Feature Image Above: Created by Copilot and me.
This poem grew from four comment‑poems I left on two fellow poets’ pages — David’s words sparking the first and third stanzas, Nancy’s the second and fourth. When I brought those fragments together, they unfolded into a small theatrical wandering: a pantomime of thresholds, ascents, and the strange choreography of time.
In Stanza Order:
1. David; The line moves, or: By inertia – The Skeptic’s Kaddish
2. Nancy; Thresholds – The Elephant’s Trunk
3. David; My years slowly, or: I walk – The Skeptic’s Kaddish
4. Nancy; Ascension – The Elephant’s Trunk
A Pantomime, or, A Playwright
Sublime is time;
heeds no rhyme,
beyond our imaginary climb.
Somewhere we await a final line –
or is life just a pantomime?
Oh, I see doorways,
stairways,
and causeways
These days
I’m living in a hazy daze –
or am I wandering in a maze
of poetic cliches
and unfinished essays?
Do we climb the incline
to our ordained shrine?
Or is the causeway a surreal design,
a decline into a magnetic mine?
Under a dome of flawless white,
being elevated toward the uncorrupted light –
the beginning of a poet’s last moonlit playwright
From Lisa O’Neill’s Black Sheep — “Do you want a story before you sleep?” A fitting echo for this small pantomime of doorways and moonlit climbs.
If you wish to read Lisa O’Neill’s outstanding “Black Sheep” lyrics, click on this Link >> https://genius.com/Lisa-oneill-black-sheep-lyrics
Ivor Steven © January 2026

All lovely- but that closing verse is my favorite!
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Oh, Nancy will be pleased to know 🥰📖
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This turned out so well and I am honored to be a part of it. Thank you for including me, dear Ivor. 🥰
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I am so surprised myself, at how well the 4 separate anecdotes formed such a coherent poem 🥰📖🎶📚
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👏🏼✨
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excellent, very well done
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Thank you kindly, Beth
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This is wonderful, Ivor! I love every part of it.
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Thank you very much indeed, Dale 📖🥰🎶
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My pleasure!
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Lovely 😊
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Thank you kindly, Sadje 🥰
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You’re welcome Ivor
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👏 so good! And the music… And that album cover… Whoa staring at that baby 🥴
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Again, I found a song by Lisa that mirrored my the words of my poem … she’s such a distinctive earthy singer, Linda 🎶📖🥰🌏
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It is so cool how it all fits together into one poem Ivor! ✌️💜
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Bravo Ivor!
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Thank very muck, Val … I do enjoy creating these ‘combined’ poems 📃🌏
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The cento is a venerable form…
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Neat
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Excellent! 🙂
(((HUGS))) ❤️❤️❤️
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Yeah … this one combined together excellently 🥰🌏📖📘💕
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