Hello dear readers and followers, I now write for “Coffee House Writers” magazine on a fortnightly basis, and my poem “I Wish, I Was Green”, is in this week’s edition of Coffee House Writers Magazine. … please click on the link below to read my poem, at Coffee House Writers.
>> https://coffeehousewriters.com/i-wish-i-was-green/
Ivor Steven © September 2022
My old school-case from sixty-years ago, full of “Tullawalla Books”
My house has been invaded by “Tullawalla Books” … come over and join the party, and lets celebrate … my long awaited SELF-PUBLISHED new edition is NOW available
… contact me via my web-email >> ivorrs20@gmail.com The book is only $20.00 AU plus postage & handling. If you are interested in purchasing a book, send me an email, I’ll send a PayPal Invoice out to you.
This Fence (Tullawalla, page 33)
I am quickly nearing this fence.
An obstacle of a lifetime I see.
And from my side of this fence,
The hurdle is too high for me.
And on the other side of this fence,
There seems nowhere to land or flee.
I have arrived at this fence,
Above the pickets, just grey sky.
And on my side of this fence,
The grass is brown and dry.
On the other side of this fence,
The grass is green, but still I cry.
How am I to clear this fence,
There seems nowhere to go or get by.
This fence, all built of stones,
Breaks my spirit, and all my bones.
Ivor Steven (c) September 2022
Ten years ago my poem ‘This Lost Shadow‘ was accepted and published in the Literary Anthology, “Melpomene” . The poem was the first piece of mine to appear in a Published Book, and I was exceptionally proud to have my name in the authors list, along side the famous poets, Charles Baudelaire, Edgar Allan Poe, Emily Dickinson, William Blake, and Paul Verlaine … Below, I have scanned my poem ‘This Lost Shadow’ directly from my copy of the book.
Featured Photo Above: Taken by Derrick Knight > derrickjknight – Ramblings
Gwendolyn Taunton (Editor)
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, drawing on literary traditions such as the ‘Damned Poets’, the Decadent Movement, Symbolism/Surrealism and the Fin de si cle. 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…
Ivor Steven (c) July 2022
Last night I attended the Geelong Writers Inc. monthly dinner/get together, which also featured the Book Launch of their new bi-annual Chapbook, Anomaly Street, and if you read the photo/scans attached below, you will understand my excitement of being selected in this outstanding collection of poetry with a difference, that creates jolts for flatlined minds ..
This is how my poem appeared in the Chapbook
Ivor Steven © July 2022
My poem ‘Water-logged Boots, was published at FREE VERSE REVOLUTION, in November 2019, and thank you to the editor Kristiana for her kind consideration of my piece…
And today on Weekly Prompts the Weekend Challenge is: Boots . Please go over and visit their fabulous site by clicking >> Here . Appropriately in response to their prompt, I have reposted this poem from 3 years ago.
Yes, I am small in this overburdened world
But I flutter freely when unfurled
I could be a family picture collage
Or a tiny squirrel amongst the foliage
On his journey of ups and downs
Collecting and storing his acorns
The trick is to enjoy the ups
While the floodgates are shut
Sometimes I did nearly drown
Other times I floated upside down
During the many seasonal rains
I wondered if I would ever swim again
So then I pretended to write a biblical book
Ignorantly thinking no-one would ever look
Afterwards, I thought I could walk on water
Then my boots became water-logged
And if you need to walk a mile in my shoes
You will have to learn how to swim and sing the blues
Ivor Steven (c) March 2022
I am ecstatic to have my poem “Atlantis” published at Spillwords Magazine today, and I am very grateful to the editors at Spillwords for accepting my piece .. Pease go and visit my poem at Spillwords and if you wish, leave a ❤ for my article, by clicking on this link >> https://spillwords.com/atlantis/
Atlantis
Nature’s abundant history
Bounces forth in front of our eyes
The view is silently stunning
Nature’s assets keep running
Our hearts keep drumming
In tune with nature’s humming
Gently step into her ocean surf
For beneath the waves lays her sodden turf
The Atlantis carpet of ancestral bones
Remnants of ruined millennia covered in fallen moonstones
Nature’s guiding lodestones waiting to be atoned
Ivor Steven (c) December 2021
I am thrilled to announce the publication of my poem ‘Who Hears Me’ at Spillwords Press today, and would like to thank the team at Spillwords for their continued support of my poems. Please go and visit their fabulous magazine, by clicking on this link >> https://spillwords.com/who-hears-me/ and maybe click-on the like button 🤍 for me.
My ears are funnels
But I do not want to hear
The voices
My lips do part
But I do not speak
The words
My knees do bend
But I cannot sit
While I can still stand
My eyes are open
But I do not want to see
My shadow falling
Ivor Steven (c) March 2021
I’m thrilled to announce that my poem “It’s Time”, has been published by ‘Spillwords Press’ today, and thank you to the editor in chief, Dagmara for supporting my work. You can read my poem by clicking >> Here
Ivor Steven (c) July 31st 2020
Ivor.Plumber/Poet 