Throwback Friday, My Broken Mast, by Ivor Steven

Presenting another poem from my new book “Tullawalla”

ivor20's avatarGo Dog Go Café

I wrote “My Broken Mast” in January 2020, and the poem appears in my new book “Tullawalla”

My Broken Mast

Yesterday, a sudden stormy gale

Ripped through my leafy sail

And tore my oldest branch down

Crashing onto the ground

Leaving my main mast, hurtfully marred

A long open wound, and I’m painfully scarred

Mother, will dry my weeping tears

And I’ll recover to live another thirty years

Fatefully, my debris fell safely

All my owner’s guests escaped injury

And I left their ship damage free

Tomorrow they’ll clear my messy sea

Then rest under the shade of me

Ivor Steven (c) January 2020

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…

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Our Weeping Forest (a Haiku)

Thank you to Ryan Stone for being the source of my inspiration behind the words in this Haiku. Visit Ryan’s fabulous site via this link >> https://daysofstone.wordpress.com


Our Weeping Forest (a Haiku)


Who is listening? 

Within the weeping forest 

On the edge of time 






Ivor Steven ©  August 2022

Spring’s Renewal

Hi dear readers, I’ve found another poem that is in my files, but does not appear on my Website … now I am wondering what happened to my website entries between the 16th and 19th of October last year … it’s a mystery to me??




Spring’s Renewal


Spring has sprung again

With a burst of sunshine

Between old storm clouds and new rain

While life’s decor is being redesigned


Winter’s open wounds

Are washed clean

Last year’s fragile blooms

Are due back on the scene






Ivor Steven (c) August 2022

The World Could Be Falling Down

Here is a poem that is in my files, but does not appear on my Website, maybe I deleted the post accidentally …


The World Could Be Falling Down




I was walking in yesterday’s deluge

up a steep holy hillside

talking to my fading shadow

that was stalking deep puddles

while I was balking today’s thunderbolts




my knees were knocking in fright

and my hips were rocking like Noah’s Ark

while shovelling leftover manure in the dark




nature’s mocking the world full of old lonely hearts

and blocking the future’s already drowning restart






Ivor Steven (c) August 2022

The Lighthouse

Another older poem from February 2021, while I am slowly recovering from my painful back soreness…


The Lighthouse


I am afloat

In between

Here and there

Am I lost?

My ship clock

Is a sundial

Using the moon

To reflect on time


I hear the waves

Pounding white hooves

A heavy sound

Of many moods

Is the sea growing wider?

Is the light glowing brighter?







Ivor Steven (c) Feb 2021

A Welcoming Roar, is up at Coffee House Writers Magazine

Hello dear readers and followers, I now write for “Coffee House Writers” magazine on a fortnightly basis, and my poem“A Weloming Roar”, is in this week’s edition of Coffee House Writers Magazine. … please click on the link below to read my poem, at Coffee House Writers.
>> https://coffeehousewriters.com/a-welcoming-roar/




Ivor Steven (c) August 2022

Urban Glare

The weekend challenge on Weekly Prompts is: Review. Please visit their fabulous site by clicking >> Here … Below is my response to their prompt, and you are quite welcome to ‘Read and Review’ my poem “Urban Glare”

Featured Image Above: by Derrick Knight >> https://derrickjknight.com/2022/04/28/across-the-stream/



Urban Glare





Down into the valley

I wander

Away from urban glare

Beyond reach

Of those who do not care

About nature’s faded flare


Along a cool creek

I wander

Away from urban air

Beyond sight

Of those arrogant stares

Who do not see nature’s plight






Ivor Steven (c) July 2022

Old Ground

Featured Image Above: by Derrick Knight, and a sincere thank you to Derrick for allowing me to use his fabulous photos here on my poetry site.
>> https://derrickjknight.com/2022/07/27/stagnant-pea-soup/



Old Ground



Along the cracked track I walk

Always in the same direction

But today I was discombobulated




I did not know the difference

Between east or west

Or whether I was moving up or down




But then

I felt the world

Rumble under my feet




There in every blade of grass

I could hear

The earth’s heartbeat




A soft sobbing sound

Of the lost children

Resting under ground







Ivor Steven (c) July 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