Author: 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.

Rebuild a Better Home



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

Haiga and Haiku

Featured Image Above: A Haiga, a drawing by my niece Kerri, with my attached Haiku

I’m a member of an on-line photography group, which has been interesting and fun for me. Each day we have a different topic/prompt to do, and yesterday’s topic was “Haiga”; Haiga is a style of Japanese painting that incorporates the aesthetics of haikai. Haiga are typically painted by haiku poets, and often accompanied by a haiku poem. Like the poetic form it accompanied, haiga was based on simple, yet often profound, observations of the everyday world. Stephen Addiss points out that “since they are both created with the same brush and ink, adding an image to a haiku poem was… a natural activity.” Well below I am sharing with you my response to the prompt. The pen and ink picture was painted by Carole in 1975(the year we met), and I wrote the attached Haiku in 2019.






Ivor Steven (c) January 2021

I Have Been Here Before

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

Invisible Miracles

Yesterday I attended a ‘Writing Circle’ poetry group meeting, hosted by Ali Grimshaw, via a Zoom video link-up, and “Invisible Miracles” was one of the poems I wrote during the session. You can visit her Writing Circle site by clicking on this link > https://flashlightbatteries.blog/2021/01/02/poems-from-the-circle-8/


Invisible Miracles



I am not black nor white

I am not day nor night

I am neither sand nor sea

I am not a flower or a bee

I am not wrong or right

I am not heavy or light



I am Clear and free

I am a cool ocean breeze

I am a song we breathe

I am the air from our trees

I am a star above your grave

I am a shy sound wave



I can be brave

I am your invisible slave






Ivor Steven (c) January 2021

Promote Yourself Monday, January 11, 2021

Dear readers and followers, here’s a great opportunity for your writings to be read by other writers, and also to find and meet other writers. You are very welcome to participate, come along and visit our writer friendly site…..by clicking on the link at the bottom of this article >>
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Promote yourself Mon

Welcome toPromote Yourself Monday. All Go Dog Go Cafe community members are invited to postonelink to one specific piece of their writing (600 words or less please!) they have published on their blog, Facebook page, or Instagram feed into the comments section below.

If you post a link, be sure to read some of the other great writing people have linked to.

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My Dragon, Frozen In Time

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

We Always Did

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

A Naughty Sweet Tooth



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