Her Last Rainbow (a Haiku)

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/

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) March 2023

After the Storm (a Senryu)



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/

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) March 2023

On Days Like These, is up at Coffee House Writers Magerzine

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 and visit my poem, at Coffee House Writers.
>> https://coffeehousewriters.com/on-days-like-these/




On Days Like These



Missing you, like a bee and her hive

Like the sun with no sky

Missing you, like the moon of last night

Like a light with no sight

Between the rain and the pain

Between my veins and the chains

Between the waterfall and the pond

Between my heart and the beyond

Missing you, like a swallow with no breeze

Like a whale with no sea

Missing you, like a man with no land

Like a beach with no sand

Between the winds and the waves

Between the flowers of your towers

Between the river and the broken levee

Between the eclipse and your lips

Missing you, like the universe with no dark

Like the strings in a harp

Missing you, my one true love

You, a dove soaring above

Missing you, like a mother and her child

I, a lonely child in the wild










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/

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

Ballroom Dancer

All Featured Images: we’re taken at the MacArthur Park Wetlands Reserve, Miners Rest.

Ballroom Dancer


We had a dream

Life was a dance floor

She was the Ballroom dancer

And took the lead

In step, I followed

Along her path to the park

We played on the old swing

She flew higher and higher

I watched her smile and laugh



We had unfinished plans

When abruptly harsh rain

Flooded her dance floor

She slipped out of my arms

I could not catch her

Flowing gown

Nor stop the rocky raindrops

From falling down

Our waltz was over

Save the last dance for me




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/

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). December 2022

Salvation Sunday (a Birthday poem for Kylie)

My Faerie writing book and the words I was penciling today



Salvation Sunday (a Birthday poem for Kylie)


A lazy Sunday afternoon

We are both resting

Frankie is napping/snoring

As usual he lets me share the bed


I am penciling these words

Into my Faerie writing book

A well used birthday gift

From my adorable niece Kerri

She lives in Philadelphia

Here I am in Geelong

We are worlds apart

But joined at the heart


We were chatting earlier

The time difference still confuses me

Yesterday was her niece’s birthday

Kylie is now fourteen

Wow, time flies, she was only ten

When I last saw her


Happy birthday dear Kylie

I miss your gorgeous smile

Hey! I miss all you guys

Cheers from uncle Ivor

Hugs and kisses to everyone

Over there in Philadelphia






Ivor Steven (c) September 2022

Frankie’s Spring Haircut

I think it was before Easter the last time I had Frankie groomed, and today he was definitely overdue for a haircut. He was well behaved and a thorough gentleman throughout …


Frankies Spring Haircut



At first he wasn’t sure, but he was soon back to majestic self


Frankie sitting in the park and roaming in the park


Frankie waiting at the front door and Frankie goes to bed


Yes Frankie It’s a tough life being a Doggie!!






Ivor Steven (c) September 2022

Tullawalla #29, Today, Beside the Sea

Hello dear readers and followers, I am pleased to announce that I have managed to produce my “Twenty Nineth Tullawalla” Booklet … For new readers that don’t know about these booklets, they are basically the reason why I write poetry. I produce these ‘home-printed’ booklets for the sole purpose of raising funds for my favourite charity organisation, the MS Society, in Australia via the MS Charity Shop here in Geelong. And actually all money’s I receive for any of my poetry .via, submissions, I donate to the MS Society…. I’m proud to announce, that the sale of my “Tullawalla Booklets”, have now gone pass $1500.00, … to all the lovely readers, who have donated, to help achieve such a wonderful amount, a big heartfelt thank you, from “us” and the MS Society … …..Incredibly, there is now a total of “1255 poems”, Yep, well over “A Thousand Poems” in my collection/series of “29” Tullawalla Booklets. After 3 months, this booklet is finally completed, and ready for sale now !! As always, they are available for purchase, either as a hard copy ‘Booklet’, or a PDF format….. All proceeds go to the MS Charity Shop, here in Geelong West….. Please contact me here through my website page and I can chat to you about arrangements from there…. Oh, the booklet is called “Tullawalla, Today, Beside the Sea”… And here is the link to my website >> https://ivors20.wordpress.com



Today, Beside the Sea




After I left the fish tank

I lived on a nearby riverbank

Close to the connected sea

I would look beyond the ocean

Out to the dark blue horizon

As far as the eye could see


That was the ocean

That was our river

And now her river has been set free

An ebb tide that flows through me


Today beside the sea

I wait here

For tomorrow’s horizon

To set me free






Ivor Steven (c) July 2022

Her Everlasting Smile (a Villanelle)

Next Sunday at my monthly “Poetry Dome” meeting we are required to write a ‘Villanelle’ , and below is my attempt at the ‘Format’ … which I have adapted from an old favourite poem of mine, “Everlasting Smile”, you’ll find my original poem attached below the Villanelle …


Her Everlasting Smile (a Villanelle)




I wonder, was it all worthwhile

My chest, heavy as never before

Remembering, her everlasting smile


I look back, on her unfortunate life-style

Being unable to walk and talk anymore

I wonder, was it all worthwhile


I relive, her personal exile

My throat, swollen and sore

Remembering, her everlasting smile


I hesitate, retracing every mile

My tears, splash on the floor

I wonder, was it all worthwhile


I cringe, behind my happy profile

My heart, has forgotten how to roar

Remembering, her everlasting smile


I sleep alone, awaiting the next trial

My tongue, tired, needs to say more

I wonder, was it all worthwhile

Remembering, her everlasting smile




______________________________________
______________________________________


Everlasting Smile


My eyes, narrowly cracked.

My cheeks, slightly etched.
I rest here, retracing every mile.
Remembering, your everlasting smile.

My lips, already dry.
My tongue, trying to say goodbye
.
I wonder, was it all worthwhile.
Remembering, your loneliest smile.

My throat, lumpy and sore.
My chest, heavy as never before.

I look back, recalling your life-style.
Remembering, your younger smile.

My lungs, empty and tight.
My legs, weak and light.
I relive, your personal exile.
Remembering, your generous smile.

My head, spinning from fright.
My heart, deep and out of sight.
I sleep alone, crying like a child.
Remembering, your everlasting smile.







Ivor Steven (c) July 2022

Throwback Friday, A Voice in the Mist, by Ivor Steven

I found this old poem in a dusty foolscap folder under a pile of “stuff” I was tidying up … maybe from 15 years …

Go Dog Go Café

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…

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