Life, Beyond the Lines


Today’s poem is in response to Sadje’s Photo Prompt >> What do you see # 294- 23 June, 2025 – – https://lifeafter50forwomen.com/2025/06/23/what-do-you-see-294-23-june-2025/


My poem can be interpreted into both of Sadje’s prompt images.



Life, Beyond the Lines


Life’s a continual battle
but the battle lines
are there to be crossed

Life’s wondrous museum
inspires me to keep exploring
the universe’s grand Colosseum



 




Ivor Steven © June 2025

No Anchor, No Breaks, No Parachute!


In response to Sadje’s, WDYS # 291

>> https://lifeafter50forwomen.com/2025/06/02/what-do-you-see-291-2june-2025/
I chose her second image, a shot of a full moon, and in front of the moon, you can see a plane traveling!




No Anchor, No Breaks, No Parachute!

“Hit the ground running,” they say
Well, I hit Monday
Without a ripcord
On my parachute
It mysteriously disappeared
Out of touch, out of sight
I think I left my ‘safety chute’
At the Market on Saturday

I’m only half finished
My new project,
Shangri La, Volume 14
“We desperately need
a coffee break”, I said to Frankie
So, down to the ‘Cafe’ we went!

This old poet had to relax
And slow down the adrenaline flow
“What goes up, must come down.”

Hopefully, when I crush tonight,
The landing will be a smooth one





Ivor Steven (c) June 2025

About Today


** Written for Sadje’s WDYS #287. To visit her fabulous site, please click on >> Here
And she presented 2 images for us to use either one or both as our inspiration! I chose to use both image prompts in my poem





About Today

Our morning walk was uphill
And into a gusty wind
The trees were bowing to one side
And the wispy clouds went zooming by

Too windy for Frankie’s fluffy ears
Too windy for the birds to fly in
Too windy for the moon to see her star
Too windy for my teary eyes




Ivor Steven © May 2025

A Step Beyond Shadows (a Tanka)

Image credit; Pixabay ( free for use)
In response to Sadje’s, “What Do You See”, prompt
>> https://lifeafter50forwomen.com/2024/12/02/what-do-you-see-265-december-2-2024/

A Step Beyond Shadows (a Tanka)

An archway of trees
Cast shadows over my path
The light glows brighter
As I dare to step beyond
My uncharted existence




Stone Arches, High In The Sky

Image credit: Vrolans @ Pixabay

Written in response to Sadje‘s What Do You See #111 photo prompt


Stone Arches, High In The Sky


Sitting on this old cemetery bench

Judiciously carved from marble

I’m pondering like Rodin’s ‘Thinker’

Observing God’s arches high in the sky


Supported by tall Gothic columns

Laboriously sculptured stone

Dull shades of gray

Etched by heavy rain

Burnt under the drying sun

Shaped by the winds of time


Millennia cast in granite

History encrusted surfaces

Pillars of society, silently solidified

Witnesses of forgotten decades

Ancient pyramids overseeing cold graveyards

Decayed monuments to our lost souls


Immortality and finality achieved

Beyond the shadows of doubt

Their stoic presence

An eternal epitaph






Ivor Steven (c) December 2021