Standing on Familiar Ground
Here
Standing on the land of old
Overlooking a meadow of green and gold
Where
Familiar magpies fly around
Above their native ground
Now
Feeling my travel, weary bones unfold
Upon my home’s welcoming threshold
Ivor Steven (c) September 2025
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
Home sweet home for Frankie
Ivor Steven (c) September 2025
Today, Twenty-Five Years Ago (a Tanka)
Once upon a time
In a land of ice and rhyme
Darkness was my crime
When a rift of hollow mime
Ravaged my body and mind
“The Throwback poem that began the great Rowback”
Who’s Left to Row the Boat
The storms are too many to count
Emotional lows had weathered me out
Her journey with MS was a struggle
How much lower could our lives sink
After fourteen years of our battles, I suffered a Stroke
An ambulance came, my brain was in a boat
Floating out to sea, overboard and panic-stricken
I wasn’t swimming, barely awake, and drifting
I had fallen, nothing was working, and not talking
She’s crying, I’m sobbing, my heart is dying
And who’s left to row the boat, I’m thinking
I was jabbed with a needle and silently sleeping
I awoke a day later, in hospital, feeling wasted
My face was limp, mouth parched, was that death I tasted
My mind was active, I thought, where is she
I knew I was bad; the room was all blurry to me
Strong anxieties had set in, I needed to know
Nurses came to me, I pleaded, I wanted to go
“Help me to see her, just give my bed a tow
Please let me go, before I’m covered in snow”
Ivor Steven (c) September 20th, 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
My cousin Lynn, ask me, “would you like to go to museum, or go and have a picnic down by the ocean at Saxe Point Park” …
The lovely picnic area at the waterside park
The picturesque Saxe Point Park
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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
From the delightful township of Nanaimo we went by ferry over to the picturesque Gabriola Island, where I had arranged to meet up with my fellow WordPress pen-friend, Louise Gallagher. We had previously met via Ali Grimshaw’s, ‘Writing Circle’ Zoom meetings. Meeting Louise in person was very exciting for both of us. Our shared love of words and nature made Gabriola the perfect backdrop for a memorable meeting, now captured in the images that follow.
Cousin Penny and Louise. Louse’s lovely sunflowers
Louise and Ivor together with Bau, David, and Penny on the sundeck
The view from Louise’s sundeck
On the beach in front of Louise’s house
Louise: https://dareboldly.com/ and, https://sundayswithbeaumont.com/
Ali Grimshaw: https://flashlightbatteries.blog/
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Gabriola Island
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Ivor Steven (c) September 2025
Ivor.Plumber/Poet 