Thanks For the Dance, or My Foot Went Numb (a Rhyming Tu-aiku)
My fingers are thumbs
I cannot pick up the crumbs
Nor pluck the ripe plums
My right foot went numb
Her eternal dance did come
Life is a hum-drum
Ivor Steven (c) May 3rd, 2025
Thanks For the Dance, or My Foot Went Numb (a Rhyming Tu-aiku)
My fingers are thumbs
I cannot pick up the crumbs
Nor pluck the ripe plums
My right foot went numb
Her eternal dance did come
Life is a hum-drum
Ivor Steven (c) May 3rd, 2025
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
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






Today’s poem was my inspired poetic response to David’s “Sijo”, ‘Of all things, or: Bridge to nowhere’. >> https://skepticskaddish.com/2025/03/28/of-all-things-or-bridge-to-nowhere/
Over at Weekly Prompts, since it’s the last weekend of the month, “One Day” is again the monthly Prompt! To visit their fabulous site, please click on >> Here
One Day, or: Bless My Soul
Beneath our feet, there lies a common mound
Between our ears, the winds of time hear no sound
Below our eyes, the promised land cannot be found
Within our hearts, we share the lost and drowned
Beyond our souls, the world’s burial grounds
Belong to the hounds, who run the battlegrounds
Ivor Steven © March 2025






Welcome!
When you walk into my home
You cannot help but notice
That all the walls are adorned
With photos and various pieces of memorabilia
And if you venture out the back door
Into my verandah and courtyard area
You cannot help but notice
That the fence and walls are also covered
With more pictures and Tullawalla scriptures

.

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


Remembering “My Women”, my dear wife, Carole, and my amazing mother, Esther …
Thank you, Bella, for encouraging me to post this poem today …
>> https://thoughtsnlifeblog.com/2025/03/07/an-ode-to-women-in-honour-of-internation-womens-day/
My Women
After I had left the hem
Without women
I could not have survived my time
I would not have braved the climb
Ladies, you are my rhyme
My mother’s of thyme
Helping me roll away the stone
Maintaining these old bones
Repairing the bridges, I have burnt
Reciting the messages, I have learnt
Cheering from the sidelines
Supporting my broken designs
Women of My Rhymes
Mothers for a lifetime
Ivor Steven (c) March 2025




The Grey Afterglow
Yesterday
My world was a tomb
Today
I fled my room
Away
From the gloom
Out there
The sky was grey
Do you know?
Not all clouds have dull shadows
Rainbows know how to play the banjo
Sunflowers can grow in the snow
And all birds enjoy putting on an airshow
In the middle of Nature’s achromatic afterglow

.

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


Suicide
there is a fine line
between pleasure and pain
there are bad moments
between life and death
there is black space
between here and the sun
there is night
when there is no light
and there is only dark
on the other side of the moon

.

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



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


Over at Weekly Prompts, since it’s the last weekend of the month, “One Day” is again the monthly Prompt! To visit their fabulous site, please click on >> Here.
One Day, I’ll Fly Into the Light
I wish to fly away
into the light
I need to know
is she all right
Lying there
in her silent night
Holding her white lily
waiting for my final flight

.

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