from behind dark clouds
the bright full blue super moon
slowly emerges
CYBERCENE
first leaf falls from tree
slowly and one by one
the other leaves follow
Emile-Antoine Roy-Sirois
[1991 - 2022]
Ukraine Civil War
called you to die for a new
Spanish Civil War
silent city streets
every day felt like Sunday
isolation time
bustling city streets
dandelions growing tall
Springing to life time
Brittney Newman
1995-2022
decapitated
in front of your sons still you
did not lose their luv
Rene Robert
1936-2022
left to freeze to death
on a Paris street still
your photos warm life
Aruka Juma
? - 2021
the last Juma man
gone like too many before
his voice is silent
Andrea L. Blankenship
1979 - 2021
he stole your heart
and cooked it up for dinner
your soul remains free
Brazil burns bright
in her forests of the night
we just sit and watch
cloud galleons soar
across the big blue sky sea
to infinity
Jupiter stands guard
beside waning full moon in
silent pre-dawn sky
HIGH DOLTAGE
COVID deniers
partay cuz tomorrow they
die-and they do
TWEETHEART
ZOMBIENCE
TWEETOTALER
rogue jedi koan:
right
wright
write
rite
Do four rights make a wrong?
NOOSEPAPER
NEUROTIQUE
PRUDITY
ROCKIT SCIENCE
FAN ATTIC
FANATIC
FAN ADDICT
SCORN FLAKES
blue heron stands on
tree branch wide eye staring
into deep blue sky
BRAIN SPOTTING
cool wind stirred bulrushes
red wing blackbirds were silent
fled south for winter
hot sandy trail
led to submerged Presqu'ile beach
Carson was gone, too
SWEET LOVE TIGER
PACHINBO
BLUE OXYGEN HEAD
Canada goose flaps
silently over the surface
of the rippling lake
in my dream the ants
were running the show not mice
Adams would panic
the high warning note
of the red winged blackbird
cautions stealthy Spring
soft morning darkness
sparrows in the branches
sing the sun awake
soft evening darkness
sparrows in the branches
sing the sun asleep
INCGODNITO
INKCOGNITO
DEPTH RECEPTION
ELEFONT
BRAZILENT
DEATH PERCEPTION
ODE TO MY TOILET
For you, loyal friend
I make no bones
I know who has won
this game of thrones
To sing your praises,
I would take to Twitter
And haply proclaim you
!the world's greatest shitter!
!Way to go, Toilet!
!!KEEP IT DOWN!!
Collage of Fishicians and Sturgeons
KARMAGEDDON
IMMORTALES
ALGORYTHMS
ANGAELS
SOONSET
CINNANYM
CAFFAINE
TRUMP L'OEIL
the soft falling snow
blankets the sleeping world
Santa Claus is near
Stan Lee
1922 - 2018
Ne'er more will Spider-Man or the Fantastic Four
And super heroes the multiverse o'er
Thrill to hear your exultant roar:
''Nuff said! !Excelsior!'
CYBOCENE
the bloodiest year
causes Toronto to shed
the bloodiest tear
ECLIPSIS
Jane Creba
1990 - 2005
shot dead in the face
while enjoying Boxing Day
your ghost still haunts Yonge
DEATH BY HANG
I
N
G
DEATH BY HANGING
DEATH BY
DEATH
!I AM DEAD!
HTAED
!YOU ARE DEAD!
DEATH
!WE'RE ALL DEAD!
ATDEH
HEAT D
DEATH
T. HEAD
DEATH
THE AD
-inspired by the allegorical
Nagisa Oshima film,
DEATH BY HANGING (1968)
STARCISSIST
lone leaf falls and is
whirled by wind to ground
first death of summer
condos tower o'er
tiny lonely old Fort York
ghostly soldiers sulk
fire flowers bloom
across the brooding hills in
the gathering dusk
do not ask for whom
the danforth tragedy tolls
it tolls for us
INCUNEBULA
Doctor Mark Ernsting
1976 - 2015
you were stabbed nine times
last stab left the blade in skull
all for a night stroll
ten dead confirms
the banality of Evil
killer so horny
HEXIGENT
Sudan,
last male northern white rhino,
died March 20, 2018
lowering your head
you charged into history
your spirit lives on
Lonely Death
is what the Japanese call
someone who dies alone
in a messy apartment
filled
with piles of magazines and newspapers
and
empty food containers and dirty tea mugs
like my apartment
SYCAFONT
raw sewage pours
into Burrard Inlet
everyone gives a shit
dangerous driving
th'other national pastime
sixteen more dead
WRECKONCILIATION
Union
Out of the GoTrain, into the bustle
If ya wanna keep up, ya gotta hustle
Can't be afraid to use some muscle -
Get outta the way, this is Union!
Racing to the bathroom I seek
Always desperate to take a leak
Hiding in a stall so you can't peek -
Can't be too careful in Union!
Everywhere people are on the go
Street level and the floor below
Stop for coffee and a jolt of joe
Gotta keep moving, this is Union!
Matching pace with the hectic beat
Up the stairs on frantic feet
Free again in the wandering street
Always a relief to leave Union!
misty morning fog
hides the skyscrapers out leaps
CN Tower top
SINTHETIC
Ode To Grand Master Richard Corben
Your flights of fantasy have inspired us all
From ROWLF to MURKY WORLD in HEAVY METAL
You have brought to life poignant Poe
And rekindled fears of the Cthulhu Mythos
Reimagined a thousand and one Arabian scenes
And inspired magic on the silver screen
To the delight of fans each and Everwhere
Including always awestruck and grateful Gar
Ayman Derbali
your courage ignored
yet if you had been a Christian
you'd be a hero
Mona Piper
1930 - 2018
others talk the talk
you walked the walk four decades
stood on guard for us
Candace Turk
1982 - 2016
all alone that night
did you fail yourself
or did we fail you?
two hockey players
Canadien and Maple Leaf
struggle arm in arm
COSMOSIS
cod and salmon runs
used to astound both coasts
now just a memory
Christine 'Chrissy' Archibald
1987-2017
you flew to London
to be arm in arm with love
did you even hear
Kristy Hodgson
1986 - 2017
killed while walking
the driver not even fined
they call this justice
ROBOTOMY
the black moon swallows
the sun signalling
that the muse now rules
Saint Clair
The unusually
Looooong
Staircase and escalator
That you need to
Get off the platform
Evoked the unusually
Looooong
Escalator needed to
Get off the platform
Of the Granville Street Skytrain station platform
In Vancouver
How appropriate that
The toney and tree lined streets of Forest Hill
Outside the station
Evoked the equally
Toney and tree lined streets of Vancouver
GLIBIDO
Toronto 'Island'
What a disappointment!
Cracked roads, beat up picnic tables,
Overflowing garbage and recycling cans,
Strange people failing to be as weird as me
Sneeky skeeters
I just wanted to leap on
The first ferry off this dump
And get back to Toronto!
And then I reached
The far eastern side of
The sandbar
Walked along a fittingly sandy path
Through some trees
Whispering in the wind
And stepped out on to the soothing beach
And was awestruck by
The seemingly infinite
And mystic
Blue expanse
Of Lake Ontario
Before me
As infinite and full of possibility
as Canada
Reminding me why it was a Great Lake
That Toronto 'Island'
Had hidden
From the downtown core
And suddenly I understood
Why people ferry over to
Toronto 'Island'
Point Roberts
there is no point to you
a Canadian tank
should have smashed through
your U.S. border post
and returned you to Canada
decades ago
cloud shadow ripples
over the undulating
flank of the still earth
TELEPATHETIC
a young woman
in ragged clothing
sat begging
unnoticed
in front of Union Station
on a beautiful summer's morn
throngs of people
of all ages, ethnicities, races, religions, sexes and sexual orientations
strode past her unconcernedly
as if she was already a clinging ghost
her head fell despondently
and she started to sob
tears rolling down
her white cheeks
never saw her again
Queen's Park
Another blah station
But how appropriate
That one of your exits
Leads to U of T
And its idealistic and
Crusading young students
On the left
And the provincial legislature
And its jaded and
Conservative old politicians
On the right
Seein' Tower
wherever you go
in Toronto you are
always creepily watching
BUCKANEER
Dundas
You lead to a 'square'
That is always crowded
But curiously empty
And devoid of imagination
And love -
Very square, indeed
FANDROID
Saint Andrew
Your station is blah
But it leads to
Roy Thomson Hall,
The star filled walk
Royal Alexandra theatre,
Princess of Wales theatre,
TIFF
Ironically proving that
Outside the blah station,
Allegorical art is indeed
King
Saint Patrick Station
There once was a station named Patrick
Whose patron saint banished all snakes priapic
But passengers left the station to view
AGO art that was often quite nude
Causing Patrick to have a fit positively tantric!
Museum
Your silent
Egyptian and Mayan sentinels
forewarn of our own fleeting dynasties
remind us that we too will disappear
like the departing subway car
PENUS
Osgoode
How ironic that your dour name
Upholds the staid laws of the land
While you release
Confined passengers onto the
The perennial carnival and colour of Queen
New Berczy
dogs urinate with
their mouths in rising levels
at a golden bone
Tet A Tete
How appropriate that
The Tet offensive
Surprised the U.S.
The year I was born
Given that the book and essays
On this site
That erupted out of a
Fatal helicopter crash
On a simulated Vietnam War set
Have also taken the U.S. by surprise
Thus, when I meet that special lady
And we have that special son
His equally offensive name should be
Avro Ho Chi 'Avi' Wright
?Toronto streets are
always busy but always
getting nowhere?
HOLLOWGRAM
LEONARD COHEN
you left like you lived
glaringly unobtrusive
casually momentous
devastatingly reassuring
mysteriously clear
spellbindingly liberating
REFRIED BEATS (?-2016)
the whole block was gone
erased
replaced by a gaping dirt hole
awaiting the insertion of
another glass and concrete
condophallimum tower
taking away packed bins
jammed with inspiring music
and truly moving pictures
taking away leopard skin arms
and a presumed love of classic coke
taking friendly warmth away
from a cold city
taking away
a part of us
BAY BLOOR BLUES
you lay on the corner of Bay and Bloor
raggedyman in a sleeping bag
left arm outstretched on the sidewalk
eyes closed
palm open
face an agonized mask
when the lonesome pain grows too great
you unleash a sudden sepulchral shout
of such despondent agony
that guilt stricken passersby
quickly open purses and pull out wallets
and carefully place money in your proferred palm
did you wind up on Bay and Bloor
distraught by the death of your wife and children in a car accident?
did hit the street after losing your job?
did you go mad?
or did you lay down on the sidewalk in your business suit one day when you were fed up with the rat race
and never get up?
UDIQUITOUS
Alaskan territory
why have we abandoned you
to the Yankee wolves
ANDROIGYNOUS