Memories – Page 5 – Ivor.Plumber/Poet

Throwback Friday, Our River (a Haiku Revised)

Dedicated to my dear wife, to celebrate her birthday on Wednesday the 17th of April. I think my words say enough … I’m proud and honoured to present this Haiku as my “Throwback Friday” post today. Twelve years have passed and I’m quite emotional this week, and I apologise to fellow writers, and readers for not blogging and commenting with my usual zest.

Our River (a Haiku, Revised)

True love ebbs and flows

Hidden rocks etched our river

Stones soften to sand

Until Eyes Hear Sound: is NOW Available From,

Lulu Books: https://www.lulu.com/shop/ivor-steven/until-eyes-hear-sound/paperback/product-jeev886.html?page=1&pageSize=4

Jaymah Press: https://www.jaymahpress.com.au/product-page/until-eyes-hear-sound

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/

Lulu Books: https://www.lulu.com/shop/ivor-steven-and-derrick-knight/perceptions/hardcover/product-2pwqe4.html?q=Perceptions+by+Ivor+Steven&page=1&pageSize=4

OR: email me directly for a signed copy – ivorrs20@gmail.com

Ivor Steven (c) April 2024

Melting My Heart (a Tanka)

Happy Birthday Carole

Melting My Heart (a Tanka)

The white fluffy clouds

Cannot stop the Autumn sun

From melting my heart

Around her bygone birthdays

Alas, the years keep passing

Until Eyes Hear Sound: is NOW Available From,

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/

Lulu Books: https://www.lulu.com/shop/ivor-steven-and-derrick-knight/perceptions/hardcover/product-2pwqe4.html?q=Perceptions+by+Ivor+Steven&page=1&pageSize=4

OR: email me directly for a signed copy – ivorrs20@gmail.com

Ivor Steven (c) April 2024

White Stone (a Senryu)

Timeless white headstones

Guarding the ground of old souls

Loved ones’ final home

“Headstones”, Lyrics, Lake Of Tears

Past the forest of the flies of fire
Beyond the waters of shimmering tears
By a fire they stand
And they whisper my name

Now I seek upon the night
Small fragments of moonlight

Up the hill the headstones lie
Up the hill the reapers watching eye
Up the hill the headstones lie
Headstones…

In the circle of stones dressed in ivy
By the garden of the serene flowers
And the spirits are there
Whispering my name

Now I seek upon the night
Small fragments of moonlight

Up the hill the headstones lie
Up the hill the reapers watching eye
Up the hill the headstones lie
Headstones…

Ivor Steven (c) March 2024

Throwback Friday, Beyond Imagination

I wrote “Beyond Imagination” 5 years ago, while I was in rehab, recovering from my 3rd stroke, and somehow preparing my body for a long and arduous trip to Philadelphia. The attached poem below, “Dreams of the Heart” is a piece I wrote in Philadelphia, in May 2019.

Beyond Imagination (Revised)

This year (2019), after Easter

I’m flying north

Across the Pacific Ocean

Towards a place called America

From the west to the east coast

Landing at the Big Apple

To enjoy a five-day tourist bite

Then a train from Grand Central Station

For a debut meeting with my cousins in Philadelphia

My Dad’s far-away relatives

I shall rejoice in the reunion of our family’s spirits

Oh yes, my lifetime “Dream of the Heart” **

A dubious occurrence just two months ago

But now a reality beyond the realms of my imagination

** “Dreams of the Heart”

I cannot walk the continents
Like the intrepid Marco Polo
But my feet have felt the sands of time
Pass between my toes

I have not sailed the high seas
Like the courageous Christopher Columbus
But my body has bathed
In an ocean full of kind hearts

I’m yet to fly in space
Like the brave Neil Armstrong
But I have reached for the stars
And touched my soul’s dreams

Ivor Steven (c) February 2024

A Mirror Image of You, is in This Week’s Coffee House Writers Magazine

Hello dear readers and followers, I am now writing for “Coffee House Writers” magazine on a fortnightly basis, and my poem “A Mirror Image of You”, is in this week’s edition of Coffee House Writers Magazine. …
To Read my poem, please click on the link below to visit the article, at Coffee House Writers Magazine.
>> A Mirror Image Of You – Coffee House Writers

Ivor Steven (c) December 2023

Throwback Friday, Just a Call Away

A poem from my WP archives (March 2018), that I’ve tinkered with, and rehashed a number of times over the years. The original poem was written years before Carole passed (12 years ago), so the wording is quite ambiguous and introverted, and I’ll leave it up to your imaginations to interpret my thoughts …

Just A Call Away (Revised #2)

Waiting, when is she to summon me

Pondering what might have been

Writing to one and all, a finale

Pen to paper, wanting her to see

How I survived the Tasman Sea

While searching for her freedom tree

Wondering if it’s a selfish sin

To wear my second skin

Under an invisible coat of tin

Ivor Steven (c) December 2023

A Forever Coat, Published in, Write About – Four – Anthology, 2023

December, it’s that time of the year for the release of Anthologies, and here is another annual Anthology that my poems have been published in. This is one has been produced and published by the Belmont Page Writers Group (Geelong) and superbly edited by our convener, Claudia Collins.
Two of my poems were published in this fabulously presented Anthology, and today I am presenting the first one “A Forever Coat”.

Ivor Steven (c) December 2023

Throwback Friday, A Christmas Diamond, a Sparkling Jewel (Revised)

I wrote the original piece on 21st December 2017, and this revised version I wrote on the 21st December 2019.

A Christmas Diamond, a Sparkling Jewel (Revised)

I dreamt of your radiant face last night

So serene, a diamond, a dove, so pure white

Not sad, just vivid memories, oh, so bright

And I’ve plenty of tears, don’t worry, I’m all right

Visions of your bravery, courage above, and beyond

So gracious, an everlasting smile, our iconic bond

Completely in awe, amazing, a personal anthem

And I declare you were natures stellar blossom

I felt your pain, your sorrow, revealed to only a few

So uncomplaining, never a burden, never a shrew

Thinking the whole world should be like you

I wish this hungry planet could be cheerful too

Wondering why is life, sometimes ordained cruel?

But I’ll continue on, for you, my sparkling Jewel

Ivor Steven (c) December 2023

A Clear Blue Jar, is in this Week’s Coffee House Writers Magazine

Hello dear readers and followers, I am now writing for “Coffee House Writers” magazine on a fortnightly basis, and my poem “A Clear Blue Jar”, is in this week’s edition of Coffee House Writers Magazine. …
To Read my poem, please click on the link below to visit the article, at Coffee House Writers Magazine.
>> A Clear Blue Jar – Coffee House Writers

Ivor Steven (c) November 2023

This Fence (2001)

“This Fence” is a poem I posted on my Site when I first began blogging in June/July 2017, however I originally wrote the piece back in 2001, when I was recovering from my first stroke in Sept’ 2000 … My words from 22 years ago seem be applicable today, as I start my recovery program from this week’s diabetes diagnosis…

This Fence

I am quickly nearing this fence.

An obstacle of a lifetime I see.

And from my side of this fence,

The hurdle is too high for me.

And on the other side of this fence,

There seems nowhere to land or flee.

I have arrived at this fence,

Above the pickets, just grey sky.

And on my side of this fence,

The grass is brown and dry.

On the other side of this fence,

The grass is green, but still I cry.

How am I to clear this fence,

There seems nowhere to go or get by.

This fence, all built of stones,

Breaks my spirit, and all my bones.

Ivor Steven (c) November 2023