A Throwback Friday Poem – Page 5

Throwback Friday, Did Your Heart Stop Too?

Thirteen years ago today, it was the “Time” that I made a “heart-stopping decision”

Did Your Heart Stop Too?

Did you cry too?
When the doctors told you
She was not going to recover

Did they ask you too?
About what you already knew
It was time
To flick the switch
And dim her light

Did your heart stop, too?
Knowing
You had emptied her shoes

Did you sleep there too?
During those infinite days of blue
Softly holding her hand
And not letting go

Did you weep too?
Blankly alone
In her full room
Waiting
For her last silent breath

Until Eyes Hear Sound

Lulu Books >> Until Eyes Hear Sound (lulu.com)

Perceptions:

Amazon >> Perceptions : Steven, Ivor, Knight, Derrick: Amazon.com.au: Books
Lulu Books >> Perceptions (lulu.com)

Tullawalla:

Amazon >> Tullawalla A Meeting Place Where My Empty Hands are Full of Memories and Rhymes : Steven, Ivor: Amazon.com.au: Books

OR: >> You may email me directly for a signed copy at
ivorrs20@gmail.com

Ivor Steven © April 2025

Throwback Friday, Under the Snow (a Revisit)

A special poem I wrote, after I’d taken my Lady to the hospital for the last time, on the day of her 65th birthday, thirteen years ago.

Hello Carole, time goes by, and my heart has not moved …

Under The Snow

We emanate to a birthday.
We deflate to a final day.
Birthdays, they all come, they all go.
Birthdays, in the sunshine, under the snow.
Birthdays, slow to mature, quickly an eon.
Birthdays, before we are born, after we are gone.
Birthdays, hanging on by a breath.
Birthdays, nailed to a cross ’til death.
What does it all mean to be alive and cry?
What does it all mean to live and to die?

Ivor Steven © April 2025

Throwback Friday, A Steep Slide (a Musette)

Ryan Stone [https://daysofstone.wordpress.com] introduced me to the poem format Musette back in September 2022, and today, I am reposting my first-ever attempt at writing a Musette.

“Musette”
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

A Steep Slide (a Musette)

I creep
Down the steep slide
I weep

Betrayed
I hide and shake
Afraid

I crawl
Away from shame
And bawl

Until Eyes Hear Sound

Lulu Books >> Until Eyes Hear Sound (lulu.com)

Perceptions:

Amazon >> Perceptions : Steven, Ivor, Knight, Derrick: Amazon.com.au: Books
Lulu Books >> Perceptions (lulu.com)

Tullawalla:

Amazon >> Tullawalla A Meeting Place Where My Empty Hands are Full of Memories and Rhymes : Steven, Ivor: Amazon.com.au: Books

OR: >> You may email me directly for a signed copy at
ivorrs20@gmail.com

Ivor Steven © April 2025

Throwback Friday, Beyond Dark, There is Light (Revised)

Today’s Throwback Friday poem is from July 2021.

Beyond Dark, There is Light (Revised)

Looking back
What do you see?
Tall mountains and a dark sky that surround me

Looking back
What do you see?
Bottomless wells and a deep river inside me

Looking back
What do you see?
Melted snowflakes and icy tears that drown me

Looking back
What do you see?
Treasured memories and a brave soul that revives me

Until Eyes Hear Sound

Lulu Books >> Until Eyes Hear Sound (lulu.com)

Perceptions:

Amazon >> Perceptions : Steven, Ivor, Knight, Derrick: Amazon.com.au: Books
Lulu Books >> Perceptions (lulu.com)

Tullawalla:

Amazon >> Tullawalla A Meeting Place Where My Empty Hands are Full of Memories and Rhymes : Steven, Ivor: Amazon.com.au: Books

OR: >> You may email me directly for a signed copy at
ivorrs20@gmail.com

Ivor Steven © April 2025

Throwback Friday, Volume Without Sound

Dear followers and friends of my poetry website; wishing you all, a happy and creative “WORLD POETRY DAY” …
“Let the earth bear witness” – – William B Yeats (1916)

Today’s Throwback Friday was written in January 2023
Thank you to Bartholomew >> https://bartbarkerpoet.com/2023/01/06/fraiku-not-just-a-little-shy/ for initially inspiring my “deep water thoughts” back then …

Volume Without Sound (Revised)

when I swim
at the surf beach
and dive deep down
the eerie fullness
of my silent surroundings
enhances the volume
of those submersed thoughts
floating within my mind

Ivor Steven (c) March 21st 2025

Throwback Friday, Our Random Kingdom

Today’s Throwback poem does not appear on my website, but I saw it by chance in my Tullawalla Booklet, No. 24, I Softly Walk, from July 2021. So now “Our Random Kingdom” is officially on my website.

Our Random Kingdom

Sometimes we put pieces away
Because our emotions altered the next day
But the thoughts are there to stay
And arise again to be an honest display

The whispering wind is an elusive creature
Mother nature’s operatic music teacher
Our random sculptor’s hands of life
Shaping our fate with her palate knife

That damn old clock never stops
Not even for a pause
To chat with Santa Claus
Even Father Time’s sundial shadow
Enternally works every tomorrow
But let me say, there will come a day
When love will be here to stay

Until Eyes Hear Sound

Lulu Books >> Until Eyes Hear Sound (lulu.com)

Perceptions:

Amazon >> Perceptions : Steven, Ivor, Knight, Derrick: Amazon.com.au: Books
Lulu Books >> Perceptions (lulu.com)

Tullawalla:

Amazon >> Tullawalla A Meeting Place Where My Empty Hands are Full of Memories and Rhymes : Steven, Ivor: Amazon.com.au: Books

OR: >> You may email me directly for a signed copy at
ivorrs20@gmail.com

Ivor Steven (c) March 2025

Throwback Friday, Freckles And Dark Hair

Today’s Throwback Friday poem is from June 2018.

Freckles and Dark Hair

I am a hybrid of mixed origin
An off-spring of my parents
Dad was a red-head with freckles
From Tasmania, a convict great-grandson
Mum had dark hair and olive skin
A German and Scottish background
She was born in Penang Malaysia
They were worlds apart
The great war shaped their paths
Time and peace brought them together
I’m their hybrid, with freckles and dark hair

Until Eyes Hear Sound

Lulu Books >> Until Eyes Hear Sound (lulu.com)

Perceptions:

Amazon >> Perceptions : Steven, Ivor, Knight, Derrick: Amazon.com.au: Books
Lulu Books >> Perceptions (lulu.com)

Tullawalla:

Amazon >> Tullawalla A Meeting Place Where My Empty Hands are Full of Memories and Rhymes : Steven, Ivor: Amazon.com.au: Books

OR: >> You may email me directly for a signed copy at
ivorrs20@gmail.com

Ivor Steven (c) February 2025

Throwback Friday, Time on the Moon with Tea and Lime

Today’s Throwback Friday poem is from October 2020. As is my way, I have made some poetic edits.

Time on the Moon with Tea and Lime (Revised)

between now and then
I see the full moon again
sip on tea and lime
and dream of a bygone time

where are you, old friend
hiding your face until the end
and I hear a distant tick-tock
buried under weathered rock

when it’s all said and done
my words fall one by one
inking blues, line after line
and I do not care the time

and sand flows drop by drop
from the timeless clock
adorning her silent cocoon
on the far side of the moon

The Kinks “Full Moon”, Lyrics

Haven’t you noticed a kind of madness in my eyes?
It’s only me, dear, in my midnight disguise
Pay no attention if I crawl across the room
It’s just another full moon

Don’t be afraid of me when I’m walking in my sleep
Don’t get alarmed, dear, when I start to crawl and creep
Try not to listen when I mumble like a loon
It’s just another full moon
It’s just another full moon

You see before you a truly broken man
‘Cause when it gets to midnight, I don’t know who I am
Full moon’s a-callin’, and it’s put a curse on me
And it will never set me free

The full moon’s still up there
Like a great white balloon
The owls are a-callin’
And they’re singin’ my tune
The night keeps a-crawlin’
I wish the day would come soon
To get away from another full moon
Here comes another full moon

If your hands start shakin’
When night starts to fall
If you’re scared of the moonlight
And the shadows on the wall
If the face in the mirror
Isn’t you at all
It’s just another full moon
It’s just another full moon

Ivor Steven (c) February 2025

Throwback Friday, The Closing Chapter

Today’s Throwback Friday poem is from October 2022, and I wrote it to signify the announcement that “Tullawalla #31” was to be the final publication in my series of “Tullawalla” Booklets.
The poem appears in my book, Until Eyes Hear Sound, Chapter 8, page 120.

The above Images are of my, bedroom bookshelves, loungeroom bookcase, and bedside table of books.

The Closing Chapter

After the first page was turned
The saga progressed slowly
Unopened books were lost
Unused words were found
New novels had to be read
The search for more
Went on, and on

Adventure volumes were added
Library expansion soared upwards
Higher than fiction could fly
Fluttering beyond
The ladder’s last rung
Where the quest for more
Was out of reach
And the tale of uncharted possibility
Remained the unfinished story
Of the final chapter

Until Eyes Hear Sound

Lulu Books >> Until Eyes Hear Sound (lulu.com)

Perceptions:

Amazon >> Perceptions : Steven, Ivor, Knight, Derrick: Amazon.com.au: Books
Lulu Books >> Perceptions (lulu.com)

Tullawalla:

Amazon >> Tullawalla A Meeting Place Where My Empty Hands are Full of Memories and Rhymes : Steven, Ivor: Amazon.com.au: Books

OR: >> You may email me directly for a signed copy at
ivorrs20@gmail.com

Ivor Steven (c) February 2025

Throwback Friday, Playing Cards

Today’s Throwback Friday poem is from January 2021, and it was a piece that I had forgotten about, so it was a pleasant surprise to find the poem while searching my files this morning.

Playing Cards

To many questions
And I do not have the answers
I am running out of rhyme
Is it time?
To go back to school
Me, a forgetful old fool
Or, I could stay here
Wait for the anteater to cheer
Sit in my garden courtyard
Avoid soul searching and just play cards
With Oscar the wise old owl
And Phillip the penguin, he’s my pal