pronounced oh mee mee

Information
Omemee, Ont.

Pronounced oh mee mee, that's right; Neil Young lived at 33 King, liked to fish with a hook on the end of a string, got a farm in Cavan now; Lady Eaton did something here too, grew up? spent the summers?, yeah, her family's house is a coffee shop; Legion's the only place to get a drink, and only when they do a supper, gotta buy a supper ticket, five bucks or seven bucks, then you can buy a beer for extra, no place else to get a drink except the LCBO, ha!, that's the truth; had a rock concert here last night, Coronation Hall, remember Mainline?, that guy; you gotta see the Rock and Roll Museum, everybody says it's great what's it doing in Omemee everybody says, lotta Neil Young stuff and other stuff; yeah, we moved from the 'burbs, terrible neighours, got fifteen acres now; excuse me a minute, hello? I don't know, ask your dad, I don't know, I'm busy, ask your dad, sorry about that; Ruby's got the best cheesecake, won't sell the recipe, some guy came in from the city, some company, she didn't care, said no way is she gonna sell it no matter the money, gotta call ahead, goes fast; daughter engaged last night, guy came in all nervous and said I'd like to marry Ashley, oh and I forgot to tell you, my son had his baby today, so whaddya think, when's that rain's supposed to come?

fifty one

Fifteen minutes,
Path through ravine,
Whitby, Ont.

Fifty one altogether: nineteen bits of general debris; 6 cans; eight coffee cups; five lids; 3 glass bottles; nine plastic ones, and one giant piece of styrofoam.

you're thinking

Stuart Ross Workshop, March 27, 2010
Above Furby House Books, Port Hope
Excerpt from a Project (Don't Call it An Exercise)

You're thinking of this guy who tore up the lawn in front of his house and how he pulled out the fat white grubs and drowned them in a white bucket and how when you walked by his house he said: wanna see a grub? You're thinking how he replaced the lawn with spruce trees and lily-of-the-valley and how eventually a forest grew in front of his living room window and the neighbours said: how odd. Then he pulled up the backyard too and planted lilacs and raspberry bushes and he didn't have a car or a wife or children and was always taking the bus and coming home with bags of things and giving you heart-shaped boxes on Valentines Day. You're thinking how he died one May and how they found his house filled with fine china and chocolate and about the jam on your toast as you drank tea from a thin blue cup he gave you and how the neighbours said: that's probably worth something.

weed man

On Foot
The Neighbourhood
April 13th, 6pm

Weed man sign, nutri lawn sign, weed man, weed man, buds on magnolia tree, weed man, eco something lawn care, robin, smiling woman with hose watering air, weed man, weed man, weed man, boy age 5 maybe, hockey sticking tennis ball along street, tap, tap, WHACK, doesn't look up, I move just in the nick of time, mother says nothing as they pass, smiles; I think: poor allowed-to-be-completely-self-involved kid who people will seriously dislike one day; weed man, tiny girl of maybe 8 in helmet and bedazzled jacket, tiny denim shorts over tight black leggings, tiny bedazzled sandals, painted toenails, ankle bracelet, riding a two wheeler with attitude; I think: she'll be 24 any day now; weed man, weed man, grandmotherly woman small in pink sweatpants and beige Henry Fonda hat, hunched over, pulling child on miniature tricycle; weed man, two women different ages exact same height walking, dusty black cat in red collar, child says hi Simon, cat rolls over for belly rub then stands waiting for same height women walkers then me to do same, street basketball, weed man, weed man, weed man, skateboard ramps, BBQ at side of road with taped on sign: FREE; stony four of spades playing card, weed man, robin.

my friend serge

From 'ART' by Yasmina Reza
The Canadian Stage Company
April 3rd, Matinee

My friend Serge, a canvas, white, diagonal lines, oldest friend, lusting after white lines, 200,000 francs, collection, you’re not in the right place, look at it from this angle, you paid 200,000 francs? new style, intellectuals, nostalgia merchants; would like to know what you mean by shit, how can you assert that any given object that doesn’t conform is shit; couldn’t begin to understand how my friend Serge spent 200,000 on white; looking for top to my pen, infuriating, objects, there are degrees of white, if it makes him happy, he can afford it; I’m disturbed, very fond of Serge, groping my way into world; the resonance you get from something monochromatic; crazy or what, with him I’m a block of ice, why can’t you admit, atrophying, you laughed, then he laughed, who laughed first? what made him laugh? laughing to ingratiate you; you can’t hate what’s invisible, poetic impulse, too thin skinned, I lack judgment; read Seneca; to me he’s a god, wouldn’t fork out for a mere mortal; read Seneca; white flowers on a white background; you are an amoeba, obsequious, something I abhor, piss on, you find these colours touching? there are no colours!—who are you to— I’m leaving; if you go you’re giving in to him; a man of his time, plays his part in fundamental dynamic of evolution, motel painting, deep anxiety, cry for help, perpetual display of mistrust, can’t love the person who bought this painting; opinion, the way she waves away cigarette smoke, wearily malicious, life-denying woman; I didn’t replace you with Paula, when you judged things by my standards, I loved how you saw me, flattered, desperate to find, end of fifteen year friendship, close to tears, apocalypse because of—it’s not white—white shit—I’m starving, let’s go eat—absurdly virtuous, complicated, under the white clouds, the snow is falling, can’t see, my friend serge.

open the door

Judy Collins
Hugh's Room, Toronto
April 1st, 2010

Open the door, glad to see you; clouds, another show, don’t let them know, give and take; a million poppies laid, grateful prayers prayed; pockets full of sand, no place to go; Southern Colorado, when he comes to call; take that away; won the heart of the lady; hurry home; in the merry month of May, a young man, my true love you’re dying, mother, mother, I’ll die for him tomorrow; stole him from the misty mountains, thirteen shelves of drugs won’t heal him; the colours of my father’s dreams, boating on the Seine I’d learn to dance; homeless men in the cold, big city blue where dreams can’t go wrong, mountain girl; Marrika; children like your own; eyes bluer in the Midwest, cufflinks, diamonds, a legend, vagabond vague, loved you already; with a voice as soft as thunder, I dream; young girls, will they ever learn; go to war, my ribbon in a box, doin’ fine, brave and free; just when you mean to tell her, lonely wooden tower, sailors, his mind; never sang to one man before a million times, lilies and lakes; you in mid-air, next year; rainbow highway, skies dare to dream, lemon drops find me.

not a lot

wine tasting, 6:45 p.m.
wednesday, march 24th
toronto, ontario

Not a lot of new oak, recommend ’06 to start, 100% natural yeast, think library wine, even better, think ’07 in a year or two, much warmer, 41 days over 35 degrees Celsius, good to finally meet you, biodynamically farmed, top of hill, 30 cases left in winery, barrel tasting, one time thing actually, rusty shiraz, shoulda started that 30 years ago, baby duck, no no, just joking around with ya, I have two kids, I like them better at different times, some days better, Europeans, limestone expresses itself in different ways, the answer is perfume and complexity, I like your name, Toma, what a great name, a year younger, different wine different year, exuberant, my wife, Wilma, you were there for that, first time I tried it, smelled it, very clear, England, we can still make price point, over there $40 chards, sauv blanc, has no mallo, no mallolactic, ’08 was hot, a good vintage, limestone, pretty fresh, finishing off, not so mallo, acidity, harsh tannin, times five, anyway, nice to see you, $55, only $30 overpriced, keep on making it, it’s a lousy pinot noir, Burgundians, they’re beautiful.