Time Hears No Sound, Cover Reveal (by Kerri Costello) Today, I’m delighted to reveal the front and back covers of Time Hears No Sound. There’s a quiet magic in these designs, and I hope you feel it too.
The artwork comes from my Philadelphia niece, Graphic Design Artist Kerri Costello, whose creative touch has shaped the covers of my last three books—Tullawalla, Perceptions, and Until Eyes Hear Sound.
The disintegrating clock at the centre of the cover reflects the book’s core idea: that time is less a mechanism than a mystery. The warm sky mirrored in the lake suggests memory’s calm surface, while the darker tones around the edges hint at the silences and shadows the poems explore. Together, the colours and imagery echo the journey of the collection—where time drifts, dissolves, and reveals what it cannot say aloud.
To accompany the cover reveal, here’s the Tanka that closes the collection:
Timeless (a Tanka)
Once upon a time At the beginning of time What was before time? Where’s the origin of time? Infinity is timeless
In keeping with this week’s ‘Anti-war’ theme, today’s Throwback Friday poem (originally written in June 2024) is drawn from my upcoming book, Time Hears No Sound. It appears as a poem in Chapter 8, War: A Waste of Time
And I Wonder Why
On a windless winter morn I am walking beside the waveless bay Watching the white wispy clouds Wandering above the whispering trees
And I am wondering why Our worried and weeping world Wantonly wastes time On unworthy and wearisome wars
“Esmerelda”, a wonderfully dramatic song by Ben Howard
Today’s Throwback Friday poem (originally written in May 2023) is drawn from my upcoming book, Time Hears No Sound. It appears as the opening poem in Chapter 8, War: A Waste of Time
“And I have carried on this war. Though no one wins an endless fight. I have claimed that God has guided me. And killed to prove I’m right.” Lyrics from Damien Rice’s song, “What if I’m wrong.”
Between Lines, Who Holds the Power
Do you see – a man walking on water? Did you see – his feet were bleeding? Do you read – the missing scriptures? Did you read – your own family tree? Do you hear, speechless angels, singing? Did you hear – the songbirds crying?
Do you feel – the erased wars calling? Did you feel – the hard rains falling? Do you know – the ones who are lying? Did you know, the refugees are dying?
“What If I’m Wrong”, Lyrics, by Damien Rice
I could wrestle with tomorrow Until tomorrow’s in the past Because I have torn apart what’s beautiful To prove that nothing lasts I have stayed locked behind these doors To show there’s no way out I got lost within the space between The question and the doubt I have built a wall between
What I believed and what is true I have sacrificed the love I had For power over you
I have convicted those who disagree And walked over the weak I have placed a gun within the mouth Of those who dared to speak
And on an ordinary day In an ordinary way I have crushed the minds of children With extraordinary shame
And I have carried on this war Though no one wins an endless fight I have claimed that God has guided me And killed to prove I’m right
What if I’m wrong What if I’m wrong What if I’m wrong What if I’m wrong
Is this soul worth saving at all? Cause if I lose my wings then surely I must fall And the gods prayed to the gods they made
We could wrestle with tomorrow until tomorrow’s in the past We could tear apart what’s beautiful To prove that nothing lasts
We could stay locked behind the doors To show there’s no way out We could get lost within the space between The question and the doubt
Today’s Throwback Friday poem (originally written in June 2023) is drawn from my upcoming book, Time Hears No Sound. It appears as the second poem in Chapter 11, Poetry in Slow Motion: Who’s Keeping Time.
“Down to the Valley” was written on a day when I strayed from the usual path, letting the landscape guide the poem. It’s a small journey into the unexpected, where nature and recollection meet.
Down To the Valley
Roaming. Off the beaten track Over sagged wire fences Through plowed fields Down to the valley below Where sunflowers grow
Detouring. Across the babbling brook Toward the castle of broken glass Cocooned together in woven grass Until time awakens the past
Featured Image by Julius H. from Pixabay(From Eugi’s Prompt Site)
Today’s Throwback Friday poem (originally written in June 2025) is drawn from my upcoming book, Time Hears No Sound. It appears as the second poem in the Epigram section of Chapter 10, Time’s Short Poems: Haiku, Tanka, etc.
Throwing back to a poem that reminded me how even small things, like snowflakes, can ease old heartaches.
Cascading Snowflakes (an Epigram)
With every breath we take After our weary eyes awake The existence of daybreak Appeases our heartaches As cascading, soft snowflakes Gently flow over our old keepsakes
Today’s Throwback Friday poem (originally written in January 2024) is drawn from my upcoming book, Time Hears No Sound. It appears as the second poem in the Musette section of Chapter 10, Time’s Short Poems: Haiku, Tanka, etc. I find the Musette’s restrictive poetry format to be very challenging AMusette is, three verses first line – 2 syllables second line – 4 syllables third line – 2 syllables rhyme scheme – a/b/a c/d/c e/f/e The title reflects the poem’s content
Today’s Throwback Friday poem (originally written in July 2023) is drawn from my upcoming book, Time Hears No Sound. It appears as the first poem in the Senryu section of Chapter 10, Time’s Short Poems: Haiku, Tanka, etc. A small return to 2023, where shadows still had something to teach me.
Sadness (a Senryu)
Below the grayness Naked emotions stumble Between the shadows
For a soundtrack to this quiet ache, here’s Leonard Cohen’s Show Me the Place — a voice searching through the same shadows.”
Today’s Throwback Friday poem (originally written in August 2025) is drawn from my upcoming book, Time Hears No Sound. It appears as the first poem in the Haiku section of Chapter 10, Time’s Short Poems: Haiku, Tanka, etc.
Beyond Sight (a Haiku)
Good morning sunrise I soak in daylight’s caress Until eyes hear sound
Today’s Throwback Friday poem (originally written in August 2023) is drawn from my upcoming book, Time Hears No Sound. It appears as the first poem in the Fairyland section of Chapter 9, Humour, Fantasy, and Fairyland: Timeless
Where Have The Fairies Gone?
Deep in the enchanted woods Under mossy rocks and water-reeds I saw an iron-bar prison door Lying over a cave in the dry creek bed
I wondered and yelled out “Hello! Is anyone down there?” Eerily, a gentle voice whispered “Do not worry, we are sheltering here.” “Why are you hiding?” I inquired “We are waiting for humanity to stop the carnage on our planet.”
Then, peeping up from lower in the chasm I witnessed that the small luminous eyes Of Earth’s guardian faeries Were joyless and crying
Music/Video: by Sigur Ros, “Ylur”, translated means, Warmth
Please note the featured photo and attached photos above are taken from Street Art in the Geelong CBD
Today’s Throwback Friday poem (originally written in January 2025) is drawn from my upcoming book, Time Hears No Sound. It appears as the first poem in the Fantasy section of Chapter 9, Humour, Fantasy, and Fairyland: Timeless
A Blade of Light
Far beyond my darkest night Clambering out of purgatory’s deepest void I grasp onto a single blade of light On the edge of my soulless asteroid Who rescues me from Armageddon’s endless fight
Awaking in a pool of sweat, just after midnight This meaningless nightmare gave me a hellish fright
Ivor.Plumber/Poet 