Tullawalla #16

Tullawalla, Decades of Storms

Hello dear readers and followers, Over the last few days, I’ve been arduously preparing and typing madly, to produce my Sixteenth Tullawalla Poetry Booklet….. and this time, because of the “virus” lock-down situation, I’ve had been able to compile the booklet at my leisure…. For new readers that don’t know about these booklets, they are basically the reason why I write poetry. I produce the 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 submissions, I also donate to the MS Society. Fantastic news this week, with a few more donations coming in lately, I’m proud to announce, that the sale of my “Tullawalla Booklets”, has now gone pass $1200.00, … 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 … …..Amazingly, there is now a total of “653 poems”, in my collection of 16 Tullawalla Booklets. Anyhow the booklet this finally completed, and ready for sale now !! As always, they are available for purchase, either as a hard copy or a PDF format….. All proceeds go to the MS Charity Shop, here in Geelong West….. Please contact me here through my web site page and I can chat about arrangements from there…. Oh, the booklet is called “Tullawalla: “Decades of Storms”, …. And here is the link to my website >> ivors20.wordpress.com

Below, is the Preface, and the poem ‘Decades of Storms’

Below, two more of my favourite poems from the booklet, and I’m very excited about the harmony of this soulful collection.

Ivor Steven (c) March 2020

Time to Read

The challenge for the “Weekly Prompts” is DAILY DIARY. Please go over and visit their fabulous by clicking >> HERE. On my post here today I’m presenting a journal/collection of a few interesting photos I’ve taken over the previous weeks before the “virus” lock-down started last weekend…

Above in feature image, is the poetry book I’m rereading, written a fellow Worldpress friend, Colleen Brown, and on the right in image, is one my favourite poems from her book.

Outside my local bookshop “The Book Bird”, they have a display board with a different “Birdie” quote each week as depicted in the 5 photos below …..

Whoops: A foreign one….

Ivor Steven (c) March 2020

Because Now

A superbly poignant poem by Ali…. come join us at the bonfire on the beach…. and watch the flames of love burn freely…🧡💛🌏

flashlight batteries - Ali Grimshaw

on the beach I begin
because now I am ready
and so are you

to turn our fear into fuel
build a bonfire to bring warmth
for all now sitting in cold darkness

I start with kindling of prejudice
add sticks of anger
a log of fear
a heavy round of anxiety
watch the flames ignite to hot glow

come close and sit with me now
add your logs to this burning pyre
hate and terror blaze brightly with heat
finally an efficient use for their energy

let’s watch
as flames of love
devour all that we
believe we cannot face
to singe away, char and reform
all that has been holding us back

love knows how to transform
create a burning
to warm us all through
this dark night.

come to the beach
now we are ready

© Alicia Grimshaw 2020

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Peace & Light, Classic Poems Presented By Go Dog Go Cafe’s, Barista’s

Here’s a classic poem to help cheer-up your day….. and by the way “WordPress” have informed me that this is my ”1000th” post here on my site…

Go Dog Go Café

A Classic poem, by W D Yeats. “The Song of Wandering Aengus”, presented by Ivor Steven. This magnificent poem from 1899, warms the love in my heart every time I read the words. Below the poem, I’ve also attached the song version by Mike Scott and his band the Waterboys. Mike Scott actually produced a complete album of poems by W D Yeats, called “An Appointment With Mr Yeats”

The Song of Wandering Aengus

By William Butler Yeats

I went out to the hazel wood,

Because a fire was in my head,

And cut and peeled a hazel wand,

And hooked a berry to a thread;

And when white moths were on the wing,

And moth-like stars were flickering out,

I dropped the berry in a stream

And caught a little silver trout.

When I had laid it on the floor

I went to blow the fire a-flame,

But something…

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Caressing Trust

On “Weekly Prompts” the Wednesday challenge is: THE ELBOW BUMP. An interesting topic about this current greeting phenomena, Please go and visit “Weekly Prompts” fabulous site, by clicking >> Here .. Tonight in response to the prompt, I’ve written a Senryu, which depicts my opinion on this sort of greeting.

Caressing Trust: a Senryu

Between hugging arms

From our elbows to our toes

In hope we will trust

Ivor Steven (c) March 2020

St Paddy’s Day

Ivor Steven March 17th 2020

Promote Yourself Monday, March 16, 2020 and Round UP from March 9, 2020!

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…..

Go Dog Go Café

Welcome toPromote Yourself Monday! Another great week last week, now that we got the bugs worked out from the week before. Overall we had 270 views, 45 likes and 263 comments. As I have said before, numbers cannot measure the community we build worldwide with this wonderful feature, they sure tell us how important it has become. I will share links below, but and once again invite you to postalink to writing (600 words or less please!) published on your blog, Facebook page, or Instagram feed into the comments section below. With the coronavirus affecting all of us, let us fight back with our antivirus of creative energy!

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

Last week’s round UP with 38 shares! (I apologize for any formatting snafus… I am using the new editor and a…

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Promote Yourself Monday, March 9, 2020 and Round UP, March 2, 2020

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…..

Go Dog Go Café

Welcome to Promote Yourself Monday. All Go Dog Go Cafe community members are invited to post one link 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.

Many apologies for the confusion last week, I crossed my wires forgetting there was a previously scheduled post and created a new one. But that didn’t stop us from having another great week. Between the two posts we had over 60 likes and 180 comments and an amazing !39! shares. In the confusion did cause me to miss a whole bunch of writers, my humblest apologies as I do try to get to every post over the course of the day. So if I…

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My Bridge’s Riverbed – Ivor Steven

My poem “My Bridge’s Riverbed”, has been published at ‘FREE VERSE REVOLUTION”, and like to thank the Editor Kristiana for accepting this piece…

Throwback Friday, Mystic Man, by Ivor Steven

Here’s my Throwback Friday poem on ‘Go Dog Go Cafe’… come and visit this fabulous site ‘anytime’….. a writers site, for writers to meet other writers

Go Dog Go Café

2018-11-25-18-10-58 (2)

Sixteen months ago, I was in hospital, and the specialists were not sure what was wrong with me, so I was place in a ‘Isolation/quarantine’ room for 2 weeks, and I have been reminded of that incarceration, by the present ‘Coronavirus outbreak, and I am reflecting on my time in that situation, and of being separated from the outside world….. During this isolation, I wrote a number of poems, and “Mystic Man” is one of those writings….. a mysterious poem, and obviously, in my mind I was desperately planning my ‘escape’……my imagination was running a fever…..

Mystic Man

I’m digging a tunnel

With my ball and chain

Underneath the great wall

Towards the east side of the moon

Away from these wasted days

Beyond the drain of pain

My eyes search for a light

Through my grotto’s ceiling crack

Resolutely my heart yells at me

“There’s no turning back”

Fingers…

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on the beach I begin because now I am ready and so are you

to turn our fear into fuel build a bonfire to bring warmth for all now sitting in cold darkness

I start with kindling of prejudice add sticks of anger a log of fear a heavy round of anxiety watch the flames ignite to hot glow

come close and sit with me now add your logs to this burning pyre hate and terror blaze brightly with heat finally an efficient use for their energy

let’s watch as flames of love devour all that we believe we cannot face to singe away, char and reform all that has been holding us back

love knows how to transform create a burning to warm us all through this dark night.

come to the beach now we are ready

© Alicia Grimshaw 2020

The Song of Wandering Aengus

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

Mystic Man

on the beach I begin
because now I am ready
and so are you

to turn our fear into fuel
build a bonfire to bring warmth
for all now sitting in cold darkness

I start with kindling of prejudice
add sticks of anger
a log of fear
a heavy round of anxiety
watch the flames ignite to hot glow

come close and sit with me now
add your logs to this burning pyre
hate and terror blaze brightly with heat
finally an efficient use for their energy

let’s watch
as flames of love
devour all that we
believe we cannot face
to singe away, char and reform
all that has been holding us back

love knows how to transform
create a burning
to warm us all through
this dark night.

come to the beach
now we are ready