We talk a lot about demystification. Although Barthes said it was an outmoded strategy two generations ago, it may well be a necessary stage in the postmodern approach to all our social institutions.
Author: David Barker
Story: Pussy
Note: Part way through writing this piece of flash fiction, I got my testicles caught in a band saw. Industrial accidents are a horrible thing. Always wear protective clothing. Billy-Bob turned to Jethro and said: “Hey man, let’s drive into town and get us some pussy.” “Yeah, BB. You know there’s nothing I love better’n…
Two Poems for a Wednesday Afternoon
Half-choked Blooms I give my best to the morningand the balance to the afternoonin the half-choked blooms of the rosesand the thorny brambles of a dying quince. Profile of a Poet i used to worship in a churchbut the air was stale and deadi slunked away an outsidernot meek not powerfulan inheritor of nothingthen to…
Occupy Toronto – Day One
So it begins. The Occupy Movement rolls into Toronto. I couldn’t get to the kick off in the financial district, but went to St. James Park in the early afternoon.
Occupy Wall Street – But Keep It Simple
As the Occupy movement creeps ever closer to Toronto, we who support it brace ourselves for the inevitable backlash, not only from voices of power, but also from an eerily complacent middle class.
We Can’t Af Ford This
After being away for a month, I returned home to Toronto with a question burning on my lips: So how’s Rob Ford’s War on Graffiti going? On Friday, I went downtown to get some answers.
Thanksgiving: One Turkey of a Holiday
Personally, I don’t see the appeal of slaughtering, plucking and skinning one them, letting it simmer in its own juices for five hours, then serving it up on a platter of bread crumbs and whatnot that have cooked inside its own body cavity…
Graffiti in Victoria 2011
When people go on holidays, they like to see the sights, or shop, or lie on a beach, or dine in nice restaurants. Me? I like to hunt for graffiti. While I was in Victoria, I did a lot of walking and found graffiti everywhere. Tags. Bombs. Walls. Stencils. Even dust on bus shelters.
RIP Steve Jobs
At the news of Apple CEO Steve Jobs’ death, I pulled out my very first Mac computer and held an interment ceremony. This is one of the original 128k RAM Macs. No hard drive. It boots from a 3.5 inch floppy disc.
Vancouver is a Strange Place
After a month of driving to from in and around western Canada, I’m wondering what to do next. While on the road, I did as I intended, writing poems as I went. Maybe not as many poems as I would have liked, but enough that I have the raw material for a chapbook.
Poem: Back by Popular Demand
what a fucked up thingto nail Jesus Is Coming to a treebeside a highway in north ontarioa via dolorosa which is latinfor road through the middle of nowhereand prompts an eternal question:if a soul declares its christin a forest and there is no GODto hear it…a tree-spiking evangelist isno concern of mine no soulsharmed in…
Poem: The Canadian Museum for Human Rights
there’s a path in The Forks where we stumbled on a humble little man dressed in a loincloth and armed with a walking stick a strange sight in Winnipeg though less strange if we had stumbled on him in wintertime we would have figured the cold froze him solid instead of the rabid pack of…
Poem: The Legend of Lanigan
as we drive into Laniganpopulation next to nothinga pull out and a signand on the sign a mapand above the map in bold-faced caps the word LEGENDI’m not thinking cartographyand imagine a bright marqueeflashing The Legend of Laniganlike The Legend of Zeldaevery place has its legendhere we see its traceshere the dusty gravel roadshere the…
Poem: Boring
I hate to drive through the prairies.It’s boring. It all looks the same.I love to shop at Wal*Mart.All across this great country,Wal*Mart is the place for me. (if performed, this verse should be repeated at least 300 times, once for each Wal*Mart in the country) Download the complete collection of poems and accompanying photographs as…
Poem: West Edmonton Mall
Imagine our world is dying. Imagine survival depends on journeys to distant suns settling strange planets colonists voyaging for generations whirling in cigar-shaped tubes tribes of ten thousand adrift between the stars. Now imagine these crafts of our salvation are designed by the Ghermezian brothers: worlds of endless shopping salted by breaks in water parks,…