Monday, March 30, 2009

a land called 'Toronto'

In Toronto I go for Ethiopian food, in Toronto I ride the subway, in Toronto I know the names of streets and major intersections, the man-made topography, in Toronto I stare at skyscrapers and sky and mourn for mountains, in Toronto, in Toronto, in Toronto I get lost in languages, in Toronto I hear Cantonese in the morning and Portuguese in the afternoon and Yiddish in the evening and French all the way home, in Toronto the city at night is a field of yellow lights and neon glitz -

in Toronto I grocery shop at Jane and Finch which is site of the infamous "Year of the Gun"

in Toronto I have a blister on my right foot

in Toronto I keep the windows of my twelfth floor apartment open

in Toronto I think about the distance between 'here' and 'home' and the likelihood of my survival in this concrete jungle in the event of a zombie attack

in Toronto I go to class

in Toronto I have nervous breakdowns about going to class

in Toronto I turned 21

in Toronto I will turn 22

in Toronto I cook food for my friends

in Toronto I have friends

in Toronto I listen to my friend Lisa talk about racial melancholia and nostalgia and the longing for home

in Toronto I long

in Toronto I am longing

in Toronto ----