Tag: Life & Nature

Shangri La, Volume 16. Home Away From Home

The title of my new booklet, “Home Away From Home”, mainly consists of poems from my amazing holiday to Canada, ‘Before, During, and After.

FREE PDF COPY >>> Links Below

Hello, dear readers and followers. As you may 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 “2141” 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 16, Home Away From Home”

OR … Shangri La Volume 16, Home Away From Home.pdf





Home Away From Home

.

On an island under the northern stars
Among the giant evergreen cedars
Within my personal astrodome
Feeling at ease in my home away from home

I am on top of the world
Uncurling my ancient bones, yet unfurled
Giving my weary soul another joyful whirl

In a land covered by forests and berries
Living a dream on an island with magical fairies

.

.

Ivor Steven (c) September 2025

Dream On

“A gentle landing after an adventurous voyage—my Itmims returns from Canada.”




Dream On

From above and beyond the clouds,
I eventually floated down to the ground,
Softly landing among the bemused crowd —
They were both startled and spellbound.

That my ancient Itmims* spacecraft
Had negotiated the vast Pacific Ocean,
Like ‘Thor Heyerdahl‘s Kon Tiki’ raft…

Despite the wilderness’s rocky passage,
And my damaged undercarriage.



* Itmims; Ivor’s Time Machine In Micro Space







.


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 © September 2025

The Spider and the Hummingbird (a Tanka)




The Spider and the Hummingbird (a Tanka)


The spider declares
“Please do not listen to me”
The wee bird responds
“You must keep spinning your web,
And I shall hum for more light”







.


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 ©  2025

Throwback Friday, A Chalice of Champagne, by Ivor Steven

Today’s Throwback Friday Poem is another poem from my book “Tullawalla”, which I originally wrote in September 2019


A Chalice of Champagne (Tullawalla, page 103)

Once upon a time
In the days of rhyme
When learning to climb
I saw my neon sign
Slowly die by design

An angel’s teardrop fell
Ringing the church bell
And missing my empty well
From the tower of song, I wanted to yell
But life does not let you dwell

Despite the annual September rain
I trekked over flooded plains
Avoiding delta swamps of pain
Scaling the same old mountain again
Searching for our chalice of champagne





Ivor Steven (c) September 2025

Ring the Bells

Featured Image Above: Kalanchoe delagoensis, commonly known as Mother of Thousands, Chandelier Plant.







Ring the Bells


The paternal magpies are singing
The garden bells are ringing
Spring is playfully emerging

The wattle trees are flowering
The meadow grasses are growing
But, Theo the tomatoe is struggling






Ivor Steven (c) September 2025

Dr Ivor, My Regeneration

✈️🕰️ Jet lag defeated, regeneration complete. Meet Dr Ivor, freshly restored and ready to roam the cosmos—with Frankie by his side and ‘Itmims’ humming in orbit.





Dr Ivor, My Regeneration

On the fourth day of slumber, down under,
my regeneration did finally materialise.
Every cell in my body has been restored.
Replaced with a new, healthy cell.
Presumably, my DNA has changed as well
The only thing that hasn’t changed
is my quintessential core-
that is me, Ivor the time traveler,
in my rusty spacecraft, Itmims, **
with my trusty companion, Frankie

** Itmims – Ivor’s Time Machine In Micro Space







Ivor Steven (c) September 2025