Floundering [Not Dead]
The First Time | It’s not depression, though it appears so at times. It’s closer to poverty. Depletion. Loss. More associated with the loss of familiarity, of character. A lack of presence.
![Poetry reading at Bookstore. Full audience with one empty chair. Poetry reading at Bookstore. Full audience with one empty chair.](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5869fed1-580a-449f-b110-7a76e302d0d6_1280x960.jpeg)
“People have been tellin’ me the Toronto Lit Scene is dead.”
About two dozen of us make it out to a poet’s book launch in the Junction. A good showing. For many in Toronto, this is viewed as a distance too far, when it’s actually a pretty direct route just off the subway line, s…