“When your father’s name is etched in stone, it is never as indelible as the etching in your heart” … Colleen Brown
Alex Steven (Dad), February 5th, 1924 – July 3rd, 2015
I’m Like Dad (a Senryu)
Sometimes I am sad
But I am not mad or bad
My heart’s just like Dad’s
Ivor Steven (c) July 3rd, 2025
Please note: The featured image and the attached images were all taken by my sister’s hubby, John. They live on the outskirts of a small country town, Smythesdale, in western Victoria, and the Kangaroos and their Joey’s graze in the adjacent paddock to my sister’s home.
Joey
Protected from the storms
And needing no land reforms
Inside and warm
Or outside with the other newborn
You live as you please
Snuggled away
From the winter freeze
Or out hopping around
In the dewy breeze
A mother’s spoiled burden
Inside her cozy playpen
Ivor Steven (c) July 2025
Wattlebirds
Fantails.
Yellow-crested White Cockatoo, and Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoo
Magpies.
Crows.
Crows and Magpies at play
Ivor Steven (c) July 2025
Hello, dear readers and followers. I write for Coffee House Writers magazine (USA) fortnightly, and my poem “I Remember” (a Rondeau) is in this week’s edition. …
To read the poem, please click the link below to visit my Coffee House Writers Magazine article.
>> https://coffeehousewriters.com/i-remember/
A rondeau is a fixed-form poem that originated in French lyrical poetry. It typically consists of 15 lines, divided into three stanzas (a quintet, a quatrain, and a sestet), with a refrain and a specific rhyme scheme. Here’s a simple guide to help you craft one:
Structure of a Rondeau.
Ivor Steven (c) July 2025
Today’s poem is one of my verses made up of comments I posted on some of my fellow WordPress writers’ articles during the month … In stanza order, they are:
* Paul, The Moment – a poem by Paul Vincent Cannon | parallax
* Carol, Some people say I’m off my trolley – Therapy Bits
* David, The shape, or: Letting go – The Skeptic’s Kaddish 🇮🇱
* David, https://skepticskaddish.com/2025/06/27/mouthfuls-of-silence-or-sign-language/
Let the Rivers Flow (a Combined Poem)
The tides of time are forever changing
Going beyond our depth can be frightening
But testing the unknown waters can be rewarding
We are all off our trolley
We all like our Lollies
We all forget the brolly
Life is a hectic folly
So, best we stay jolly
And always chat to Polly
If things don’t change
Things will remain the same
Let the cascades fall
May the rivers always flow
Forever changing our lives
With the current’s undertow
Sometimes I wonder
If I am drowning in the sound
Of words that are on the tip of my tongue
And their lifeline has melted
Into the silent recesses of my mind
Ivor Steven (c) June 2025
Over at Weekly Prompts, it’s the last weekend of the month, and it’s time for the One Day Prompt. To visit their fabulous site, please click on >> Here
Water and Sand
I am a nomadic island
A minute rock of water and sand
An unstable molecular lotion
In the universe’s vast ocean
I am one unsinkable living gland
At the mercy of nature’s timeless hands
Ivor Steven (c) June 2025
Autumn Leaves and Bees Knees
Deep among the forest’s magical trees
Where the rowdy snails do as they please
There is a secret garden for frolicking fairies
Their cabbage patch is made from layers
Of interwoven autumn leaves and bee’s knees
Spread upon leftover leprechaun sleeves
Here, the sprites flit in on the breeze
With an occasional wheeze and sneeze
Sometimes the bold winter freeze
Gives them an overfriendly squeeze
And you’ll hear the fairies squeal in Sinhalese
Ivor Steven (c) June 2025
Here in Geelong we have been experiencing a wintry blast over the last few days, so appropriately I have chosen “Five Shades of Grey” for my Throwback Friday poem. I originally wrote the poem in April 2019
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, soar
Fiercely, a flaming bolt strikes
Piercing frightened psyches
Ivor Steven (c) March 2021
Despite the terribly cold winter weather, my garden’s new additions are all doing well. Both Daniel (the Cushion Bush) and Francis (the Fuchsia) have developed new flower buds, and ‘Theo the Tomato Tree’ has grown some new leaves. The Amperlite shelters I built for them seem to be protecting their tender new growths …
Ivor Steven (c) June 2023
In response to Colleen’s Tanka Tuesday
>> https://tankatuesday.com/2025/06/24/tankatuesday-poetry-challenge-no-18-fruit-6-24-25/
No Apples or Oranges (a Tanka)
My wheels have gone north
The fruit bowls are all empty
I’ve one banana
A bunch of grapes in the fridge
And my larder’s looking bare
Ivor Steven © June 2025
Ivor.Plumber/Poet 