cohesive piece of poetry…. Thank you, Derrick, for allowing me to use this beautiful and impressive photo, with my humble little poem.” >> https://derrickjknight.com/
Please Note; “Standing Upright” appears in our book “Perceptions”, a Collaboration of Poems and Photographs from Ivor Steven and Derrick Knight (Nov 2022)
Standing Upright
My heart’s bruised from bygone blood-stones
Threaded together by the spirits of old bones
And there resting within my aging body’s sway
I am shedding soulful droplets on sunny days
The world’s foul winds had blown me off my feet
After wobbling down cold and dusty streets
Then a modern medicine man came with his young tribe
Re-tuning my broken pieces with rhythmical vibes
And they declared my heartstrings to be plucky enough
To handle tomorrow’s mystery masks and travelers’ handcuffs


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) July 2024