Category: Memories

Under the Snow (a Revisit)

A special poem I wrote, after I’d taken my Lady to hospital for the last time, on the day of her 65th birthday, twelve years ago. Hello Carole, time goes by and my hands have 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?









Until Eyes Hear Sound: is NOW Available From,

Lulu Books: https://www.lulu.com/shop/ivor-steven/until-eyes-hear-sound/paperback/product-jeev886.html?page=1&pageSize=4

Jaymah Press: https://www.jaymahpress.com.au/product-page/until-eyes-hear-sound

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) April 2024

Melting My Heart (a Tanka)

Happy Birthday Carole





Melting My Heart (a Tanka)


The white fluffy clouds 

Cannot stop the Autumn sun

From melting my heart

Around her bygone birthdays

Alas, the years keep passing







Until Eyes Hear Sound: is NOW Available From,

Lulu Books: https://www.lulu.com/shop/ivor-steven/until-eyes-hear-sound/paperback/product-jeev886.html?page=1&pageSize=4

Jaymah Press: https://www.jaymahpress.com.au/product-page/until-eyes-hear-sound

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) April 2024

White Stone (a Senryu)

Timeless white headstones

Guarding the ground of old souls

Loved ones’ final home





“Headstones”, Lyrics, Lake Of Tears

Past the forest of the flies of fire
Beyond the waters of shimmering tears
By a fire they stand
And they whisper my name

Now I seek upon the night
Small fragments of moonlight

Up the hill the headstones lie
Up the hill the reapers watching eye
Up the hill the headstones lie
Headstones…

In the circle of stones dressed in ivy
By the garden of the serene flowers
And the spirits are there
Whispering my name

Now I seek upon the night
Small fragments of moonlight

Up the hill the headstones lie
Up the hill the reapers watching eye
Up the hill the headstones lie
Headstones…




Ivor Steven (c) March 2024

Throwback Friday, Beyond Imagination

I wrote “Beyond Imagination” 5 years ago, while I was in rehab, recovering from my 3rd stroke, and somehow preparing my body for a long and arduous trip to Philadelphia. The attached poem below, “Dreams of the Heart” is a piece I wrote in Philadelphia, in May 2019.


Beyond Imagination (Revised)


This year (2019), after Easter

I’m flying north

Across the Pacific Ocean

Towards a place called America


From the west to the east coast

Landing at the Big Apple

To enjoy a five-day tourist bite

Then a train from Grand Central Station

For a debut meeting with my cousins in Philadelphia

My Dad’s far-away relatives


I shall rejoice in the reunion of our family’s spirits

Oh yes, my lifetime “Dream of the Heart” **

A dubious occurrence just two months ago

But now a reality beyond the realms of my imagination




** “Dreams of the Heart”

I cannot walk the continents
Like the intrepid Marco Polo
But my feet have felt the sands of time
Pass between my toes

I have not sailed the high seas
Like the courageous Christopher Columbus
But my body has bathed
In an ocean full of kind hearts

I’m yet to fly in space
Like the brave Neil Armstrong
But I have reached for the stars
And touched my soul’s dreams










Ivor Steven (c) February 2024

A Mirror Image of You, is in This Week’s Coffee House Writers Magazine

Hello dear readers and followers, I am now writing for “Coffee House Writers” magazine on a fortnightly basis, and my poem “A Mirror Image of You”, is in this week’s edition of Coffee House Writers Magazine. …
To Read my poem, please click on the link below to visit the article, at Coffee House Writers Magazine.
>> A Mirror Image Of You – Coffee House Writers






Ivor Steven (c) December 2023

Throwback Friday, Just a Call Away

A poem from my WP archives (March 2018), that I’ve tinkered with, and rehashed a number of times over the years. The original poem was written years before Carole passed (12 years ago), so the wording is quite ambiguous and introverted, and I’ll leave it up to your imaginations to interpret my thoughts …


Just A Call Away (Revised #2)


Waiting, when is she to summon me

Pondering what might have been

Writing to one and all, a finale

Pen to paper, wanting her to see

How I survived the Tasman Sea

While searching for her freedom tree


Wondering if it’s a selfish sin

To wear my second skin

Under an invisible coat of tin








Ivor Steven (c) December 2023

A Forever Coat, Published in, Write About – Four – Anthology, 2023

December, it’s that time of the year for the release of Anthologies, and here is another annual Anthology that my poems have been published in. This is one has been produced and published by the Belmont Page Writers Group (Geelong) and superbly edited by our convener, Claudia Collins.
Two of my poems were published in this fabulously presented Anthology, and today I am presenting the first one “A Forever Coat”.






Ivor Steven (c) December 2023

Throwback Friday, A Christmas Diamond, a Sparkling Jewel (Revised)

I wrote the original piece on 21st December 2017, and this revised version I wrote on the 21st December 2019.






A Christmas Diamond, a Sparkling Jewel (Revised)


I dreamt of your radiant face last night

So serene, a diamond, a dove, so pure white

Not sad, just vivid memories, oh, so bright

And I’ve plenty of tears, don’t worry, I’m all right

Visions of your bravery, courage above, and beyond

So gracious, an everlasting smile, our iconic bond

Completely in awe, amazing, a personal anthem

And I declare you were natures stellar blossom

I felt your pain, your sorrow, revealed to only a few

So uncomplaining, never a burden, never a shrew

Thinking the whole world should be like you

I wish this hungry planet could be cheerful too

Wondering why is life, sometimes ordained cruel?

But I’ll continue on, for you, my sparkling Jewel







Ivor Steven (c) December 2023

Throwback Friday, Time and the Sea

A piece I wrote on February 7th 2019. I was in Hospital recovering from my 3rd stroke (a minor one), but it was only 2 months since my previous stroke, and I was wandering around the place like a becalmed sailing ship waiting for the winds of change to send me home … The music I listened to during my stay, were mainly two Icelandic Bands, Sigur Ros, & Solstafir … I didn’t understand the lyrics, but the music seemed to be grand for my anxiety level …





Time and the Sea



There’s wasted time, hours and days gone

My time, between one procedure and the next

Time to explore this healing castle

Time to chat, to eager listener’s

Time to write, about realities and dreams

Time to observe the people’s living within

Time to think about the world’s problems

Time to visualise pictures of tomorrow

I’m not a patient in his bed

I’m free standing and waiting instead

I’m a walking and talking local poet

I’m not allowed to vacate the site

They want me near, to study my plight

They want me here, to secure my bed

They need me near, to look into my mind

They need me here, so I’m easy to find





Solstafir “Midaftann”

https://lyricstranslate.com/en/mi%C3%B0aftann-mid-evening.html

Mid-Evening

Now I have come home
After a journey on the deep seas.
The wave was so high,
The saltiness ate everything up.
I drowned in a black hole,
I pulled at the hand of death.
So high, it was so high,
And the moon lighted a path, yes the moon high in the sky,
And the moon lighted a path, yes the moon lighted a path.
So high, so high, wave of the sins, wave of the sins.




Ivor Steven (c) December 2023

A Clear Blue Jar, is in this Week’s Coffee House Writers Magazine

Hello dear readers and followers, I am now writing for “Coffee House Writers” magazine on a fortnightly basis, and my poem “A Clear Blue Jar”, is in this week’s edition of Coffee House Writers Magazine. …
To Read my poem, please click on the link below to visit the article, at Coffee House Writers Magazine.
>> A Clear Blue Jar – Coffee House Writers






Ivor Steven (c) November 2023