Featured Image Above: A sketch by my niece Kerri Costello

Today I am presenting the “second” ‘5min’ poem that I wrote at Ali Grimsham’s ‘Writing Circle’ Zoom meeting, that I attended on Monday this week, and this was my 2nd session/week with the group, and I am having a delightful time. Here is the page link to get more information about the next writing circle. https://flashlightbatteries.blog/online-writing-circles/ Tickets by donation. All are welcome.

Who Is Responsible



Our responsibilities come and go

Some do leave, others do grow

There is a limit

To how many breaths we need a day

And there is a limit

To the length of our stay

Here sitting on yesterday

Approving of life’s work today

I ponder about tomorrow

Looking out beyond my dirty window

For the direction of next years ice-flow

To avoid last years cloudless shadows

And dodge this year’s poison arrows

Ivor Steven (c) January 2021.

Today I am presenting another ‘5min’ poem that I have written at one of Ali Grimsham’s ‘Writing Circle’ Zoom meetings that I attend on Monday’s, and this was my 2nd session with the group, and I am having a delightful time. Here is the page link to get more information about the next writing circle. https://flashlightbatteries.blog/online-writing-circles/ Tickets by donation. All are welcome.

A Conversation Without Words

I see her lips curve

I see her mouth move

The words I do not understand

But I know the meaning of that sound

I sense the inflection in her tone

And her silent eyes tell no lies

I savour her smile

I gently hold her hand

And through her soft palm

I feel her heartbeat caress mine

Ivor Steven (c) January 2021

Forget yesterday’s unopened letters

Roll-up the sleeves of our winter sweaters

Clean-up the planets dirty carburetors

And reassemble last years scattered leggos better

Vaccinate our vulnerable from unknown carriers

And protect our hardworking warriors

Beware of societies unforgiving enemies

And expand your personal boundaries

It’s time to become a world community

And fight for the future of humanity

Ivor Steven (c) January 2021

Today I am presenting the second ‘5min’ poem that I wrote during Ali Grimsham’s ‘Writing Circle’ Zoom meeting I attended on Monday. Here is the page link to get more information about the next writing circle. https://flashlightbatteries.blog/online-writing-circles/ Tickets by donation. All are welcome.


I Have Been Here Before

do I need to be anywhere else

but be near the ocean’s caressing waves

where my heart feels complete

with warm sand between my toes

and a cool breeze to tingle my bones

as the sea salt dries on my skin

for now. ‘I am almost alive’ *

here. ‘I am almost at home’ *

away from life’s plastic chrome

** these words, ‘I am almost alive’ and. ‘I am almost at home’ are from Leonard Cohen’s song, ‘The Goal’

Ivor Steven (c) January 2021

Today my dragon poem was intirely inspired by a photo from Derrick Knight’s fabulous site.. With Derrick’s kind permission, his frozen dragon photo is featured above. You may visit his corresponding post via clicking on this link >> https://derrickjknight.com/2021/01/08/twilight-haze/


My Dragon, Frozen In Time



My Dragon has been treated harshly

For his mischievous nine crimes

He was cruelly chained in poison ivy

And mystically frozen in time

I am allowed to ship him back home

Encased in a huge wooden box

In a straw-lined crate he looked like a giant gnome

We set sail around Cape Horn towards the land of shamrocks

I am hoping a return to his homeland

Might snap my Dragon out of his ice-age state

There atop the cliffs of the Isle of Aran

With the roaring Atlantic winds to thaw his scaly breastplate

Ivor Steven (c) January 2021

For thirty years

We fought off the fears

We survived the drowning tears

We always did

Your every extra day

Was a wondrous array

We pursued life’s ballet

We always did




Your olive eyes always smiled

We promised each other an emerald isle

We danced across life’s blackened tiles

We journeyed through time’s gruelling miles

We lived a grateful and humble lifestyle

We always did

The story is engraved

Under my eyelids

“We’ll Make It Through”, by Ray LaMontagne

Had our share of the pain
Of the clouds, and the rain
Lean on me
And I’ll lean on you
And together, we’ll get through
We always do
We always do

I know you’re scared ’cause
You can’t see the light
You toss and turn through the night
Holdin’ me
And I’m holdin’ you
And together, we’ll get through
We always do
We always do
We always do

Where do you go, when there’s no road to follow?
Faces look hollow, only strangers to you, now
Where do you turn, when this livin’ starts to burn through
Layers that you learned wrap around your heart somehow

I turn to you
I always do
I always do
I turn to you

I know you’re scared
Can’t see the light
Gotta believe it’s gonna be alright
Lean on me
And I’ll lean on you
And together, we’ll get through
We always do
We always do
We always do
We’ll make it through
We always do
We always do



Ivor Steven (c) January 2021

Featured Image Above: The cakes I received for Christmas !!

A Naughty Sweet Tooth



I am walking empty streets

Looking for a lost news sheet

For the information about me

That I saw nailed to yesterday’s Christmas tree

There must be a meeting place

For one’s like me, hiding in disgrace

Who have eaten too many cakes

And are addicted to the sweetest bakes

Where do I find Cake-oholics Anonymous?

I need to be saved from my wantonness

So I can re-float my over loaded Nautilus

Surely I am not the only one?

With a naughty sweet tooth in the gun.

Ivor Steven (c) Jan 2021

My heart was pulsating

Like a child’s first day at the beach

Excitedly wide eyed, a wondrous sight

A vast seaside water world

My lips tasted the sea air

My hips plunged into refreshing salt water

The waves were not too steep

The ocean was not too deep

I’m almost alive

I’m almost at home

Here at the Ocean Grove beach

Here in ecstasy, sun, sand and surf

The place where friends met

The home of Tullawalla

The house where imagination began

The universe of my creative waves

Ivor Steven (c) Jan 2021