The traditional towering totems of the Cowichan Tribe in Duncan














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Duncan’s Totem Trail
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Follow the footsteps
Around Duncan’s Totem trail
Cowichan stories
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Ivor Steven (c) September 2025
The traditional towering totems of the Cowichan Tribe in Duncan














.
Duncan’s Totem Trail
.
Follow the footsteps
Around Duncan’s Totem trail
Cowichan stories
.
.
.
Ivor Steven (c) September 2025
Today’s Throwback Friday Poem appears in my revised edition of “Tullawalla”, July 2022, and was originally written as a travel log piece about my overseas journey to, America, Philadelphia, in May 2019.
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Quietly I Exist
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I’m writing words from the edge of time
And pondering my life’s lack of rhyme
Thinking every moment is an ironic crime
And quietly, I exist only in mime
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Life is a mountain of ups and downs
Sharp thorns and slippery crowns
For me, every moment is a good day
Behind me, I leave yesterday
And today I’ll by-pass midday
On my way to bathing in tomorrow’s sun-rays
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We are not here to control nature
But we are responsible for her future
I don’t think humans are meant to be
Poisoning the sea with plastic and mercury
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I cannot be the king of this stagnant world
But I am free as my wings unfurled
My eyes have been opened again
To reveal the sky, sunshine and rain
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Now I see beyond every yellow door
There was once an original world
So, I’ll turn the latch to discover more
And give realities of life a whirl
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Ivor Steven (c) Sept 2025
Featured image Above: Frankie, looking happy and relaxed back at my brother’s house in Ballarat. Victoria. Australia,


Cousin Maureen and Ivor


The sun sets over Wainwright and Maureen’s doggies. Co-co and Z-z


The Wainwright township


Wainwright


The town clock tower and my sleeping quarters at Maureen’s


Walking the doggies at sunset
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Ivor Steven (c) Sept 2025

Today’s Throwback Friday poem is from February 2019, when I was preparing myself for a trip to America/New York/Philadelphia, to visit my Philadelphia “cousins”, and today, here I am on Vancouver Island visiting my Canadian “cousins”.
Dusty Passport (revised)
Here I was resting, home again from the hospital,
after a second stroke had laid me up.
I was rekindling thoughts of travelling to America —
an adventure I’d always promised myself.
Night is not always dark, you know.
Firstly, I had to find my passport.
Yes, I’d hidden it somewhere safe.
After turning the bedroom inside out,
then, throwing the lounge room upside down,
the lost document was on a garage shelf —
looking dusty, but still only five years old.
Jumping for joy, you’d think I’d found gold.
Hardly ever been stamped — a Chinese one, that’s all.
Many years have passed since my last call.
I clasped that passport firmly in my hand’
and I said, “It’s time”, before my clock runs out of sand.
Ivor Steven (c) August 2025

Hello, dear readers and followers. I write for Coffee House Writers magazine (USA) fortnightly, and my poem “Who’s the Pilot” is in this week’s edition.
To read the poem, please click the link below to visit my Coffee House Writers Magazine article.
>> https://coffeehousewriters.com/whos-the-pilot/

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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
Ivor Steven © August 2025
Bon Voyage (a Haiku)
Bon voyage lunch at
The Gold Diggers Arms Bistro
Siblings celebrate
Ivor Steven (c) August 2025
Tired, Wrinkled, and Wordless
I’m too tired to wiggle my toes
And pack my wrinkled clothes
I’m wordless at the moment
My thoughts are on postponement
I twist and roll over
Music wiggles inside my head
My somersault of dreams
Wrinkles my bedspread
Upside down
Tiredness falls out of my seams
Words tumble around
Nameless titles and endless tunes abound
A new moon’s brewing
Singing the blues,
Over my empty town
I twist and roll over again
I’m back where I started,
I hear my angel humming, Hallelujah
Ivor Steven (c) August 2025
Today’s Throwback Friday was written in April 2019, which was just before my trip to New York and Philadelphia. I have suitably revised my poem to coincide with my trip to Canada in “12” days.
Beyond a Blade Of Grass (Revised)
Believe it or not
I’m travelling around the block
Finally, I’ve refurbished my Itmims Yacht
And I’m about to discover a different spot
Reality has me flying to a new port
I’ve been invited to walk the walk
And talk about my amazing life
The long journey of endless strife
And how, the answer was found
From inside a body unsound
Go listen to the Messiah
You’ll not get any higher
Go reach for your stars
Dream of landing on Mars
Go steer a new T-model car
Even Victoria isn’t too far
Go find your favourite bike
Pedal your way to greater heights
Go explore, beyond your blade of grass
See the universe outside your heart of glass
Ivor Steven (c) August 2025
It’s Market Day this Saturday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
* Our popular monthly markets are all undercover at Centrepoint Arcade on the third Saturday of every month.
* They feature art, unique goods from local makers, second-hand goods, plants, books, and more.
* There are also open art studios, Yesterday Vintage, Untether Gallery, HBT Collectables, and the May’d Shop.
All at, Centrepoint Arcade
132 Little Malop St, Geelong
From 11 am to 3 pm
And I’ll be there with ‘Frankie’ and my “New Bookstall Set-up”


Ivor Steven (c) August 2025




Wrapped in Snowflakes
Today, I received a gift,
Wrapped in snowflakes.
White and fluffy on the outside,
And warm-hearted on the inside
The blessed offering
Consoled my soul
Like a white chocolate-covered strawberry
Delicately smooth and delightfully sweet
Ivor Steven (c) July 2025