The Jump-Off

So I work with a Grade 9 student as a mentor. Once a week we get together to go over her poetry and short stories, and to do writing exercises, as well as discuss what's going on her life and other matters various.

Yesterday we did a tag-team writing exercise, and this is the poem we came up with (still in its raw and relatively unedited version):

i am not alone when i wonder what the world love about Christmas
fake trees that will end up in a landfill
or a real one that ended, dead
my discomfort grows like a child’s anticipation, even though the
guy in the red suit isn’t really coming over
i wonder what his wife thinks
when he comes home at six in the morning, exhausted and fatter
i bet she’s worried that he’ll never lose the spare tire
or tire of all the sweet treats he eats when
he sweeps through homes all over the world

and all the poor kids wonder
“how come Santa left all the rich kids
barbies and convertibles” but the space
underneath their tree is as bare as the top
of his fat head?

maybe it’s because people who are poor
in material goods are supposed to be rich in spirit
but i suspect it’s because
someone thought it would be better
that way

i’m near positive
when i was five i would pick a Barbie
a doll house and a cabbage patch kid over a good spirit
any day

so when a slightly mouldy potato
a couple of dust bunnies and my older sister’s
beat-up running shoes pass for
“your gift this year”, i’m a little underwhelmed

people should stop being so mean to
the Grinch, he was doing us a favour
let’s rename the movie
the Grinch who saved us all a couple hundred …

grand

and oh yeah, right about now
you’re probably thinking this poem is
really, really cynical
don’t get me wrong, it is “jolly” and all
but if you want a white Christmas so damn bad
do we really need 100 lights on the front of each house?
forests cut down and factories working day and night?
two words – global warming.
cynical, no.
reasonable, honest, logical – yes.

you can take that to the bank
you can roll that up and smoke it
you can place your trust in G-d without a second thought

if i’m a cynic it’s because we live in cynical times.
my cynicism protects me, nourishes me.
because without it i’d be defenceless in an offensive world.

Merry Christmas!


My mentee is awesome! Can't wait to see what else comes out of that very talented 14-year-old mind!

So I'm finally posting something to this bloody thing after all this time. Don't get used to it. I'll probably just forget about it all over again. I'm super stoked about the festival that I just returned from -- the 2006 Canadian Festival of Spoken Word. Got my creative juices flowing. I had a wicked time with the other members of the Ottawa Team -- DJ Morales, Kevin Matthews and Festrell. We finished fourth, behind the two Toronto teams and the Vancouver team (the city has won all three national slams now), but more than that, the time spent immersed in the poetry scene got me very excited.

Also at the festival I took on the role of National Director for our fledgling organization. It's a great challenge and I'm really looking forward to it.

Anyway, I'm up waaaaaay past my bedtime. I'm going to sleep. Ciao ... especially if anyone cares.

You Passed the US Citizenship Test

Congratulations - you got 10 out of 10 correct!

I'm waaay better than Randy at this shit ...

Today is not a good day so far. It's rainy outside and I really dislike cold rain. I had a distressing phone conversation with a dear friend last night that left me feeling disconcerted. A collision in the Ottawa poetry world has left me feeling conflicted about what to do in response. I can't write because I'm too emotionally tangled. My New Year's plans are morphing from moment to moment. Life is spinning out of control and I wish the carousel would come to a dignified stop.

It's not been a good day so far.

Yesterday was better -- hung out with the fam and went to watch my nephew play hockey. He's eight years old and is quite good. I was really proud watching him play up two age levels and holding his own. He's really focused on it and wants to keep playing for a long time. He wants to be in the NHL one day. I hope he makes it. He's a terrific kid.

I need to get up, get out and get moving. We'll see how the rest of today goes.

This is for all the Ottawa kids ... I really like this one. I think I'll put it in the chapbook I'm hoping to pull together when I get back to CapCity. Comments welcome and appreciated!


Elgin @ Night

at the elgin street bridgehead
i can sit down with my
organic fair trade coffee
my notebook
a pen
and curiosity.

i can sit there after the
sun dips below the horizon
like the mercury
weeks before this night

the red neon screams
“zesty”
at me as i look north
from maclaren street
and glimpse brief flashes
of front
and backs of packs and parkas
see vaguely through the
low light the ruddy features
of passerby marching
determinedly down the street

the odd log braving this
ottawa river
breaks off like a
brittle birch branch
and purposefully leans
against the coffee shop’s
front door

bundled versus the cold
in mismatched burly
custom-fitted warmth
via cotton, polyester and wool
woven like inflamed complexity

the bottom of my coffee cup
is visible beneath the dregs
of percolated nature
distilled for its societal relevance

so it is now time
to don my hope and
pull arms through
sleeves of swaddled safety
palm padding that insulates
me against adversity

dismiss myself from coddled
domesticity – and plunge
into the wildness of urban night.


© A. Gregory Frankson, 2005. All rights reserved.

The post-Christmas period is upon us. Thank God. No longer will I have to endure the endless chirping of happy bell-heavy music, the interminable specials about Santa Claus invading a television near you, the crass commercialism that causes me to dread this time of year, and the radical overeating that adds countless pounds to my quickly-becoming-portly midsection.

Now it's on to the New Year. Come on 2006, hurry up and get here ...

I've now figured out how to use this LJ thing after a much needed assist. Seems that I can't grasp even simple things around now without having the steps pointed out to me. But now that it's on I can start using this thing a bit better.

Much to do this week. Visit some friends and take my daughter around Toronto a bit. Should be a lot of fun. I'll drive back to Montreal on Thursday and then come home for the holiday. Then it's off to Halifax once again for the rest of the election campaign, back to Ottawa on the 24th, perform in a show on the 25th and have my bday bash on the 27th. Spend a quiet day on the 28th celebrating number 31 by hanging out with the Nathan Bishop Band at a gig. I'm getting lobster out of the deal so it can't be all bad, right?

Now, back to figuring out how to add more people to my friends list ....

So I have the distinct pleasure of letting the world know that I love people. And I have my eyes on certain people in particular. Hopefully something will come of it but my heart is in a very good place right now. I'm hopeful that my good fortune will continue. I'm shivering with possibility. We'll see how it pans out.

Now my friends have no choice but to conclude that I'm cool as hell. Here is my LJ, and now there are no excuses. I am free!!!

Now I'm going to get used to this whole LJ situation over the next little while by adding my friends and figuring out the types of things people often talk about on this sort of forum. But suffice it to say that I'll be writing in this thing from time to time to let people know how my life is going, and I'm sure that you'll absolutely love the ride.

For all my spoken word peeps in CapCity -- this is for you! Now I've finally joined the club!

Now, I'm going to add a whole bunch of people ...