Adrian’s Song, Belmont Page Writers Group, Thursday 9th October

Yesterday, I attended my Belmont Page Writers group meeting, where we all take turns reciting our pieces of poetry or prose. Well, when it was Adrian’s turn, he produced his guitar and sang us a delightful song. My music/video of his lovely rendition is attached below (Whoops, I missed the first verse, so the video begins at the ‘Chorus’)

Adrian’s Song
“A Song of Dusk” (Lyrics by Adrian Brooks © )


Dusk dims the day
As she looks across the water
And watches his ship sail away
And disappear from sight
Now, time is all that’s left for her
To hang on hopes and promises
That echo through the ocean of her light

‘Chorus’
Rise the moon and set the sun
A star for every sigh of love
Ask how deep the waters run
And the wind for songs healing

Muse of the dusk
The tale commands its telling
For nothing counts for certainty
In matters of the heart
So who can say they’re meant to be
Two lovers bound for unity
When all the fates keep driving them apart

Rise the moon and set the sun
A star for every sigh of love
Ask how deep the waters run
And the wind for songs healing

And in their grief do they believe
Some hidden wheels are turning
Shaping all the happenings of future days
That there’s a world they can’t perceive
Where lovers’ fires keep burning
Till someday their paths will cross again

Rise the moon and set the sun
A star for every sigh of love
And this farewell’s their final one
As the wind cries its pity

Land’s lights are gone
And roll the waves unending
He begs the night sky’s confidence
But nothing will it betray
And though with all his heart he yearns
To turn the tide of destiny
Still, the waters carry him away






Ivor Steven ©  October 2025

Throwback Friday, Lights Above Bridges

Featured Image: Pixabay. Aurora Borealis


Yesterday, while we were walking along the banks of the Barwon River, we passed under the historic Queens Park Bridge, so today’s Throwback Friday poem is quite appropriate; originally written in September 2021.



Lights Above Bridges (Revise)



Bridges span our invisible years 
And carry our forgotten tears 
Crossing over old hidden fears

Bridges are burnt over time
Years turn to ashes in an instant
And time is our only constant  

Beyond the longest bridges
Under the ocean’s bluest seas 
And above nature’s greenest hues 
Love’s pulsating Aurora nights renew
 






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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 ©  October 2025

Celestial Birthright


Acrux rises over the opal sea—its light, my inheritance.


In the hush of night, beneath the Southern Cross, I find myself wondering how far starlight travels—and why it feels so familiar. This poem is a reflection on cosmic legacy, distance, and the quiet claim we make on eternity.



Celestial Birthright


Tonight,
there above the horizon’s
dark blue oceans,
deep in the black opal sky,
I see the bright Acrux Star.

Then I wonder: how far away
is a million light-years from today?
And why is the star’s infinite light
eternally my birthright.



Music/Video: The final 3 minutes of “Sea of Stars” – 10-hour, ambient space music




Ivor Steven ©  October 2025

Chattering to the Birds




Chattering to the Birds



Wandering down the winding road,
Chattering to the friendly birds–
Fluttering quietly nearby,
Waiting patiently for their replies.

Wondering, do they understand why
flying freely in the sky transcends
crawling around on contaminated ground.





Lindsey Stirling’s “Song of the Caged Bird” is more than just a haunting violin piece; it’s a visual and emotional journey inspired by Maya Angelou’s I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. Stirling imagined a bird gazing longingly from its cage, yearning to soar like the others. Though it cannot escape, it finds joy in sharing its song, lighting up the world around it.
Stirling writes: “Oftentimes, we can’t control our circumstances. However, it’s up to us to determine how we will respond to them. We all have a voice to find and a gift to share.”



Ivor Steven ©  October 2025

“Before, Between, and Beyond”, 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 “Before, Between, and Beyond” is in this week’s edition. The full title in my ‘Office Documents’ is “Before, Between, and Beyond (or, Under a Cloud, to Beyond Cloud Nine),” but that was too long for the Magazine.
To read the poem, please click the link below to visit my Coffee House Writers Magazine article.
>> https://coffeehousewriters.com/before-between-and-beyond/








.


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 ©  October 2025

“Man Overboard!”

Daylight Saving steals an hour, but where does it go? This poem wonders aloud, with a wink and a sigh, as time slips overboard. Paired with Tame Impala’s hypnotic rhythm, it’s a meditation on the absurdity of lost time.




“Man Overboard!”


Time vanished overboard,
and was last seen going forward.

Who will rescue the lost hour?
Who has the righteous power,
inside the clock’s stoic tower?

Somehow it doesn’t matter
that no one heard the clatter.

Time has no protective hands.
Time is not a rubber band,
nor a loose grain of sand.

I do not understand
how time’s forgotten hour was banned
and stored away in never-never-land.




Ivor Steven ©  October 2025

Dream Catchers

Over on Weekly Prompts, the monthly colour challenge this weekend is Orange. To visit their fabulous site, please click ... Here. The centre of my new Energy Flow dreamer catcher is Orange.


My old original Man-del-la shield, which was a gift from my Canadian Uncle many years ago, hangs under my courtyard verandah.


“Found at the top of the Skytram Lift, Whistlers Mountain—handcrafted echoes of the alpine spirit.”


My Energy Flow dream catcher, which now hangs on my lounge room bookcase.


And the Vision Seeker dream catcher hangs up on my writing desk



Dream Catchers

With nimble fingers and warm hearts,
the Man-del-la was crafted for me—
or someone much like me.
A symbolic shield to protect,
to bring good health and prosperity.

My Energy Flow dream catcher,
with its unique, handcrafted design,
reveals the scattering of energy
being drawn back to its source—
strengthening my spiritual self.

The Vision Seeker dream catcher
captures bad dreams in its web,
allowing the good ones to pass through.
The quartz stone at its centre
helps remove negative thoughts
and enhances spiritual communication and guidance.







Ivor Steven ©  October 2025

Beasts’ feast; Famine’s rations, or: A rengay

A big thank you to David, of “The Sheptics Kaddish” for inviting me to co-write a “Rengay.” I cannot remember having written a collaborative poem before, but it was so much fun to mix words with such an accomplished writer.
>> https://skepticskaddish.com/2025/10/02/beasts-feast-famines-rations-or-a-rengay/


A two-person ‘Rengay’

By Ivor and David


Beasts’ feast; Famine’s rations, or: A rengay

(Ivor)
i’ve no appetite
to be the new King’s taster
bad seeds don’t regrow

(David)
little princeling muffles heave
spits foie gras into goblet

(Ivor)
royalty’s snobbish ways
are wasted and inconsequential
to hungry grazers days

(David)
pastures lie barren
herders curse the banquet hall
torches flare outside

(Ivor)
the underworld cries
darkness falls on vacant eyes

(David)
pomegranate blood
stains her lips with endless oath
frost devours the bloom






Ivor Steven ©  October 2025