Who Is in Command?


“Time Is On My Side”





Who Is in Command? 


Spring sunshine 

Dominates the sky 

Nature’s warmth 

Becalms my unsettled mind 

Yesterday’s problems 

Have blown over 

And diffused toward 

Today’s blue horizon 


Time! is on my side, 

hears no commands, 

and takes no passengers. 




Time Takes No Passengers




Ivor Steven (c) Sept 2023

A Piece of Deadwood, is in this Week’s Coffee House Writers Magazine

Hello dear readers and followers, I am now writing for “Coffee House Writers” magazine on a fortnightly basis, and my poem “Droplets of Joy”, 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/a-piece-of-deadwood/







Ivor Steven ©  September 2023

Duck Muck

I’ve had one of those yucky weeks, my computer has been moonstruck and running amok and producing guck. My “Taskbar” keeps flying south with the Ducks!! I’m feeling like an ice-puck all out of luck. So, I apologise for my moody unstuck poem of bushbuck …


Duck Muck




Sucking more air

Life sucks


Evading the sloppy duck muck

Dodging the dusty garbage truck 

Never having enough bucks

To fill the milk bucket

Left empty by bloodsucking

Schmucks






Ivor Steven (c) Sept 2023

The Voice (a Monologue), Revised

Today I attended the monthly meeting of Geelong’s, Dome Poetry Group, our assignment was to present a ‘Monologue’ and I duly recited my poem “The Voice”. After taking note of the constructive discussion and a few helpful hints, this afternoon I have written a “Revised Version” of the poem. Special thanks to Guenter (Geelong Writers Pres) and my fellow “Dome Poets”. 
Please note, the original version is attached below





The Voice (a Monologue), Revised


Do not yet shut the doors

But give me leave to speak with you and yours

Do not yet turn away

The time I ask of you is brief for what I have to say

Join me in the shade of this country’s trees

My ancient words are free

But why listen to a language you cannot see

In the past, you have not heard my pleas

And forever! I have been treated harshly


I am a dream-time spirit bird

Flying within your boundaries seems absurd

You! Have clipped my wings

And unashamedly ripped apart my kin

You! Desecrated my sacred ground

For the price of two axes and a Pound

Yes! It’s time to sit without descent

On the sand inside your tribal tent










Ivor Steven (c) Sept 2023

True, is up Spillwords Magazine

I am ecstatic that my poem “True”, has been accepted and published in Spillwords Magazine today, and I am very grateful to the editor Dagmara for selecting my piece … Please go over and visit my poem at Spillwords and if you wish, leave a “❤️” for my article, by clicking on this link >> https://spillwords.com/true-by-ivor-steven/

TRUE

IVOR STEVEN·SEPTEMBER 8,

TRUE

written by: Ivor Steven

@ivors20

If there is something
I could do
I would do anything
To save you
Mother Nature, you are everything
I look up to
My words are nothing
Compared to you
You are the orchestrator of things
With a balcony view



Ivor Steven

Ivor Steven was formerly an Industrial Chemist, then a Plumber, now retired. He has had numerous poems published in anthologies, and online magazines. He has 2 self-published books, “Tullawalla” and “Perceptions,” and is an active member of the Geelong Writers Inc. (Australia) and an appointed writer for “Coffee House Writers” magazine (USA).



Ivor Steven (c) Sept 2023

The Voice (a Monologue), Revised

Today I attended the monthly meeting of Geelong’s, Dome Poetry Group, our assignment was to present a ‘Monologue’ and I duly recited my poem “The Voice”. After some constructive discussion and a few helpful hints, this afternoon I have written a “Revised Version” of the poem. Special thanks to Guenter (Geelong Writers Pres) and my fellow “Dome Poets”. Please note, the original version is attached below

On Saturday, 14 October 2023, Australians will have their say in a referendum about whether to change the Constitution to recognise the First Peoples of Australia by establishing a body called the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice. I’ll be voting “Yes”




The Voice (a Monologue), Revised


Do not yet shut the doors

But give me leave to speak with you and yours

Do not yet turn away

The time I ask of you is brief for what I have to say

Join me in the shade of this country’s trees

My ancient words are free

But why listen to a language you cannot see

In the past, you have not heard my pleas

And forever! I have been treated harshly


I am a dream-time spirit bird

Flying within your boundaries seems absurd

You! Have clipped my wings

And unashamedly ripped apart my kin

You! Desecrated my sacred ground

For the price of two axes and a Pound

Yes! It’s time sit without descent

On the sand inside your tribal tent





The Voice (a Monologue), Original









Ivor Steven (c) Sept 2023

Throwback Friday, Who Has the Foggiest? (a Limerick)

Today I am presenting another poem that will be appearing in my new book “Until Eyes Hear Sound”. The ‘Limerick’ is also a relatively new poem format for me, and “Who Has the Foggiest” is a poem I wrote in May 2022, and it will be the opening piece in the ‘Other’ section of Chapter 10. Short Poems: Haiku, Senryu, Tanka, and Others





Who Has the Foggiest? (a Limerick)




I could not see the morning moon

There’s no sunshine in my breakfast spoon

The heaviest of fogs falls

I cannot hear the birds calls

Has our world condemned nature’s tune









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/

Lulu Books: https://www.lulu.com/shop/ivor-steven-and-derrick-knight/perceptions/hardcover/product-2pwqe4.html?q=Perceptions+by+Ivor+Steven&page=1&pageSize=4

OR: email me directly for a signed copy – ivorrs20@gmail.com  



Ivor Steven (c) September 2023

Return The Bullets (a Repost from Nov 2017)

Lately I have posted a few poems about the futility of war … I’m not very accomplished at writing about the wars of the world, I get far too angry and confused to write something sensible, but this is a rather long poem I wrote about my recollections of the “Gulf War” in 1990.

Return the Bullets

The mind awakens to secret cannons shattering my bed
All the violence of the worlds pounding inside my head
The killing and the maiming of all the innocents who fled
What happens when all the little lambs are slaughtered?
When the peoples of all religions and creed are dead
And we cannot return the murdering bullets back into the barrel

I am afraid
The backyard stairway is far too steep to climb
The handrails are way out of reach to find
And the public change-room windows are covered with bars
Now encircling the city hall, the security backdoor is ajar
Entering the marble aisle, the White room appears vacant
And guileful leaders have run, leaving a chasm of gloomy dark

I am wandering
Where to go, the healing house is full of ugly holes
The citizens cowering in shadows behind splintered lighting poles
And the crumbling streets are awash with rivers of leftover blood
Now the warring bosses have to fight amonst themselves
Throwing poison pens and paper darts at each other
Niether bruised nor battered, using ivory towers as cover

I am terrified
The dusty mushroom cloud slowly settles on the barren ground
With sands of distant lands, shifting into every nook and cranny
We need the good Doctor, to help us cure these alien scourges
And foreigners arriving upon waves of our neighbouring seas
The deathly TV images, wrongly implanted for all to see
As the press only gossip and drivel with selfish glee

I am stupefied
The guns of freedom lands haven’t even stopped the cull
Death to friends or foe, no matter, to the rulers from above
Their only rules, the poor and weak to be kept totally downtrodden
One day the surviving meek shall inherit their radioactive dirt
The rich will feast upon their own contaminated bread
But will never return the murdering bullets back into the barrel 







Ivor Steven (c) Sept 2023

Mushroom Clouds




Why is there always a dark side

When the moon shines so bright

Who’s taking us on this blindfold ride

While our reasoning is out of sight


Why is there always a silver lining

When treacherous clouds are hovering so low

Who’s making the lower world enchanting

While our malignant demons grow and grow


Why do we call them magic mushrooms?

When all they bring is gloom and doom

Who’s controlling this aging Mother

While our pleading hands are hustled undercover







Ivor Steven (c) Sept 2023