Circadian Dysrhythmia
Lying under a dreamworld of clover
Feeling like I have been run over
By yesterday’s supersonic jet
But I am not dead yet
Even though my eyes are firmly shut
Inside my head lives a snoring walnut
Ivor Steven (c) September 2025
White Roof
Travelling through the Rocky’s towers
I witnessed living proof
Of Nature’s palatial power
Her white-draped congregation stood
Silent beneath the glacial hood,
Bedazzled by the alpine’s might
Ivor Steven (c) September 2025
Cousin Lynn and Robin with Mungo and Kelly
Cousin Maureen and doggies Z-Z and Co-Co
Cousin Penny, and then Dave, Penny, and Ivor
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Here I am on a Jet Plane, somewhere over the Pacific Ocean. Therefore today’s Throwback Friday poem is a very appropriate finale piece, to coincide with my amazing adventures in Canada over the past 21 days.
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It Was Time To Leave (Revised)
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It’s time to tidy up my mess
Clean up the room and get dressed
It’s time to pack my suitcase
Fill the travel bag and vacate this place
It’s time to put on my famous rocker shoes
And walk away from this dream come true
It’s time to say heartfelt goodbyes
To these wonderful Canadian guys
It’s time for final hugs and kisses
Sad farewells and best wishes
It’s time for my usual emotional tears
Separate myself from these every day cheers
It’s time to flyaway from a land of berries and fairies
Leave this magical world of faraway families
It’s time to say a million thank you’s
For making my stay a Really Real great do
It’s time for me to travel back home
With glorious memories of this magical Astrodome
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Ivor Steven (c) September 2025
The Trestle, one of the few accessible and visible reminders of early mining and logging industries, brings history to life in such a powerful way. At the end of the 19th century, the race was on to build railways so that lumber and minerals could be more easily shipped. Construction of the Kinsol Trestle started in 1911 when a more efficient way to transport huge, old-growth timber was needed.
Designed by engineers but built by local farmers and loggers, the Kinsol Trestle is one of the tallest free-standing and most spectacular timber rail trestle structures in the world. At 614 feet in length and standing 145 feet above the salmon bearing Koksilah River, the Kinsol Trestle is an incredible structure.
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The Kinsol Trestle over Koksilah River
The view from the bridge
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Ivor Steven (c) September 2025
Late Monday morning. After visiting the incredible Kinsol Trestle, it was time to board the Mill Bay to Brentwood Bay ferry, and then drive back to cousin Lynn’s place in North Saanich.
On the ferry from Mill Bay to Brentwood Bay with Penny and Dave
Senanus Island and approaching Brentwood Bay.
After lunch at Lynn’s place in North Saanich, it was a fond farewell to Penny and Dave, who headed back to Duncan and Maple Bay (Mount Tzouhalen) …
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Ivor Steven (c) September 2025
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Sunday we drove up the coast, not too far away, for lunch and live music at the Osborne Bay Pub. And I meet a group of Penny and Dave’s friends, Nancy & Joe, Joy, Jane & David, Pauline & Patrick, and Hermann. (Yep, they all received one of Ivor’s poetry cards)
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The Tourist Has a Rest Day
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Where else would I want to be?
On a rainy Sunday afternoon
But at the rustic Osborne Bay Pub
Overlooking the opal blue bay
For my Canadian tour’s rest day
There, listening to live jazz music
From the talented, Lady O and the O’men
Enjoying the Irish Guinness beer on tap
Then sipping on a Cabernet Sauvignon
From Smoky Bay, South Eastern Australia
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Ivor Steven (c) September 2025
Featured Image Above: A street art mural from the township of ‘Chemainus’ on the way to Nanaimo
Today’s poem below, is the one I gave to ‘Sandra’, my cousin Penny’s, sister-in-law, at our luncheon meet up in Nanaimo
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Above the Mist
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The train of peace and serenity
Has been sliding from futurity to eternity
But now, atop Mount Tzouhalen
Above the misty column of stardom
And above the world’s harbouring problems
I am in another home away from home
Within the Cowichan tribe’s honeycomb
Savouring nature’s harmonious thunderdme
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Ivor Steven (c) September 2025
An awesome day with my Canadian family (cousins) at the incredible Butchart Gardens.
My cousins, Reeny, Lynn, and Penny. The family photo, Maureen, Robin, Lynn, Ivor, Penny, and Dave
Barbara (our travelling companion from Wainwright), Maureen. Me with my tall cousins, Penny, and Lynn
My favourite blooms from the rose garden
The three Sturgeon’s fountain
The spectacular Sunken Garden
Totem poles in the garden
The Italian garden
The jade Japanese Garden
A giant redwood tree
This article is becoming long and “boring”
Leaving the gorgeous Butchart Gardens I walked past a ‘Turbo Snail’
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Ivor Steven (c) Sept 2025
I am entering the last five days of my journey to Canada and appropriately I have chosen “Within Us” as my Throwback Friday poem. This nostalgic piece also appears in my book “Tullawalla”, Chapter 6, page 98.
Remembering our 49th wedding anniversary, Carole
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Within Us
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The oceans wave us goodbye.
Sand and sea, one beach.
Like the surfs white crest.
Love is, within our lonely breasts.
The lands push us apart.
Alps and plains, one realm.
Like a rivers rocky cascade.
Love is, a turbulent escapade,
The sky opens us up.
Dawn and dusk, one sun.
Like the moons daytime eclipse.
Love is, a hidden apocalypse.
The universe covers us complete.
Stars and planets, one creation.
Like the distant Milky Way.
Love is, within us to stay.
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Ivor Steven (c) September 10th 2025
Today we drove to downtown Victoria
There were many inspiring spires
We had lunch at the Flying Otter Restaurant
Victoria’s Inner Harbour area
The shopping mall and my purchase at Russell Books
My photos of some fascinating street art murals
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Aspiring to Spiral Higher
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Higher than the hovering bees,
I am gazing beyond the towering trees.
Wondering:
Does all that sky ever feel at ease
Hanging above our polluted seas?
Wandering,
Through life on blended knees,
I am like yesterday’s mountain breeze-
Aspiring to spiral around the big freeze.
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Ivor Steven (c) Sept 2025
