Over the month my TOpoet.ca following is steady at 380! The August WP map shows that my hits have come from around the world. India still tops the list with 3 times as many hits than Canada at number 2. Good to see Japan & Portugal making the top 10. China! Nepal! My Tumblr (topoet) is up by 3 to 290. Twitter (@TorPoet) up to 226 followers. My most popular post in August: Fab Forty 1965 https://topoet.ca/2020/08/02/fab-forty-1965/
I’ve posted 33 chapters of Picture Perfect so far, nearly 49,000 words, with 137,000 words yet to be edited. I had forgotten how much attention I had paid to world-building for my hero. Making cuts has been easy & expanding some when needed has been fun. I also love making the fresh weekly graphic & will include them in an appendix to the eBook.
I’ve been really enjoying the challenge of writing about my Distant Music pieces. Nearing the end that. Doing one week has made the work more steady. Two pieces a week was rushed. Once done I may compel it all into an eBook. I found I am following in famous footsteps: Alan Ginsburg did a similar explanation of Howl for its 50th anniversary. I’m not as self-indulgent as I thought 😦
Amongst the movies I watched in August was the oddly fascinating Paris Belongs To Us – early 60’s underground theatre in Paris – each scene deepens the mystery with layers of information that leads to ? It was as if Kafka met Beckett to write a screenplay. Was stunned by Edge Of The Knife (SG̲aawaay Ḵ’uuna) a Canadian film in Haida. Visually amazing, brilliant performances & a work of art.
Another month of living with the pandemic. Will Americans accept a covid vaccine made in Russia? Since their last presidential election was (made in Russia) I don’t see why not 🙂 More deflection where entertainment value is more important than progress – where anger over racism is the issue not the racism itself.
Life in Toronto slowly opens up with patios, schools, community centres adapting to covid protocols. Classroom of a certain size allow for 20 or is it 30 students – LCBO spaces of similar size are restricted to 10 people, at a time. The province has made it its priorities clear. I have no children, I don’t consume alcohol so I have no standing in such issues.
Light At the End of the Closet
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some days I check my email
every hour I’m awake
in case there’s one from him
but he’s a fucking crappy communicator
and I like it
I like the frustration
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I know he isn’t stringing me along
I don’t check my voicemail
he can’t leave messages
if he calls he has to use pay-phones
he has one of those sensitive jobs
can’t be out
can’t be caught out
I understand this
and I like it
I like the hidden secret
the old-time quality of his closet
of me being totally out of mine
I can slip into his
and not feel the need to force him out
he knows this
he is always apologizing
sorry about an unending work load
that lets him hide
that makes him hide
I like this hiding sometimes
when he says I’m ray of light
more like a shaft
I joke
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I like this frustration
knowing I can feel it
not need to judge force refuse
be present
be in my own open life
sort of free
sort of because
if I see a crying child
in the street or a mall
I have to back away
gay men are automatically suspect
and can never be proven innocent
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so I back away into that closet
I don’t like that frustration
till I check my email
and there’s one from him
sweet, eh? paypal.me/TOpoet
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