Throwback Friday, Long, Long Way (Revised)

Today’s Throwback goes back to August 2019, just months after my second and third strokes — a time when the days were dim, and every movement felt uncertain.
Finding this poem again reminded me how far that long road has stretched. The wattlebirds I photographed today — wings lifted, rising into open sky — feel like symbols of that slow, determined recovery.
This revised piece holds both the struggle and the light that followed.





Long, Long Way (Revised)


I’ve come a long, long way
I remember the bad, bad days
When yesterday’s were dark and grey
On level seven, under heaven’s archway

Lying there immobile and prone
Waiting for the etching of my gravestone
Unable to hear my silent headphones
Unknowingly, spinning inside a black cyclone

I awoke somewhere outside my world’s twilight zone
Slowly realising I’d been saved, and finality was postponed




The soundtrack to those long, long days — and the light that followed.




.


Until Eyes Hear Sound

Amazon >> Amazon.com : Until Eyes Hear Sound

Lulu Books >>  Until Eyes Hear Sound (lulu.com)



Perceptions:

Amazon >>  Perceptions : Steven, Ivor, Knight, Derrick: Amazon.com.au: Books
Lulu Books >>  Perceptions (lulu.com)



Tullawalla:

Amazon >> Tullawalla A Meeting Place Where My Empty Hands are Full of Memories and Rhymes : Steven, Ivor: Amazon.com.au: Books


OR: >> You may email me directly for a signed copy at
ivorrs20@gmail.com … and I can send you a PayPal account,
for the Book, plus Postage.


Ivor Steven ©  July 2026

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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.

21 thoughts on “Throwback Friday, Long, Long Way (Revised)”

  1. It is incredible to read this now, my dear friend, being able to get a hint of what you were feeling in those darkest and bleakest of days. You so eloquently describe the fear and uncertainty after your strokes; I am profoundly happy that you are still here with us, sharing your photos and pearls of poetry. 🥰

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    1. Thank you for all your very kind words my dear friend… and along my journey it’s poetry that has inspired me to overcome life’s difficulties 🤗📘🌏🎶🥰🐶

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  5. Ivor, reading this poem seven years later must feel different now. Back then you were in the darkness. Level seven. Unable to hear. Spinning in a black cyclone. But you came through. You woke up. You were saved.

    And now those wattlebirds with their wings lifted feel like your own wings. Rising. Moving. Flying into open sky.

    The fact that you’re still here, still writing, still sharing your stories, that is the long way paid off. That is the recovery made real.

    Thank you for surviving, Ivor. We are lucky you did. 💙

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  6. So glad the light appeared after such hard struggles. And so so SO glad you fought back, worked hard, kept a positive attitude, and are here today. I seem to remember during one of your hospitalizations you were writing poetry on a whiteboard in your room. 🙂 I know your poetry was part of your healing…in every way. 🙂
    (((HUGS))) and ❤️❤️❤️

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