Today, Twenty-Five Years Ago (a Tanka)




Today, Twenty-Five Years Ago (a Tanka)

Once upon a time
In a land of ice and rhyme
Darkness was my crime
When a rift of hollow mime
Ravaged my body and mind


“The Throwback poem that began the great Rowback”




Who’s Left to Row the Boat

The storms are too many to count
Emotional lows had weathered me out
Her journey with MS was a struggle
How much lower could our lives sink

After fourteen years of our battles, I suffered a Stroke
An ambulance came, my brain was in a boat
Floating out to sea, overboard and panic-stricken
I wasn’t swimming, barely awake, and drifting
I had fallen, nothing was working, and not talking
She’s crying, I’m sobbing, my heart is dying
And who’s left to row the boat, I’m thinking
I was jabbed with a needle and silently sleeping

I awoke a day later, in hospital, feeling wasted
My face was limp, mouth parched, was that death I tasted
My mind was active, I thought, where is she
I knew I was bad; the room was all blurry to me
Strong anxieties had set in, I needed to know
Nurses came to me, I pleaded, I wanted to go
“Help me to see her, just give my bed a tow
Please let me go, before I’m covered in snow”





Ivor Steven (c) September 20th, 2025

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ivor20

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. I've been blogging for over 2 years, and writing poems for 19 years. Of course a lot of my poems are about my favourite subject Carole, but since I've been blogging my writings have become quite varied, humourous, mystical, observational, and even a few monster/horror poems.

32 thoughts on “Today, Twenty-Five Years Ago (a Tanka)”

  6. A very moving piece, Ivor. When we look back at times when we struggled, it’s amazing we survived. Some things are meant to be, though we don’t realize it at the time. Welcome home! 💟🐶

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