Music – Page 34 – Ivor.Plumber/Poet

Royal Roads University, Hatley Park Gardens

Featured Image: Ivor in front of the iconic Hatley Castle (1908)

Cousin Penny and her husband Dave

Pea Hen and a duck on the pond

Above and below images are from the rose garden

The fernery garden

The Japanese garden and pond

Above; The Italian garden area

Ivor Steven (c) Sept 2nd 2025

Between Today’s Isobars

Between Today’s Isobars

Silently the bell rings
Quietly the birds sing

Secretly I hear the forest hum
Discretely I count up the sum

The number of stars
Between today’s isobars
And out beyond Mars

Ivor Steven (c) Sept 2025

Home Away From Home

Home Away From Home

On an island under the northern stars
Among the giant evergreen cedars
Within my personal astrodome
Feeling at ease in my home away from home

I am on top of the world
Uncurling my ancient bones, yet unfurled
Giving my weary soul another joyful whirl

In a land covered by forests and berries
Living a dream on an island with magical fairies

Ivor Steven (c) September 2025

Sidney and Tanner’s Books

Today, cousin Lynn and I went to the lovely seaside town, Sidney

My cousin with the ‘Statue’ outside Tanner’s Books

The Sidney waterfront

Apartments overlooking the sea and the cafe on the pier

Statues at the waterfront, and me and Mungo

My purchases at Tanner’s Books

Ivor Steven (c) August 2025

My Furry Canadian Cousins

First day was a rest and recover one and get to meet my my cousins and their doggies

Furry cousins, Archie, Mungo, and Kelly, with cousin in law, Robin and his veggie garden.

The view from the veranda deck, where I am writing this article.

Ivor Steven (c) August 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

An Ice Cream Cone

An Ice Cream Cone

I’m flying up, against gravity’s undertow
Higher than all the birds I know
Above white clouds full of snow

My wings are made of steel and bone
And within this long underbelly I am not alone
As we burst through the wind’s vibration zone
Then out of the blue I am handed an ice cream cone

https://youtube.com/watch?v=5UdkiRKj4U8&si=o6GWwU-RHFKcgjfp

Ivor Steven (c) August 2025

Transition

Transition

The daedal grey clouds hang motionless
There is not a breath of wind in the calmness
And the gliding birds look weightless

The afternoon sun remains inactive
Slumbering behind the sky’s silvery curtain

And there is a swelling aura of expectation
From the amazed audience standing at the station
All waiting for the beginning of the pilgrim’s mission

Ivor Steven (c) August 2025

“Who’s the Pilot”, is in this week’s Coffee House Writers Magazine edition.

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/