“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
“This wall, built of bricks
Breaks my spirit and my bones
Life’s hurdles are hard” … This Wall (a Senryu May 3rd, 2025)
Arriving and Leaving, Visiting Her
arriving
via the cemetery gate
holding her flowers
hands quivering
heart quickens
bowing silently
reminiscing
smiling
wondering why
closing time
and visiting time
co-exist in life
leaving
via the cemetery path
renewing goodbyes
crying silently
breathing slowly
smiling
wondering why
closing time
and visiting time
co-exist in life
Ivor Steven (c) May 3rd, 2025
A poem that was prompted by my doggie ‘Frankie’, who seemingly, trotted off too far away during our walkie this morning. He was enjoying being off his lead, then he turned around to see where I was and suddenly realised he was “Too far away” and he came running back to me … that sense of ‘Home and Love’ was a gorgeous moment to savour … Hopefully, my photos captured those moments.
The Tree Roots Of Our Homes
How far, is too far?
Too far away from home
Too far away from love
Love does not grow on trees
Love grows inside trees
Love flows down
Down inside the tree roots
The tree roots of our homes
The tree roots that enwrap our earth
The tree roots that capture our souls
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/
OR: email me directly for a signed copy – ivorrs20@gmail.com
Ivor Steven (c) April 2023
This months poetry assignment at Coffee House Writers is to read the traditional Japanese writer, Matsuo Basho’s 10 top Haiku, and then try to write a Traditional style Haiku. I think my Haiku here might get me a ‘pass’ for the assignment …
Her Last Rainbow (a Haiku)
Etched upon greyness
Behind fluffy nimbus clouds
Her last rainbow glowed
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/
OR: email me directly for a signed copy – ivorrs20@gmail.com
Ivor Steven (c) March 2023
The rain soaked my heart
Moving my soul’s existence
Away from this world
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/
OR: email me directly for a signed copy – ivorrs20@gmail.com
Ivor Steven (c) March 2023
Hello dear readers and followers, I now write for “Coffee House Writers” magazine on a fortnightly basis, and my poem “On Days Like These”, whch is an Assonance style of poetry, is in this week’s edition of Coffee House Writers Magazine. … please click on the link below to view my poem, at Coffee House Writers.
>> https://coffeehousewriters.com/on-days-like-these/
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:
Jaymah Press: https://www.jaymahpress.com.au/
OR: email me directly for a signed copy – ivorrs20@gmail.com
I found this old poem in a dusty foolscap folder under a pile of “stuff” I was tidying up … maybe from 15 years …
Today’s poem is one that I have not published on my web/blog site, and I am not sure when I first wrote the original words. Up until now, this a piece that has been filed away in a foolscap folder.
A Voice in the Mist
The moon’s my patriarch
My dream, glowing in the dark
She’s a vision, no feel, no mound
Only a voice, without sound
A distant shining, so forlorn
My heartache until dawn
She’s a pillow, no caress, no kiss
Only a voice, from beyond the mist
Ivor Steven (c) July 2022
G’day, and welcome to my blog site. My name is Ivor Steven, I live in Geelong, Australia. I’m an ex-industrial chemist, and a retired plumber, and a former Carer of my wife(Carole), for 30 years, who suffered from severe MS. I Write poetry about those personal thoughts, throughout and beyond my life as a Carer…
View original post 51 more words
Within my old mind
I am foolishly unkind
How can I unwind
My selfish ego is blind
While my heart is left behind
Ivor Steven (c) May 6th 2022
Below; I have formed one poem out of four Haiku that I wrote this morning, and I have many fractured thoughts within my soul today, a decade after Carole’s passing on May 3rd 2012 at 1.15pm …
Today’s Fragments
(A four Haiku poem)
I am who I am
I can’t use another tram
She’s my hologram
I sit beside her
Next to yesterday’s campfire
Candles in the wind
A red flame flickers
Under her celestial star
My eternal light
On my island home
Winds blow from across the sea
Completion awaits
Ivor Steven (c) May 3rd 2022
Back on the 2nd of May 2012, I thought this poem was going to be the last piece I would ever write … finality for my wife was near, and my mind was adrift on the horizon. … little did I know, that in few months time, her spirit and enthusiasm for life, would become the inspirational source for the revival of my poetry writings, and now a decade later “Carole’s” amazing zest for life, still influences my every thought behind the words I write …
‘Til Death Do Us Part
She’s there, in that tall pale building of brick.
Where the Nightingales care and tend to the sick.
She’s there, away from home and her comforting bed.
Where the Doctors try to fix the endless ills from her head.
She’s there, and her absence reminds me of future plights.
Where my anxieties for her her well being endure her fight.
She’s there, and I need to visit her all day, and every night.
Where the distance to reach her soul is out of sight.
She’s there, and I’m wondering about that far away dome.
Where her lost personal affection would leave her all alone.
She’s there, in those misty clouds, with church bells ringing.
Where she’s near to the sombre sounds of angels singing.
She’s there, and her constant pain remains tight in my heart.
Now I’m convinced, just like I said at the very start.
There’s no place like home for her gathering dark.
And I promise to her again, ‘til death do us part.
Ivor Steven (c) May 2nd 2022
Ivor.Plumber/Poet 