Where It All Began

Some mornings begin in silence, before memory fully wakes, and the hush before daylight becomes a bridge between darkness and light



And, For Sadje’s #Whatdoyousee #331 – 9 March 2026 – My ‘Poem’ closely represented Sadje’s first Image.

To visit Sadje’s fabulous site, please click >> Here




Where It All Began


It was only six-twenty.
I could not remember
how my bowl became empty.

What is this strange condition?
Then I shifted the position
of my inner opposition
by refining the leftover light
from within the dark of night –
when silence suspends time –
into the musical sounds of rhyme.

Am I too late to catch the worm,
or beyond time’s sonic boom?
Is there still more to learn?








Ivor Steven ©  March 2026

When Three Times Three Equalled Minus Three

Featured Image Above: A painting of ‘Three Flowers’, by Carole Steven.

You’re writing your autobiography. What’s your opening sentence?

“Three times, ‘Once Upon a Time” has been difficult to redefine …





Tullawalla:

Amazon >> Tullawalla A Meeting Place Where My Empty Hands are Full of Memories and Rhymes : Steven, Ivor: Amazon.com.au: Books



Ivor Steven ©  March 2026

Throwback Friday, The Mystique (a Musette)

Today’s Throwback Friday poem (originally written in January 2024) is drawn from my upcoming book, Time Hears No Sound. It appears as the second poem in the Musette section of Chapter 10, Time’s Short Poems: Haiku, Tanka, etc.
I find the Musette’s restrictive poetry format to be very challenging
A Musette is,
three verses 
first line – 2 syllables 
second line – 4 syllables 
third line – 2 syllables 
rhyme scheme – a/b/a c/d/c e/f/e 
The title reflects the poem’s content 

The Mystique (a Musette)

Friday
I said to you
“Please stay” 

You said 
“Only one night 
Twin beds” 

Next week
We savoured the
Mystique








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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 … and I can send you a PayPal account,
for the Book, plus Postage.


Ivor Steven ©  February 2026

Time Doesn’t Go Tick-Tock

Feature Image Above: Created by Copilot and me.
“Time doesn’t tick—it unlocks. Not with rhythm, but with riddles.”

And thank you to Beth( https://ididnthavemyglasseson.com/
) whose comment on my post, “Time, My Muse,” inspired me to create this poem.
“love it! time makes its own rules for sure”




Time Doesn’t Go Tick-Tock

Time is neither tick nor tock;
Time cannot be deadlocked.
It takes no notice of the weather sock.

Time never throws rocks
At either the Eastern Bloc
Or the future’s aftershocks.



A glimpse into the strange places time wanders when it looks back.




Ivor Steven ©  February 2026

A Weary Old Plumber, I’m Thinking of You (Happy Birthday, Dad)


Alex Steven (Dad), February 5th 1924 – July 3rd 2015




A Weary Old Plumber, I’m Thinking of You
(Happy Birthday, Dad)



One hundred and two years ago
When dark became day
And the sun shone on you
Did the gods of the world know
How lucky they were
That your sphere of love
Was all-encompassing







Ivor Steven ©  February 2026

When Words Wear Chains

Feature Image Above: was created by Copilot and me.

Over at Weekly Prompts, the Weekend Challenge is the word “Squish”
To visit their fabulous site, please click >>Hereand I think everything about censorship is awfully “Squishy.”


Nancy’s story on The Elephant’s Trunk [https://theelephantstrunk.org/2026/01/20/rdp-tuesday-disapprove/ ] stirred an old frustration in me — how easily free expression can be twisted, muted, or dismissed. I left a brief comment there, but the idea continued to nag at me throughout the afternoon. Sitting in a quiet corner of the café, I found myself shaping those few lines into something fuller, a small protest poem about the weight of censorship and the stubborn resilience of words. This is where that moment led.



When Words Wear Chains


Words wearing chains,
Pages awash in teary rain;
Quills feel the pain,
Like wisdom without veins
Inside lifeless brains.

How to explain
The inhumane
Of censorship’s careering train,
While the reigning regimes
Sip on foreign champagne.








Ivor Steven ©  January 2026

A New Year’s Day Conversation, with Brian

This morning, Brian and I had an interesting conversation related to my poem, “A Rocketeer’s Poetry Career.” You may visit Brian’s fabulous Photographic site by clicking on this link >> https://bushboy.blog/


A New Year’s Day Conversation, with Brian

There is a time
to put away your sword,
and pick up a pen,
Isn’t there, Ivor?”


“My old quill
is still full of ink, Brian”

“and blood on your sword?”


“There is always blood
After the thud
Of a muddy flood”

Ah, this swords a dud,
So dull, draws no blood
Only, this bloody mud







Ivor Steven ©  January 2026

Rustic Smythesdale

Some places invite you to step sideways into another world. Smythesdale is one of them. This poem wanders from the paddocks into a quiet, cosmic holiday — best read with M83’s Un Nouveau Soleil rising gently underneath.

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Rustic Smythesdale

.

Here, where the country paddocks
beam at you through the bedroom window,
grazing kangaroos curiously look your way
and front-yard elephants laze in the shade
of the friendly eucalyptus tree.

I’m untethering my Itmims space craft,
and there’s an aurora lighthouse
to guide the ship around the Cape Of Good Hope
on toward the great passage in the sky.
I’m not saying goodbye, but having a holiday
in the western zone of my rural universe.

.

.

Bhttps://youtu.be/36mlX318Q3w?si=OJ47PPfWNKAsJGNt

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Ivor Steven (c) December 2025

Time Hears No Numbers


This poem grew from poetic anecdotes I first shared as comments on fellow bloggers’ posts. In stanza order, they are:
1. Sara >> Random Numbers | purplepeninportland
2. Dwight >> https://rothpoetry.wordpress.com/2025/11/25/aging-without-numbers
3. Ivor >> a personal reflection.



Time Hears No Numbers

There is a number attached to everything,
Tracking them down is overwhelming;
Tallying the total is mind-boggling.

I perceive, with a twinkle
in my blurry eye,
an extra wrinkle
on my milky thigh.
But I do not cry
at the number of crinkles
that falsely belie
the sounds of my
life’s happy jingles.

The number of memories shall not diminish
until time decrees, “you’re finished.”




Accompanied by Sleeping At Last’s “Saturn” performed live with the Symphony Orchestra, this poem listens for the echoes beyond numbers—where memory, music, and existence intertwine.



Ivor Steven (c) December 2025

Frankie the Salesman


“Frankie the Salesman, master of the lucky-dip and poetry protocol. Cavalier by nature, befriending by heart.”



Frankie the Salesman

Here we are, under the glass-roofed part
Of the covered Centrepoint Arcade.
The spring sun is decorating our book stall,
And my salesman is in charge of poetry protocol.

The ‘Take a Poem Home Lucky-dip’ is again very popular
My furry assistant has been willingly jocular,
And appropriately, befriendingly cavalier.







Ivor Steven (c) November 2025