Today I had a live interview with Kat from Fae Corps Publishing to help promote my new book “Tullawalla”. The show was mostly a Question & Answer interview, and me reading a couple of poems. Below I have attached the video Link for you to click onto … I hope you enjoy the show 😄🌏
Ivor Steven (c) March 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
G’day Phily Kerri, .. oh with a tissue box nearby .., I’ve read your lovely article, .. your words warm heart … and as always your presentation is superb ((Hugs)) 😀😍🌏
It has been a REALLY long time since I have written anything here, but I figured what better time than now. Tomorrow, my Aussie Uncle Ivor’s book, Tullawalla, will be released which includes illustrations of mine!! Actually, since he’s in Australia, the book launch is there today. A world apart, side by side in heart. We both are so beyond excited and I couldn’t be more honored to be a part of his very first book. I’m lucky to have such a creative, kind soul to call my family. We have a special bond and I just love him to bits!
It’s hard to believe that’s it’s already going on two years since my Aussie Uncle Ivor’s visit to the US. He stayed with my Aunt Reeny and Uncle Dennis for awhile before staying here for a few nights. His time at our place is a time I will always…
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My new book “Tullawalla”, is due to be released on 30th March, and for preorder, here are the links
Barnes and Noble.. Tullawalla by Ivor Steven, Kerri Costello, Hardcover | Barnes & Noble® (barnesandnoble.com)
Amazon.. Amazon.com: Tullawalla eBook: Steven, Ivor, Costello, Kerri, Harris, patricia: Books
Tomorrow is “Book Launch Day” and today I’m presenting a favourite poem of mine that just missed out on making the cut for my Book.. This nostalgic piece speaks for itself as to why the words stay close to my heart…
I have walked a thousand lonely miles
Looking for her everlasting smile
Gradually scaling Ararat’s steepest cliff
There, sipping from the grail’s cup of youth
I have travelled to the edge of time
To find the final word of rhyme
Where my sunrise soared into the sky
To recapture her last goodbye
Then I crawled on my hands
Searching for that broken line in the sand
I have dug myself a hole, deep into space
To join her spirit and grace
Releasing my star into the universe
And I awoke, to write more of this verse
Ivor Steven (c) March 2021
My new book “Tullawalla”, is due to be released on 30th March, and for preorder, here are the links
Barnes and Noble.. Tullawalla by Ivor Steven, Kerri Costello, Hardcover | Barnes & Noble® (barnesandnoble.com)
Amazon.. Amazon.com: Tullawalla eBook: Steven, Ivor, Costello, Kerri, Harris, patricia: Books
Today I’m presenting an old poem referring to ‘Tullawalla’, at a time when my wife had not long passed and I was in between abodes, living with my older brother at the old family Homestead.
By the Water’s Edge, (“Tullawalla”)
I am in this isolation cabin
Like a big mosquito larva
Ready to burst
Surrounded by sand and sea
And a river mouth
Tidal and free
And I share my daily bread
A share for you, a share for them
Thoughts of you
And I gaze down upon our garden mayhem
And I see your broken lily stem
I am tangled in this cocoon
Like an angry dragonfly
Waiting to break free
Surrounded by watergrass and weed
Tea-tree and dunes, far as the eye can see
And a garden bed
Grown from seed
And I share my weekly menu
A share for you, a share for them
Thoughts of you
And I stare down upon a fallen brave
And I see your empty bower cave
Ivor Steven (c) March 2021
I tried to ‘reblog’ this article from the “Go Dog Go Cafe” site, but it wouldn’t work for me, so I have reconstructed the post for my site…
Today I am presenting at poem I wrote 12 years ago….. when I was feeling guilty about my capabilities as a carer. I’m posting here, and thinking someone in a similar situation may read these words. Please do not feel guilty or inadequate, you’re not failing, and there’s really only so much that is possible. You’re not alone in having these insecure feelings, and please understand, us carer’s all go through these self doubts and confusing thoughts.
Sorry for You
Sorry I was not always there for you
I am sorry for your life of misery
I am so sorry, for writing this unhappy story
I could not find your holy grail
That sacred cup of water to cure the frail
Sorry I could not help or heal you
I am sorry for your life being wrong
I am so sorry, for playing this wordless song
I could not find your holy grail
That sacred cup of wine to cure the frail
Sorry I did not travel every path for you
I am sorry for your life’s that is lost
I am so sorry, for holding this worthless cross
I could not find your golden grail
That sacred cup of blood to cure the frail
Sorry I could not be stronger for you
I am sorry, for your world that could not be
I am deeply sorry, for walking on an empty sea
I could not find your silver grail
That angel’s vessel of purity, to no avail
My new book “Tullawalla”, is due to be released on 30th March, and for preorder, here are the links
Barnes and Noble.. Tullawalla by Ivor Steven, Kerri Costello, Hardcover | Barnes & Noble® (barnesandnoble.com)
Amazon.. Amazon.com: Tullawalla eBook: Steven, Ivor, Costello, Kerri, Harris, patricia: Books
Ivor Steven (c) March 2021
My new book “Tullawalla”, is due to be released on 30th March, and for preorder, here are the links
Barnes and Noble.. Tullawalla by Ivor Steven, Kerri Costello, Hardcover | Barnes & Noble® (barnesandnoble.com)
Amazon.. Amazon.com: Tullawalla eBook: Steven, Ivor, Costello, Kerri, Harris, patricia: Books
About the Author: Ivor Steven
Ivor is a former Industrial Chemist who, at 30 years old, became a plumber until his recent retirement. In September 2000 he suffered a stroke and started writing poetry as part of his rehabilitation process, to help regain his communication abilities. He has had numerous poems published in on-line magazines, and anthology books by publisher’s such as: Vita Brevis, SpillWords, Drabble, Wolff Poetry Journal, Festival of Poetry, Slasher Monster Magazine, Fae Corps Publishing, Free Verse Revolution, Red Wolf Journal, and Prolific Pulse.
He is an active member of the Geelong Writers Inc. and many of his poems are published in their annual Anthologies. In August 2019 he was appointed as a team member/barista with the ‘Go Dog Go Café’ on-line blog/magazine group.
Between the years 1983 and 2012 Ivor was also the primary career for his wife, who suffered from the severe MS illness, and his devotion to her is evident throughout the poems in this book.
And below is a self-portrait poem I wrote 3 years ago…
Looking at The Mirror
I see an oldish bloke, who likes to write poetry
Personal topics and our world’s society
Why don’t I try to write a bigger story?
Flash fiction, and there’s enough for a book
Am I too afraid to really look?
All my poems are quite shortish
Like last year’s birthday cake wish
Maybe I’ll say, “I’m far too lazy”
I can’t tell them, I’m a bit crazy!!
Nor that I’m a mad Lord of Wizardry
Best I turn the mirror, for another view
They want to know about me and you
I see a bald-headed man, just like my dad
And that’s not at all bad
I always said, if I grew up
To be half as good as my dad
I’d be very happy and proud
And well ahead of the crowd
He was a kind and thoughtful man
I suppose I’m honest and lend a hand
I see, I’m showing my age
My journey has torn many a page
And it’s not that I’m overly sad
My veneer shows everyone I’m glad
I’ve lived my promise, for better and for worse
And I loved my job, a carer during her curse
Ivor Steven (c) March 2021
My new book “Tullawalla”, is due to be released on 30th March, and for preorder, here are the links
Barnes and Noble.. Tullawalla by Ivor Steven, Kerri Costello, Hardcover | Barnes & Noble® (barnesandnoble.com)
Amazon.. Amazon.com: Tullawalla eBook: Steven, Ivor, Costello, Kerri, Harris, patricia: Books
“Finally” there is only a few days to go before my book is launched on the the 30th of March, and appropriately today I am presenting my poem “Finality”, and this is another poem that I left out of my book “Tullawalla”
Finality
We will all travel life’s journey
There’s reality in the end, a concluding count down
Finality occurs, not a shadow of doubt
Sooner or later we must retire, and work no more
Old tools are laid to rest, gathering dust
There is a time when we have to say goodbye
To that special one’s, sad crying eyes
Suddenly life propels us to pass our friends lives
The people we knew dwindle to a few
And beyond the lies earth slowly dies
We the custodians failed to see overcast skies
Our belief’s shriveled inside religious sleeves
The jealous and greedy are yet to eat their last supper
I hope tomorrow’s future is better than today’s veiled ways
And yesterday’s trials, become the healing castle’s final say
Ivor Steven (c) March 2021
My poem todays is in response to Sadje’s Weekly Photo Prompt, and you can visit her fabulous site by clicking >> Here …
The Last Mohican and the last Tree
Where is that green mythical memory lane
Our planet’s last vestige of living wood grain
I see an earthy trail between golden fern rails
Overshadowed by ancient black forest sails
Where a preserving fog shrouds the secret entrance
Sheltering nature’s life giving trees from human ascendance
A sanctuary, safe from finality, unlike the last Mohican
A surviving jungle canopy, like a Lost World’s beacon
Ivor Steven (c) March 2021
My new book “Tullawalla”, is due to be released on 30th March, and for preorder, here are the links
Barnes and Noble.. Tullawalla by Ivor Steven, Kerri Costello, Hardcover | Barnes & Noble® (barnesandnoble.com)
Amazon.. Amazon.com: Tullawalla eBook: Steven, Ivor, Costello, Kerri, Harris, patricia: Books
www.books2read.com/Tullawalla
Today here is another poem, that didn’t make the final list, and was ‘cut’ from my new Book “Tullawalla”… Maybe I thought the poem “Five Shades of Grey” was not substantial enough .. !!
Five Shades of Grey
Daylight turns into night
Ravens scatter in mid-flight
Dark clouds overlay
Five shades of grey
Thor’s hammer roars
His spark of fire, soars
Fiercely a flaming bolt strike’s
Piercing frightened psyches
Ivor Steven (c) March 2021
