Hello dear readers and followers, I am again writing for “Coffee House Writers” magazine on a fortnightly basis, and my poem “An Unused Compass”, 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/an-unused-compass/
Ivor Steven (c) April 2024
Another Throwback Easter poem from 4 years ago, was a scrappy piece about my attempt to go on an Easter trip.
Jingle Jangle for My Easter Bonnet (Revised)
My notebook has run out of ideas
There are pages of invisible words
And blue lines are leaping outside
Into my used quills recycle bin
I have old hand-knitted socks
Lining my holey pockets
And my threadbare purse
It is loosely tied to my Easter bonnet
How am I going to fly?
Without, high-priced wings
I’ve not even a jingle jangle
Of silver change
And my dream’s destination
Now, it seems out of range
But I don’t need to travel too far
To reach my Easter avatar
Until Eyes Hear Sound is NOW Available From,
Lulu Books: https://www.lulu.com/shop/ivor-steven/until-eyes-hear-sound/paperback/product-jeev886.html?page=1&pageSize=4
Jaymah Press: https://www.jaymahpress.com.au/product-page/until-eyes-hear-sound
Tullawalla is Available From
Jaymah Press:https://www.jaymahpress.com.au/
Ivor Steven: email, ivorrs20@gmail.com
Amazon: search via, ‘Tullawalla by Ivor Steven’
AND
Perceptions is Now Available via:
Amazon: https://amzn.asia/d/4yFHWrT
Jaymah Press: https://www.jaymahpress.com.au/
OR: email me directly for a signed copy – ivorrs20@gmail.com
Ivor Steven (c) March 2024
I found a poem in my old files yesterday, from September 2018. Here I have revised the wording slightly, but without losing any of the original’s impressive imagery.
Dear friends and followers, as you read my article today, I am on my way to the “Clunes Booktown Festival” and won’t be back until Monday afternoon. But, I have been busy writing and have ‘Scheduled’ a post each day while I am away, but my blogging ‘Comments’ will be minimal … >> https://www.clunesbooktown.com.au/
Purple Tomatoe Ferns (Revised)
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, cleaning, and baking for 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 tomatoe ferns until they are mature
I remember her bravery, her ever-lasting smile
Crawling over jagged garden beds, every painful mile
I have finished falling under her broken sky
Claiming peace among tomorrow’s butterflies
Ivor Steven (c) March 2024
This is the second piece that I wrote on Monday morning (Sunday afternoon PDT) when I attended the Writing Circle Poetry Group via Zoom with our host/convener, the gracious Ali Grimshaw >> https://flashlightbatteries.blog/online-writing-circles/ and after listening to her recite a second selected piece of poetry, we were then encouraged to write our own poetic response in “6 mins” … and mine was a short 6 line poem
Somewhere, Beyond My Time
Please give me more time
Time to lay a foundation stone
So, I can build my marble stairway
The stairway I need to create
The stairway that I must climb
A climb to somewhere, beyond my time
Until Eyes Hear Sound
Not available on Lulu or Amazon yet … but you may purchase it from me, via this web page or my email >> ivorrs20@gmail.com
Tullawalla is Available From
Jaymah Press:https://www.jaymahpress.com.au/
Ivor Steven: email, ivorrs20@gmail.com
Amazon: search via, ‘Tullawalla by Ivor Steven’
AND
Perceptions is Now Available via:
Amazon: https://amzn.asia/d/4yFHWrT
Jaymah Press: https://www.jaymahpress.com.au/
OR: email me directly for a signed copy – ivorrs20@gmail.com
Ivor Steven (c) March 2024
On Monday morning (Sunday afternoon PDT), I attended a Writing Circle Poetry Group via Zoom with our host/convener, the gracious Ali Grimshaw >> https://flashlightbatteries.blog/online-writing-circles/ and after listening to her recite a selected piece of poetry, we are then encouraged to write our own poetic response in “6 mins” … mine was a rough draft, and here is my completed poem.
Wishing Tree
I spend my time with words
My time is not just about words
My words evolve from my thoughts
My thoughts are the fruits
Of my life’s Wishing Tree
Faded wishes and lost dreams
Of where my heart has been
New wishes and dreams
Of what my soul is trying to achieve
My time is not just about words
Until Eyes Hear Sound
Not available on Lulu or Amazon yet … but you may purchase it from me, via this web page or my email >> ivorrs20@gmail.com
Tullawalla is Available From
Jaymah Press:https://www.jaymahpress.com.au/
Ivor Steven: email, ivorrs20@gmail.com
Amazon: search via, ‘Tullawalla by Ivor Steven’
AND
Perceptions is Now Available via:
Amazon: https://amzn.asia/d/4yFHWrT
Jaymah Press: https://www.jaymahpress.com.au/
OR: email me directly for a signed copy – ivorrs20@gmail.com
Ivor Steven (c) March 2024
Are All the Doors Closed?
Scores of uncultured doors
Closed pores of the old stores
Hiding drawers of past accords
The forgotten ardours of wise mentors
Now, just condescending decors to the new wars
Like cantankerous dinosaurs with itchy bedsores
Until Eyes Hear Sound
Not available on Lulu or Amazon yet … but you may purchase it from me, via this web page or my email >> ivorrs20@gmail.com
Tullawalla is Available From
Jaymah Press:https://www.jaymahpress.com.au/
Ivor Steven: email, ivorrs20@gmail.com
Amazon: search via, ‘Tullawalla by Ivor Steven’
AND
Perceptions is Now Available via:
Amazon: https://amzn.asia/d/4yFHWrT
Jaymah Press: https://www.jaymahpress.com.au/
OR: email me directly for a signed copy – ivorrs20@gmail.com
Ivor Steven (c) March 2024
I am extremely proud and humbled by the acceptance of five of my poems by the amazing Susi Bocks, Editor-in-Chief at The Short of It! “Hot off the Press” and released for publication today!
New Light
Cascading sunshine
Falls into my cloudy eyes
Cold ponds feel new light
Further Down
From the Pandemic’s
Depressing downs
Into my Covid
Dressing gown
Finality
after we have consumed
the leftover wine
and desecrated the sundial’s shadow
the dark side of the moon
will finally recede from view
Co-existence
Beneath the trees and bushes
Lives an underground network
Prospering on giving and receiving
Our Time
Time waits for no one
Everyone passes in time
Time hears no commands
~~~
Ivor Steven, formerly an Industrial Chemist and then a Plumber, is now retired; he has been published in numerous anthologies and online magazines. He has two self-published books, Tullawalla and Perceptions. Ivor is an active member of the Geelong Writers Inc.(Australia) and an appointed writer for Coffee House Writers magazine (USA). He was first featured in 2022 and was nominated for the 2022 Pushcart Prize for his piece – The Sum is One. You can read his features and reblog by clicking HERE.
If you’d like to be featured on The Short of It in the future,
click here for the submission guidelines.
Ivor Steven (c) March 8th 2024
A Senryu I wrote in response to Susi’s emotional poem “Getting Broken”
>> https://iwriteher.com/2024/02/14/getting-broken/
Featured Imaged Above: with Claudia’s (Humoring The Goddess)
kind permission, from her magnificent story about the artist, Glen Martin Taylor. Please visit her site and read the amazing article.
>> https://humoringthegoddess.com/2024/02/24/sunday-evening-art-gallery-glen-martin-taylor
Broken is Not a Token (a Senryu)
Once the heart’s broken
Kintsugi is a token
For the hurt spoken
Ivor Steven (c) February 2024
My poem here, was a response/comment to Jevannel’s positive article, >> https://jevannelacademy.com/just-a-random-entry/ , which I have slightly altered to create this verse
The Swing’s Tempo
Life is full of challenges
Living alone is a challenge
Life’s challenges are there to be hurdled
Don’t let the world bring you down
The trees of life have many branches
Choose your strongest branch
Attach a lullaby swing
And enjoy all the highs
And flow with the lows
Of the swing’s enchanting tempo
Ivor Steven (c) December 2023
December, it’s that time of the year for the release of Anthologies, and here is another annual Anthology that my poems have been published in. This is one has been produced and published by the Belmont Page Writers Group (Geelong) and superbly edited by our convener, Claudia Collins.
Two of my poems were published in this fabulously presented Anthology, and today I am presenting the first one “A Forever Coat”.
Ivor Steven (c) December 2023
Ivor.Plumber/Poet 