Tag: Poetry/Australia

The featured image above, is my photo of a painting by Graeme Altman, titled ‘Hopeful-return’, while on display at the Boom Gallery in Geelong, during September 2018.


A Fish Out Of Water



I am not immortal

nor am I immune

I am a speck of rust

slowly fading into dust



I cannot walk on water

nor do I swim like an otter

I am a stoic starfish

motionless and sun blemished



I cannot soar beyond the sky

nor can I float like a butterfly

I am a flightless lyrebird

raucous and eternally seeking the word

Ivor Steven (c) December

I’m Radioactive


Life is a waiting game

Between scans and closing door frames

I am waiting for a nuclear cardio stress test

And X-rays of my radioactive chest



The numbing sensation is surreal

Inside a buzzing tunnel I am sealed

Where magnetic photos are taken

And I am waiting, feeling forsaken



“Damn.” The negatives were not clear enough

I wait another hour for the next shot of dyestuff

Back behind those closing door frames

Life’s finality is a waiting game

Ivor Steven (c) December 2020

I’m watching the crowd strolling by

Masks are casually dangling like schoolboy ties

And now I see everyone’s smiling faces

Winners are grinners and free to go places



We endured lonely lockdowns and restriction dangers

Then successfully obeyed the rules of our Lone-Rangers

And bravely negotiated the low tides of dark seas

Today community happiness bows and greets me

The Covid bastard is drowning in our summer breeze

And together we have beaten a heartless disease



Ivor Steven (c) December 2020.

Heartless Bastards. Lyrics
“Skin And Bone”

Spent my time here as a child,
And now I’m passing through here and it’s all coming back again.
Dilapidated buildings down on Main.
This small town was crumbling down, it was hard for me to stay.

And, oh, I, I find after all this time,
I am back here filled with all these memories.
Bittersweet, my home skin and bone.
This rust has worn through tearing up beneath the seams.

Driving down Salem Avenue.
It’s all so familiar now, but so many things have changed.
And the rain came down all around.
Washed away the industry, washed it to the sea.

And, oh, I, I find after all this time,
I am back here filled with all these memories.
Bittersweet, my home skin and bone.
This rust has worn through tearing up beneath the seams.
And, oh, I want it to be like when I was young.
Oh, I want it to be like when I was young.

Ooh, ooh, ooh.

I am needing the solace of my courtyard

When will life’s tasks become too hard

Am I finally to be considered too old

Despite my partial return from the cold

I am not to worry nor feel sorry

The winding road home is in no hurry

And I detour off my rocky path

To rewrite my wordless epitaph

Here in the comfort of my favourite Cafe

With a sweet cake and a soothing coffee

And enjoy a chat with the friendly waitress Alex

Then I recite this poem, she smiles, and we both relax

Ivor Steven (c) December 2020

I wrote this poem after reading Ali Grimshaw’s post/poem this morning, and as I sometimes do, I commented on her piece with a poetic anecdote. You can view Ali’s site and poem via clicking on this link >> https://flashlightbatteries.blog/2020/12/05/weather-forecast-poem-by-ali-grimshaw/


Yesterday’s Storms

today words fell off the weatherman’s chart

some misty clouds with rainbow arcs

there will be windy circles and sunny parts

dotted isobars will blow over old landmarks

bringing bold fronts and false starts

with possible heavy rain and lightning darts

and yesterday’s storms were pieces of dark art

that passed through our hearts

Ivor Steven (c) December 2020

The Faerie Shelter



Beyond the hands of time

In a garden of parsley, sage, and thyme

Live faeries of magic and rhyme

Dancing in the midnight faerie pantomime

Under the moonlight they rollick and roam

Among reeds of the field-mouse’s old home

Where Oscar the owl broods atop his mushroom

And the dragonfly Danielle hovers above Alex the gnome

He is the courtyard’s guardian colossus

Who proudly shelters Saraswati the Hindu goddess

And she dutifully protects the shy penguin Phillip

The humblest faerie of them all, but he stands tall in spirit

Ivor Steven (c) December 2020

My poem here today was inspired by Colleen’s thoughtful post “Every Ordinary Day”, please click onto this link to read her article >> https://bikecolleenbrown.wordpress.com/2020/12/01/every-day-ordinary/

Every Ordinary Day

If you look up

There is air and sky

If you look backward

There goes the sunset

If you look forward

Here comes sunrise

If you look sideways

There shines the fullness of day

Look and you will feel

Nature sharing her love

Look and you will hear

Her crescendo of life’s adrenaline

Ivor Steven (c) December 2020