Born at 3 am on a scribble pad, when crumbs of musing refused to let me sleep.
An Unfathomable Mess
To near and far,
from inside a cookie jar,
I send my midnight scribbles.
I must confess,
I’ve delved so deep
into crumbled musings
and drowsy dribbles,
I’ll need to decompress
before I resurface
for a peep
at my unfathomable mess.
A gentle goodnight to follow my unfathomable mess.
Ivor Steven © March 2026
Today’s poem is one of my verses made up of comments I posted on two of my fellow WordPress writers’ articles during the month … In stanza order, they are:
*Stanzas I & 2, Yelling Rosa >> https://yerosacom.wordpress.com/2025/05/01/about-the-death-e-morte/
*Stazas 3 & 4, Sara >> https://purplepeninportland.com/2025/05/01/i-wish-a-dream/
What’s Out There?
Out there, beyond the cosmic frost
I think we all would be lost
And the scientists have their stars crossed
The universe cannot be bossed,
over glossed, or embossed
By “AI” and Microsoft
I raise my flask
To solving the task
Maybe it’s too much to ask
Of those that quietly bask
From behind their cozy masks
Ivor Steven (c) May 2025
A Poet and a Handyman
Today I completed making two book display easels
for my upcoming market bookstalls
There happened to be some discarded timber
lying on the ground at the building site next door.
The tradesmen had finished the job a month ago
and these sturdy slats of wood had been left behind.
“Waste not want not”
“One man’s rubbish is another man’s treasure”
“Opportunity knocks”
“Fortune favours the brave”
My handyman’s mind clicked into gear
and I drafted a rough sketch of my project
I knew the size of the books I wanted to exhibit
and I had all the appropriate tools in my shed
Remembering my dad’s trusted catchphrase
“Measure twice, cut once” (and with my music playing)
My creation, (and a few trial and error mistakes)
gradually began to take shape.
Of course, there is nothing like a good coat of paint
to cover up the defects and give my masterpiece
that final seal of opaque professionalism!
.
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
Ivor Steven © April 2025
Today’s poem is created from an amalgamation of “4” anecdotes/comments that I have sent to my fellow WP sites in response to their fabulous poems/articles …
In stanza order, they are:
* Carol >> https://therapybits.com/2024/08/04/in-the-bright-patchwork-where-colors-collide/
* Mark >> https://havocandconsequence.wordpress.com/2024/08/07/ignore-ignited-flame/
* Michelle >> https://herwritinghaven.com/2024/08/07/hard/
* Willow >> https://willowdot21.wordpress.com/2024/08/07/wordless-wednesday-memories-3/
Patchwork Words
Our big wondrous world
Is like a well-worn patchwork quilt
Where the warmth of hope and love does not wilt
We fly through decades of storms
I wonder
Are we the pilot of our journeys
Our unreadable blueprints
Are only guidelines in black ink
To make us think
Of life’s kinks and chinks
And those indistinct
Instinctive missing links
Our treasured memories
Are like nursery rhymes
They stay in our minds forever
All Books. Now Available At:
Creative Geelong MAY’D Shop,
Shop 15/Centrepoint Arcade
132 Little Malop St, Geelong
TRADING HOURS
Thursday-Saturday
11am-3pm
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
Ivor Steven (c) August 2024
I had enough wooden letters, some leftover pieces of timber, glue, white semi-gloss paint, and assorted cans of spray paint colours.
The Project; to design and build a stand-alone large bookend for my “Poetry Book” shelf.
Result; My bookend/stand looks colourfully handsome, and sturdy.
Ivor Steven (c) March 31st 2024
Yesterday, Michele Lee (>>https://myinspiredlife.org/2024/03/06/paper-airplane-pilot/) asked me about my “Itmims” spacecraft, which prompted me to post this poem from September 2020.
Wonderment Rings True
My imagination’s beaming
Alive and dreaming
Even when I’m sleeping
Tired eyes are peeping
Searching for the milky-way
Flying there, on my open sleigh
And sailing the air-waves
High above broadway
Steering my spacecraft, Itmims**
While reading The Brothers Grimm
And playing a tune on my old violin
The theme from ‘Lord of the Rings’
I’m a visionary Sky Pilot
With a handful of violets
Travelling beyond a silvery moon
To float upon our blue lagoon
**Itmims; ”Ivor’s Time Machine In Micro Space”….
Until Eyes Hear Sound
Not available on Lulu or Amazon yet … but you may purchase it from me, via this web page or my email >> ivorrs20@gmail.com
Tullawalla is Available From
Jaymah Press:https://www.jaymahpress.com.au/
Ivor Steven: email, ivorrs20@gmail.com
Amazon: search via, ‘Tullawalla by Ivor Steven’
AND
Perceptions is Now Available via:
Amazon: https://amzn.asia/d/4yFHWrT
Jaymah Press: https://www.jaymahpress.com.au/
OR: email me directly for a signed copy – ivorrs20@gmail.com
Ivor Steven (c) March 2024
A Star Called Home
I am high flying
On the back of Phillip
My mystical fairy Penguin
I am the co-pilot
As we zoom over the halfway marker
That line in the sand
Now, there is no turning back
We are a dynamic duo
Wholeheartedly committed
To fulfill our dreams
Ungainly we may be
As we skim above the deepest sea
Toward the blue horizon
Chasing the cosmic sky
Looking for a star called home
“As a poet, sometimes we confuse ourselves, Trying to create ashes, instead of fire ” – Leonard Cohen
Over at Weekly Prompts the November Colour Challenge is: Flame … Please click on >> Here to visit their fabulous site.
My poem below, is about whether or not anyone reads or takes any notice of the “flame” within a poet’s words.
“I set out one night
When the tide was low
There were signs in the sky
But I did not know
I’d be caught in the grip
Of the undertow” – Leonard Cohen, from his poem ‘Undertow’, taken out his book “The Flame”
Help or Hindrance
There the penguin squats
So slick and smug
Point blank
He questions me
“What are you doing?
Where are you going?
What are you trying to achieve?”
Why are you crying?
“I’m timeworn and unsure”
I blandly reply to Freddie
The fidgety fairy penguin
And despairingly, I gaze
Back at Freddie
Through my teary eyes
As I continue to wonder
Are my imaginary words
A help or hindrance
“Until Eyes Hear Sound” will be available in December
Tullawalla is Available From
Jaymah Press:https://www.jaymahpress.com.au/
Ivor Steven: email, ivorrs20@gmail.com
Amazon: search via, ‘Tullawalla by Ivor Steven’
AND
Perceptions is Now Available via:
Amazon: https://amzn.asia/d/4yFHWrT
Jaymah Press: https://www.jaymahpress.com.au/
OR: email me directly for a signed copy – ivorrs20@gmail.com
Ivor Steven (c) November 2023
Today’s Throwback poem is a rewrite of an old piece called “Paper Tigers” (Feb 2019)
The Poet’s Grotto
My writer’s studio, is the littered part of my bedroom
A paper tiger’s haven, has become a messy grotto
I am ruefully feeling muddled and befuddled
Pieces of paper and cardboard kites
Scatter the atmosphere like withered autumn leaves
Falling upon my untidy and cluttered archives
Scribbled words are yet to be decoded
Foolscap pages overwritten and eroded
Undefined and unlisted
Out of focus and twisted
Upside down and inside out
Uncategorized and full of self-doubt
My desk’s dreamy picture postcard
Looks like a moonscape’s junkyard
My poetic writing quill has been the mythological ruler
Showing no regard for my bedroom’s demeanour
I am sleeping covered in my hurdy gurdy verses
I cannot penetrate the stack of obscure foreign addresses
It is time to cast out the pretentious cosmic curses
Free myself of all unpublished jabberwocky
And let my imagination create a new poetic hard copy
Ivor Steven (c) October 2023
I went to the Geelong Writers monthly social meeting at the Box Office Cafe this evening … I am back home, It’s 10.30pm, I’m tired, my computer is “duck muck” again, so I thought I would a reblog of this ‘appropriate’ poem before I hit the sack
A Torn Thesaurus
With my fiddle and riddles
Here in the middle
Of this unopened universe
Time spirals in reverse
Quills fly in from cyberspace
As alien words unravel and interlace
A torn thesaurus is my database
I wonder
Have I landed in the right place?
But that does not matter
K-9’s happy with the community chatter
Doggie treats and friendly pats
And he presents his paw for more
Like a hungry beggar’s cap
Ivor Steven (c) July 2022
Ivor.Plumber/Poet 