Lines To Nowhere, is up at Spillwords Magazine

I am ecstatic that my poem “Lines To Nowhere”, 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 >>









Ivor Steven (c) June 2nd 2023

Behind Your Mirror, Is in this weeks Coffee House Magazine


Hello dear readers and followers, I am now back writing for “Coffee House Writers” magazine, after a 6 weak self-enforced break due to my personally hectic schedule during April and May. Luckily, I had my article ready for publication before I contracted ‘Covid’, and my poem “Behind Your Mirror”, is in this week’s edition of Coffee House Writers Magazine. … please click on the link below and visit my poem, at Coffee House Writers. >> https://coffeehousewriters.com/behind-your-mirror/


Behind Your Mirror 


At the local veil sales 

You will hear me ask 

“Are you wearing a mask” 
 

You, lurking in the back pews

Beyond your mirror’s view 

Waiting to be rescued 


When you return home 

If you roll away your mirror of stone 

You will no longer be alone 






Ivor Steven (c) May 2023

The Sun Arose Again

Hi dear readers, I’m home with the ‘Covid’ virus, so I have been searching my files for some appropriate poems, and found this post from June 2020

“A wonderful surprise for me this morning and a lovely pick-me-up, to find that my poem “The Sun Arose Again”, had been published at ‘Red Wolf Journal’, and thank you to the editor, Irene, for her kind consideration of my submission…”

Red Wolf Journal

The Sun Arose Again
by Ivor Steven

There must be a number of silent masks around
Yesterday an old mask flew away at the speed of sound
From behind, the real pieces of what we perceive
Are leftover bones, bleached by sky and sea
Where the worn pebbles lingering in the hand
Fall gently upon lines drawn in the sand
And these new beginnings could be a heavenly gift
As white doves soar above the mourning cliffs

Perhaps the next awakening will be a peaceful one
Full of friendly compassion and wisdom
I’m lucky today, the sun arose again
To light up the hallway, despite the rain
I’ll be the first one to walk out the door
And the only one left here, to see her valour







Ivor Steven (c) May 2023

Anything is Everything, is up at MasticadoresUsa


A big thank you to the Editor: Barbara Leonhard, for accepting and publishing my poem “Anything is Everything” at MasticadoresUsa.

… … … …

To view my entire poem at MasticadoresUsa, please click on this link >> https://masticadoresusa.wordpress.com/2023/05/19/anything-is-everything-by-ivor-steven/

Featured Image: by Jaesub Kim on Pixabay






Ivor Steven (c) May 2023

Reflections & Revelations, The Short Of It, Volume 2

Forty-seven poets and writers with astute observations about living, emotions, and our world were featured online in The Short of It publication in 2022. The best of their thoughts fill the pages of this compilation. They will leave you with rich impressions, some providing mysteries to ponder but also many which speak deep truths. Each piece by the poets and writers presented in this collection shows us, with depth and succinctness, what was on their minds. Every one of their poems, as the title of this book suggests, brings to the surface their “reflections and revelations.”
A big thank you to Susi Bocks for editing and producing this outstanding Anthology, and I am proud to have been selected as one of many in a talented list of writers.
“The paperback version is available on Amazon.com NOW!! To get your copy, please CLICK THIS LINK! “




Here are my “Short” poetic entries in Anthology
:


Facades

Wearing your best vest 
Is not necessarily a truthful test 
A facade for a restless chest

Again

Summer’s golden plains 
And stormy rains 
Erase winter stains

After Twilight

Starry, starry nights 
Shine on, shine on bright 
Please stay, please stay within sight 

Earthquake

I feel the earth quake
Fracturing tears off my soul
Tremors from my heart

Hail

Hailstones, hard as nails
Falling frozen razor blades
Storm’s icy sharp balls





Ivor Steven (c) April 2023

Perceptions, Book Launch

Hello dear readers and followers … Party Time is here, with the announcement Date for the Launch of my second Book “Perceptions” … A Collaboration of Derrick Knight’s Photos and my associated Ekphrastic Poems …



And here ‘again’ is Ingrid Wilson’s fabulous Book Review of “Perceptions” Please visit her wonderful site >> https://experimentsinfiction.com/

Perceptions by Ivor Steven and Derrick Knight

Perceptions is a cross-continental collaboration from poet Ivor Steven (Australia) and photographer Derrick J. Knight (United Kingdom). Here are dragons, faeries, foals and swans captured in verse and image, which complement one another perfectly. The images are predominantly of nature, and perhaps reflect humanity’s struggle to find a place within the natural world, in the ruins of so-called ‘progress’, as evinced by Ivor’s poem, ‘Mankind’s Dirty Hands:’

within nature’s naked forest
waiting for mankind’s dirty hands
to stop the desert sands
from ravaging the last strands

of what remains hanging over our land 

The poems are a mixture of haiku, senryu and longer poems featuring Ivor’s trademark end-rhymes:

All the world is green
within my midday dream
please, do not disturb me
let me sleep, let me be – 
(from the poem, ‘There Will Be An Answer’)

Other contributors who deserve credit are Derrick’s wife, Jackie Knight, who has provided some excellent photography (I particularly like her images of birds) and of course, Ivor’s niece, Kerri Costello, who designed the cover, and linked the book to yet another continent (she lives in Philadelphia, USA).

The book (available from Lulu) is a fortuitous combination of verse and image. Despite his own advice to the contrary in the section ‘Do not quote me,’ I will end with what strikes me as a most pertinent quote from Ivor:

“A poet following a poet, gives you poetry in motion.” 

It is a testament to the friendships formed on WordPress that these two artists have been able to collaborate successfully and bring this globe-spanning project to fruition!

Happy Reading,
Ingrid Wilson

Editor & Publisher, Experiment in Fiction (England)

“As a poet, sometimes we confuse ourselves, Trying to create ashes, instead of fire ” — Leonard Cohen






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) March 2023

Cracks and Holes, is in this week’s Coffee House Writers Magazine

Hello dear readers and followers, I now write for “Coffee House Writers” magazine on a fortnightly basis, and my poem “Cracks and Holes”, is in this week’s edition of Coffee House Writers Magazine. … please click on the link below and visit my poem, at Coffee House Writers. >> https://coffeehousewriters.com/cracks-and-holes/



Cracks and Holes


There are cracks in the internet

Is there a hole in the alphabet?

There are cracks in the ground

Is there a hole in the Pound?

There are cracks in my skin

Is there a hole in the garbage bin?

There are cracks in the skyline

Is there a hole in my shrine?

There is a crack in my Mind

Is the world a hole in decline?









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) March 2023

World Poetry Day

This evening I celebrated “World Poetry Day” at a special event sponsored by Deakin University and Geelong Regional Library, which was held in the magnificent Geelong Library Building, featuring recitals from six exceptional poets, John Bartlett, Wendy Fleming, Rosemary Blake, Maria Takolander, Rachel Baxter, and Anne Elvey.


For World Poetry Day I am presenting a poem from my new book Perceptions – “A Soul’s Weary Retreat”, which I scanned directly from the book.




Video Below: Leonard Cohen reciting “A Thousand Kisses Deep”





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) March 2023

In Need of a Wise Owl

“In Need of a Wise Owl” is a poem from my book “Perceptions”, and I have scanned “page 4” directly out of my copy and reproduced it here, to give everyone an idea of how each page appears to the reader. The wonderful photos are by Derrick Knight (Southern England), and all have one of my Ekphrastic poems below the associated image. The fantastic cover artwork is by my amazingly talented niece Kerri (Bensalem, USA)

“Déjà Vu”. Lyrics by, Crosby Stills Nash & Young

One, two, three, four

If I had ever been here before
I would probably know just what to do, don’t you?
If I had ever been here before on another time around the wheel
I would probably know just how to deal with all of you

And I feel like I’ve been here before
Feel like I’ve been here before
And you know it makes me wonder
What’s going on under the ground, hmm

Do you know? Don’t you wonder
What’s going on down under you?

We have all been here before, we have all been here before
We have all been here before, we have all been here before
We have all been here before, we have all been here before



Perceptions is Now Available via:

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com.au/Perceptions-Ivor-Steven/dp/1387487302/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1RD27PWFI9JPS&keywords=perceptions+by+ivor+steven&qid=1676894211&s=books&sprefix=Perceptions%2Cstripbooks%2C1174&sr=1-1

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) March 2023

Dancing in the Rain (an Epigram) is Published in the January Issue of “Positive Words Magazine”

Over on Weekly Prompts, the Wednesday Challenge is the word: ENOUGH. Please visit their fabulous site by clicking on >> Here

Below, the Epigram “Dancing in the Rain” that I wrote in September 2022, has been selected for publication in the Australian Magazine “Positive Words”, thank you to the editor Sandra for considering my piece >>https://positivewordsmagazine.wordpress.com/
The poem is my first ever “Epigram” and to be published in this wonderful magazine is more than ENOUGH reward for my debut Epigram …









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:

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) February 2023