“Peace is not something you wish for; it’s something you make, something you do, something you are, and something you give away.” — John Lennon
“When doors close, and wars roar, let peace be the key we choose to turn.”
Today’s Throwback Friday poem (originally written in March 2024) is drawn from my upcoming book, Time Hears No Sound. It appears as the third poem in Chapter 8, War: A Waste of Time
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
On Wednesday evening, I attended the launch of the 2025 Geelong Writers Anthology. My poem, “A Darwin Orange Sunset”, appears in the collection, and I was genuinely honoured to be selected by my peers at Geelong Writers Inc.
The gathering was held alongside our Christmas Break‑up night, which added a lovely sense of community and celebration to the occasion.
I’m also pleased to share that the poem will feature in my upcoming book, Time Hears No Sound, in Chapter 2: Nature — An Unbiased Time Keeper.
A Darwin Orange Sunset
Twilight’s Burly orange sky Bedazzled my eyes When The hessian horizon And the sun’s waxing resin Flung Streams of yellow beams Across the paddock’s Furrowed seams
Golden ponds Flooded Over the meadow But did not drown The field’s residing Scarecrow
The arbitrary warrior Accepted the world’s Rotary mirror And innately smiles About being a human’s Privileged curator
To accompany the poem, I’ve chosen Zach Bryan’s “Something in the Orange” — a song whose quiet ache and twilight glow echo the mood of the piece.
Today’s Throwback Friday poem(originally written in September 2023) is drawn from my upcoming book,Time Hears No Sound. It appears as the second poem in Chapter 7, Governments and Leaders: Behind the Times
The Voice (a Monologue)
Do not yet shut your 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 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
Featured Image Above:Moon adrift in daylight—a quiet reminder to deck the hallways of time,not just December.
Hello, dear readers and followers. I write for Coffee House Writers magazine (USA) fortnightly, and my poem “Always Deck the Hallways”is in this week’s edition. “A festive stroll through words and wonder—Always Deck the Hallways brings poetry to the season.” To read the poem, please click the link below to visit my Coffee House Writers Magazine article. >> https://coffeehousewriters.com/always-deck-the-hallways/
Today’s Throwback Friday poem(originally written in March 2025) is drawn from my upcoming book,Time Hears No Sound. It opens Chapter 6, Travel and Life: Time Flies (Travel)
Flying Among the Clouds
I’m flying high Cruising among the clouds Fly with me And the rest of my flock Up here There’s no need for a clock
Time gives no commands Cruising among the clouds Silently overseeing the crowd
Time always flies At the same standard pace There, in that space Between daytime’s silvery moon And twilight’s glittery sun
Hello, dear readers and followers. I write for Coffee House Writers magazine (USA) fortnightly, and my poem “Climbing the Stairs”is in this week’s edition. To read the poem, please click the link below to visit my Coffee House Writers Magazine article. >>https://coffeehousewriters.com/climbing-the-stairs/
Hello, dear readers and followers. I write for Coffee House Writers magazine (USA) fortnightly, and my poem “Trojan Cloud”is in this week’s edition. To read the poem, please click the link below to visit my Coffee House Writers Magazine article. >> https://coffeehousewriters.com/trojan-cloud/
Featured Image Above: Black-and-white photo of a street art mural depicting a tug-of-war between a Russian and Ukrainian soldier on a war memorial in Izyum, Ukraine. (Getty Images photo)
Hello, dear readers and followers. I write for Coffee House Writers magazine (USA) fortnightly, and my poem “Restore Rapport”is in this week’s edition. Written in the quiet hours of early morning, Restore Rapport is a poetic protest against the machinery of war and the silence that surrounds it. Inspired by the ongoing conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East, this piece asks: Where is the understanding? What are innocent lives being sacrificed for?
“Peace cannot be kept by force; it can only be achieved by understanding.” — Einstein
Today’s Throwback Friday poem, ‘This Lost Shadow’, was my first-ever published poem, in the anthology ‘Melpomene’, edited by Gwendolyn Taunton. Melpomene is a collection of poetry, prose and short fiction named after the Greek Muse of Tragedy. The central theme of the anthology is the beauty found in sorrow and the darker sides of human nature. Melpomene is broken into four sections: Liber Veneficium (Book of Magic), Liber Maeroris (Book of Sorrow), Liber Fatum (Book of Fate), and Liber Mortuorum (Book of Death). Each section contains both new and classic literature dealing with these themes. Authors in this volume include Charles Baudelaire, Paul Verlaine, William Blake, Edgar Allan Poe, Emily Dickinson, Gwendolyn Taunton, Azsacra Zarathustra, Math Jones, Bernardo Sena, J. Karl Bogartte, C. B. Liddell, James WF Roberts, Christopher Pankhurst, H. A. Cledones, Tamas Nagyatadi Horvath, L. Alexander Carle, Bill Noble, Marg Howlet, Ivor Steven and Gene Banyard. Containing works both old and new, Melpomene offers a prime selection of works on the melancholic side of existence, the transformational beauty of the esoteric, occult secrets hidden in verse, sorrow, doom and the inevitable grasp of death. Melpomene will haunt the reader with a dark and unearthly beauty that is both forbidden and forlorn… >> https://www.amazon.com.au/s?k=Melpomene+by+Gwendolyn+Taunton&crid=3KH5IGU638GFK&sprefix=melpomene+by+gwendolyn+taunton%2Caps%2C903&ref=nb_sb_noss
This Lost Shadow
I’m writing this song for my body and for my soul. I’m singing this song, about my return from the cold. Why am I so tired? Is sixty so old? Why am I so sore? Have I been far too bold? I’m physically worn out and mentally torn. I’m so worried about my every waking dawn. I’m thinking of this quiet life, for you and for me. I’m wondering if this vigilant life is too hard for me. I’m pondering if this tragic life shall continue to be. And feeling this bonded life, drifting out to sea.
I’m writing these words for everyone to see. I’m writing this book about a single weeping tree. Why am I so sleepy? Am I aging too quickly? Why am I so sad? Who is looking after me? I’m this furnace log, burning up with glee. I’m this sinking boat, all about to flee. I’m this overburdened camel, or a donkey maybe. I’m this empty desert, a void, far as the eye can see. I’m this broken branch, withering and dying, oh so slowly. I’m this lost shadow, wandering this barren land furtively.
Hello, dear readers and followers. I write for Coffee House Writers magazine (USA) fortnightly, and my poem “Paddling in Time”is in this week’s edition. This piece was originally inspired by a poetic response that I wrote for Ali Grimshaw’s post >> Paddling away – Poem by Ali Grimshaw | flashlight batteries – Ali Grimshaw “This piece explores the elusive nature of time—how it moves without direction, listens to no command, and yet shapes everything. I wrote it while reflecting on the quiet rhythm of travel and the way moments slip past like water under a paddle.” To read the poem, please click the link below to visit my Coffee House Writers Magazine article. >> https://coffeehousewriters.com/paddling-in-time/
Ivor.Plumber/Poet 