


Holding On (a Tanka)
Morning, day, and night
Your shadow follows the light
No matter the time
Whether you turn left or right
Your shadow always holds tight
Ivor Steven (c) March 2025



Holding On (a Tanka)
Morning, day, and night
Your shadow follows the light
No matter the time
Whether you turn left or right
Your shadow always holds tight
Ivor Steven (c) March 2025



Ambidextrous Birds (a Tanka)
From out of the clouds
Or flying among the trees
Ambidextrous birds
Perched calmly or soaring free
Are Nature’s trapeze artists
Ivor Steven (c) March 2025
Featured Image Above; Street art, Little Malop St, CBD, Geelong





Awkwardness
Within this world’s wilderness
Beyond my ongoing tiredness
I must confess
My aging awkwardness
It’s becoming more difficult to address
Nonetheless
Life’s progress
It’s a challenging process
Ivor Steven (c) March 2025
Dear followers and friends of my poetry website; wishing you all, a happy and creative “WORLD POETRY DAY” …
“Let the earth bear witness” – – William B Yeats (1916)
Today’s Throwback Friday was written in January 2023
Thank you to Bartholomew >> https://bartbarkerpoet.com/2023/01/06/fraiku-not-just-a-little-shy/ for initially inspiring my “deep water thoughts” back then …
Volume Without Sound (Revised)
when I swim
at the surf beach
and dive deep down
the eerie fullness
of my silent surroundings
enhances the volume
of those submersed thoughts
floating within my mind
Ivor Steven (c) March 21st 2025
All the Essentials are packed
Clunes: here we come!


A Poet’s Paradise, The Clunes Booktown Festival
The Event is probably the biggest Book Festival in Australia, and “I’ll be there this weekend, March 22nd and 23rd,” in one of the many “Book Trader Marquees.”


Ivor Steven (c) March 2024






Over at Weekly Prompts, the Wednesday Challenge is Ragged. Please visit their fabulous site by clicking on >> Here
As you might gather from my poem, I am feeling very “ragged around the edges” … I have been hectically busy preparing for the ‘Clunes Booktown’ Festival this weekend …
Am I The Pilot?
What motivates me?
To walk so many miles
Despite the aches and pains
What compels me?
To write every day
Despite my crusty old brain
What drives me?
Over life’s valleys and mountains
Despite yesterday’s hard rain
Will I still be the pilot?
Of tomorrow’s mystery flight
Despite missing tonight’s plane
Ivor Steven (c) March 2025








Of Land and Sky
I am of the land, I cry!
Jealously, I stare at the clear blue sky
Here, the dew departs without a sound
and a freshness caresses the ground
Through the trees, toward the east
I see the sunny morning’s golden beast
Above the trees, looking to the west
I spy the setting moon wearing a sunny vest
Under this land, she eternally lies
and around my heart, I wear a sunny tie

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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 (c) March 2025

Hello, dear readers and followers. I write for Coffee House Writers magazine (USA) fortnightly, and my poem “Hungry Crows” (a Pantoum) is in this week’s edition. …
To read my poem, please click on the link below to visit the article, at Coffee House Writers Magazine.
>> https://coffeehousewriters.com/hungry-crows/
Hungry Crows (a Pontoum); is my metaphorical interpretation of the ‘infamous’ White House meeting between President Zelensky and President Trump
A Pantoum, Poetry Format
Stanza 1:
4 lines, ABAB rhyme scheme
Stanza 2:
Line 5 (repeat of line 2 in stanza 1)
Line 6 (new line)
Line 7 (repeat of line 4 in stanza 1)
Line 8 (new line)
Stanza 3:
Last Stanza (This is the format for the last stanza regardless of how many preceding stanzas exist):
Line 9 (line 2 of the previous stanza)
Line 10 (line 3 of the first stanza)
Line 11 (line 4 of the previous stanza)
Line 12 (line 1 of the first stanza)
“My Back Pages” Lyrics by Bob Dylan
Crimson flames tied through my ears
Rollin’ high and mighty traps
Pounced with fire on flaming roads
Using ideas as my maps
“We’ll meet on edges, soon,” said I
Proud ‘neath heated brow
Ah, but I was so much older then
I’m younger than that now.
Half-wracked prejudice leaped forth
“Rip down all hate,” I screamed
Lies that life is black and white
Spoke from my skull, I dreamed
Romantic facts of musketeers
Foundationed deep, somehow
Ah, but I was so much older then
I’m younger than that now.
Girls’ faces formed the forward path
From phony jealousy
To memorizing politics
Of ancient history
Flung down by corpse evangelists
Unthought of, though, somehow
Ah, but I was so much older then
I’m younger than that now.
A self-ordained professor’s tongue
Too serious to fool
Spouted out that liberty
Is just equality in school
“Equality,” I spoke their word
As if a wedding vow
Ah, but I was so much older then
I’m younger than that now.
In a soldier’s stance, I aimed my hand
At the mongrel dogs who teach
Fearing not I’d become my enemy
In the instant that I preach
My existence led by confusion boats
Mutiny from stern to bow
Ah, but I was so much older then
I’m younger than that now.
Yes, my guard stood hard when abstract threats
Too noble to neglect
Deceived me into thinking
I had something to protect
Good and bad, I define these terms
Quite clear, no doubt, somehow
Ah, but I was so much older then
I’m younger than that now.
Ivor Steven (c) March 2025






Welcome!
When you walk into my home
You cannot help but notice
That all the walls are adorned
With photos and various pieces of memorabilia
And if you venture out the back door
Into my verandah and courtyard area
You cannot help but notice
That the fence and walls are also covered
With more pictures and Tullawalla scriptures

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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 (c) March 2025
Our Creative Geelong Market Day was a very warm 33’C. However, we were comfortable enough, and with Frankie’s friendly demeanor and help we still managed to sell a fair few books.


Our bookstall, and Frankie overseeing the setting up …


The market’s Atrium area, and Jen Stevens with her creative pottery display


Adele and her fabulous hand-painted denim jackets …”Twilight” and “Ekphrastic” were inspired by her perusing my books at our previous market day.


A painting I purchased from our adjacent stall holder, Jen McElwee. And an embroidered card that she gifted me, with my poem “Dreams of the Heart” that she copied from my book “Tullawalla”

How the card appeared on the inside

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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 (c) March 2025