Ivor.Plumber/Poet

A Fire That Burns in the Cold

A Fire That Burns in the Cold

From behind the trees,
And out of the grasses,
We cannot stop the fire
-That burning desire-
From soaring higher,
Higher than the entire
Starry, starry choir.

So, best we inquire
To the Almighty Supplier:
“Will there be a ceasefire
at the top of your golden spire?”

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 © July 2025

Black and Grey (a Tu-aiku)

Over at Weekly Prompts, it’s the last weekend of the month, and it’s time for the One Day Prompt. To visit their fabulous site, please click HERE

Black and Grey (a Tu-aiku)

The sky’s black and grey
And the heavy weeping clouds
Know it is their day

Between the raindrops
Cold air makes open eyes cry
And sealed lips turn blue

Ivor Steven (c) July 2025

Beyond Mount Kosciuszko

The timeless winter breeze
Is slowly defrosting me.

Quietly, through the misty silhouettes,
And from behind the fairy bushes,
I shall tentatively spread my wings
To find out if my shadows
Can fly high above the local meadows.

Once I am airborne,
I should be able to see Melbourne,
And from there – who knows how far
My dreams will go?

Beyond Mount Kosciuszko,
Across the Pacific Ocean,
Toward Vancouver and Nanaimo.

Ivor Steven (c) July 2025

Throwback Friday, I Feel The Sky

Today’s Throwback Friday poem is from October 2021. The poem also appears in my third book, Until Eyes Hear Sound, Chapter 8, Poetry in Slow Motion.

I Feel the Sky

I am creating a verse from beyond my cage
Here, surrounded by the essence of a new age
Spring blossom floating on a sea of loose pages
Soaring on the wings of yesterday’s paper darts

I was finding words in unusual places
On dirty microwave plates
Under shaggy-pile carpets
Between last night’s lonely sheets
And walking down empty streets

Inside the Box Office Cafe, I sit
Observing the world below my feet
An old wooden floor of weathered planks
And table bases made from engine cranks

On the open verandah I can feel the sky
And I write on these blank lines
About today’s invisible freedom, before my ink runs dry

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 © July 2025

A Story Untold

A Story Untold

Winter has been blatantly bold.
My wings are crusty and cold.
However, they are not feeling too old
To fly away from the fold,
And land upon a distant threshold

My safety scaffold
Has been put on hold.
Then, I wisely paroled
My Traveller’s blindfold,
And, as foretold,
Today, I became re-enrolled
To resume my story untold.

Ivor Steven (c) July 2025

A Green, Blue, and Grey Dome

A Green, Blue, and Grey Dome

From the womb to the tomb,
And beyond the classroom to Khartoum,
I have been wearing a bridegroom’s
Worn-out costume.

Life’s blooms and heirlooms
Remain undeveloped in the shed’s darkroom,
Waiting for an awakening sonic boom
– Or, I could resume,
Using yesterday’s yard broom
To spruce up the vacant sun-room.

Ivor Steven (c) July 2025

Drifting Bassinets

Drifting Bassinets

On my knees, by the sea
Looking beyond our sentinel trees
I hear their whistling palms
Forlornly echoing abandoned alarms

Through their leaves’ silhouettes
I see a becalmed ocean of wavelets
Caressing a boat full of suffragettes
Fleeing the dusty sky of Mariupol sunsets
Clutching their war-torn bassinets

Ivor Steven (c) July 2025

Less Than Half

Less Than Half

My timeline has been drawn
I see the sky’s white swan
Casting shadows on my lawn
Reminding me of tomorrow’s dawn

After twilight, tiredness becomes my thorn
And I have forgotten why I was born
No matter, I am never forlorn
Half of my horizon is still fawn

Ivor Steven (c) July 2025

“Tock-tick, or “47 is 74”

Apologies to my followers and readers for not blogging much this weekend. Sorry, it has been a hectic weekend for me and I have run out of “Time” … Market Day, Saturday, and my Dome Poetry meeting on Sunday … I’ll have no breath left to blow out the candles!!

Over at Weekly Prompts, the Weekend Challenge is Back-to-Front. To visit their fabulous site, please click HERE

“Tock-tick”, or “47 is 74”

I am seventy-four today
And as I am growing older
I am hearing time ticking
Back-to-front
Sounding more like “tock-tick”
Instead of a steady “tick-tock”

Once upon a time
For every moment
There was a second
Now, in one moment
There are two seconds!
And the old hands
On my rusty sundial
Cannot find time’s
Elusive shadow

Alas, I have searched
Inside out and upside down
For the key to time’s
New age design
“A backless clock
Without any front”

Ivor Steven (c) July 20th, 2025

Half Way

Half Way

Half of me
Is moving forward
The other half
Is lost
In the sky
Wondering why
We live
And then die

Half a cloud
My silent shroud
Slides sideways
And allows me
Half a moment
To feel more than proud
Among the crowd