Behind the Mourning Clouds
From behind the mourning clouds
The ancient moon peers down
Wearing a judge’s yellow crown
The moon knowingly frowns
Upon the maddening crowd
Congregating on opposite bluffs
Of the ever-widening Gulf
Between diamond cuffs and shoeshine buffs
The moon then proudly dons
The unworn sacred shroud
And judiciously ordains
“This is your final countdown”
Ivor Steven (c) February 2025
On Thursday evening I attended the Lowercase Poetry Open Mic night, and after the event was finished I went down the road to check out the Creative Geelong “Third Space Gallery”, which I had not seen before at night. Wow, as the saying goes, “It was lit up like a Christmas tree” …
Illuminated (a Tanka)
The neon spotlights
illuminated my words
and the art display
in the “Third Space Gallery”
like a hit show on Broadway
Ivor Steven (c) February 2025
Over at Weekly Prompts, The Weekend Challenge is the word Absence. Please visit their fabulous site by clicking on >> HERE
Imaginary Bookcases and Bootlaces
In the absence
Of any commonsense
I’m here talking in mime
About my memories and rhymes
From behind my imaginary bookcase
And wearing a quirky poet’s face
This is my ordained place
Where I bravely embrace
The unpredictable pace
In this dysfunctional race
Then I cautiously retrace
My creations’ underground faces
From the days of waterlogged bootlaces
.
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) February 2025
Please Note that the featured image/artwork above was designed by Kerri Costello (my Philadelphia niece) for another poem of mine back in 2018.
My Valentine’s Days Are Cold
Her heart of gold
wilted in the Autumn cold
My heart pumps yesterday’s rust
and bathes in her icicles of dust
My veins are hollow crevasses
inside summer glaciers chasms
Where icebergs groan and memories float
on a distant fjord’s frozen longboat
.
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) February 2025
Today’s Throwback Friday poem is from June 2023 and was published in The Geelong Writers Anthology, Anomaly Street (Poetry With A Difference), Volume 2, no. 1- June 2023, a twice-yearly collection of poetry that creates jolts for flatlined minds. Thank you to the editor, Jo Curtain, for selecting my poem.
Twilight’s Bookends (Revised)
Cloud wisps creep
across a sun-streaked sky
The curtain soundlessly drops
on dappled twilight
There, behind flickering drapes
the starry starry night awaits
.
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) February 2025
Tonight, the moon rose over the ocean as the sun set in the west. It was a warm summer evening with a clear twilight sky, and we would not miss such a spectacular event …
An Etheree is a 10-line poem in which each line follows a syllable count that matches the line number. For example, the first line has one syllable, the second has two, etc. The poem is unrhymed but has rhythm, meaning, imagery, and sometimes an underlying second meaning.
Oceans (an Etheree)
What
do the
oceans know?
tides come and go
footprints in the sand
foreshadow the way home
fresh today, gone tomorrow
slip away with the undertow
dreams fade in a cloud of misty rain
leaving dark watermarks in my shadow
.
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) February 2025
The Other Side
Looking for tomorrow
Is like crossing a one-way road
We stop!
Then look the other way
We are conditioned to turn
And look down the wrong way
Then step forward!
Hoping!
We are moving toward
The other side
.
.
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) February 2025
Today’s poem, Exodus, was a poetic response/comment to Eugi’s (Moonwashed Musings) wonderful poem >> https://amanpan.com/2025/01/29/look-at-me/
Exodus
I am not dexterous
Or able to earn my exodus
Because the showy floss
On my old veneer’s gloss
Has been foolishly lost
.
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) February 2025
Over at Weekly Prompts, the Weekend Challenge is the word Pookie. Please visit their fabulous site by clicking on >> Here.
“Pookie” is a common euphemism for something cute. Well, I suppose my ‘strange orange rocks’ or my ‘smiling moon’ could be cute.
Don’t Blame the Moon
I see strange orange rocks
Among the fallen branches and leaves
Discerningly, time reminds me
They were not there yesterday
Enquiringly, I look up to the sky
And I see the moon smiling at me
As if to say, “Don’t blame me”
.
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) February 2025
During early February, my stunning Day Lily begins to bloom, which nostalgically coincides with my father’s birthday week. A potted perennial that I rescued from my dear departed parent’s homestead. The lilies always grace my garden in February as nature’s tribute to Dad, and today’s revised poem was originally written in February 2017, when me and Dad’s day lily moved into my villa, “Shangri La” …
Day Lily and Love (Revised)
Upon my pillow, I sleep
Good morning, I do peek
From the cushion of my dreams
To my garden’s awakening beams
Blushing red hues, oh so bright
You bloom during the night
And after cuddling the dew
You open up your scenic view
Flowering, standing proud, and steep
Perfection at my feet
A glorious Lily, like the wings of a dove
And by sunlight, you air your love
.
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) February 2025
Ivor.Plumber/Poet 