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
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
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
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
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
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
“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
Ivor Steven © May 2025
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
Ivor Steven © May 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
A special poem I wrote, after I’d taken my Lady to the hospital for the last time, on the day of her 65th birthday, thirteen years ago.
Hello Carole, time goes by, and my heart has 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?
Ivor Steven © April 2025
Ivor.Plumber/Poet 