A Throwback Friday Poem – Page 3

Throwback Friday, The Odds and Ends, I Send

Today’s Throwback Friday is from February 2023. The poem was created from anecdotes that I had written and sent to my fellow bloggers’ sites, as replies to their articles/poems.
In order of stanza appearance below,
– V.J. > https://vjknutson.org/
– Kate > https://aroused.blog/
– Beth > https://ididnthavemyglasseson.com/

The Odds and Ends, I send

Our head reaches for the clouds
But our heart forgets to speak aloud

We are all little fish in a big sea
Swimming below the atmosphere
Created by nature’s life-giving trees

Not all rocks
Are not just rocks
Some old rocks
When you study their socks
And listen to their knees knock
They “Have rocked around the clock”

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 © July 2025

Throwback Friday, Five Shades of Grey

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

Throwback Friday, Floating on the Moon

Today’s Throwback Friday was written in January 2021

Hello readers and followers, today, I am continuing with my theme of “Moom” poems. If you need to chat with me, “I am up here floating on the moon.“

Floating On The Moon

I am not always wrong
And at times, I may have been right
Behind my mask, I smile
And at times, I grimace

Numbness has entered my bones
Clumsiness guides my pen
Awkwardness precedes my stride
Uneasiness resonates in my voice

I am not able to walk on water
And at times, I have sunk like a stone
I live within my soul’s cocoon
And at times, I am floating on the moon

Ivor Steven (c) June 2025

Throwback Friday, Shadows Fall (a Musette)

Today’s Throwback Friday is from January 2023, and I selected the Musette to coincide with the ‘Magpie shadow’ photos that I took on Thursday afternoon

Shadows Fall (a Musette)

Don’t stop
Do not look back
Leaves drop

Shadows
Do not dig up
Meadows

Walk tall
Don’t look beyond
Nightfall

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 © June 2025

Throwback Friday. Sunset, A Moment in Time

I have been focusing on sunsets lately, so appropriately, my Throwback Friday poem is a ‘Sunset’ verse that I wrote in March 2023. However, please note that all images in today’s post were taken this evening.

Sunset, A Moment in Time

here
I stand
waiting
I see
clouds lifting
paddocks shimmering

here
I stand
camera in hand
waiting
for that pivotal moment
where the edge of time
implodes

here
I see
the golden sun
and a tree-lined horizon
majestically collide

sunset!
7.35 pm
click!
picture perfect

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 © May 2025

Throwback Friday, Odds and Sods, Spots and Blots

Today’s Throwback Friday poem is an odd collection of anecdotes from my hospital bed, written in December 2018. After I had just suffered a ‘minor’ stroke, and these were the jumbled thoughts that were tumbling out of my tired and confused mind …

Odds and Sods, Spots and Blots

Lazy Bones

Cordless phones
Garden gnomes
Overhead drones
Windowless homes
Creaks and moans
Lazy bones

Pain

Pain is like the rain
It comes and goes
Heavy and light

A Lie

It’s a lie that I don’t cry
It’s a lie that I passed you by
It’s a lie that I never tried
It’s a lie that I’ll never die

Mirror

Mirror, mirror, on the wall
You showed me how to stand tall
Again, it’s time for your call

Judge

I’m neither a judge
Nor a dealer in sludge
I’d rather eat some fudge
And give my side of life a nudge

Even Though

Love is all above thee
Love is a blanket of autumn leaves
Love showers us with glee
Love is everywhere, to feel and see

Ivor Stven May 2025

Throwback Friday, What Is Normal, My Son?

Today’s Throwback Friday Poem is from July 2020, during the middle of the ‘Covid Era’, but I think my words could now be applied to the ‘Trump Era’

What Is Normal, My Son?

Breakfast and a hot cuppa
Under my cosy verandah
As per normal, if it’s not too chilly
And I’m having my normal courtyard chat
With my friends, Phillip the penguin
And the wise old owl, Oscar
We’re talking about the future
Whether life will ever be normal again

Oscar quietly hoots
“What is normal, my son?”
Little Phillip chirped in
“Normal is a state of mind
A comfort zone in time
Like swimming in the deep blue sea every day.”
Oscar agreed with Phillip
“Normal’s been perched in the same tree every night.”
Oscar and Phillip grinned and nodded at each other
And I listened and pondered

Smiling at my two furry companions
I added, “Our old normal won’t be normal anymore.”
Oscar’s brows lowered, and he said
“As per normal these days
We shall patiently try to adapt, then wait and see
What colour will the new normal turn out to be
Black, white, or green like the trees
Maybe the striped yellow of our life-giving bees”

Ivor Steven (c) May 2025

Throwback Friday, Moon Shadows and Celestial Lights (Revised), by Ivor Steven

“Her moon shadows shyly tiptoe through my nights
as my hazy dreams glow under her celestial lights”

I am ‘Moon-struck’ this week, and here is another “Moon” poem, which I originally wrote in May 2018, and today I am reposting the version that I revised in October 2021 …

Moon Shadows And Celestial Lights

I stood alone
In my second-hand clothes
holding her worn-out soul
Silently
I placed her ashes
In a brick wall
Years of heartache
Hidden in a chasm of pain
Moments in time
Now resting in peace

How does tomorrow become another day?
How does the past live with today?

Her moon shadows shyly tiptoe through my nights
As my hazy dreams glow under her celestial lights

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

Throwback Friday, The Woman In Me

Me, sitting on Mum’s knee. … L to R, Carole, Aunties Elizabeth & Pearl, & Grandma

Grandma and her 3 daughters. … My mum (left) and her lady relatives

G’day readers, it’s Friday morning, the 9th of May, here in Australia, the day of my mother’s birthday and my wife’s funeral day, and it’ll be Mother’s Day on Sunday. Today’s Throwback Friday poem is from September 2019.

The Woman In Me

Inside every man
There is a woman

The mother of his soul
The lady of his heart
The kindness in his touch
The passion in his blood
The woman who fostered
The way he shows love

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

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